Andraste, also known asAndrasta, was, according to the Roman historianDio Cassius, anIcenic war goddess invoked byBoudica in her fight against theRoman occupation of Britain in AD 60.[1] She may be the same as Andate, mentioned later by the same source, and described as "their name for Victory": i.e., the goddessVictoria.[2] Thayer asserts that she may also be related toAndarta. The goddess Victoria is related toNike,Bellona, Magna Mater (Great Mother),Cybele, andVacuna—goddesses who are often depicted onchariots. Her name has been translated as meaning "indestructible" or "unconquerable".[3]
Manyneopagan sources describe thehare as sacred to Andraste. This idea seems to be extrapolated from the passage in Dio Cassius in whichBoudica releases a hare from her gown:
"Let us, therefore, go against [the Romans], trusting boldly to good fortune. Let us show them that they are hares and foxes trying to rule over dogs and wolves." When she [Boudica] had finished speaking, she employed a species of divination, letting a hare escape from the fold of her dress; and since it ran on what they considered the auspicious side, the whole multitude shouted with pleasure, and Boudica, raising her hand towards heaven, said: "I thank you, Andraste, and call upon you as woman speaking to woman ... I beg you for victory and preservation of liberty."[2]
The hare's release is described as a technique ofdivination, with an augury drawn from the direction in which it runs. This appears to be similar to the Roman methods ofdivination which ascribe meaning to the directions from which birds fly, with the left side being unfavourable (sinistra) and the right side favourable.[4]
