Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions

Irish Gods.
1 2 ;
was the goddess of battle with the Tuatha, and one of
the wives of the Great Dagda. She was thought to have
her home in the SigJii^ or fairy palaces.
The Bona Dea of Rome is said to have been II}'pcrborcan.
Hence, observes Crow^e, it may have been Ireland that
gave the goddess and her worship to the Romans. ^As
Anu^ she may have been the goddess of wealth. Rca or
Reagk was, also. Queen of Heaven. Not a few crescents
have been found in the neighbourhood of Castle-reagh.
Dr. Keating calls the Moriagan, Badha, and Macha the
three chief goddesses of the Tuath de Danaans.
Her white-horned bull of Cruachan, Find-bennach, was
in direct opposition to the brown bull of Cualngc. She
was the goddess of prosperity. She occasionally appeared
in the shape of a bird and addressed the bull Dond. She
is
the Mor Riogan, and identified with Cybele.
The Female Principle was adored by the old Irish in
various forms. As the Black Vijgin, she is the darkmould,
or matter, from whose virgin material all things
proceed. She is the Ana-Perema, of the Phoenicians, and
the queen of women. She may be the Brid, Bndc or
Bridget, goddess of wisdom, but daughter of the Druid
Dubhthach. Several goddesses are like the Indian Dawn
goddesses. Aine, or circle, was mother of all gods. Ki,
or Roi, says Rhys, was " the mother of the gods of the
non-Celtic race."
The Celtic Hens or Estts was a mysterious god of Gaul.
The Irish form was Aesar, meaning, he zvho kindles a fire,
and the Creator. In this we are reminded of the Etruscan
Aesar, the Egyptian sun bull Asi, the Persian ./.svr, the
Scandinavian Aesir, and the Hindoo Aesicar. 1
he
Bhagavat-Gita says of the last that "he resides in every
mortal."
Hesus was acknowledcred in the P>ritish Isles. In one