By Rev. Merrie Hutchins (Boudicca Andarta)

The Cailleach (pronounced COY-luck or CALL-y'ach), is a Celtic Crone goddess linked to the weather, winter, death and corn, as well as the stereotypical modern-day "Halloween Witch".

Like the Morrigan and Brigit, the Cailleach is a Triple Goddess; she can be found in Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and today in America as well. Now a generic Gaelic name for the Crone, "Cailleach" translates to meaning "Old Woman" or "Hag". Depending on where you find her, she has many names; in the Lowlands she was called Carlin, in the Highlands she was referred to as Hag of the Beare, in Northern Ireland she was known as Cally Berry, on the Isle on Man she went by the name Cailleach ny Groamch and in England they called her Black Annis. There are still other variations of her name including Black Mother, Cailleach Bolus, Cailleach Bheur, Digi No Duineach, Digne, Cailleach Bui, Cailleach Corca Duibhne, Hag of the Mill, Cailleach na Dudain, and Old Woman of the Mill. According to Robert Graves, the Cailleach is another form of the Irish Scathach and the Norse Skadi. Perhaps this goddess is a master of transformation and evolution, changing with the times so that she can live on!

Regardless as to where she resided, she usually, but not always, had a bad reputation. Although better known for her "darker side", she had a "lighter side" as well. Medieval legend turned her into the Black Queen of the Western Paradise (Summerland). In Faery-tales she is the Triple Goddess, the hag who dies of old age and is "laid to rest" and then reborn at Imbolc into the body of the young goddess Brigit. The country of Caledonia was named after a derivative of her name and then she traveled to America where she is the guardian of wild animals as well as the streams and wells (again, like Brigit). Her "darker side" is linked to the spring storms that are fueled by her rage. It is said that if you make her mad, she will unleash the Faoiltach (wolf storm) which prevents Bealtaine's warmth from returning to the land. In this aspect, she is not to be tangled with as she is a wild hag with a venomous temper and after being reborn at Imbolc, she leaves by raising the tempests in her wake. Perhaps she got this turbulent reputation by her connection to the seasons and their weather. Her storms are responsible for changing the landscape; as the "Old Woman of the Mill", the Cailleach regulates the turning of the mill of life and death (in this aspect she is the Gaelic counterpart of the British goddess Arianrhod of the Caer Sidi). It is her job to usher in winter by washing her plaid in the Corryvreckan whirlpool and when she is done, the plaid of Scotland is winter white. Winter is the time of her reign; she is the personification of winter from Samhain to Bealtaine and the period of time between Hallowmas and Candlemas is known as the "months of little sun" and ruled by the Cailleach. November first, the day after the final harvest of Samhain , is her day, the day of the Reign of the Old Woman Cailleach. Some say that it is better to leave her alone, but actually there is nothing to fear. In fact, she began as a Celtic Earth Goddess of abundant crops.

The Corn Dolly isn't just for Imbolc anymore; it has an association with a practice in Ireland called "snigging the Cailleach". The Cailleach was known as the Cailleach Bera; a Celtic Corn Spirit of Irish folklore. It was common practice that the final swathe or sward of corn of the last field was plaited in four pieces before being tied and taken to the house that held the harvest feast. The husband and wife of this house would wear the Corn Dolly, sometimes decorated with brightly colored ribbons, for a few minutes each while giving thanks for the harvest and saying prayers for the harvests to come. Sometimes the Corn Dolly would be used as a centerpiece or hung on the wall. After the feasting and dancing concluded, the Corn Dolly was hung from a kitchen rafter to ensure the future prosperity of the land. The Corn Maiden, a strong supernatural being of immense cunning, rules Mabon (the Autumnal Equinox) as Demeter, Bried, Maighdean-Bhuana or the Cailleach.

Another version of the Cailleach is the Faery Cailleach Bhuer (pronounced CALL-y'ac V'fhoor); the Blue Hag, the Black Annis or Stone Woman. You can look for her during the waning moon walking in the Scottish Highlands (where she is greatly feared) or near the Western Sea in Faeryland and you will know her yellow skin and her black or blue tattered garments. Wearing an apron full of stones, she is described as a wee old woman who walks by night, when she is said to be most active, with a carrion crow on her left shoulder and carrying a walking stick. This holly staff is topped with the head of a carrion crow and whoever is touched by it will die instantly. During the summer while she is dwelling in the Land of Winter, it is buried under a tree and then retrieved again after Samhain night. Whoever finds the staff will have power over the destiny of human life. Similar to the Cailleach, the Cailleach Bhuer's power is greatest from Samhain to Ostara and she too has a nasty reputation. But it is possible that her ill-temperment may have its origins in the early Scottish churchmen who worked to stomp out the Old Religion by demonizing the Crone. Ironically, this is how she has survived to our present-day.

Some modern-day witches are insulted by the image of the "hag" plastered on windows and doors as Halloween decorations. Until researching the Cailleach, I too was one of them. She has also been described as having a hideous face of either a black or blue hue with one large eye in the middle of her forehead, a pronounced dowager's hump covered by a red or green cloak, a mess of white hair and carrying a staff. This "evil" Faery who brings death and winter is the image that has been distorted into our modern-day "Halloween Witch"; riding a broomstick instead of carrying a staff, a black cat in tow instead of a black crow, a green face instead of a blue one and flying high in the clouds instead of residing in the corn. It seems that the Halloween Witch's cackle is the Cailleach getting the last laugh; although many tried to stomp her out, she simply wouldn't "give up the ghost".

So, to that I say, "Happy Halloween"!

Sources:

· Celtic Myth and Magick by Edain McCoy

· Halloween by Silver Ravenwolf

· Moon Magick by DJ Conway

· Solitary Witch: the Ultimate Book of Shadows for a New Generation by Silver Ravenwolf

· Witch's Guide to Faery Folk by Edain McCoy