Revision as of 02:51, 14 January 2006

Religous usage

In Danaanism, Dana is the mother of the Tuatha de Danaan and the creator of the universe. In the original mythology of the Fae, Dana was simply the first, oldest, and most powerful of a pantheon of gods, especially, but not exclusively the Tuatha, but not qualitatively different from them. As Danaan theology and philosophy advanced, it began to seem to the Danaans that the universe was ruled by an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevelent being, which they continued to call Dana despite the immense difference between this conceptualization of her and the early, more polytheistic, view.. The Tuatha grew to be regarded as powerful demigods and servants of Dana.

The primary enemy of Dana is Domnu, a nightmare goddess and being of pure malevolence. Domnu and her children, the Fomorians are weaker than Dana and have already lost the War of Trees to Dana, the Tuatha, and their allies. At the end of time, Dana will judge Domnu and the Fomorians.

Geographical usage

In modern times, since the worship of Dana is largely a thing of the past, the term is used far more frequently in its geographical sense. The island of Dana is a large island well off the coast of Tareldanore. The island is generally considered the heartland of the Danaan High Kingdom of the Resurgent Dream. This perception is why the nationality and adjectival forms of the Resurgent Dream are both "Danaan". However, the idea of the Danaan people becomes more and more divorced from the physical island of Dana as Danaan settlement and colonization elsewhere in the world continues. The island of Dana contains the Grand Duchy of Shieldcrest and the Principalities of Wintermore, Farinor, Fireforge, Bilbtoria, and Holista.

Uses as a person's name

Dana is also a common first name for human females in many nations, especially those who trace their cultural ancestry to Gaelic sources or who have assimilated a substantial Gaelic minority. Some notable Danas are St. Dana of Holista, the patron saint of the Resurgent Dream; Dana Behan, an important Liberal MP in the same country; Dana Wendale, the Ericsworld Minister of Health and Human Services; Dana Engels, the sister of Socialist Republican Party of Rammsteinburg Damian Engels; and Dana Collins, the ambassador from the Resurgent Dream to Syskeyia.

Poetic usage

Dana is also a female personification of the Resurgent Dream, comparable to Columbia in the former United States, Helvetia in Switzerland, or Ein in Ireland. This usage in employed in popular songs such as "Lady Dana Draws Her Sword" by Tadhg Kane and "Dana's Tears" by Ádhamh Jardan as well as in poetic works such as Éabhna Dacey's Dana Grieves Her Bravest Sons.