Irish Goddess Flidais
by Priestess Kathleen Hare
Flidais of the tangled wood, mistress of stag and doe and all free creatures; Flidais of the flowing hair, lovely one, changing one, bride of kings and mother of champions, yours is the fair white cow that fed the army of Connacht, yours the swift and sturdy chariot drawn by wild-born deer, your firm hand guiding the skittish beasts with godly skill and certainty. Mighty is your will that brings to rein the headstrong and the mad, mighty your passion that sated the lusty king of old Ulster. Flidais, fierce one, gentle one, who follows no master, who bears no constraint, I pray for your favor. ~ Fields of Stone
*Flidais (pronounced fleesh) Flidhais (pronounced fliddish)
Flidais is the Irish Goddess of domestic herds and wild beasts, especially deer. She is Mistress of the Irish wilderness, forests, woodlands, and wild places in general. Guardian of Trees and Huntress are also two of Her job descriptions.
Sadly, not much remains in the folklore or records about Flidais. Her dominions in Ireland have been disappearing with deforestation over the centuries, as well as Her historical record and Her ancient domains.
She is mentioned in a prequel of the epic The Cattle Raid of Cooley called the Flidais Tain Bo or the Mayo Tain Bo. She appears in a few other manuscripts form the ninth and eleventh centuries. She is said to have been a fairy woman who came to this world and married a Connaughty man from Queen Maev’s court and was unfaithful to him with Feargus, an Ulster warrior. She possessed the incredible bald White Cow that could feed three hundred families in one milking.
GODDESS CORRESPONDENCES
Epithets: Of the Flowing Hair or Soft Haired One
Symbols: deer, comb, bow and arrow
Element: Earth
Animal Allies: deer and all antlered animals, cows, all forest creatures
Plants/herbs: all woodland trees, mosses, hay and fodder crops, forest mushrooms, wild flowers
Offerings: milk, petrified wood, found objects from the woods, antlers, acorns, bog oak
Colors: greens, browns, earth colors
Crystals: Connemara marble
Flidais would be a Goddess to petition for ecological matters especially loss of habitat and deforestation. She rules over animal husbandry, lactation, sexuality, wild things, and liminal spaces.
