Dian Cécht
Dian Cécht is the physician of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Cath Maige Tuired: he bathes the wounded in the well Sláine at Achad Abla, chanting with his sons Miach and Octriuil and his daughter Airmed, so that the hurt return to the next day's fighting, and he boasts that he can heal all but the decapitated.
Dian Cécht is a literary physician rather than a deity with an attested cult; his nearest thing to liturgy is the ninth-century St Gall incantation invoking 'the salve which Dian Cécht left with his family', which is Christian-era medical magic, not pagan worship. Mercury, the Moon and Saturn, the elements, zodiac, tarot and sabbats are modern Hermetic and Wiccan overlays; the Bretha Déin Chécht attribution is a medieval legal fiction and 'god of healing' is a modern summary of a narrative role.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Mercury
Offerings
- Offerings
- HerbsWater from a healing wellThe work of caring for the sickA record of a remedyBandages burned
Sacred timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- Dían CéchtDiancechtCainteCanta
- Gender Expression
- Masculine
- Titles
- Physician of the GodsThe Swift SureKeeper of the Well of SláineFather of Miach and Airmed
- Symbols
- WellHerb bundleKnifeSilver hand
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneClinical and compassionateAddressDian CéchtPhysician of the GodsSwift Sure OneRelationshipThe physician who will not lie about the prognosisWarningHe heals and he also kills what threatens his artResonanceHealers herbalists carers those who tend the wounded
- Modern Practice
Called on by healers and carers, at the bedside rather than the altar, with the well and the herb bundle as working symbols. The Miach story is used as a warning about jealousy inside a craft and about the limits of what medicine can restore.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- HealingMedicineHerbsThe wellSurgeryRestorationThe limits of cure
- Mythology Summary
Dian Cécht is the physician of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Cath Maige Tuired: he bathes the wounded in the well Sláine at Achad Abla, chanting with his sons Miach and Octriuil and his daughter Airmed, so that the hurt return to the next day's fighting, and he boasts that he can heal all but the decapitated. He makes Nuada a silver hand with Creidne; when Miach restores a hand of flesh and blood he kills his son out of professional envy, and later scatters the herbs Airmed has catalogued. An early Irish law tract on injury, Bretha Déin Chécht, is attributed to him.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsGreenWhiteSilverScentsRosemaryLavenderMyrrhMetalsSilverBronzeAnimalsSerpentHoundSwan
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