I love Morgan Daimler's books, but unfortunately, there were some bioessentialist/transphobic statements in the section about the Morrigan as a mother goddess.

A big thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I'm always so thankful to have these opportunities!

Today we have a book that has a 4 triquetra rating of "I really liked it." Morgan Daimler is a well-known author in the Morrigan Community and I was very happy to dive into this 104 page book. While it can be read as a stand alone, I do find that I had a great understanding since I've read Daimler's first pagan portal book on The Morrigan.

I will also say that for me, as a devotee of The Morrigan, a lot of the information was repeat and clarifying information, versus new knowledge.

With that being said I do believe that those who are brand new to the Morrigan will be able to jump into this book just fine, even if they hadn't read the first pagan portals.

We start off with very basic information, and, as always, Daimler doesn't disappoint with leading us back to academic texts in order to have a solid foundation for our information.

There is a good mix of academia and personal anecdotal material that is common in Daimler's works - especially the pagan portals.

Honestly, one of the best parts of these books is that Daimler does the note-taking for you. Instead of having mythology translations in front of you looking for one little snippet, it's presented in this volume for you - such as when Daimler makes the list of color associations from three separate stories.

With that being said for those who have a harder time with more academic material this may be a bit tough for you to get through, which is where I deducted a triquetra. There are definitely times when it feels a bit stagnant and as if there isn't much heart put into the work. I dare to say it feels a bit boring and overwhelming at the same time - which alarmed me as one of Babd's Priestesses in Training.

If you're a devotee of Herself, I do recommend you pick this up, as it will help your academic studies of Our Great Queen.

Pagan Portals Raven Goddess Going Deeper with the Morrigan by Morgan Daimler

104 Pages
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing Ltd
Release Date: September 25, 2020

Nonfiction, Health, Mind, Body, Multicultural Interest, Religion, Spirituality, Goddess, Celtic

The book is divided into the following chapters.

Chapter 1: Towards a Deeper Understanding
Chapter 2: Misinformation and Truths about the Morrigan
Chapter 3: Nemain and Morgen la Fey: Untangling Confusing Connections
Chapter 4: The Morrigan’s Role in the Cath Maige Tuired
Chapter 5: Re-telling the Ulster Cycle: The Morrigan an CuChulainn
Chapter 6: Ancient Goddess in the Modern World
Chapter 7: Ways to Feel More Connected

I read the first book, Pagan Portals The Morrigan: Meeting the Great Queens. I have loved the Morrigan since I met her back in 1999. I thought she would be my matriarchal Goddess until Lilith showed me the way. The Morrigan is still with me, and I was happy to read this book and going deeper into knowing Her. If you follow Celtic traditions, or love The Morrigan, you will enjoy reading this book.

I enjoyed this book and was a wonderful exploration of The Morrigan. Felt accurate and well researched. Easy to digest. Would recommend exploring this author's other works.

Morgan Daimler did a fantastic job writing this more in depth book about The Morrigan. This book provides a very well-rounded history of the Morrigan and can be read as an introduction or to expand on one's knowledge about her. I am sure that I will be referencing this book often in the future and as usual, Daimler did a fantastic job citing her sources. I recommend this book to anyone interested in the Morrigan, as I was.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me an advanced e-reader's copy in exchange for my review.

I’m not new to Daimler’s books. I couldn’t believe how much information she packed into this small book. This is a definite read for anyone that’s interested in the Morrigan.

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advanced e-reader copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

This was definitely more of a deepdive than I expected, and I'm sure it'll be incredibly handy for anyone who would love to know the finer details of the Morrigan, but I found myself drifting with some of the stories and notes about her history.

Although it took me a while to get into this book, once I did I really enjoyed it! I will definitely be referencing it again in the future!

Raven Goddess is an excellent deep dive into The Morrigan and all the mysterious misconceptions surrounding her.

The Irish Goddess of war, battle, and prophecy has so many, and often conflicting, tales and common misconceptions surrounding her mythos that Raven Goddess provides many points of clarity. This book is primarily intended to clarify some common points of confusion and aid those wanting a more in-depth study of the Morrigan and all her many faces.

Generally, I am all for a deeper understanding of the lovely and mysterious Morrigan, but I'm not one for deep-diving into translations and the like. I felt like I was back in school writing my doctoral thesis. This book is very much for a niche audience and will be wonderful to help clarify and understand how common misconceptions were, well, conceived. For those just coming into the Morrigan path, this will probably be too much.

*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

I was a bit disappointed. Now mind you if this was one of the first books that I ever read on the subject I would be a bit more enthusiastic but as it stands, for myself, this was just more of the same. It is a short and quick read. Informative and well written. But again, for me, this was information I already knew. Maybe it is harsh on my part but that is how it is. For those unfamiliar with the subject however, by all means, go out and get a copy today!

This book really didn't capture my attention towards the Morrigan. I wanted to like it more and went back to read it multiple times but while packed full of information, it was written more like a textbook. Which, I think, is great in itself but not something that one would simply pick up and read. This book is meant to be digested in pieces and not all at once.

Will start out that this, as well as the books before it by Morgan are a must read if you are into Celtic Deities as she ferrets out details from translations where modern casual Gaelic reading man has not gone before & by doing so truly meshes out the stories from originally transposed or rewritten. Her translations & thought have added depth & insight to known tales of Sidhe which only encompass a fraction of what they were & are either then or now. So we begin: well finally I have gotten a book by Morgan on Celtic literature & deities to review & one about one of my favorite Goddesses! Morrigan is, I believe, as Morgan pointed out, probably one of three sisters with Badb & Macha. They make a trilogy as they work together tightly [& along with another probable cousin & Fae N] That is different than an actual triple Goddess but who's to say that is not true of all.
Now we are coming to why this is going to be shoddy: review book downloads don't allow copy/pastes of lines or anything else & there were many I wanted to touch on here. Mogan's ability to deep dive into translations is phenomenal as well as thought process & observations. While I might not agree with some of them I will take the stance she did on issues like this and feel her other insights more than make up for anything petty. With colors ascribed to Morrigan: white is the color of shrouds & death, red & black given, but see different color schemes, jewel colors into black with reds, purples, blues[cobalt to indigo], greens & grays. She also brought up the Fae special of shapeshifting which should always be looked at as insubstantial on how the Fae actually usually look most the time & their momentary disguises used for a reason. I see Morrigan as redhaired fair skinned with intense blue to shifting colors eyes. Badb of the red mouth as having raven hair & white skin with piercing blue eyes & Macha light skinned, dark tawny haired blue to green eyes. There's so much excellent content in observations & translations that I will be getting this book & the ones before it when I can. Decided to try & power point this as there are so many things to touch on & step by step she fleshes out things I believed without her meticulous back up:
The Sidhe existed before man & weren't created by man imo & pretty much same with all entities & Deities so this newer view taken from eastern Buddhist thought of I am God, God is me & especially the way that is used & abused is not a good fit & can really come back to bite the person hard depending on how far they take it or who they piss off. Yes, we all have a spark of divine inside of us depending upon person to person, their personality, experiences & past lives over how in touch with or strong. However the way modern paganism has at times tried to mold the old into their own now perception is a phenomena & further mold it into their excuses or worse something else. Especially with the Morrigan, they aren't your sex kittens or toys. As female they are sexual but not to be fetishized. Celts & Sidhe did go into battle naked, it was meant to strike terror into their enemies not entice as their next actions would have proven. If someone cuts off you head for a trophy & pulls out your guts to weave it isn't because they thought you'd be a hot date. It was meant to create the level of fear to paralyze others & right trauma people should feel. Nor are they motherly any more than the sense they are female in projection. This was personally touched on in one of many instances with another Deity & a woman who had high priestessed for some time. After a guided ceremony she took me aside & asked me if I believed in the Deities or what people were saying they had gotten out of these quests. I could tell she was going through some existential crisis over this & my thoughts were plain: Yes I believe in the Deities & as far as what people perceive, that is from their limited standpoint combined with their subconscious & immediate desires [someone had put another heavy hitter as a mother figure that was nurturing him] I know any major actually Deity presence in front of me has always been a terrifying, awesome experience that was permanently ingrained in my psyche, actually took my breath away & made me realize how very punkish I & humans truly are. They have also [the Morrigans in particular] been around when truly I needed them, pushing me to go on when it would have been physically impossible for others to do so & fight, I did & survived because of it. They are shown to humans as war Deities though they can be more to their own & selves.
Let us now go into a biggy that was reinforced by the egos of male translators that didn't translate whole passages. Morgan managed to unravel what I feel was a great insult to the Morrigan: Cu Chulainn: with all his daring do, he was an insufferable prat & arrogant fool never meant to hold the title of King [which considering some that did was even sadder], if not grasped already, the point dawned on most with his king size temper tantrum when the stone refused to name him King & he broke it. The stone knew he was unfit & so did the Sidhe especially Morrigan [will use the the in front if all three sisters are involved] She wasn't ever trying to seduce him imo, she was bent on tripping him up & showing him for what he was if he didn't change, which he was given three times to do so. Keep that three in mind because with the Celts it is major.
Now let us touch on a Welsh legend I feel based on fact: a ruler in Wales/Briton was murdered by a probable Roman general who had already devised, like those before him, to use Christianity as a ploy to destroy matriarchal rights & instill patriarchal rule [old stories penned by original monks & nuns in Ireland in the 100s reinforce this from how they lived & practiced before the new structure instilled by Roman Catholic church under Constantine created as norm model] he married the rulers wife & bred a son. The young daughter of real king was put in nunnery. By original rule she was next in line for throne but by new she was demonized & reviled even to have whatever heir she bore the false ruler claimed as his until he could kill him. Whoever/whatever she was she was not any of the Morrigan though can understand her worshipping them if such were the case. I feel like Aradia, she was a mortal deified by people to the point of giving her entity energy, but that's my take & it's solid, no she was no part of the actual Morrigan other than being pagan, maybe a witch & worshipper.
Rather than write a whole paper on this book I will just wholeheartedly suggest that you get it & can say I truly enjoyed it & it should be on any shelf of serious Celtic Deity translations. I am sure I might have been redundant here but just needed too get it done with emphasis on how much care was put into translations & ideas by Morgan

I love a nice, witchy book that focuses on one of my favorite goddesses that people worship. While this book does look and sound dark, it actually packs a ton of information in such a small piece that would be great for anyone who practices or is interested in the Raven Goddess.

*review based on an e-arc received through net galley


What I liked

-research and citation is clearly shown

- the Morrigan as the author understands them is explained in detail for those who may have Encountered conflicting information elsewhere.

-The written in an easy to digest tone and format.


What I disliked

- This book did not feel as though it added much to the author’s previous work.

-The work almost feels like a teaser for a larger and more in-depth look at the Goddess it covers.

This book is a good fit for the pagan wanting to form a working understanding of The Morrigan but is also a fun read for those just interested in Irish Pagan theology and mythology.

Daimler is my go-to author for all things The Morrigan. I highly recommend it. If you are interested in learning about The Morrigan you should read all of Daimler's books!

I'm happy I read this book because I learned something more and new about the Morrigan.
It's well written, well researched and it helps to dispel some myths about this gooddess.
I love Pagan Portal books and I think this is an excellent addition.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Another good book from Pagan Portals. Good for those who have an interest in the Morrigan. This can give you another perspective on her. Like other Pagan Portal books, this is on the smaller side since it is an introduction book. Good information overall.

An enjoyable, well-researched and erudite book about the magnificent, mysterious Warrior Queen, the Morrigan. Morgan's book speaks of the history of the period as well as delving into the appearance, her role in Celtic Mythology and discusses her belief regarding the Morrigan, both in history and modern retellings.
Many thanks to Net Galley, John Hunt and Morgan Daimler for my ARC.

In this latest offering from the Pagan Portals series, author Raven Goddess dispels many myths surrounding the Morrigan. Is she really a Goddess? The internet abounds with many falsehoods. Read this book to uncover the truth.

Also included is a list of sites in Ireland connected with the Morrigan and ways to connect with her at home. Readers will find a comprehensive list of resources for further study at the end of the book.

*eArc provided by the publisher and NetGalley

I've previously read one of the Pagan Portal books about Gwynn App Nudd and the Wild Hunt when I was doing research for a book I was writing, and I found it so informative and fun to read! I was not disappointed by this installment of their Pagan Portals series, and I will definitely be ordering a hard copy of this one once it's out. I also plan to buy more in the series because I really love how they give you a great deal of info in a tiny package, but also give you plenty to think about, and ideas on how to keep going with your research of any given topic.