AINE: BRIGHT; DELIGHT
Aine, ancient Ireland’s preeminent goddess, is a spirit of love, desire, and fertility, protecting humans from illness. As late as the ninth century, she was called Ireland’s “Magna Mater.” Aine was never forgotten and never lost her influence. Post-Chris tian ity, she was reclassified as a Fairy queen. She also sometimes masquerades as Saint Anne.
Beautiful Aine is an autonomous spirit, answering only to herself, taking lovers as she chooses, men and spirits alike. She has had liaisons with many men, bearing human children. She married Gerald, Earl of Desmond. Stories vary as to whether Aine captured him or whether he, discovering her bathing in the river, stole her cloak (like a swan maiden’s feathers or a seal spirit’s skin), refusing to return it until she married him. Their son, Geroid Fitzgerald, lives beneath Lough Gur. He rides out once every seven years on a white horse, but, legend says, he will someday emerge to rid Ireland of all invaders.
Aine, also known as Anu, may or may not be the same deity as Danu, divine ancestress of the Tuatha DĂ© Danaan. She may or may not also be identical to Black Annis and/or Aynia.
Aine is invoked for assistance with love and romance as well as for protection. She can heal infertility as well as many other ailments and can bestow the gift of fertility to women and men.
ALSO KNOWN AS:
An; Ana; Anu
ORIGIN:
Ireland (Munster)
MANIFESTATIONS:
She manifests as a beautiful woman or a red mare. Aine sits on what is called the Birthing Stone in Lough Gur in mermaid form combing out her long hair. She makes appearances on Cnoc Aine in the form of a wizened old woman. Those who greet her politely and graciously meet her mild demands receive good fortune. Those behaving otherwise learn the meaning of the word trouble.
PLANET:
Sun
COLOUR:
Red
ANIMALS:
Horse, cow
ELEMENT
Fire
DIRECTION:
South
TIME:
Aine is at the peak of her power at the Summer Solstice. Her rituals are held on Midsummer’s Eve. Torches of hay and straw were waved over crops, cattle, and women to transmit her blessings of protection and fertility. The festival of Lughnasa, now associated with Lugh, may originally have been dedicated to her. (See also: Lugh.) Lughnasa Day is 1 August: the three days prior are dedicated to Aine, an older, more primordial deity than Lugh: the entire festival may once have belonged to her.
PLACES:
Aine lives in a marvelous castle at Cnoc Aine (anglicized: Knockainy; literally “Aine’s Hill”), near Munster’s Lough Gur. A twelfth-century text reports that this hill was given to Aine until the world’s end. Lough Gur belongs to her, as do The Paps of Aine, a pair of breast-shaped mountains, considered her embodiment. She is also embodied in the isle of Knockadoon, whose form resembles a squatting, pregnant woman giving birth.
SEE ALSO:
SOURCE:
Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses – Written by : Judika Illes
Aine (aw-ne). The fairy goddess to whom, with her sister Fenne (or Finnen), Knock Aine and Knock Fennine on the shores of Lough Gur are dedicated. They were the daughters of Egogabal, a king of the Tuatha de Danann.
Of Aine there is a version of the swan maiden story, very similar to those of the Gwragedd Annwn of Wales.
One day, as Aine was sitting on the shore of Lough Gur combing her hair, Gerold, the Earl of Desmond, saw her and fell in love with her. He gained control over her by seizing her cloak, and made her his bride. Their child was Earl Fitzgerald, and the taboo imposed upon his father was that he must never express any surprise at anything his son might do. One night, however, showing off his skill to some maidens, he jumped into a bottle and out again, and his father could not restrain a cry of surprise. Fitzgerald at once left the castle and was seen swimming across the lough in the form of a wild goose towards Garrod Island, under which his enchanted castle was said to lie. At the same time, Aine disappeared into Knock Aine.
This story was collected from informants by Evans Wentz and included in The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries (p. 79). A somewhat similar story is the more widely known legend of Mullaghmast.
SOURCE:
An Encyclopedia of Fairies: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies, and Other Supernatural Creatures written by Katharine Mary Briggs – Copyright © 1976 by Katharine Briggs