Scatach

Scatach

ORIGIN:

Scotland

Scatach is a warrior goddess who appears in the Irish epic, the Ulster Cycle. She runs a martial arts academy where she trains only the finest heroes, offering spiritual and magical instruction as well as physical. She also distributes magical weapons. One must pass a series of tests before she will train you. Her most famous student is Cu Chulain.

Among the arts she teaches Cu Chulain is something called the mighty salmon leap. She also gives him a weapon called the Gae Bulga—a type of barbed spear launched through water— and instructs him in its use. Its aim is true; it cannot miss its target. No adequate defense against it exists. Once it enters the victim’s body, its thirty barbed points expand; they cannot be removed without excruciatingly cutting away flesh.

Scatach is the shadowy one. The Gaelic word Scath means “a shadow or phantom” (although it may once also have had further implications, now lost). It may also be related to the word scathe. Scatach is a prophetic goddess: as Cu Chulain leaves her island, she foretells his future.

Realm: Scatach lives in Dun Scaith, the Fort of Shadows, described as being on the Isle of Skye. The portal may be on Skye but her home is beyond the Veil in the Otherworld. It is a difficult journey; one must cross a bridge to reach it.

SEE ALSO:

Aife; Maeve; Morrigan, The

SOURCE:

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses– Written by Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.