There is little we can say of the Goddess Danu with historical certainty. The stories we have say She is the mother of the Tuatha De Danann – the Children of the Goddess Danu. We know of Her primarily through analyses of Her name and comparisons of it with various place names, most notably the Danube River in Central Europe.
When I wrote about Her last year, most of what I had to say was my own UPG (unverified personal gnosis), my own experience of Danu. I see Her as Mother Goddess and Lady of the Waters. I hear Her calling us to become mothers: to give birth to new ways of living and being, and to nurture those new ways until they can stand on their own. In light of the human-caused environmental changes we face, the message of Danu seems more urgent than ever.
Earlier this year, a group of Denton CUUPS members committed to devote ourselves to deeper practice. For three of us, that deeper practice involved devotions to Danu. We felt called to make sacrifices and we did, in a ceremony where both Danu and the Spirits of Nature spoke to us loudly.
One of the members of that subgroup was Tesa Morin. Tesa is a photographer – she took the pictures of me that I use in the About section of this blog and as my Disqus photo. She also paints, specializing in hand portraits.
I do not know what transpired between Tesa and Danu. UPG can be difficult to communicate and I do not push others to describe their experiences. I just know Tesa was dissatisfied with the images of Danu she found and felt moved to create her own.
Danu spoke and Tesa painted.
Last Sunday Tesa came to my house to work on photography editing with me (I’m quite the amateur, but I’m trying to learn). I was surprised when she came in carrying a canvas, amazed when I saw what it was, and honored when she gave it to me.
I did not ask Tesa to interpret the painting for me and I will not attempt to interpret it for you. I will say it speaks to me of Her mystery, of Her work as Mother Goddess and Lady of the Waters, and of our commitment to Her.
It’s now hanging on my bedroom wall. Thank you, Tesa.
Blessed be this group of UU Pagans, who continually demonstrate that spiritual depth and devotion to the Gods can work very well in a Unitarian Universalist setting.
And above all, praise be to Danu, Mother Goddess and Lady of the Waters.
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