Bres
Eochu Bres is the beautiful son of Elatha of the Fomorians and Ériu of the Tuatha Dé, made king after Nuada loses his hand and married to Brigid. His reign is remembered for tribute and for the failure of hospitality - the knives at his table were never greased and no guest's breath smelled of ale - until Cairbre mac.
Bres is a literary king who exists to illustrate the duties of kingship, not a cult figure, and the two accounts of his end - spared for agricultural knowledge in Cath Maige Tuired, killed by Lugh's poisoned cows in the Dindshenchas - contradict one another and are both recorded here as the medieval material has them. The scribes gloss Bres as 'beautiful', which may be a false etymology. Saturn, Venus and Mercury, the elements, zodiac, tarot and sabbats are modern Hermetic and Wiccan overlays.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Saturn
Offerings
- Offerings
- BreadAleButterMilkThe repair of a bad rule
Sacred timing
- Sacred Timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- Eochu BresEochaid BresBress
- Gender Expression
- Masculine
- Titles
- The Beautiful KingKing of the Tuatha DéThe Half-FomorianThe Failed Host
- Symbols
- Empty cupPloughSatireCrown
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneCourteous and waryAddressBresEochu BresBeautiful KingRelationshipThe king who shows what a king is for by failing at itWarningHe takes hospitality seriously because he refused itResonanceThose in authority those who must hold a household
- Modern Practice
Worked with as a mirror for leadership rather than a patron: the questions are what a household is owed, what a guest is owed, and what a ruler keeps back. The plough is the honest counterweight to the satire.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- KingshipBeautyHospitalitySatireAgricultureTributeExile
- Mythology Summary
Eochu Bres is the beautiful son of Elatha of the Fomorians and Ériu of the Tuatha Dé, made king after Nuada loses his hand and married to Brigid. His reign is remembered for tribute and for the failure of hospitality - the knives at his table were never greased and no guest's breath smelled of ale - until Cairbre mac Étaine made the first satire in Ireland against him and the kingship fell away. Exiled, he led the Fomorians at the Second Battle and was spared by Lugh in exchange for teaching the Tuatha Dé to plough, sow and reap, and in the Dindshenchas Lugh kills him with poisoned milk drawn from wooden cows.
- Related Deities
- The DagdaBrigidLughThe Morrigan
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsGoldWhiteGreenScentsFrankincenseCedarAppleMetalsGoldBronzeAnimalsHorseBullBoar
One of 3,120 entries in the Grimoire — the whole library, every cross-reference, is free to take. Take the whole thing Is it wrong somewhere?
Referenced by 0
Nothing in the library points at this entry yet.
More in Deities
The entries either side of this one in the same catalogue.
All of Deities →New entries, when they land
Occasional notes when a section of the grimoire is added or revised. No account, no tracking across sites, and one line to leave.