Morgana - good fairy or evil witch. Morgana Pendragon: character description and photo Ritual of the Goddess: Journey to Avalon

Morgana

One of the few characters present in all Arthurian texts, including the most ancient ones, Morgana remains the most unexplored and controversial hero. Arthur's half-sister, she either helps her brother or turns out to be his worst enemy, Morgana leads the true knight astray, uses witchcraft to make the king fall in love with his own sister and conceive Mordred, helps Mordred in the fight against his father. But, nevertheless, she finds herself among the nine great witches accompanying Arthur to Avalon.

Researchers are inclined to believe that, born of pagan tradition in earlier texts, Morgana was not the mortal sister of a mortal king, but a goddess, half-sister of the demigod Arthur, called upon to preserve the ancient pagan traditions. But from the very beginning, Arthur rushes between Christianity and paganism and, depending on this, his relationship with his sister changes.

The nine witches who take Arthur to Avalon then turn out to be nine pagan goddesses, and Avalon is a pagan paradise, where, contrary to Christian tradition, Arthur is alive to this day and waits for the world to need his power again.

John Roddam Spencer-Stanhope, Morgan le Fay

Morgana le Fay

Morgana le Fay, in Celtic mythology, a witch and sorceress, half-sister of King Arthur, his sworn enemy.

One of the myths tells how the sorceress persuaded the knight Tristram to accept as a gift a magnificent golden shield, decorated with a strange design - the knight Lancelot taking captive the royal couple, Arthur and Guinevere. When Tristram came to the king's court and took part in a knight's tournament, during a duel with Arthur, the king's spear split on his enchanted shield.

There is a well-known story about how Morgana stole Excalibur, Arthur’s wonderful sword, gave it to her beloved Accolon, handing the king a copy, a fake. However, Morgana, who combined the practice of black magic with the art of healing, plotted Arthur only during his lifetime, but after his death she took him to Avalon, where she became his guardian.
The image of the sorceress Morgana le Fay from Celtic legends was later transformed into the image of the sorceress Fata Morgana. Fata Morgana, in the ideas of the European Middle Ages, a sorceress, mistress of the islands of the blessed - “islands of apples”; Her name is associated with the name Fata Morgana (i.e. Morgana Castle), which sailors gave to mirages.

... and wept bitterly. The ladies took Arthur into the boat, and the king laid his head on the knees of Fairy Morgana. And his sister took him to the wonderful island of Avalon. There, among the wonderful apple trees, where the golden fruits of oblivion grew, Arthur was healed of his wounds...

Fairy Morgana

- a sorceress, a character in English legends of the Arthurian cycle. The optical phenomenon Fata Morgana got its name in honor of her. Her main gift is healing.

Her image is often combined with the image of her sister, Morgause, who was never a sorceress, but gave birth to his future destroyer Mordred in incest from her brother Arthur.

In literature
In early works, Morgana is shown simply as a sorceress, the doctor of Arthur (Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chrétien de Troyes). In late medieval literature, her role increases, and she becomes a blood relative of Arthur: in Thomas Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur,” she is already his older half-sister.

In the conflict that arose after the discovery of Ginevra's betrayal, Morgana takes the side of Mordred against Arthur.

Mentioned as one of the sorceresses who carry Arthur to Avalon after he loses the battle and is mortally wounded.

"Morgana le Fay", Anthony Sandis, 1864

Fata Morgana, George Watts, 1865

Name spelling options
Morgan Le Fay (English), Morgan La Fay, Morganna, Morgaine, Modron, Fata Morgana (Italian).

Family
parents (according to Malory):
father - Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall
mother - his wife Igraine (in the future - the wife of Uther Pendragon)
brothers and sisters:
Elaine, mother of one of the Knights of the Round Table (Galeshin).
Morgause, mother of Mordred and Gawain.
King Arthur (half-uterine, due to mother's extramarital affair)
spouse (appears in The Vulgate Cycle (1215-1235):
Urien of Gore, king
son:
Owain, Knight of the Round Table
daughters (according to Torquato Tasso):
Morganetta
Nivetta
Carvilia

Other stories
In one version, Morgana, as a girl, after her widowed mother's wedding to Uther Pendragon, was sent to a monastery to become a nun, but instead secretly learned magic.

The Vulgate Cycle of Arthurian Legends states that Morgana served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Ginevra and had an affair with the king's nephew, Giomar. When Ginevra put an end to this affair, Morgana, in revenge, revealed to Arthur the queen's relationship with Lancelot.

She was in love with Lancelot, but he rejected her passion, despite the fact that she captured him several times. She gave the unsuspecting Sir Tristan a shield on which the king, queen and Lancelot were depicted; the shield was supposed to serve as a hint to everyone present at the tournament. Arthur ignored his sister's hint.

In Malory, Morgana persuades her lover Sir Accolon to steal both Excalibur and the British throne. King Arthur meets him in a duel, without a magic sword, but still defeats him with the help of the Lady of the Lake. Realizing that her plan had failed, she steals the sword's scabbard (which had the magical ability to heal wounds), and Arthur suffers from loss of blood.

Le Morte d'Arthur, James Archer.

Magic abilities
Chrétien de Troyes speaks of Morgana as having great healing abilities. In addition, she has the skill of werewolf (hence Fata Morgana) and can fly.

Subsequently, Merlin trains Morgana and further increases her powers.

Many of Morgana's abilities are believed to have been mitigated or eliminated by the Christian literary tradition. She probably had more power in previous versions. However, references to her living on and ruling over Avalon, a magical island, have not disappeared. She takes Arthur's body to Avalon so that he wakes up at a critical moment for England, along with two mysterious queens - the Queen of North Wales and the Queen of Wasteland. Option - there were 4 of them, one more - the Lady of the Lake.

Morgana was probably originally a pagan Celtic goddess. (Roman sources mention a Celtic mother goddess named Modron, and there was also an Irish goddess Morrigan). In addition, it is possible that her image was taken from the water nymph of the Breton legends of the same name (12th century).

In 1982, the International Astronomical Union named the crater on Saturn's moon Mimas the name Morgana.

Henry Fuseli. "Prince Arthur and the Fairy Queen." OK. 1788 g

Books
First mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini c. 1150.
The image is significantly developed in Le Morte d'Arthur by Thomas Malory.
Mentioned in Harry Potter. Featured on trading cards.
In cinema
In the cartoon “School for Sorceresses,” the Queen of the Earth Fairies is named Morgana.
In the film The Great Merlin, she is played by Helena Bonham Carter.
In the film The Mists of Avalon (based on the novel by M. Z. Bradley), she is played by Julianna Margulies (known for her role as nurse Carol Hathaway in ER).
She is played by Helen Mirren in the film Excalibur. The image is combined with the image of Morgause and Nimuey.
In the Stargate series, Morgana is an Ascended Ancient.
Morgana is played by Katie McGrath in Merlin.

# Personal rhythm of life

Morgana le Fay/Fairy Morgana is the Celtic triple Goddess of death and rebirth, she manifested as a beautiful young girl, a domineering mother/creator, and a death-bringing crone. She was also the Goddess of the Sea ("Mor" is Celtic for sea). Her last name has two meanings: "fate" and "fairy". In the legends of King Arthur, she was his half-sister. When King Arthur was dying, Morgana came to his aid and took him to the magical island of Avalon, where she healed him and then put him into a deep sleep, from which he would awaken at the right time.

What does the Goddess teach?

Morgana will come into your life, dancing to the magical beat of her drums, to remind you of your rhythm of life. What is your personal rhythm? Do you know the best time for you to exercise, sleep, eat, work, create, make love and other activities? Or do you spend all your vital energy adapting to the rhythms of your family, lover, friends and work? Perhaps you were immersed in the life of someone else and lived his/her rhythms rather than your own? You probably never knew your own rhythm of life because of the desire to please others and be “one of the team.”

It is very important to live according to your own rhythm. When you are in the flow of your own rhythm, you have more energy because you are no longer suppressing what comes naturally to you. Fairy Morgana says that vitality, health and wholeness can be recreated when you swim with the flow of your own unique rhythms, rather than against them.

Goddess Ritual: Journey to Avalon

Find a time and place where no one will disturb you. Light a candle and open a sacred space. Sit or lie comfortably with your back straight and close your eyes. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Take another deep breath and exhale as if you were a fire-breathing dragon, breathing out fire with tension. Take another deep breath and as you exhale, see how far the flames of your tension reach. Now take another deep breath and when you come out, see, feel, feel that you are in a small boat. It could be a boat that is familiar to you, or one that exists in your imagination. The boat rocks back and forth, back and forth, and lulls you into a state of deep relaxation. It's so nice to rock gently in the boat as it carries you through the water, safely and securely.

You look up and see a curtain of fog. The fog slowly clears, creating a passage for your boat. After you pass, the fog thickens again. In front of you is the island of Avalon. Your boat lands on the shore, and you go out onto land. Fairy Morgana greets you and invites you to Avalon.

She asks what you need, and you tell her that you have come in search of your personal rhythms. She takes your hand and leads you to her magical vision pool in the middle of a circle of apple trees. You go there and sit on the big boulders near the water. Morgana takes her wand and stirs the water in the pond. When the pond becomes calm, look into it - on the surface of the pond you will see exactly what you need...

Thank Fairy Morgana for her help, and if she asks you for something, give it to her * . Then, she accompanies you back to the boat.

You get on the boat and it sets off. Again, the mists part before you and then close again. The gentle rocking of the boat calms you down. You come back feeling clear and focused; when you return, you feel what you need to do; you feel renewed and revitalized.

You take a deep breath and exhale slowly, returning fully back to your body. Take another deep breath and as you exhale, open your eyes. Close the sacred space and put out the candle. Welcome!

Fairy Morgana and court gossip. (legend)

"Nine sisters in that land rule according to the laws of the wise,
Ruling those who come to them from our lands.
The eldest of the nine is the wisest in the art of healing
And she far surpasses her sisters in beauty;
Her name is Morgana..."

Fairy Morgana (Morgan Le Fay, Morgian, Morgaine, Morganna, Fata Morgana) is a very famous character, but mysterious and ambiguous. Mainly because different chroniclers covered her life and work in completely different ways: some described her as a kindly fairy healer, while others described her as a witch, an antagonistic figure to King Arthur and a traitor.
Be that as it may, it is believed that Morgana was the daughter of Lady Igraine, the mother of King Arthur and her first husband, Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. Igraine's second husband was Uther Pendragon, father of King Arthur. According to some rumors, Uther Pendragon raped Igraine after her husband left for war.
In any case, Morgana was related by blood to Arthur, which determined her fate to a large extent.
There is a lot of information about Morgan, but, as already mentioned, it is somewhat contradictory.
The first mention of her is recognized as the work of Geoffrey of Monmouth “The Life of Merlin” (Vita Merlini), dating back to the 12th century, according to which Morgana was the eldest of 9 children of the family of the rulers of the island of Avalon.
However, many researchers point out that the character of Morgana originates in ancient Irish legends about Morrigan - the goddess of darkness and the dead, depicted as a raven.
Chretien de Troyes describes Morgana as a healer who has the ability to transform into any animal and can fly.

But that's not what we're going to talk about.
Fairy Morgana spent quite a lot of time at the court of King Arthur and became the main character in many epoch-making conflicts and intrigues.
Perhaps Morgana's inconsistency is due to the fact that life has not been easy for her. Firstly, Uther Pendragon, having married Igraine, seemed to send Morgana to a monastery, where they made fun of her and mocked her. Secondly, she was a beautiful lady and full of character.
Neither Merlin, the most famous and powerful magician of those times, who taught her magic, nor King Arthur's nephew Guiomar, nor Arthur himself could resist Morgana. Also, Sir Accolon, who tried to steal the sword Excalibur, is considered her lover.
Thirdly, according to some sources, Morgana had the ability of telepathy, could see the future and even change it.
Perhaps the reason for the negative attitude towards Morgana was vulgar envy. Well, judge for yourself, what beautiful and smart woman can avoid this? and even at court. The main conflict in Morgana's life was her relationship with Ginevra, Arthur's wife.
Actually, the beginning of this conflict was not even the story of Lancelot, but religious strife. Ginevra, as you know, was an ardent Catholic. Morgana came from Avalon, the Isle of Apples, which since ancient times was a place of training and rest for the Druids. Considered a priestess, and according to other sources, the queen of Avalon, Morgana saw it as her duty to protect the Druid possessions from the encroaching Christianity and preserve ancient traditions.
Of course, the court gossips reduced everything to the Morgan-Ginevra-Lancelot love triangle. However, this hypothesis does not stand up to criticism. For many sources claim that Ginevra did cheat on Arthur physically and was exposed by Morgana.
Morgana has a complex relationship with Arthur himself.
It is assumed that she had a son - Mordred, the killer of King Arthur. But it is not entirely clear who his father was. According to one version, Mordred was the son of Arthur himself. This fact is cited as justification for Mordred's hatred of his royal relative. The fairest king of all time allegedly seduced Morgana, despite Merlin's warnings about impregnating his own executioner. The legend says that Morgana, having become pregnant by her brother, was forced to leave the court and retire to Avalon.
According to another version, Mordred's father was the king's nephew - Sir Guiomar or Gindomar.
According to the third option, Morgana was very young when she picked up the king, mortally wounded in the battle with Mordred, and took him to Avalon; no family relations with Mordred are mentioned in this option.
The same confusion is observed in the description of Morgana's relationship with Merlin. Some researchers mention that Merlin taught Morgana necromancy and made her a witch. Others argue that the opposite is true: Merlin taught Morgana magic and made her a good fairy.
One thing is clear: at first they were lovers, and then they had a fight. And Merlin neither forgave nor forgot Morgan. But the story depends on how it is told and on whose side the storyteller is.
However, all chroniclers agree on an interesting fact: Morgana took the mortally wounded Arthur to Avalon to care for him and awaken him when the world needed him to become the Greatest Just Ruler of all people.
This is despite the fact that Arthur was rumored to have forced Morgana to marry King Urien of Gor, with whom she was not happy.
Therefore, it is not recommended to believe rumors and gossip originating from the palace environment. Gossip always creates confusion, as many people probably know from their own experience.
Morgana is credited with many different adventures, two sons and three daughters. It is obvious that like all strong personalities, she had passionate fans and sworn enemies.
And this fairy, no matter what, took upon herself the responsibility for preserving the greatness of King Arthur for centuries.
(With.)

Eva Green - Camelot

Tarja Turunen - Anteroom Of Death.

I bring to your attention another post in the series.
Fairy Morgana is a sorceress, a character in English legends of the Arthurian cycle. The optical phenomenon Fata Morgana got its name in honor of her. Her main gift is healing.

Her image is often combined with the image of her sister, Morgause, who was never a sorceress, but gave birth to his future destroyer Mordred in incest from her brother Arthur.

First mentioned in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Vita Merlini c. 1150.

In early works, Morgana is shown simply as a sorceress, the enemy of Arthur (Geoffrey of Monmouth, Chrétien de Troyes).

James Archer (1823-1904).The Death of King Arthur. 1860.

In late medieval literature, her role increases, and she becomes a blood relative of Arthur: in Thomas Malory’s “Le Morte d’Arthur” she is already his younger half-sister.

Sir Edward Burne-Jones. 1833 - 1898. Morgan Le Fay.1862.

In the conflict that arose after the discovery of Ginevra's betrayal, Morgana takes the side of Mordred against Arthur.

Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys (1829–1904). Morgan Le Fay. 1864.

Morgana is mentioned as one of the sorceresses who carry Arthur to Avalon after he is defeated in battle and mortally wounded.

George Frederic Watts (1817–1904). Fata Morgana.1865.

Name spelling options: Morgan Le Fay (English), Morgan La Fay, Morganna, Morgaine, Modron, Fata Morgana (Italian).

John Roddam Spencer-Stanhope(1829 - 1908).Morgan le Fay.1880.

In one version, Morgana, as a girl, after her widowed mother's wedding to Uther Pendragon, was sent to a monastery to become a nun, but instead secretly learned magic.

Beard, Dan(iel Carter) (1850-1941), Mrs. Le Fay.1889.

Beardsley, Aubrey (1872-1898), How Morgan le Fay Gave a Shield to Sir Tristram.1893.

The last sleep of Arthur. Edward Burne-Jones. 1898.

Ford, H. J. (1860-1941), Morgan le Fay Casts away the Scabbard. 1902.

Chrétien de Troyes speaks of Morgana as having great healing abilities. In addition, she has the skill of werewolf (hence Fata Morgana) and can fly. Subsequently, Merlin trains Morgana and further increases her powers.

Pyle, Howard (1853-1911), Queen Morgana le Fay. 1903.

Many of Morgana's abilities are believed to have been mitigated or eliminated by the Christian literary tradition. She probably had more power in previous versions.
Pyle, Howard (1853-1911), Queen Morgana Loses Excalibur His Sheath. 1903.

However, references to her living on and ruling over Avalon, a magical island, have not disappeared. She takes Arthur's body to Avalon so that he wakes up at a critical moment for England, along with two mysterious queens - the Queen of North Wales and the Queen of Wasteland. Option - there were 4 of them, one more - the Lady of the Lake.

Rackham, Arthur (1867-1939), How Queen Morgan stole away the scabbard from Arthur. 1917.

And they cried bitterly. The ladies took Arthur into the boat, and the king laid his head on the knees of Fairy Morgana. And his sister took him to the wonderful island of Avalon. There, among the wonderful apple trees, where the golden fruits of oblivion grew, Arthur was healed of his wounds...
Christian Waller (1895 - 1956). Morgan le Fay. 1920.

Flint, William Russell, Sir (1880-1969), "Madam," said Sir Tristram, "This is a Fair Shield and a Mighty." 1927.

Mentioned in Harry Potter. Featured on trading cards.

Flint, William Russell, Sir (1880-1969), Morgan le Fay Was Put to School in a Nunnery, and there She Learned so Much that She Was a Great Clerk of Necromancy. 1927.

In 1982, the International Astronomical Union named the crater on Saturn's moon Mimas the name Morgana.

Frank Cadogan Cowper. 1877 - 1958. The Four Queens Find Lancelot Sleeping. 1954.

Morgan le Fay by Ken McCracken.

Morgan Le Fay Poster By Johanna Pieterman.

Morgan Le Fay. Emily Balivet.

Morgan le Fay. Jonathon Earl Bowser.

Morgan le Fay.

Morgana le Fay and sir Accolon by ~any-s-kill on deviantART.

Morgan le Fay.

Royal Mail has released a special set of stamps featuring the world's most famous wizards, witches and wizards.

Excursion.

"Fairy Morgana"(from Old Welsh name Morcant: môr (sea) + cant (circle) or from Old Galician named after the Celtic goddess of war and death Mórríghan (Mhór Rioghain - “Great Queen”)) is a sorceress, a character in English legends of the Arthurian cycle, half-sister of King Arthur. The optical phenomenon Fata Morgana got its name in honor of her. Her main gift is healing.

Her image is often combined with the image of her sister, Morgause, who was never a sorceress, but gave birth to his future destroyer Mordred in incest from her brother Arthur.

Chrétien de Troyes speaks of Morgana as having great healing abilities. In addition, she has the skill of werewolf (hence Fata Morgana) and can fly.

Subsequently, Merlin trains Morgana and further increases her powers.

Morgana is mentioned as one of the sorceresses who carry Arthur to Avalon after he is defeated in battle and mortally wounded.

Lovers of Celtic antiquity tried to find the gates to the mythical Avalon in different parts of ancient Britain and Ireland, in particular, on Glastonbury hill, where at the end of the 12th century a certain grave was discovered with the inscription: "Here lies the illustrious King Arthur, together with Guinevere, his second wife, on the isle of Avalon."

Many of Morgana's abilities are believed to have been mitigated or eliminated by the Christian literary tradition. She probably had more power in previous versions. However, references to her living on and ruling over Avalon, a magical island, have not disappeared. She takes Arthur's body to Avalon so that he wakes up at a critical moment for England, along with two mysterious queens - the Queen of North Wales and the Queen of the Waste Lands (The Queen of Northgales and the Queen of Wasteland).

“Avalon, Avalon (English Avalon, Latin Insula Avallonis) is a mythical island, the land of the dead in those that have come down to us... On the top of Mount Thor, located next to the city, a round-shaped temple was erected in pagan times. During the life of the historical Arthur (5th-6th centuries), the Somerset marshes were hidden by water, so that the top of the Tor rose above them like an island. Therefore, Mount Thor is identified with the mythical Avalon, the land of magic. The lake surrounding the mountain is mentioned in the legend of Arthur's sword Excalibur: a woman's hand rose from the waters, clutching a blade in a rich sheath, and handed this sacred weapon to the future great king. When Arthur suffered his first and last defeat in battle with his illegitimate son Mordred, the king asked the squire to throw the sword back into the waters of the lake, and the same woman's hand grabbed the sword in flight and disappeared under the water. The dying king himself was taken by the Lady of the Lake to Avalon. Other legends say that it was not Nineva, but Morgana - the king's sister, who was his enemy, but reconciled with him. According to legend, on the magical Avalon, Arthur waits for the hour of his return to Britain.

So, first of all, Avalon, also known as the “Isle of Apples,” is the place where the magical boat takes King Arthur, who received a mortal wound in the last of his earthly battles. To this day, the debate continues about whether this place is some kind of fairy-tale country, or a place that actually exists, the place where Arthur went to die.

They say that sailors often saw a green island in the middle of the ocean, shrouded in clouds, covered with fog, an island of such beauty that you couldn’t take your eyes off it. But the ships that tried to approach the island disappeared and never returned to their native shores. Those who did not dare to approach said that the island, having appeared for a short time, disappeared, as if dissolving into thin air.

And it was this island, long before the advent of Glastonbury, that was called Avalon. And it was there, they say, that the boat brought Arthur, and the Mistress of the island, Queen Morgen (aka Morgana), with the help of eight of her friends, the greatest sorceresses, healed the mortal wound. Legends also tell that the souls of pagan druids and heroes found shelter here, not light enough to go to Christian heaven, and not dark enough to burn in hell, they live here, in the land of evergreen forests.

And here, finally, is the magical land of fairies and elves, which was sought in vain on earth, in which time flies hundreds of times faster, in which the most beautiful living creatures live, in which music always sounds.

And few people have returned from that beautiful country, so no one knows how to get there.
An island in the fog appears and disappears. The few who returned talked about underwater caves and forest paths leading to the entrance to Avalon (after all, it is not difficult for the magical island to land on the shore). But no one remembered where they were and could not find them again.

And only Thomas Learmonth, a poet who always told the truth, once told his friends how his beloved, the fairy queen, brought him to a clearing and said: “You see three roads: the first of them, narrow and steep, overgrown with thorns and briars, so that only a narrow tunnel remains - this is the path of the righteous, rarely does anyone dare to walk this road. The second, wide and straight, where sunbeams dance and flowers grow, is the path of vice, it is for mere mortals. The third, the one that winds upward through the thickets of ferns, the one that is covered with moss like a carpet, is the road to a magical land...”

Morrigan ("Great Lady Raven", "Great Queen") - goddess of war in Irish mythology.

In the mythology of the Irish Celts, Morrigan was one of a whole group of Irish warrior goddesses. She can be perceived both as a separate deity and as a kind of trinitarian goddess. The goddess herself did not take part in the battles, but she was certainly present on the battlefield and used all her power to help one side or another.

Morrigan also associated with sexuality and fertility; the last aspect allows us to identify her with the mother goddess. In addition, Morrigan in legends is credited with the gift of prophecy and the ability to cast all kinds of spells. As a warrior goddess, she assisted the gods of the Tuatha Dé Danaan on the battlefield at both Battles of Mag Tuired. Her sexuality is emphasized in the legend of Cuchulainn, when she tried to seduce the hero, but was rejected by him, causing a jealous hatred of Cuchulainn to flare up in her heart.

Morrigan is also known for her ability to change her appearance. Thus, she often takes the form of a raven or crow. On the day of the arrival of the Tuatha de Danaan clan on the land of Ireland, Morrigan, Badb and Macha decided to resort to the help of the magical knowledge that they mastered while in Finias, Gorias, Murias and Falias. They dispersed the "rains and thick impenetrable" druidic mists“across all the lands of Ireland, under the influence of which fire and blood poured straight out of the air on the people of the Fir Bolg clan, so that the poor natives had to hide in remote shelters for three days and three nights.

The many-faced goddess of war

In Celtic mythology, the phenomenon of tripling deities, like Brigid, is often encountered (this phenomenon is also true for other mythologies, like Hecate was triple). This “fate” did not pass over the goddess of war, since in myths there are references to several Morrigans, with whom researchers identify four goddesses of war: Morrigan herself (“great queen”), Badb (“furious”), Nemain (“poisonous”) and Fi (“evil”). To this series you can add the image of Mahi (personification of battle). The Morrigan cult was accompanied by magical rituals and bloody rites. Morrigan was usually depicted wearing military armor and holding a spear in each hand. Her battle cry was menacing and loud as the cry of ten thousand warriors. Sometimes she appeared in the guise of a loving beauty in long green robes, who inspires heroes to exploits, helps them, and with the help of her charms determines the outcome of the battle. In addition to this, the usual form for a goddess, she took the forms of a crow, an eel, algae, a she-wolf, a red heifer (cow), a crippled old woman, and appeared in the form of a black-haired maiden, standing with one foot on the right bank of the river and the other on the left.

Morrigan and heroes

Nuada

At night, before the battle with Fir Bolg, a mysterious beauty appeared to the king of the Tuat, Nuada, and shared his bed. Before leaving her lover, the stranger kindled the true fury of a warrior in the king, and she herself turned into a crow and flew around the battlefield. Nuada realized that it was Morrigan herself.

Dagda

Before the second battle of the Tuat at Mag Tuired, with the Fomorians, Morrigan appeared to Dagda, as she appeared to Nuada. The goddess promised that she would turn her spell against the king of the Fomorians, Indeja, “drying up the blood in his heart and taking away the buds of valor,” so when the unfortunate man appeared on the battlefield, he was already doomed. During the battle itself, the goddess encouraged the Tuatha, raising their morale.

Cu Chulainn

Next, Morrigan appears in the sagas of the Uladian cycle associated with such a hero as Cuchulainn. She appeared to the hero as a young black-haired girl in a chariot, dressed in a multi-colored cloak and green dress, and offered her love and help in the wars. But Cuchulainn rejected this proposal, saying that he was tired of wars and did not want to deal with women. “Then it will be bad for you when you deal with men,” answered the stranger. Then she disappeared, and in her place a croaking crow appeared. Then the hero realized who he was dealing with. Subsequently, the goddess interfered with Cuchulainn in battles in every possible way: once, for example, she turned into an eel and wrapped herself around the hero’s legs. But the hero managed to wound Morrigan every time. As a result, he once met a crippled old woman who was milking a cow with three teats. Cuchulainn asked the milkmaid for milk, and she gave three portions of milk taken from each of the nipples. Each time the man thanked the old woman for a new portion of the drink, and the old woman’s injuries went away as a result. This was Morrigan, thus cured by Cuchulainn of the three injuries he inflicted during the fights with Morrigan. Since then, the goddess and hero became inseparable companions.

Parallels

As Julius Evola notes, in many epic works the heroes are in one way or another associated with women, be it “ladies of the heart” who inspire a man to exploits, or even mysterious female figures, like Valkyries, who were a kind of “mystical” addition to the hero, “images transcendental levels of the warriors themselves, the forces of their destiny and their victory.” Obviously, Morrigan plays the role of just such a female figure who does not fight herself, but acts magically. Her ability to induce battle rage, as in the case of Nuad, or to “drain the blood,” that is, to take away vitality and energy, to raise morale, indicates her connection with the psyche of warriors, so it is not difficult to recognize the anima of heroes in Morrigan.

Fata Morgana

A complex optical phenomenon in the atmosphere, which consists of several mirages. With this phenomenon, distant objects appear enlarged and greatly distorted. There are a large number of theories that try to explain this phenomenon, but we will focus on only one.

So, according to Fraser-Mach theory in order to For Fata Morgana to occur, certain conditions are required. The most important thing is that the dependence of air temperature on altitude is nonlinear. At first, the temperature increases with altitude, reaching a certain level, the growth rate gradually decreases. Scientists call this phenomenon, but with a sharper drop, an air lens. This effect is quite clearly substantiated by meteorologists, but there is no point in saying that it is the cause of the occurrence of Fata Morgana.

This optical phenomenon got its name in honor of a fairy-tale character. Namely the heroine of the fairy Morgana. According to legend, she is the half-sister of King Arthur. The one who was rejected by the brave knight Lancelot. It was the love drama that caused her to settle at the bottom of the sea. The crystal palace became her home. And the visions that she sends to sailors became revenge.

There are many examples of the Fata Morgana phenomenon. So in 1902, the American scientist Robert Wood took a photo showing two boys walking on the water of the Chesapeake Bay between yachts, while the height of the boys in the photo exceeded 3 meters.

One morning, back in 1815, residents of the small town of Verviers in Belgium fearfully watched a military battle in the sky. A little later it became known that this was the battle of the French army at Waterloo. Moreover, the distance from Waterloo to Verviers is more than 100 km.

A little earlier than described, in 1684 an unknown island appeared in the Irish Sea, on which a beautiful city was located. Later, the same image appeared in 1908. The island disappeared as unexpectedly as it had appeared.

In the summer of 1994, near St. Petersburg, observers noticed the domes of St. Isaac's Cathedral in the sky. The image appeared in a circle that shimmered with all the colors of the rainbow. The image was visible for a short time, then it disappeared.

In any case, the bizarre picture of a Fata Morgana is obtained as a result of the reflection and refraction of rays, real-life objects that appear on the horizon, or several distorted images above it.

In 1762, the sailors of the whaling ship Aurora saw some new unknown lands in the Atlantic Ocean, not far from the Falkland Islands, which they named the Aurora Islands in honor of their ship. Believing the sailors' report, geographers even put them on maps, but later no one found these islands in the indicated location.

Residents of the Cote d'Azur of France have also happened more than once to observe how distant mountains of some large island appear on the horizon in the Mediterranean Sea, and then disappear without a trace into the air...

Fata Morgana has a hand in all these and some other similar jokes. However, the insidious sorceress likes to fool people not only with non-existent islands. Sometimes she can organize a military parade right in the air.

In 1785, for example, according to eyewitnesses, unknown troops twice marched over the Polish region of Silesia.

In 1848, exactly the same incident occurred near Vienna. Newspapers even wrote about this incredible incident at that time.

And Fata Morgana sometimes shows sailboats flying high above the earth with crews on board. For some reason, such flying ships appeared especially often in the 90s of the 19th century. Then a certain American Charles Fort even wrote a book “New Lands”, where he claimed that these were ships... of unknown intelligent creatures from other planets.

The ever-changing aerial images and paintings of Fata Morgana were described in detail and colorfully by the Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen in the fairy tale “Wild Swans”:

“Eliza saw in front of her a mountainous country, as if floating in the air, with masses of shiny ice on the rocks; between the rocks towered a huge castle, entwined with some bold airy galleries of columns; below him palm forests and luxurious flowers, the size of mill wheels, swayed. ... She saw in front of her the wonderful, ever-changing cloud castle of Fata Morgana. ... Eliza again fixed her gaze on the castle, and now the mountains, forests and castle moved together, and twenty identical majestic churches with bell towers and lancet windows were formed from them. ... Now the churches were very close, but suddenly they turned into a whole flotilla of ships; Eliza looked more closely and saw that it was just sea fog rising above the water. ... Before her eyes there were ever-changing aerial images and pictures!”

Anton Pavlovich Chekhov also describes a similar optical illusion in his story “The Black Monk”:

“A thousand years ago, a monk dressed in black walked through the desert, somewhere in Syria or Arabia... Several miles from where he was walking, fishermen saw another black monk who was slowly moving along the surface lakes. This second monk was a mirage. Now forget all the laws of optics, which the legend does not seem to recognize, and listen further. From the mirage came another mirage, then from another a third, so that the image of the black monk began to be endlessly transmitted from one layer of the atmosphere to another. He was seen in Africa, then in Spain, then in India, then in the Far North...”

Flying Dutchman

A long time ago, a legend appeared about a ghost ship - the Flying Dutchman. The captain of this ship was condemned to rush around the seas and oceans for an eternity, without stopping anywhere. According to legend, a meeting with this fearsome ship foreshadowed imminent disaster, a shipwreck.

Many said that they saw the “sailboat of death” with their own eyes, and all the stories were similar to each other: the flying Dutchman suddenly appeared out of nowhere in front of the ship, appeared quietly and silently, swam straight to the ship, not responding to signals, and then just as quietly disappeared into fog.

Now we can say that this legend appeared due to the ignorance of people of the past about the upper mirages. After all, as a rule, sailors saw reflections of distant ships that were not visible under normal conditions and mistook them for a mysterious ship of death.

The reason for the appearance of upper mirages over the sea is determined by the following: refraction of light rays. Rays of light in the air are not linear; when a ray passes from air of one density to another, it is refracted. Most often this is an invisible process to the eye of the observer, however, it also happens differently.

Under certain conditions, so-called atmospheric mirrors appear in the air, which means that one of the layers of air becomes capable of reflecting rays of light (the lower layer is much colder than the upper air layer). Under such conditions, the upper warm layer begins to reflect from itself everything that is below, and you can see what is on the horizon. Distant islands, ships, streets, cities begin to appear before the observers.

Here is an example of an observation by a captain whose ship was near the North Pole. The ship made its way through ice hummocks and fragments of ice fields that sparkled in the rays of the bright sun. Soon the following picture appeared before the sailors: huge ice mountains, snow-covered fields with ice hummocks, a radiant coast with hills.

In our country, an example of an upper mirage can sometimes be observed not far from St. Petersburg, in the city of Lomonosov, which is located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Residents of the city cannot observe with their own eyes all the splendor of St. Petersburg, but sometimes there are days when the city appears before them in full view, the clear outlines of bridges, buildings and the beautiful Neva cannot but please the eye.

Fata Morgana is an unusual and very complex form of mirage, which is visually embodied in a narrow line above the horizon: distant objects are visible many times and with great distortion. That is, Fata Morgana is a moving mirage, creating a haze of changeable images before the eyes. The mirage received such a beautiful and unusual name by combining the Latin word Fata (fairy) and the name of the evil sorceress Morgana from the British epic about King Arthur. In the old days, they believed that Morgana created mirages at sea in the form of beautiful castles or cozy green islands in order to lure sailors to certain death, to the most dangerous and disastrous places.

Fata Morgana, when showing objects, very often distorts them, and the result can be completely unrecognizable. Such complex mirages have been seen on land and in the sea, in polar regions and in deserts - in short, Fata Morgana does not have any specific location. This type of mirage reflects not only beautiful castles or large islands, as the legend says, but also boats, coastlines, and ships. The image is complex, changes quickly, is inverted (even turned upside down), folded in half, compressed and stretched - in a word, it performs a wide variety of tricks.

Fata Morgana is most common in polar regions, especially over large glaciers with uniformly low surface temperatures. For Fata Morgana to appear, the thermal inversion must be strong enough, creating within its limits a much stronger bending of light rays than the earth does, so to speak, in the background. Under these conditions, the rays bend and create arcs. In this case, the observer must be either within the atmospheric channel or below it - then the mirage will have a viewer.

Three types of mirages

If on a hot summer day you stand on the railway track or a hill above it, when the sun is slightly to the side or to the side and slightly in front of the railway track, then you can see how the rails two or three kilometers away from us seem to be plunging into a sparkling lake, as if the tracks were flooded flood. Let's try to get closer to the "lake" - it will move away, and no matter how much we walk towards it, it will invariably be 2-3 kilometers away from us.

Such “lake” mirages drove desert travelers, languishing from heat and thirst, to despair. They also saw the coveted water 2-3 kilometers away, they wandered towards it with all their strength, but the water receded and then seemed to dissolve in the air.
The origin of "lake" mirages is easy to explain. The sun's rays heat the soil, which heats the lower layer of air. The heated air rushes upward, immediately being replaced by new air, which in turn heats up and flows upward.

The second type of mirages is no more complex in origin than “lake” ones, but more diverse. They are usually called "distant vision mirages."

On a clear morning, residents of the Côte d'Azur of France have seen more than once how on the horizon of the Mediterranean Sea, where the water merges with the sky, the chain of Corsican mountains rises from the sea, about two hundred kilometers from the Côte d'Azur.
This type also includes overturned mirages, which have been observed more than once from a balloon near the sea coast.

A greenish fog suddenly appeared above the clouds, like an overturned reflection of the sea, and in it ships were clearly visible, sailing with their masts down and their keels up. Such mirages were also caused by the redistribution of warm and cold layers of air. A decrease in air density with height causes rays reflected from objects located low above the horizon to bend downward. We always see objects in the direction of the last segment of the ray coming from the object to the eye, and therefore they appear higher than their real position. This is normal atmospheric refraction: its value is greater the closer the object is to the horizon. It “lifts” objects and makes them visible from afar due to the decrease in air density with height, which leads to a strong downward bend of the rays and allows you to “look” beyond the horizon.

For the third type of mirages, no convincing explanations have yet been found. Just to give some examples.

One man in 1852, from a distance of 4 km, saw the Strastbourg bell tower at a distance, as it seemed to him, of two kilometers. The image was gigantic, as if the bell tower appeared before him enlarged 20 times.

In 1878, when the United States was at war with the Indians, whites at Fort Abraham Lincoln saw a detachment that had recently left the fort marching across the sky. The soldiers of the garrison later interpreted the mirage as a terrible omen, for it became known that the entire detachment had died in the battle with the Indians.

In June 1815, residents of the Belgian city of Verviers saw an army in the sky, so clearly that the uniform of the soldiers could be distinguished. It was the morning of the Battle of Waterloo. The distance between Verviers and Waterloo in a straight line was one hundred and five kilometers.
In March 1898, at night, the crew of the Bremen ship Matador, while crossing the South Pacific Ocean, saw a strange haze. A ship jumped out of it and rushed straight towards the Matador. Then it disappeared somewhere. On the seventh bell of the night, that is, half an hour before midnight, a ship fighting the storm again appeared on the leeward side. It was very strange, because around the Matador the water was completely calm. But the sailboat seen from the Matador was flooded by furious waves, rolling over it. The captain of the "Matador" Gerkins, despite the complete calm, ordered all the sails to be reefed, fearing that the unknown sailing ship would bring the wind with it...
Meanwhile, the sailboat approached. The waves carried him straight towards the Matador. And suddenly the ship flew away in a southerly direction, taking with it a mysterious storm, and on the Matador the bright light in the captain’s cabin suddenly went out, which everyone saw through two windows, until the mysterious ship disappeared. Later they learned that on the same night, during a strong storm, a lamp exploded in the captain's cabin of another ship. When the time and degrees of longitude of the two ships were compared, it turned out that the distance between the Matador and the other Danish ship at the time the mirage appeared was about 1,700 km.
There is a truly inexplicable phenomenon here: the transmission of images on the same scale and even the amazing bending of the earth's surface by mirages. Scientists are talking about some kind of “lenses” out of thin air. It seems that only this can explain the visibility of a life-size ship more than one and a half thousand kilometers away. Isn’t this also the origin of the mirages known as the “Flying Dutchman”? Or is this an example of mass psychosis, the fruit of a frightened fantasy? And if “lenses” are in the air, then for what reasons are they formed?.. So far, there are no answers to these questions.