In Irish mythology, Birog was a druidess who aided Cian in climbing Balor's crystal tower where had imprisoned his daughter, Ethlinn. When Ethlenn gave birth to Lugh, the result of that visit, Balor threw the baby into the ocean. Birog saved him and gave him to Manannan mac Lir to raise. In some areas of Ireland, Birog appears as a griffon. The mythology of pre-Christian Ireland did not entirely survive the conversion to Christianity, but much of it was preserved, shorn of its religious meanings, in medieval Irish literature, which represents the most extensive and best preserved of all the branches of Celtic mythology. ... In the Celtic religion, the modern words Druidry or Druidism denote the practices of the ancient druids, the priestly class in ancient Celtic societies through much of Western Europe north of the Alps and in the British Isles. ... In Irish mythology, Cian (long, enduring), son of Dian Cecht of the Tuatha Dé Danann, is best known as the father of Lug by the Fomorian princess Ethniu. ... In Irish mythology, Balor (Balar, Bolar) of the Evil Eye was a king of the Fomorians, a race of giants. ... Quartz crystal A crystal is a solid in which the constituent atoms, molecules, or ions are packed in a regularly ordered, repeating pattern extending in all three spatial dimensions. ... In Irish mythology, Ethniu (Eithne, Ethliu, Ethlinn, and a variety of other spellings - see below) was the daughter of Balor, king of the Fomorians. ... Lugh (earlier Lug, modern Irish Lú, pronounced loo) is an Irish deity represented in mythological texts as a hero and High King of the distant past. ... In Irish mythology, Manannan mac Lir was a sea and weather god. ...