Nuada of the Celtic Pantheon

I have worked with deities from many different beliefs over the years; Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Sumerian, Nordic, and so forth, but just recently I've been working a lot with the Celtic pantheon. I live in the UK, in an area with a lot of history, especially spiritual history, and the Celtic Gods and Goddesses are a huge part of that history. Something about it just clicks with me, I feel at home with these deities, and so have been researching and meditating and communing with deities a lot.

One Celtic God I have especially enjoyed working with is Nuada. I have to admit, like a lot of female pagans I know, I do tend to focus more on the female aspect of worship (the Goddess) and so have been making a conscious effort to include more work with masculine side of things, so it is always a little bit exciting when I do find a male deity to work with.

Nuada was one of those. I decided to start researching him as part of my first degree studies as when I was looking up lists of different deities, his name really stood out to me. However, he is not a very well known deity, and although an important part of the Celtic history there is not that much information out there on him. So I thought I would post what I have found out, so that hopefully anyone looking into this intriguing character will have a bit more to go on. I have included not only generic information taken from study, but also a meditation I experienced where I met Nuada and what I learnt about him from that. Obviously deities appear differently to a lot of people, so this is just my 'interpretation' of my experience of Nuada and how he appeared to me.


History:

Nuada is one of the most famous Kings of Ireland, and had ruled as King of the Tuatha De Danann for seven years before they came to Ireland. Upon arriving in Ireland, Nuada sought out the King of the peoples who lived there, the Fir Bolg, and asked for half of the island for the Tuatha. Their King rejected him, and so both sides prepared for war. During the first battle at Mag Tuired, Nuada lost his arm fighting the Fir Bolg’s champion, Sreng. Aengaba of Norway, a mortal ally came to his rescue but was slain by the champion whilst fifty of the Tuatha’s soldiers protected him and carried him from the field.

As the Tuatha were winning the war, Sreng challenged Nuada to single combat. Nuada agreed, but only if Sreng would fight with one hand tied behind his back, to which he refused. But by this point the Tuatha were dominating the war and soon won, with the Fir Bolg all but vanquished. The Tuathe offered Sreng a quarter of Ireland for his remaining people, which he accepted.

Losing his arm meant that Nuada was no longer eligible for Kingship, as Tuatha tradition dictated that their King must be physically perfect. He was replaced by Bres, a half-Fomorian Prince who was known for his beauty and intellect. The Fomorians were ‘mythological’ enemies of Ireland, (in the same way that the Titans were to the Greek Gods), and his oppressive rule did not sit well with the Tuatha. During this time Nuada had his lost arm replaced by a silver one by the physician Dian Cecht and the wright Creidhne (and later with a new arm of flesh and blood by Dian Cecht's daughter Airmid and son Miach). Thus, Bres was removed from Kingship after seven years, and Nuada once again sat on the throne and continued to rule for another twenty years.

Bres, accompanied by the Fomorian known as Balor of the Evil Eye attempted to claim back the throne and more war and oppression followed. When Lugh joined Nuada’s court, he realized that this youth could lead the Tuatha against the Fomorians and so stood down in his favour. The second battle of Mag Tuired followed, during which Nuada was killed and beheaded in battle by Balor. Lugh avenged him by killing Balor and leading the Tuathe to victory.

He has many names, including Nuadha, Nuada Lámhairgid (of the silver arm) and Airgedlamh. He was the owner of the Invincible Sword, (also known as the Sword of Light or the Sword of Truth), which was one of the Tuatha’s Four Treasures, and could inflict mortal blows when drawn on his enemies, cleaving them in half. Because of this he was seen as a warrior God who specialized in weaponry, and can be called upon for protection and courage and all matters concerning sovereignty and justice.

“Valiant Nuada of the white sword,

Who subdued the Firbolg of blood,

For love of the Tribe, for pains of Danu's children,

Hold thy shield over us, protect us all,

Hold thy shield over us, protect us all!”

(A chant for Protection).

Sword of Nuada: Myself [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], from Wikimedia Commons

Information concerning Nuada is conflicting; I found sources which have him 
pegged as being associated with the elements of fire, water and air, amongst many other contradictions. So I decided to meditate to see if I could meet him and find out for myself.

I started meditating as I always do, deep breaths, grounding and centring.

I found myself stood on top of a hill, with a huge, stone castle in front of me with a wooden door with black, rusted fittings. I turned and looked around me. I was in a vale, surrounded by rolling hills and a forest which lay in front of me and stretched as far as I could see. It was morning; the sky was just getting light and a thick layer of fog covered the area, that early morning chill in the air.

I turned back to the castle door and pushed it open. It was stiff and heavy, but once I had opened it I found myself in a large room. A wooden spiral staircase was to my right, and red carpet on the stone floor, and a soft blue and yellow tapestry hung on the walls. Wooden furniture was dotted around the room, holding various gold and metal trinkets, and doors leading off to other rooms were built into the walls.

I walked around the room, looking, and felt compelled to climb the staircase. Also carpeted red, the wood creaked beneath my feet. I got to the top to find myself in a long corridor which wound round in a curve. I followed it, passing closed doors and more blue tapestry, this time a darker blue, hung on the stone walls. I came across a door, different from the others; it was wooden, but beautifully decorated with gold. I lifted the latch and opened the door to find another spiral staircase leading upwards.

I followed it up, and found myself in a round room, which had been cut in half by another wall with yet another door. Leaning against the wall was a sword and a suit of armor, and on the opposite side of the room a bath tub, full of water, and several large candles lighting the room. I could very much feel the presence of a warrior from all this.

I walked towards the final door and knocked three times. A man’s voice told me to enter. So I entered.

Nuada had his back to me, staring out of a window. He was wearing chainmail, as if he were about to go for a casual ride, a cloak of red and had longish black hair. I joined him at the window and looked out across the vale with him, taking in the stillness and eerily beautiful landscape. When I looked at Nuada he looked like a young man, full of strength and vitality, but had the air of a much older and wiser man. There was a small table with a leather bound journal and more candles on it, and I could see that he was recording the history of his people’s time in Ireland, like he wanted the real truth to be known. He struck me as the sort who didn’t particularly ‘like’ war, he wasn’t looking for a battle but cared deeply about his people and if that meant fighting to protect them and do what was best for them then he would. He was more about Justice and Leadership for the benefit of others.

I sat down on a wooden chair, and drank all of this in before thanking him. I said ‘Blessed Be’, and he just kind of laughed at me - I got the impression he was more of the ancient traditions and the phrase ‘blessed be’ wasn't for him. As he stood to leave, he told me to return and I said I would, before leaving the room, heading back the way I had come out of the castle and down the hill.

I got many things from this meditation; he was definitely a warrior, a strong leader, and I could understand why people associated him with the Sun. However, all the blues and yellows, and lots of other little things made me get the impression that he is most suited to the element of air. He was strong, yet cared more about leading his people and making sure he could do everything he could to give them a good life rather than fight. He cared about truth and knowledge, a teacher (also said to be a teacher of magick and sorcery) and struck me as a jovial yet serious man, more mature than his years would suggest. As someone who likes to get involved in the community and community issues, (attending rally's and protests and helping with awareness campaigns) I feel that Nuada would be a useful ally to ensure that the truth is heard and the people receive what is best for them. An interesting deity and one i would love to work with a bit more in the future, and would definitely recommend other calling upon him when matters of truth, justice and leadership are at the foray.