The Goddess Etain

Have you ever felt a sense of magic in the air?

That titillating sense of excitement that can't quite be put into words?

Or, have you ever felt that you have been dragged through the mire

almost to the point of complete hopelessness and despair,

when suddenly, you break through,

a new day dawns and you find your soul soaring to new heights?

This is the wonder of Etain.

This is the magic and the beauty that She brings into our lives.

Etain (pronounced Ay-deen) is a Celtic Goddess whose name means "Shining One". A Goddess of beauty and grace, She is also one of the White Ladies of the Fae. She is associated with the sun, dawn, the sea, rain, water, healing, medicine, earth, fertility, horses, butterflies, apple blossoms, swans, music, fragrance and the transmigration of souls. It is said that the land goes dormant when Etain is not around and the flowers bloom when she comes near. Her stone, the emerald, signifies the greening of the earth that She brings about. Her trees are ash and elder. She belongs to the Hare Moon of April/May.

Etain's story is called "The Wooing of Etain". It begins with a king of Ireland named Eochaid Ollathair(also called the Dagda, or the 'good god') having a desire to lay with Eithne (or Boand) who was the wife of Elcmar. So the Dagda sends Elcmar away on a journey and works all manner of spells to keep him from returning early and thus discovering that the Dagda had been with his wife. Eithne conceives and bears a child names Aengus Mac Oc, the God of Love. The Dagda takes his son to Bri Leith in Tethba to be fostered by Midhir, King of the Fae. There Aengus was raised for nine years, thinking Midhir was his father. Finally, after a spat with another youth, Aengus comes to know his true parentage. He and Midhir set out to ask the Dagda for land to be given to Aengus as is his right, being the King's son. Through some conniving and trickery on the parts of all three, Aengus ends up with the land once owned by Elcmar.After a time, Midhir comes to visit Aengus Mac Oc, and a quarrel breaks out between some youths. Midhir goes down to the playing field to break it up, and in the process, loses an eye. Aengus brings the great Tuatha De Daanan physician, Dian Cecht, to restore Midhir's eye, and then promises him a reward. One of the many things that Midhir asks for as a reward is "the maiden that surpasses all the maidens in Ireland in form", who is Etain, daughter of Ailill. She is described as the dearest and gentlest and loveliest in Ireland. Aengus goes to Ailill and asks for Etain. He is declined unless he does a series of impossible tasks, which he performs with the help of the Dagda. Finally Ailill asks for Etain's weight in silver and gold. She was placed on the floor in Ailill's house and her weight of gold and silver was given to him, and Aengus brings Etain home to Midhir.
Etain and Midhir remained with Aengus for a year, and then left for Midhir's castle. Midhir's first wife, Fuanmach, was a jealous and powerful woman, who had been raised by a wizard. Immediately upon seeing Etain, she wished her ill and turned her into a pool of water, which changed in to a worm and then into a purple fly (butterfly).But alas, Fuanmach finds out where Etain is, and blows up another wind. This time, Etain is tossed around for a thousand years, until finally, she falls into the drinking cup of the wife of Etar, who becomes impregnated with her and gives birth to her again, naming the girl child Etain. From the time she is a young girl, Midhir finds her and comes visiting, but she doesn't recognize him. She grows up and marries Eochaid, king of Ireland. It is then that Midhir challenges Eochaid to a game of chess. They play a few games for stakes and Eochaid wins. Midhir gives him what he asks for. Finally, Midhir wins, and asks for a kiss from Etain. Eochaid could not turn down the request and retain his honorability, so he arranges for the kiss to take place on a certain night.However, on that night, he places guards all around and through-out his kingdom, to keep Midhir out. Midhir appears out of nowhere in the midst of the dining hall, takes Etain in his arms and the two of them change into swans, linked together by a golden chain, and then they fly off to his castle in Bri Leith.

Etain was bartered and sold. She was mistreated, hated, and changed into a lowly fly. It was one thousand and twelve years from the time of her first incarnation as the daughter of Ailill, to the time of her incarnation as the daughter of Etar. During that time she knew hunger, weariness, and hopelessness, yet she did not give up. She continued on, and in the end remembered who she was and was reunited with the love of her life.This is what Etain teaches us. No matter what comes our way, no matter how the storms of life toss us around, no matter if the entire world hates us and scorns us, there is still hope. We WILL be transformed, balanced and made whole. She reminds us that we too will shine like Her, and be reborn, both physically and spiritually. Nothing that happens to us can change our inner essence.

The butterfly is significant in Etain's story because of it's symbolism of transformation, rebirth and resurrection. Butterflies are not born butterflies. They must go through a series of stages. These stages are egg, larvae, cocoon, and finally emerging as butterfly We, too, go through these stages. Not only in our physical bodies and spiritual lives, but also in various projects we have in life. We can use these stages to determine exactly where we are. For example, do we have an idea? Then we are in the egg stage. We are in the larvae stage when we decide to act on our idea; the cocoon stage when we begin doing something to make it a reality; and the butterfly stage when we bring our idea out into the open and share it with others. All four of these stages are necessary steps that must be undertaken in order to arrive at transformation. All four of these stages are necessary steps on the road to rebirth.

The swan is also very symbolic in the story of Etain. Swans are symbols of love, beauty, transitions, spiritual evolution and faithfulness. Swan teaches us that by knowing ourselves and remaining faithful to who we truly are, we will be transformed from the ugly duckling to the beautiful swan. Swan teaches about surrendering to the spiritual flow in our lives and letting our true beauty shine forth.

Call on Etain when you are weary, she will answer.
Call on Etain when you have forgotten who you are and she will remind you.
Call on Etain when the only strength you have left is that of speaking her name
and she will come to you and bring the beauty back into your life
with her power of transformation.
Call on Etain. Her loveliness will surround you and take you home.