COW
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Symbolic animal. BULL and COW were significant Celtic symbols for the feminine and masculine powers, the bull representing warrior strength, the cow indicating abundance and prosperity. Used in ancient Ireland as a way of calculating wealth, the cow was a provider of MILK and BUTTER, two vital foodstuffs. Many goddesses were associated with cows, including BRIGIT, BÓAND, and the MÓRRÍGAN. But the cow itself could be divine, as in the case of the GLAS GHAIBHLEANN (in Scotland, Glas Ghaibhnann), a magical white cow spotted with green who walked about the land, providing milk from her inexhaustible udder to anyone who wished it. Wherever she passed, the grass grew greener and sweeter, the farmers grew wealthier. These associations indicate to many scholars a connection with cowcults in other Indo-European lands.
All cows in Ireland were said to be the descendants of the OTHERWORLDcows that arose from the western ocean at the beginning of time: BÓ FIND, the white cow, and her sister Bó Ruadh and Bó Duh, the red and black cows respectively. Cows were, not surprisingly, associ- ated with women, not only in legend but in real- ity, for women did the milking, made the butter, and tended the cows in their summer pastures.
