Macha

(MAH-kuh) One of the three goddesses making up the triple goddess known to the Celts as Morrigan. Before Christianity the Morrigan probably had a lot to do with fertility, but post-Christianity she was known as a war goddess. Macha in particular is associated with death and destruction, but long ago she was linked with horses and childbirth. There is a myth about her outrunning a chariot when she was nine months pregnant, which inspired the following lyrics in the Tori Amos song 'Ireland': 'I remembered Macha running faster than the horses.'

Macha was the name of several figures in Irish mythology, all of them probably based on the same original Celtic goddess. In early Christianized Ireland myths got changed to eliminate all traces of pagan religions, so there is a tale of how Saint Patrick vanquished Macha.

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