Áine

Áine is a Deity of summer and sovereignty, often felt before she is seen: a woman of golden light who may appear as a young maiden on a ridge of barley or an older queen at a barrow. Smell: the warm sweetness of hay and clover, honey and a pinch of sea brine carried on a summer breeze. Sound: a distant, steady hum—bees in the hedgerow, low cattle-breath, and the echo of a single harp string. Temperature: sun-warm radiance, like bare skin held to a midsummer day; her presence dries dew and ripens fruit where she treads. Field notes: cattle prosper in her wake, hedges flower oddly early, and the light around certain hills takes on a honeyed hue.