Message #216932

[Rachel Dearth]

The Celtic Minerva, or the goddesses equated with her, "taught the elements of industry and the arts," 2 and is thus the equivalent of the Irish Brigit. Her functions are in keeping with the position of woman as the first civiliser--discovering agriculture, spinning, the art of pottery, etc. During this period goddesses were chiefly worshipped, and though the Celts had long outgrown this primitive stage, such culture-goddesses still retained their importance. A goddess equated with Minerva in Southern France and Britain is Belisama, perhaps from qval, "to burn" or "shine." 3 Hence she may have been associated with a cult of fire, like Brigit and like another goddess Sul, equated with Minerva at Bath and in Hesse, and in whose temple perpetual fires burned. 4 She was also a goddess of hot springs. Belisama gave her name to the Mersey, 5 and many goddesses in Celtic myth are associated with rivers.