This book looks closely at one of the Irish gods. The author covers his name, its many variations and meanings that explain more about who the Dagda is. They also focus on his physical description and relationships with other deities.

The Dagda appears in many myths and Morgan Daimler writes especially about Lebor Gabala Erenn, The Cath Maige Tuired, The Four Jewels of the Tuatha De Danann, The Taking of the Sidhe, The Wooing of Etain, How the Dagda got his staff, Aengus’s Dream, The Coir Anmann and Metrical Dindshenchas.

An important part of understanding the Dagda’s nature is knowing about his possessions and associations and their significance. His possessions are the cauldron (I found fascinating that despite the modern neopagan symbolism of feminine and Goddess energy, the cauldron in Irish and Celtic myth is often associated with Gods and symbolizes abundance, healing and sometimes rebirth), staff and harp. Some associations and aspects of the Dagda are life and death, fire, passion, and earth, weather and crops, warrior, poet and musician, king, sage and magician, farmers and workers, grieving parent.

In the part about the Dagda in the modern world the author talks about offerings, altar settings depending on the different aspects and offers some prayers and invocations. Morgan Daimler discusses some authors that retold the myths a bit creatively and to be mindful of that when reading them and mentions fictional depictions of the Dagda.

I like the discussion that isn’t only about the Dagda, but about how we envision the gods and goddesses in the modern world. Morgan asks, ”So, if we know that the depictions of the Gods that we are familiar with actually represent what were at the time modern fashion, why do we as modern  Pagans/Polytheists so consistently depict our deities in historic fashions?” And it’s not only about clothes. When talking about the Dagda, they say, ”He is a god of abundance and plenty, would  modern grocery stores fall under his purview now? As a god of wisdom and  knowledge, can we pray to him for help with computer issues?”

I loved this book. And Morgan said it best ”the Dagda, in many ways, is exactly the deity that the world most needs right now. A god who is a good and just king, a powerful warrior  and wielder of magic but also a generous provider; a deity who knows what it  means to work hard to build. He is a God of kings and the common person,  who can relate to human beings on many levels and in many situations. He is  a God who is present and waiting for more of us to hear him and listen to what  he is saying.”