An Fharraige

The Irish Word for “The Sea.”

Manannán Mac Lir is a deity in Irish mythology. His name means ''Son of the Sea,'' he is sometimes known simply as Manannán. He is considered the God of the sea and one of the Túatha De Danann.

According to mythology, he is also a ruler and guardian of the Otherworld. He rode a chariot over the sea, meeting with Bran in the tale of the Voyage of Bran. He was also responsible for allocating what sidhe or fairy mound the Tuatha De Danann would reside in.

The sea, according to Carl Jung, "is the favourite symbol of the unconscious, the mother of all that lives.”

It's no surprise that Manannán, in Irish mythology, is the ruler of the Otherworld and, therefore, the god of the Sea. The sea in dreams is often associated with the great depths, the collective unconscious. The unconscious, like the sea, is a vast terrain unknown and mysterious. 

There are many references to the sea in psychology. One in particular is the “night sea journey”, which is an archetypal motif in mythology that is psychologically associated with depression. It is a descent into Hades, the unconscious, whereas Jung described it as "a journey to the land of ghosts somewhere beyond this world, beyond consciousness, hence an immersion in the unconscious”. When we drop down into those great depths, a new part of us will be made conscious and revealed.  Although this is daunting, it is important to trust this passage as one of revelation and growth.

Focail Gaeilge | ‘Irish Words’

In this series, I share words in Gaeilge (Irish) and explore these words through a Depth Psychology lens, allowing us to begin exploring our inner world— our psyche, and deepen our understanding of our place in the world around us. When we embrace our native language or become curious about the languages from our ancestral roots, we can embrace our sense of place, our speech, our imagination, our psyche, and the song of the soul...