Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
Women in Religion
What does it mean to be a Priestess of the Morrigan?

What does it mean to be a Priestess of the Morrigan?

Last updated on: September 5, 2023 at 7:07 pm by Joey Morris

0 Comments

What does it mean to be a Priestess of the Morrigan? 2023-09-05T19:07:50+01:00 Joey Morris

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

photograph – Selenit / Free for Canva

Priestess of The Morrigan

Just over ten years ago, I began publicly speaking about working with the Goddess Morrigan.
The journey had begun long before that.
The road had been long, arduous, and painful. I was a survivor. I had seen and experienced parts of humanity I would not wish on anyone.

Ten years ago I began speaking on my experiences as a form of service to The Morrigan, and with the hope to grow my understanding of what it meant to be a Priestess in Her service.

Not everyone will identify with the title ‘Priestess,’ and that’s perfectly okay. Choose whichever label (or none) suits you best.
I use it because I feel it needs reclaiming, much like Witch does. To live authentically within a title is to seek to undo misconceptions about that word.
I feel that to be a Priestess is to be of service, even when that service is difficult or painful.

There is no ancient lineage of Priestesses when it comes to The Morrigan.
Arguably, there is no unbroken line of Priestess-hood anywhere in Europe, for even the practice of Druidry has undergone alchemy time and time again over the centuries.

At University I studied history and found it fascinating – I still do, and learning about history is still a passion of mine.
But spirituality is not confined to the annals of history – it is a living breathing practice, flavoured by the uniqueness of each person engaging in it.
There are no hard and fast rules, and anyone telling you that there are – is selling something.

The Morrigan is a Goddess who has always walked besides me, though I did not know Her name until later.
Being Her Priestess is the honour of my life, a strange and difficult path, but rewarding in its way. I can only tell you what it means to me to be a Priestess of the Morrigan…

Photo – pixelshot / free for canva

1. Working through your Shadows

As a Priestess of the Morrigan, nothing has defined the path more than working through ones shadows.
The concept of Shadow work evolved from Jungian Psychology and the premise of the archetypes of the self; the Shadow being the repressed parts of self that a person refuses to acknowledge.

Shadow work has become a hybrid of psychological and spiritual insight, in order to better understand yourself, your soul, in this lifetime.

Under the Goddess Morrigan, there is no hiding from your personal shadow.
In Her mythology, the Morrigan incites chosen warriors to battle.
She orchestrates social and political upheaval through battle. She calls on those She chooses and inspires them to change – to become who they were always meant to be.
Many of those battles are psychological – although this is not often explored from the storytelling.
The psychological impact and driving force of will to be a warrior in ages gone past (and now) can leave people with internalized scars.

Not all battles involve spears (or their modern equivalent) – but all wounds hurt.

The point of working with The Morrigan has always been, in my opinion, a reclamation of self. A call to personal sovereignty and empowerment. Overcoming the worst experiences of your life and healing yourself afterward.
A commitment to the constant shaping and shifting of the self.

2. Reflecting others Shadows

This is a particularly difficult part of being a Priestess of the Morrigan – that I have ended up being a mirror to other peoples’ shadows.

I name this being a “shadow-poker,” or “shadow priestess,” whereby just by existing you incite others to anger, or malice, or jealousy, and even rage, because what they are actually seeing is a reflection of themselves.

This is not when you have done something to merit that response, by the way. Personal accountability is key when working with The Morrigan.

But the truth remains I have experienced real vitriol at the hands of complete strangers.
I have been threatened with terrible things.
I have been lied about, gossiped about, bullied and harassed to the point where I have absolutely thought about quitting public life.

But here’s the rub… If you don’t stand your ground, fight back against bullying and injustice, stand steadfast in the Morrigan’s service… then you’re not really in Her service.

I am unsure if The Morrigan incites these people, or why. I have given up trying to understand others motivations. Merely, I do not accept the shadows of others as a mantle around my neck any longer.

We cannot escape being portrayed as the villain at some point in our life. Sometimes perhaps we deserve some of it. Sometimes none of it.

3. Live as honourably as you can

Honour and having an ethical code might sound simplistic, but dishonour really does lead to downfall under The Morrigan.

As The Morrigan is a Goddess of War, amongst many other aspects of Herself, people think that excuses the worst impulses and behaviours.
I have never found this to be the case.

Warriors throughout history were inevitably drawn to codes of behaviour and ethics – possibly because they could not live with themselves otherwise.
Those that revelled in murder and death were problematic in peace time.

There is a great deal of the Morrigans’ surviving myth that links Her with a lust for carnage – and in the heat of the battle, perhaps this is an allegory for how Warriors too must be. Frenzied in the act of warfare with no other concerns – for a wandering mind would lead to death.

There are problems with representation of myth of course – and consider the source of their re-telling was Christian monks.
To defame a Goddess in the annals of history is barely a footnote at the hands of these authors.

For most of us, warfare isn’t really an issue.
We have to navigate a political landscape and interactions with one another.
What we do with that freedom is a reflection of who we are… but The Morrigan is the Silent Watcher.
She knows.

4. Anger is a resource

In modern spiritual circles, the modern phenomenon of toxicity positivity has some in a choke hold.
It dictates that you should abstain from certain emotions to be a “better” person – whilst setting up people to fail.

Everyone gets angry.

Everyone should have the full cycle of human emotions (other than psychopaths,) as this is the natural state of being.

Working with the Morrigan has certainly been a long road when it comes to understanding the emotion of anger.
Being incited to arguments, learning not to show up to every battle you’re invited to, and getting to grips with the alchemizing force that is the emotion of anger has been a journey like nothing else.

Finding the places your anger is repressed, waiting to spill forth and scream like the Morrigan Herself.
Seeing the places where your anger is unmerited, and needs balancing.
Understanding that anger can be transmuted into purpose and used as a resource to fight injustices of our world…

Anger can help you focus – as long as you don’t live in it permanently.

5. Pain into Purpose

Many of those who find themselves called to the Morrigans’ service have been through the worst kinds of life events.
Their pain is palpable. You can feel it escaping off them as they talk, as though steam being released into the ether.
But in the spirit of the Warrior, they never give up, or let it beat them.

Turning pain into purpose has been one of the most difficult and rewarding aspects of being a Priestess of the Morrigan.
It is reclaiming sovereignty from where it was stolen away, and rebuilding yourself one day at a time.

But as I have, and continue to, do this, let me tell you – if I can beat all of my worst days, then so can you.
I believe in you.

About Joey Morris

Joey Morris is a Celtic Hedgewitch, Priestess of the Morrigan, author, and creatrix behind Starryeyedsupplies. Having shared a prolific amount of information surrounding topics of Paganism, Celtic Hedge Witchcraft via Youtube since 2012, Joey has been serving the pagan community with videos, books, sacred poetry and physical witch items for over ten years. You can read more about the author here.

Previous Post

August 15, 2023

How to connect with Tree Spirits as a Witch

Next Post

August 27, 2023 Misinformation and The Morrigan

What Christian group believes in "Anabaptism"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Anglicans Lutherans Mennonites Presbyterians