Giving Thanks to the Goddess. August 2009. For the first time in one of these readings I pulled Macha. She is an Irish Goddess, usually considered one aspect of the great triple Goddess of war and sex the Mórrígan. Macha, like Rhiannon in the medieval Welsh tales, is understood to be a woman of the Otherworld, but like Rhiannon She likely has roots in an ancient Goddess, perhaps even the same one--the continental Celtic Goddess of Horses, Epona. The Mórrígan is a name meaning 'great queen', which is the exact Irish parallel of Rhiannon's name (which is more apparent when you consider the probable Romano-British form of the name, Rigantona); on the continent in Roman times, Epona was frequently given the Latin epithet Regina, 'queen'.
Likely, then, we are talking about several Goddesses Who grew out of the old continental Celtic Epona. Now to Macha. At any rate. The third Macha is the most well-known. And as She dies She sets a curse on the men of Ulster. The women of Ulster are, of course, exempt. Do not fear. Homage - Goddess and Pagan Prayers.