Lessons from the Cailleach, Goddess of Winter

From this Celtic goddess’s perspective, the winter is the beginning of everything and where life gestates before it can bloom.

The Cailleach is an ancient giantess who is said to have created the world itself. She is a part of many creation myths within the Celtic traditions, but there’s evidence that she’s even older than that—the oldest of the wizened old crones.

She is always understood as old and wrinkled. In some stories, she marches around throwing boulders out of her apron, creating the landscapes of Scotland and Ireland. In others, she has a magical hammer, much like the Norse god Thor, and hammers the landscape into place. When she’s complete with it all, she places a pure white blanket over the land, creating the snow. Keep reading…