Dā́nu is one of the oldest Indo-European deities there is. She is the mother of primordial waters – a goddess of rivers, all holy waters and of fertility. As the original river goddess, Dā́nu is the giver of life and the giver of fertility to the land. This is why all Indo-European peoples worshiped by rivers and gave votive offerings in rivers and springs, for fertility and health. Dā́nu is holy water personified.
In fact, the term Danu or Danava (plural of Danu) appears to form the very substratum of Indo-European identity per se. Note how Homer continuously refers to his ’Greek’ people as Danaans in the Iliad and Odyssey. Those who know the Celtic mythology know that Tuatha Dé Danann (the people/tribe of Danu) is what the Celts called the original mythical race they were children of. The construction Don- or Dan- is an extremely common name of rivers all over Europe. We have giant rivers like Danube (Donau in German and Scandinavian), Don, Donets, Dniepr, Dnjestr and Dysna. Several rivers in Britain called Don. We have the city of Donetsk, we have the whole country of Denmark (Danmark in Danish) and the nationality Dane. And so it comes as no surprise that the Vedic river goddess is called Dānu in Rig Veda, that the Brythonic had goddess Don, the Romans called the god of river Danube Danuvius, that the Irish had Danan/Danu, mother goddess of the Tuatha dé Danann and so on and so on.
Take a listen to this prayer to Dā́nu above, while you contemplate your own identity and roots!
(Prayer written by our founder Björn Ekdahl.)
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