Fierce Defenders

Fierce Defenders
"I thank you, Andraste, and call out to you as one woman to

another..... I implore and pray to you for victory, and for the

maintenance of life and freedom, against arrogat, unjust,

insatiable and profane men."

___Dio Cassius, "Roman History"

This speech is attributed to the British Queen Boudicca (BOO'dik-a), known to later generations as Boudicea, queen of the Iceni. When she assumed rulership of the tribe after her husband's death, the Romans did not recognize her queenship. She was given a punitive lashing for her defiance, and her two virgin daughters were raped.

Before going into battle against the Romans, Boudicca released a hare from the fold in her cloak, in order to make a battle augury: the direction and nature of its running would determine her chances of victory. She also called upon the Goddess of Victory, Andraste - she who is Unconquerable - in order to uphold the Icenian cause against the Romans. With her troops, this mighty queen killed an estimated eighty thousand before she was defeated. Rather than risk capture and the dishonor of being paraded in a Roman triumph, she committed suicide.

There are many who will applaud Boudicca's forceful action against Roman barbarity to herself and her daughters. Her shock tactics and powers of leadership certainly confounded and weakened the Romans for a significant period - long enough at least to have avenged the insult to her royal person and her daughters' honor.

When men encounter the fierce defender who lies within women they are frequently dismayed or even terrified. Let a child be harmed or a animal mistreated, a beautiful area polluted or human rights diminished and we see that the warrior queens are not dead and forgotten; they still stride among us, calling out to the Unconquered Goddess for help in times of need.

"What causes your warrior instincts to surge to the surface?"

[From: Caitlin Matthews' "The Celtic Spirit"]