AleBeefBreadFeats of skill practisedCourage in a just fightA geis honoured
Invocation Approach
Tone
Bright and terrible
Address
Cú ChulainnHound of UlsterSetanta
Relationship
The champion who is magnificent and doomed
Warning
His frenzy is not a model for ordinary life and his geasa killed him
Resonance
Fighters athletes the young and the reckless
Symbols
Gae bolgaThe houndThe standing stoneRiastrad
Mythology Summary
Cú Chulainn is the champion of Ulster in the Ulster Cycle, conceived of Deichtine and the god Lugh in Compert Con Culainn and born as Setanta, taking the name Cú Chulainn when he kills the hound of Culann and offers himself as its replacement. He is trained by Scáthach, fights the whole of Táin Bó Cúailnge single-handed in his ríastrad or warp-spasm, and dies young at the hands of Lugaid and Erc, bound to a standing stone, in Aided Con Culainn. The Morrígan offers him her love, is refused, and becomes his enemy — a refusal that costs him.
Modern Practice
Cú Chulainn is called by fighters, athletes and the young, and by those who recognise their own gift for overcommitting. The practice is the feat done well and the geis remembered: the limits you accepted are not optional.