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| This Thread is for the Gods and Goddesses of the Celtic Culture 
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 Irish Pantheon
The Irish pantheon is richly abundant with goddesses mighty in magick, Enchantment, and divination, and gods powerful in battle and wit. The gods and goddesses are known as the Ancient Ones, the Tuatha De Danann (Tribe of Dana), and even more commonly as the Faery. Today, when one hears the word "Faery" (usually spelled fairy), a fantasy Creature comes to mind. Within their kingdom we find remnants of a magickal race of beings not of this world, as well as diminutive fairies, flower fairies with tiny wings, garden fairies, and elemental fairies, to mention only a few, each with their own virtues and traditions. Over the past few centuries there have been many ideas about what the Faery are. Scholarly research brought forth many theories in regards to the ancient Irish Faery-Faith Tradition; I.e. The Naturalistic, Pygmy, Druid, Mythological, and Psychological Theory, indicating that almost all the essential elements upon which the advocates of such theories was adequate evidence that the Faery-Faith was a living tradition, and that it's chief characters, the Faery, were, on some level, in existence. Theirs become a study of human nature itself, proving that all the world over, human-beings interpret visions pragmatically and sociologically, or hold beliefs in accord with their own personal experiences; and are forever unconsciously immersed in a sea of psychological influences which sometimes may be explainable through the methods of sociological inquiry, which may sometimes be supernormal in origin and nature, and Hence to be explained most adequately, if at all, through psychical research. Therefore, the most difficult problem of all, they surmised, was for human nature to interpret and understand its own ultimate essence and psychological instincts. In modern psychology there is now a well-established interpretation of the Faery, as based on the Psychological Theory, which is that the Faery are inherent, either passively or actively, within the psyche, that they have no independent entity as actual living beings other than in human consciousness. In this school of thought, there are many psychological themes: the Faery are sexual images; they are archetypes, such as those of the classical gods and goddesses (interesting, because that's what they are); they are embodiments and projected images of our fear of the unknown; they are the remnants of an old nature religion. The usage of archetypes is perhaps the leading avenue of practice in the Psychological Theory. The fact that consciousness consists of many images endlessly relating to one another around a central core is by no means a modern discovery; it has long been taught in esoteric traditions.
In esoteric traditions archetypes become the magickal images used to move the consciousness toward the goals which lie in directions normally ignored or unknown in daily habitual living patterns. Archetypes, or matrices, are higher order patterns, and are traditionally taught as constants, or as undergoing changes of shape over vast periods of outer time. They appear as cosmologies, glyphs, maps, images, and portent symbols, enduring throughout magickal training from the exercises of the beginner to the adepts advanced use of energies for specific chosen ends. In the beginning of a novice's training the Ancient Ones present themselves through symbols. Symbols speak to our subconscious mind, remembering us to ancient truths, or forgotten events; for the world, with its events and objects, is not contained but translated, into the realm of the mind. Symbols bring these memories forgotten, or ancient, into the subconscious mind where through moments of intuition, deep thought, dreams, serious contemplation or deep meditation they may be remembered. Symbols are the language by which the unconscious speaks to consciousness. The choice of symbols with which one works is therefore a two-way process. On the one hand, one listens to the unconscious and tries to grasp the meaning of the symbols it puts forward. On the other, one tries out symbols which seem appropriate, and numinous charged. Symbols and images used in magick are derived from those shared by the collective imagination, and are found in myths and folk lore; the images that connect us to the natural cycles and rhythms of life. Such symbols are archetypes, but not in the modern sense of the word as dictated in psychology, although similar.
We turn to Irish mythology to understand the archetypes of our pantheon. Mythology is after all a symbolic language which can be compared with our intuitive, sub-conscious level of memory, and one that reveals the contents of the collective rather than personal unconscious. Mythology speaks to us in symbols, that is, in terms or pictures that may be familiar to us in everyday life which nevertheless possess, in the mythological context, specific connotations in addition to conventional and obvious meanings. A mythological symbol implies something hidden, unknown, difficult to describe in the temporal language. A mythological symbolism is more often beyond the reach of rational understanding, representing concepts that move our emotions in a rapture of psychological force. Our common use of symbolic language to describe the indescribable is evidence enough of humankind's unconscious tendency to create symbolic mythology. The recorded mythology and literature of ancient Ireland has, very faithfully for the most part, preserved clear pictures of the Tuatha De Danann and their Mother Goddess Dana, so that, disregarding some Christian influence in the texts of certain manuscripts, much rationalization, and a good deal of poetical coloring and romantic imagination in the pictures, we can easily describe the People of Dana as they appeared in Pagan days, when they were more frequently seen by mortals, and from which we have the symbolic mythology. Myth and fairy-tales can teach us many profound truths if we but take the
time to study the culture, people, time period, and esoteric traditions from which they originated. All religions birth from myth, and all esoteric traditions continue to be remembered through tales.
The mysticism, which is the backbone of the Faery Tradition and the Celtic spirituality is, indeed, part of the Irish heritage; for there was probably never a time when the Irish or Celt did not believe in the invisible
Otherworld, nor held the thought of not being able to travel there to discover the deep mystery of life. The Irish have kept this belief alive, even through the encroachment of new religions, and the possibility of meeting death by holding the ancient views.
Although the Tuatha De Danaan were denigrated by Iron Age warrior patriarchy, Christianity, and modern materialism, these Ancient Ones and the collective wisdom of the fili remain with us today, symbolizing through myth an endangered vital relationship -- the cohesion of "Culture-in-Nature," and the sense of a sacred whole. The literate and oral traditions have remained almost as one. The Irish scholar, Patrick MacCana, speaks of the ancient Irish mind as having a "preference for the oral mode, both in their teaching and in their composition. "Consequently," he tells us, "the Irish oral tradition embraced the literature of greatest social prestige as well as the common lore of the mass of the people. Thus Irish literary tradition is ideally the manifold oral tradition which in a sense had no beginning -- and has hardly yet ended...." In this Tradition the habitual gesture of mythic comprehensiveness --
whether of a political nature or simply the art of compromise of a much-invaded people, living in an ancient land -- the Ancient Ones did survive, albeit interbred with later gods, historical characters, and monotheistic saints.
Keeping this Culture-in-Nature connection in mind, a major theme connected to the goddesses of Ireland is an association to a particular body of water -- usually a river, but at times a spring, a lake, holy well, or the ocean.
Linking their goddesses with various bodies of water in turn appears to have linked the Celtic reverence for the Goddess as the Great Mare, for the white breakers of the ocean were described in Irish legend as the white mane of the Morrigan's head. If we ponder how the sea and horse draw a parallel in the Celts mind, we may see a connection in the double use of the word mare. It means "sea" in Latin and Russian, and is the root of the English word marine. At the same time it was used to designate a female horse. Both meanings of mare may have been derived from the same initial Indo-European source word, possibly the Sanskrit mah, meaning "mighty." This word may also be the foundation of the Goddess names: Morrigan and Morgen -- the roots gan, gin, and gen meaning "birth," as in genesis and begin. This interesting connection between the two words may suggest that the
origin of the pantheon was not in Ireland itself, but came from across the sea, and that the symbol of the first God -- Dana -- may very well have been that of a horse. An aspect of the Irish goddesses worth noting is their wonderful and
magickal ability to shape-change, not only as animals, but alternating between an ugly Hag-state and that of a beautiful, alluring woman. Dana, mother of all the gods, was noted to take different human-like forms known as Aine and Brigid, as well as the shape of a horse. Several other goddesses were connected to the form of the horse, such as the Morrigan, Macha and Cailleach Bera. The Morrigan also becomes an eel, a wolf (as did Turrean), a heifer, a
raven, and several diverse images of mortal women. The raven or Royston crow is the shape Neman, Macha, and Badb also take, each a triple aspect of the Morrigu. Banbha, one of the three queens of the Tuatha De Danaan, and one of the three daughters of Dagda mor who asked the Milesian bard, Amergin, to call Ireland after her, derives her name from the sow or piglet. Dechtire, mother of Cu Chulainn, is a swan, as was Ainé, Caer, Derbforgaille, and Finola.
Garbh Ogh alternated between a giant-state and becoming the winter storms.
The Cailleach Bera was also known to become the winter storms, as were several other goddesses. Liban was the most famous mermaid, while Libanie (perhaps a derivative of) was a mermaid of a lake, and Logia a mermaid of a river.
Aige turned herself into a fawn, while Badbh was changed into a deer. Airmed became the herbs, and Druantia was a fir-tree. The Ban Naomha was a fish. Bo find was the white cow, as was Buana, as was Dil. Corra was a stork, while Muanna was the crane, and both Estiu and Uairebhuidhe could become birds. The great serpent of Ireland that St. Patrick supposedly chased away was the Goddess Caoranach. In addition to these powers, there is the martial prowess of Irish goddesses, who often acted as ambassadors in battles and rivalries between the Celtic tribes, sitting in on peace councils when disputes were discussed. Unlike the goddesses, many of the Irish gods do not shapeshift. Among those known to shapeshift were Cu Chulainn, who was known to become a hound, an eel, a wolf and a bird. Lugh was connected to the raven, Midhir to cranes, and Oengus to a swan. Cernunnos or Hearne was a fox, a badger, a wolf, a wild boar, a stag. Moccos became a pig. Mullo was connected to the ass. Amergin, though a Milesian Bard, is perhaps noted as the greatest shapeshifter of all, for he not only shapeshifted into every shape but was also a time traveler. Irish gods were more connected to trees and inanimate objects, many of which were powerful weapons and magickal tools. Lugh had a bloodthirsty spear that never missed its mark and the Dagda mor, the primary father God, had a cauldron of abundance, and was acknowledged as an oak and a living harp, which when strummed created the season. Manannan mac Lir, who had a cloak of invisibility, is invisible one minute,
in human shape the next, and shifting into a boat the next. Leucetios could become thunder. Mac Cecht could become a plough and the element earth. Mac Cuill could become the element water. Mac Greine could become the element fire. Most importantly, these heroes of the Tuatha De Danann make-up a warrior aristocracy, the major emphasis of what might be solar gods. This thought is attached to Newgrange, the great megalithic mound which overlooks the River Boyne, believed to have been built by a thriving agricultural community which lived there around 3000 B.C.E. Newgrange is often described as a passage grave. The whole structure covers an acre of ground, is estimated to contain about 200,000 tons of stone, and was made without metal tools or the use of mortar. Over the entrance is a stone-framed slit which is called the Roof Box; on the morning of the winter solstice, the rising sun throws a pencil of light the whole length of the passage and chamber, to illuminate the central of the three recesses for approximately seventeen minutes. This same effect is seen, though less strongly, from three mornings before the solstice to three mornings after. This structure lends strong consideration to the credence that the Irish gods may have been annually worshipped. Solar gods are often referred to as war gods. War gods are ambiguous;
sometimes they represent the hope of victory, sometimes pure destructiveness. To the Celt they represented both, to be invoked or propitiated accordingly. A lesser known aspect of the Celtic God is that of the Horned God, a
fertility God. The Celtic God as a fertility God is rare. However, the Horned God's existence cannot be doubted, although no certain origin of name can be placed for him. He is portrayed in many Celtic artifacts, such as on the medieval market cross in the center of Kells, Co. Meath, and on a stone in the churchyard on Tara Hill. He is usually portrayed with horns and accompanied by animals. He either wears, or has looped on his horns, the torc (a circular necklet) of Celtic nobility (although the Horned God of Animals, Nature and fecundity was primarily a God of the ordinary people). He is known by the names Cernunnos or Hearne.
Most of the gods are connected to a wife in their myth. This careful detail to polarity defines the Celtic view that man required woman to exist, recognizing his need for procreation and thus emphasizing that the masculine and feminine principles were not mutually exclusive; each contained the seed of the other; each required the expression of the polarity, otherwise they could not relate to each other. The Ancient Ones of the Irish pantheon do exist; they ensoul the archetypes presented above. The aim of communicating, or making contact with an archetype through the act of meditation or invocation in the traditional esoteric way, is not to become the archetype, not even to identify with the archetype in a personal way. Such an overlapping of one reality with the next, such a superimposition, contains the danger of possible delusion. True contact with an Ancient One is always accompanied by a disturbing echo of undeniable deep personal insight; it often indicates areas of weakness that require inner attention and development of rebalance. In this role alone, work such as mediation of advanced forms of consciousness or god- and goddess-forms is of immense value to us, though its resulting personal insight is only one of many side-effects and not a major aim. The true aim is to surrender ourselves to the mystery of communion with the Ancient Ones, to allow the tuning to take place; thus allowing our own special creative flow to be unleashed into the earth's plane, into our lives, to enliven us and help us achieve a more perfect sense of balance.
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| Dana Irish goddesses such as Dana had magical abilities to transform themselves into personas that answered their needs at the time - depending on the occasion, they could become fearsome warrior, playful faery queen, or a wise teacher and leader.
MANTRA GEMSTONES - Cat's-eye, ruby, lapis lazuli and moonstone
ESSENTIAL OILS - Goddess-ence Athena* blend for the crown chakra
AFFIRMATIONS - I sparkle when I smile
- I am intuitive and wise
- I am a natural educator
- I know what is best for me
- I am a magical and intuitive being
- Today I choose what is right for me
- At this moment, I have all that I need
- I believe in fairies, magic, mystery and play
Her Story
Dana is the mother goddess of the Irish fairy people, the Tuatha Dé Danann ("too-ha-day-dah-nan".) They were skilled in art, poetry and magic, and ruled Ireland until they were overrun and driven to live in fairy mounds.
She is celebrated at Beltane (April 30 in the northern hemisphere, October 31 in the southern hemisphere), the season of fertility and prosperity when the Tuatha Dé Danann had first set foot in Ireland.
Her Modern Energy
Sadly there are no recorded stories of Dana -- evidently her latent message is to tell your story before it is too late! And so, it was her magical fairy energy that spoke to me when I picked up a pen and began writing my story.
"They" (whoever "they" may be) say that a writing apprenticeship is one-million words. I sense that in writing down my life stories and personal mythology I have written that much and more, but I couldn't tell you for sure. What I can tell you, however, is that in penetrating the veil of "what a career should look like" and instead honouring my creative destiny, I have found myself in the Land of My Heart's Desire.
In answering my calling to be a writer I've discovered the key to a successful career is to have a healthy dose of fun while doing whatever it takes to achieve that success. Letting yourself have fun at work naturally inspires you to be more creative, more innovative, and more receptive to new and imaginative ideas. And those elements can only add a positive and permanent quality to any relationship.
Do This
Begin writing your life story... There is no doubt that you would have life lessons to share that perhaps you aren't consciously aware of. There are several approaches you can take, even if you don't consider yourself a "writer"... - Write a short story about yourself in the third person, making yourself the heroine of the amazing adventure that has been your life so far;
- Write short journal entries before you go to sleep every night, focussing on the "best thing that happened to me today";
- Release any residual pain surrounding old injuries by rewriting the story with a new outcome;
- Start a gratitude journal and record every little thing that makes you go mmmmmm.
The words you write down today become an invaluable insight into "YOU" for future generations - what you stood for, the climate in which you lived your life, and the magical way in which you loved living each day. |
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 Irish history has 5 waves of invasion -
Cessair
Partholanian
Nemed
Fir Bolg
Tuatha De Dannan
Milesans
Cessair is the added one.
She is seen as the beginning of the indigenous people of Ireland.
She is -
- the supreme deity decides to destroy humanity by flood
- this deity instructs favoured mortals to make a salvation ship
- the flood comes and carries the salvation ship away
- the flood ends and the salvation ship grounds on a hill
- the world is somehow repeopled
The Myth of Cessair
Long before the Geadil took over Ireland, there had been a great flood. And
long before the flood over took the tribes of the world there lived Cessair,
whose father was Bith, Life itself. It was Cessair herself, and her 50
maidens and 3 men who came to live on Ieland and who re-peopled the world after
the flood.
She had divine knowledge that there was an island where men had never come
and no evil or sin ahd been comitted, free from the monsters etc of the world.
She also knew this place would be safe from the flood.
7 years before the flood, she counselled Fintan and Ladra ( when Bith told
her) - they should continue to worship their god and get divine relevation.
Sidhe told them to make an ark and voyage to Ireland.
Three ships embarked, but only the one with Cessair, Finatan and her 50
maidens landed safely.
So she divided these women between Bith ( her father), Ladra and Fintan (
who she took).
She is connected with Munster and lived in a cave. She is connected to the
Great Below or Underworld mysteries - the place of ancestral wisdom, earth
wisdom, the Stars in the earth
Cessair is thought of as the original Mother Goddessor Weaver Goddess - her
name became synonymous with Banba, the most ancient name for Ireland. She is
the wholeness behind creation, the beginning or starting point, the raw
power or force behind the un-manifest.
The trinity then is -
Cessair / Eire and later Banba / Eire
Fotla
Eire
Banba/Fotla/Eire
The ritual then is Cessairs sphere of wholeness | | |
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She crucified her enemies and burnt London to the ground. Meet Britain's first feminist, Boadicea http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=512714&in_page_id=1770 By PAUL JOHNSON - More by this author » Last updated at 21:32pm on 6th February 2008 Britain's history is rich in fiery queens, and the first such heroine, tall with red hair down to her waist, commanding and brave, was Boadicea, warrior leader of the ancient Britons. She lived at the same time as the emperors Claudius and Nero, and led a surprisingly successful British revolt against Roman rule in AD60-61 (which, for reference, was when St Paul was writing epistles and St Mark composing his Gospel). She was a notable orator. Her enemies, the Romans, said her voice was strident, but, as Margaret Thatcher found, any woman seeking to establish authority over an assembly of men is open to this accusation. Scroll down for more...  Queen of mean: Alex Kingston as Boadicea for ITV The history we have of her from such a distant epoch is part fact, part fiction, and not much is really known with certainty about her. But her name lives on and her tragedy rings a kind of muffled bell in all of us. The Roman historian Tacitus - who wrote within living memory of the rebellion and was therefore nearest to the action in literary terms - records that she was the wife of Prasutagus, king of the Iceni, a tribe in what we now call East Anglia. He had made a deal with the Roman conquerors that when he died his co-heirs would be his own two daughters and the Emperor Nero. That way he hoped to preserve his kingdom and his family fortune. But, on his death, the Romans ignored the will, flogged Boadicea, raped her daughters and seized all her husband's property and estates. As a result, says Tacitus, the Iceni rose in revolt, backed by the Trinobantes, a tribe from what is now Essex. This army of Britons destroyed the Roman colony at Colchester, annihilated the ninth Roman legion, which came to relieve the town, and forced the Roman Governor of Britain, Paulinus, to evacuate London, which was also destroyed. Seventy thousand Romans were killed. The rampaging Britons targeted places where "loot was richest and protection weakest," wrote Tacitus. "They could not wait to cut throats, hang, burn and crucify, as though avenging, in advance, the retribution that was on its way." It duly arrived. Paulinus collected 10,000 troops and lured the Britons into a pitched battle on grounds of his choosing, at a place Tacitus does not identify but seems to have been somewhere in the Midlands. The Britons congregated in huge numbers, on foot and horseback, and "their confidence was so great that they brought their wives with them to see the victory, installing them in carts stationed at the edges of the battlefield." Boadicea (or Boudica as she is more often called these days) is said to have driven round all the tribes in a chariot with her daughters in front of her, and addressed them in a fighting speech with marked feminist over-tones. She showed them her bruised body and outraged daughters, and ended with the rallying cry: "Win this battle or perish. That is what I, a woman, plan to do. Let the men live in slavery if they will." Tacitus says that more than half the British army were women, and the outcome was an easy Roman victory. Eighty thousand Britons fell at a cost of 400 Roman dead and a slightly larger number of wounded. The queen, he adds, poisoned herself, and the rebellion ended not only in defeat but terrible famine among the surviving Britons. But that may not be the whole story. A century and a half after Tacitus, a Roman senator named Cassius Dio wrote a history of Rome in 80 volumes, with a more detailed version of the conquest of Britain and Boadicea's uprising. He put the number of Romans slain at 80,000 and said the whole island was lost for a while in this "terrible disaster". What added to Rome's shame, he wrote, was that "all this ruin was brought about by a woman". His explanation for the uprising was economic mismanagement on the part of the Roman masters. They had unreasonably called in large loans of money made years earlier to prominent British chiefs. This rings true. The Roman occupation of Britain was marked by brutal financial exploitation of the ruling elites and oppression of the natives of all degrees. Dio says that Buduica (or Budhika), as he calls her, was chosen leader by the tribes and "directed the conduct of the entire war". He says she had "greater intelligence than is generally found in women," was "very tall, in appearance most terrifying, in the glance of her eye most fierce, and her voice was harsh. "A great mass of the tawniest hair fell to her hips. Around her neck was a large golden necklace. She wore a tunic of many colours over which a thick mantle was fastened by a brooch. She grasped a spear to help her terrify all who saw her." She practised magic and divination, and concealed a hare in her garments, which she would let escape to see how it would run so as to make her prophesies. Her followers are portrayed as savages, and Dio describes obscene cruelties inflicted by them on Roman women, for example, cutting off their breasts and sewing them onto their mouths. The speech he ascribes to her spurring on her followers was along the same lines as Tacitus's: freedom or death - better to perish in battle than live under Roman rule as slaves. But it contains an added note, with great historical resonance. The queen stressed that the Britons were a special people, separated from the rest of mankind by a sea, and enjoying, until the Romans came, a liberty unknown elsewhere. According to Dio, her army totalled 230,000 and the final battle, far from being a rout, was very close. Many Britons escaped and were preparing further resistance but the queen fell sick and died. The Britons "mourned her deeply and gave her a costly burial. But feeling that now at last they were really defeated, they scattered to their homes". The archaeological evidence to support all this is both firm and disappointing. Firm because a black and red layer of ash discovered in the earth confirms that Colchester and London were burned down in about AD60. But disappointing because of the warrior queen herself and her army no physical evidence has yet been found. A large area surrounded by deep ditches at Thetford in Norfolk has been called "the palace of Boudica", but similar sites exist elsewhere and their purpose is debatable. Yet she is an immensely striking and even attractive figure - and national concept - and, in the absence of real evidence, imaginations have worked hard. In the early 16th century, a history of Britain presented her as "Voadicia", a Northumbrian lady and had her burning down Doncaster. A chronicle of Scotland made her a Scottish heroine from Falkirk. Then, around 1614, the playwright John Fletcher wrote a play called Bonduca, which cunningly surrounded her with druids, King Caractacus and other bits of ancient British furniture - though to please his own king, James I, Fletcher made her a witch and a horrible woman. Scroll down for more...  Rallying the troops: Boadicea inspired Britons to fight for their freedom Fifteen years later, a historian named Edmund Bolton produced the theory that Stonehenge, whose purpose and date had baffled antiquarians, was in fact Boadicea's tomb. Over the centuries, other sites for her burial place were canvassed - such as Parliament Hill Fields in London and Gop Hill in Flintshire, where locals said they had seen her ghost driving a chariot. There is another theory, held by people who congregate for the summer solstice at Glastonbury, that she is buried deep below Platform 8 at King's Cross Station. Interest in her increased in the late 19th century alongside the belief that Britain's unwritten constitution was of immemorial antiquity and that she had played some part in its foundation. Gladstone encouraged the sculptor Thomas Thornycroft in the massive presentation of the queen in her chariot, with her two daughters, that stands at the northern end of Westminster Bridge, opposite Big Ben. Queen Victoria, who thought her predecessor's treatment by the Romans "outrageous" (she too had been widowed early and had many daughters) was particularly keen that Boadicea should be given a fine memorial. It is certainly a splendid piece of work. Children love it, and so do feminists. It inspired the suffragettes in their campaign for votes for women, and it crowns Queen Boadicea as a heroine for ever. Though not entirely undisputed. A British author named Gildas, writing in the sixth century, was part of a British ruling class who benefited from the Roman occupation, and he had a different take on the warrior queen. To him, far from being a hero, Boadicea was "a treacherous lioness" who butchered the governors the Romans left to rule the country. We should not be surprised by this portrayal of her as a "baddie". Throughout history, one person's hero has been another's villain. That is particularly so with modern heroes. In America, men like the outstanding steelmaker Andrew Carnegie and the oilman John D. Rockefeller became heroes of the cult of the entrepreneur. But to others they were "robber barons" or, in the words of President Theodore Roosevelt, "malefactors of great wealth". People must agree to differ about heroes. I admire Chile and its people greatly, but I was concerned when my friend Salvador Allende became its president and opened the country to hordes of armed radicals from all over the world. The result was the world's highest inflation, universal violence and the threat of civil war. So I applauded the takeover by General Pinochet and still more his success in making the economy the soundest in Latin America. But by preventing the transformation of Chile into a communist satellite, the general earned the furious hatred of the Soviet Union, whose propaganda machine successfully demonised him among the chattering classes all over the world. It was the last triumph of the KGB before it vanished into history's dustbin. But Pinochet remains a hero to me. My other heroes tend to be people who successfully accomplish things I would not dare even to contemplate. I could not possibly sail single-handedly round the world, even if I had the skill, like a pretty and fragile woman of my acquaintance, Clare Francis. The man who runs a fruit stall near my house has swum the English Channel several times for charity. He is a hero for me. I admire heroines of the Far Eastern slums like Mother Teresa, who was a realist as well as an idealist (as are most true saints). The vicious attacks sometimes launched on her fill me with horrified fury. I always have a soft spot for those who speak out against the conventional wisdom and who are not afraid to speak the truth even if it puts them in a minority of one. And in this case there is some common feeling, for during most of my life I have been outspoken and have suffered accordingly. I think we appreciate heroism most if we have a tiny spark of it ourselves, which might be fanned into a flame if the wind of opportunity arose. So how do we recognise the heroes and heroines of today? First, by absolute independence of mind, which springs from the ability to think everything through for yourself, and to treat whatever is the current consensus on any issue with scepticism. Second, having made up your mind independently, to act - resolutely and consistently. Third, to ignore or reject everything the media throw at you, provided you remain convinced you are doing right. Finally, to act with personal courage at all times, regardless of the consequences to yourself. All history teaches, and certainly all my personal experience confirms, that there is no substitute for courage. It is the noblest and best of all qualities, and the one indispensable element in heroism in all its different manifestations. �?Adapted from Heroes by Paul Johnson, to be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on February 14 at £20. Copyright 2008, Paul Johnson. To order a copy for £18 (p&p free), call 0845 606 4206. |
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The Chair of Cerridwen
Book of Taliesin XVI
Sovereign of the power of the air, thou also
The satisfaction of my transgressions
At midnight and at matins
There shone my lights.
Courteous the life of Minawg ap Lleu,
Whom I saw here a short while ago.
The end, in the slope of Lleu.
Ardent was his push in combats;
Avagddu my son also.
Happy the Lord made him,
In the competition of songs,
His wisdom was better than mine,
The most skillful man ever heard of.
Gwydion the son of Don, of toil severe,
Formed a woman out of flowers,
And brought the pigs from the South,
Though he had no pigstyes for them;
The bold traveller out of plated twigs
Formed a cavalcade,
From the springing
Plants, and illustrious saddles.
When are judged the chairs,
Excelling them (will be) mine
My chair, my cauldron and my laws,
And my parading eloquence, meet for the chair.
I am called skilful in the court of Don.
I and Euronwy, and Euron.
I saw a fierce conflict in Nant Frangeon
On a Sunday, at the time of dawn,
Between the bird of wrath and Gwydion
Thursday, certainly they went to Mona
To obtain whirlings and sorcerers.
Arianrhod, of laudable aspect, dawn of serenity
The greatest disgrace evidently on the side of the Brython,
Hastily sends about his court the stream of a rainbow,
A stream that scares away violence from the earth.
The poison of its former state, about the world, it will leave.
They speak not falsely, the books of Bede.
The chair of the Preserver is here.
And till doom, shall continue in Europa
May the Trinity grant us
Mercy in the day of judgment.
A fair alms from good men. |
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The Lady of the Lake Nimue, Vivien, Vivienne, Niniane
The Lady of the Lake was known by many names. She was most often Nimue (pronounced Nim-oo-ay). Nimue was often confused and misrepresented in Arthurian Legend as an enchantress wanting nothing more than to steal Merlin's magick. This is considered by most, a literary fabrication created by the misogynist, religious state of that time. Literarily, Nimue was the daughter of Diones and the lover of both Pelles and Merlin. In reference to Nimue as the Lady of the Lake, it was she who gave the sword Excalibur to Arthur and regained it when he died. She also accompanied three additional faerie queens to Avalon with the body of the slain king. It is also said that she stole the child Lancelot and cured his madness. This was done so Lancelot could become guard to Nimue's weak son Mabuz who was tormented by Iweret. Alfred, Lord Tennyson paints one of the lovliest literary pictures of the Lady of the Lake in his great work, Idylls of the King. This first reference describes the Lady of the Lake presenting Excalibur to the King. The second reference is the return of the sword after the death of Arthur.
"And near him stood the Lady of the Lake
Who knows a subtler magic than his own-
Clothed in white samite, mystic, wonderful.
She gave the King his huge cross-hilted sword,
Whereby to drive the heathen out. A mist
Of incense curl'd about her, and her face
Well nigh was hidden in the minster gloom;
But there was heard among the hold hymns
A voice as of the waters, for she dwell
Down in the deep-calm, whatsoever storms
May shake the world- and when the surface rolls,
Hath power to walk the waters like our Lord." Spoken by Sir Bedivere who was charged with casting Excalibur to the Lady...
"Then with both hands I flung him
[Excalibur], wheeling him;
But when I look'd again, behold an arm;
Clothed in white samite, mystical, wonderful,
That caught him by the hilt, and brandish'd him
Three times, and drew him under the mere." Mythologically, the Celtic Lady of the Lake was known as a Gwragedd Nnnwn (or Lake Faerie). These fae were often married to mortal men. They were lovely, blonde women who enjoyed female company and aiding mortal women and children. The Lady of the Lake was also considered the Queen of the Isle of Maidens. Nimue, mythologically, was a lessor Celtic Moon Goddess; cognate with the Greek Nemesis and Diana of the Grove. Her name meant "fate" and "she who lives" and was said to reside in the Fairy wood of Broceliande. She was also connected to the Goddess Morgan. Archetypically, Nimue and the Lady of the Lake represented the primal initiation into the Otherworld. She reigned over knowledge, was the foster mother, and the mistress of wisdom. |
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Themes: War, Death, Passion Symbols: Raven, Cow, Colors Red & Black, Spears, Swords, Shields, Blood About Morrígan: Sometimes thought of as a Triple Goddess, Morrigan herself is the Mother and Matriarchal Leader of her Followers. She is often associated with the frightening and arcane side of Feminine Energy. She has acted as a Prophetess before Battle, appearing before those destined to die as "The Washer at the Ford", washing the blood-stained clothing of the men who would fall in battle. She has much in common with the Goddesses Kali and Hecate, as well as Inanna/Ishtar. As a Protectress, she provides personal strength and courage against overwhelming odds; For example, the Celtic Bear-Zarkers would charge naked into battle, exposing tattoos to summon magickal power. To Do Today: - An offering of Blood (Especially Menstrual) - A Crow's Feather - Red Meat/Wine |
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| Morrighan NAME: Morrighan. The Washer at the Ford.
SYMBOLS: Bloody linen, Ravens, Baying Hounds, a Cauldron. USUAL IMAGE: An old woman washing linen out in a river. PLACE OF WORSHIP: None, people tended to want her to leave them alone SYNODEITIES: All the gods/goddesses of death. Hel (Norse), Yama (Hindu) Pluto (Roman), Hecate (Greek), Surma (Finnish), Osiris (Egyptian), Yeh-Wang-Yeh (Chinese), Mictlantecuhtli (Aztec), Arawn (another Celtic) the Grandfathers/Mothers (Native Americans), Kali (another Hindu), Ankou (Breton), Bean-Sidhe `banshee' (Scot). etc... DETAILS: The Washer at the Ford is one of the oldest figures of death in Celtic tradition. Those who see her washing out bloody linen are normally warriors whose vision of her presages their pending death in battle. The Morrighan, who, under her personas of Badh, Macha, and Nemainn, pick the battlefield clean in the form of ravens. In Scotland she is known as the Bean-Sidhe or banshee as we call her, who is said to sing or cry whenever someone in a family is soon to die. The Washer at the Ford while manly a challenging figure, is also known as the Dark Woman of Knowledge in tradition because she is a teacher who initiates the hero into knowledge of himself.
SYMBOLS: Gardens, the color green, mirror and comb (signifying the magick allure of the female), rose, apple dove, swan, scallop and cowrie shells.
IMAGE: A young, beautiful, desirous, voluptuous woman, nude or in various stages of undress.
HOLY DAYS: PLACE OF WORSHIP: Temples. In bed. In amorous relationships. FORM OF WORSHIP: All acts of love are sacred to Aphrodite. RELATIVES: Mother: Ocean (Pontos). Father: According to the Theogony Aphrodite is the daughter of Ouranos, born of the foam when his genitals (severed by Kronos) were thrown into the sea. In other tellings the story changes so that she is the daughter of Kronos, created in the manner descibed above, by Zeus. In both cases this form of creation mythology was borrowed from myths of western Asian and Mesopotamia that originated prior to 1000 B.C.E. Aphrodite's husband is Hephaistos (Vulcan - Roman). SYNODEITIES Venus (Roman) DETAILS Aphrodite is referred to as "the foam born goddess" due to the manner of her creation. She is associated with Eros (passion) and also referred to by the Greeks as "laughter loving." She exhibits extremes in sensuality and cruelty in various Grecian myths (the Illiad and Homeric Hymns). Aphrodite is one of the 12 gods associated with the Greek pantheon by 500 B.C.E. Romans changed her aspect, combining her with their goddess Venus, orginally associated with gardens. Venus became a lovely yet tender and gracious divine mother - the archetype of feminine love and beauty. Aphrodite is a more tempestuous, volatile form of the goddess, unfaithful to her husband and wildly attractive the gods and men. Venus engaged in long term relationships, kept a neat house and was invoked when purifying a home. |
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| Brigit NAME: Brigit, Bride (Scotland), Bridget (Irish), Saint Brigit.
SYMBOLS: A golden branch of an oak tree. a well. the Shamrock. a Scallop shell. USUAL IMAGE: a triple Goddess so she is shown as a young maiden, mother, and crone, depending on the time of the year. and their were some who thought of her as the goddess of both poetry and blacksmithing, and show her as being pale on one side of her face (the side that did the poetry) and dark on the other (the side that faced the fire). HOLY DAYS: February 2. once called Imbolg, this was later turned into Candlemas, or Saint Brigits Day, it is now known as Groundhogs Day! Imbolg meant "the surrounding belly", or "around the belly" in old Irish, it was thought of as the time of the beginning of spring, and was marked by the lighting of fires, and rituals for the benefit of the crops. PLACE OF WORSHIP: All over the place, she was very popular. (that's why the Christians came up with the a phony Christian saint called St. Brigit. The early church in Ireland could not get blot her out so they tried to convert her.) One of more popular places of Brigit worship was around water wells as it was believed that one could most easily speak to Brigit via wells, this was put down, but not out. "Wishing wells" are what many of the holy wells became, and the idea spread. SYNODEITIES: Aphrodite (Greek). Shamrakh (pre-Islamic Arabic). Morgan (another Celtic). Juno (Greek/Roman). DETAILS: There is not a lot known about the stories and worship of Brigit. She was said to watch over women at the major points in their lives, and was the goddess of spring, poetry, love, kindness, the seas, and metal. She was worshiped by the Celtic people. Another thing that happened on Imbolg was the making of all the candles that would be needed for the coming year. SYMBOLS: An eight sided mirror, the silk worm and the moth that the silk worm becomes.
IMAGE: The Sun, who in the Celestial land appears as a beautiful Japanese woman. HOLY DAYS: July the 17th is the day of the procession of Amaterasu. PLACE OF WORSHIP: Temples. Her shrine in Ise is the oldest holy place in Japan. FORM OF WORSHIP: Praying, burning incense, etc., In medieval times the Japanese believed they would be more successful in battle if Amaterasu (the Sun) was at their backs. Also, it was common to place a mirror, jewels, or a sword on altars to Amaterasu, as all these things were thought of as gifts she had given to mankind. RELATIVES: Brothers: Tsukiyomi (Moon God) and Susanowo (Storm God). Sons: Ama-Tsu-Mara (God of metal workers), Daikoko (God of wealth), Ebisu (God of luck through hard work). Daughter: Kisijoten (Goddess of luck). The Imperial family used to claim Amaterasu as an ancestress. SYNODEITIES: Brigit (Celtic), Ra (Egyptian), Apollo (Greek/Roman), Surya (East Indian) and Odin, (Norse). DETAILS:Amaterasu is one of the earliest Japanese deities and was the most powerful in that system. She was thought of as the Sun and the Mother of most of the other deities, save for her brothers, Tsukiyomi the Moon God, whom she did not get along with. They both set their backs to each other, thus bringing about night and day. Likewise, Susanowo, the God of Storms, who once got her so ticked off she went and hid in a cave, plunging the world into chaos. The world was saved by her being drawn out of the cave upon hearing the other Gods laughing at a silly, lascivious dance. |
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 Hay on Wye (Wales) Fuwch Gyfeilioru Themes: Creativity; Communication; Arts; Learning; Knowledge Symbols: Cow; Milk About Fuwch Gyfeilioru: Fuwch Gyfeilioru is the Welsh goddess of knowledge, inspiration, wisdom, and happiness. Appearing sometimes as an elfin cow, she has an endless supply of magical milk that refreshes ailing dispositions with joy and creativity. To Do Today: The Hay on Wye is a Welsh festival of words and language, specifically in the form of plays, music, debate, poetry and other creative written and verbal forms that certainly honor Fuwch Gyfeilioru in spirit. In keeping with the theme, take out your magic diary today. Place one hand on the cover, asking for this goddess's insight, then read it over. You'll be pleasantly surprised by your awareness of metaphysical matters and your growth in the last few months. Drink a glass of milk, consume milk by-products, or include beef as part of a meal to physically accept Fuwch Gyfeilioru's powers into yourself. Focus intently on your goal as you eat or drink, and don't forget to thank the goddess for her gift by way of a mealtime prayer. To motivate a little extra creativity, make a milk shake (any flavor, but add a pinch of cinnamon for energy or nutmeg for luck). The blender "whips up" Fuwch Gyfelioru's energy in the shake as you incant, Creativity I claim, by my will and in the goddess's name! Drink expectantly. By Patricia Telesco~From "365 Goddess" | | |
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Rhiannon, Celtic Goddess | | of Inspiration and the Moon | Rhiannon, the Celtic goddess of the moon was a Welch goddess. The goddess Rhiannon's name meant “Divine Queen�?of the fairies. In her myths, Rhiannon was promised in marriage to an older man she found repugnant. Defying her family’s wishes that Rhiannon, like other Celtic goddesses, declined to marry one of her "own kind". Instead, the goddess Rhiannon chose the mortal Prince Pwyll (pronounced Poo-ul or translated as Paul) as her future husband. Rhiannon appeared to Pwyll one afternoon while he stood with his companions on a great grass-covered mound in the deep forest surrounding his castle. These mounds, called Tors, were thought to be magical places, perhaps covering the entrance to the otherworld beneath the earth. It was thought that those who stood upon them would become enchanted, so most people avoided them. So it is no surprise that the young prince was enchanted by the vision of the beautiful young goddess Rhiannon, who was dressed in glittering gold as she galloped by on her powerful white horse. Rhiannon rode by without sparing him even a glance. Pwyll was intrigued and enraptured, and his companions were understandably concerned. Ignoring the protest of his friends, Pwyll sent his servant off riding his swiftest horse to catch her and asked her to return to meet the prince. But the servant soon returned and reported that she rode so swiftly that it seemed her horse’s feet scarcely touched the ground and that he could not even follow her to learn where she went. The next day, ignoring his friends�?advice, Pwyll returned alone to the mound and, once more, the Celtic goddess appeared. Mounted on his horse, Pwyll pursued her but could not overtake her. Although his horse ran even faster than Rhiannon's, the distance between them always remained the same. Finally, after his horse began to tremble with exhaustion, he stopped and called out for her to wait. And Rhiannon did. When Pwyll drew close she teased him gently, telling him that it would have been much kinder to his horse had he simply called out instead of chasing her. The goddess Rhiannon then let him know that she had come to find him, seeking his love. Pwyll welcomed this for the very sight of this beautiful Celtic goddess had tugged at his heart, and he reached for her reins to guide her to his kingdom. But Rhiannon smiled tenderly and shook her head, telling him that they must wait a year and that then she would marry him. In the next moment, the goddess Rhiannon simply disappeared from him into the deep forest.
Rhiannon returned one year later, dressed as before, to greet Pwyll on the Tor. He was accompanied by a troop of his own men, as befitted a prince on his wedding day. Speaking no words, Rhiannon turned her horse and gestured for the men to follow her into the tangled woods. Although fearful, they complied. As they rode the trees suddenly parted before them, clearing a path, then closing in behind them when they passed. Soon they entered a clearing and were joined by a flock of small songbirds that swooped playfully in the air around Rhiannon’s head. At the sound of their beautiful caroling all fear and worry suddenly left the men. Before long they arrived at her father’s palace, a stunning site that was surrounded by a lake. The castle, unlike any they had ever seen, was built not of wood or stone, but of silvery crystal. It spires soared into the heavens. After the wedding a great feast was held to celebrate the marriage of the goddess. Rhiannon’s family and people were both welcoming and merry, but a quarrel broke out at the festivities. It was said that the man she’d once been promised to marry was making a scene, arguing that she should not be allowed to marry outside her own people. Rhiannon slipped away from her husband’s side to deal with the situation as discreetly as she could . . . using a bit of magic, she turned the persistent suitor into a badger and caught him in a bag which she tied close and threw into the lake. Unfortunately, he managed to escape and later returned to cause great havoc in Rhiannon's life. The next day Rhiannon left with Pwyll and his men to go to Wales as his princess. When they emerged from the forest and the trees closed behind them, Rhiannon took a moment to glance lovingly behind her. She knew that the entrance to the fairy kingdom was now closed and that she could never return to her childhood home. But she didn’t pause for long and seemed to have no regret. The goddess Rhiannon was welcomed by her husband’s people and admired for her great beauty and her lovely singing. However, when two full years had passed without her becoming pregnant with an heir to the throne, the question of her bloodline, her “fitness�?to be queen began to be raised. Fortunately, in the next year she delivered a fine and healthy son. This baby, however, was to become the source of great sorrow for Rhiannon and Pwyll. As was the custom then, six women servants had been assigned to stay with Rhiannon in her lying-in quarters to help her care for the infant. Although the servants were supposed to work in shifts tending to the baby throughout the night so that the goddess Rhiannon could sleep and regain her strength after having given birth, one evening they all fell asleep on the job. When they woke to find the cradle empty, they were fearful they would be punished severely for their carelessness. They devised a plan to cast the blame on the goddess Rhiannon, who was, after all, an outsider, not really one of their own people. Killing a puppy, they smeared its blood on the sleeping Rhiannon and scattered its bones around her bed. Sounding the alarm, they accused the goddess of eating her own child. Although Rhiannon swore her innocence, Pwyll, suffering from his own shock and grief and faced with the anger of his advisers and the people, did not come strongly to her defense, saying only that he would not divorce her and asking only that her life be spared. Rhiannon’s punishment was announced. For the next seven years the goddess Rhiannon was to sit by the castle gate, bent under the heavy weight of a horse collar, greeting guests with the story of her crime and offering to carry them on her back into the castle.
Rhiannon bore her humiliating punishment without complaint. Through the bitter cold of winters and the dusty heat of four summers, she endured with quiet acceptance. Her courage was such that few accepted her offer to transport them into the castle. Respect for her began to spread throughout the country as travelers talked of the wretched punishment and the dignity with which the goddess Rhiannon bore her suffering. In the fall of the fourth year three strangers appeared at the gate—a well-dressed nobleman, his wife, and a young boy. Rhiannon rose to greet them saying, “Lord, I am here to carry each of you into the Prince’s court, for I have killed my only child and this is my punishment.�?SPAN> The man, his wife, and the child dismounted. While the man lifted the surprised Rhiannon onto his horse, the boy handed her a piece of an infant’s gown. Rhiannon saw that it was cloth that had been woven by her own hands. The boy then smiled at her, and she recognized that he had the eyes of his father, Pwyll. Soon the story was told. Four years earlier, during a great storm, the nobleman had been called to the field to help a mare in labor, when he heard the infant’s cries and found him lying abandoned. He and his wife took the baby in, raising him as if he were their own. When the rumors of the goddess Rhiannon’s fate had reached his ears, he realized what had happened and set out at once to return the child to his parents. Most legends suggest that the badger actually was the enraged suitor that Rhiannon had rejected who had escaped and taken his revenge by kidnapping Rhiannon's infant son.
Pwyll and his people quickly recognized the boy for Pwyll and Rhiannon’s son. The goddess Rhiannon was restored to her honor and her place beside her husband. Although she had suffered immensely at their hands, Rhiannon, goddess of noble traits, saw that they were ashamed and was filled with forgiveness and understanding. In some versions of the legend, Rhiannon was the Celtic goddess who later became Vivienne, best known as the Lady of the Lake. She was the Celtic goddess who gave Arthur the sword Excalibur, empowering him to become King in the legends of Camelot.
The story of the Celtic goddess Rhiannon reminds us of the healing power of humor, tears, and forgiveness. The goddess Rhiannon is a goddess of movement and change who remains steadfast, comforting us in times of crisis and of loss.
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| | | | | Goddess Symbols:
Rhiannon | | | | | | | Goddess Symbols
and Sacred Objects
of Rhiannon
Goddess symbols, individualized for each goddess, were incorporated into the worship of the ancient goddesses, were often worn as jewelry, and also used in the household decor as talismans to seek the goddesses special gifts, blessings, or protection. A large number of goddess symbols have survived in statuary and other works of art.
Many of the goddess symbols come from the legends surrounding a specific goddess and were "characters" in her story. Other goddess symbols were derived from the rituals used in the ancient rites of worship of these pagan goddesses. Rhiannon is often represented by symbols associated with her astonishing "other-worldliness". It is not surprizing that many of our icons representing the enduring beauty and simple goodness are derived from the ancient goddess symbols of Rhiannon. | | 
Goddess Symbols of Rhiannon | | General: | | Moon, horses, horseshoe, songbirds, gates, the wind, and the Number 7. | | Animals: | | Horse, badger, frog, dogs (especially puppies), canaries and other songbirds, hummingbirds, and dragons. | | Plants: | | Narcissus and daffodils, leeks, pansies, forsythia, cedar and pine trees, bayberry, sage, and rosemary | | Perfumes/Scents: | | Sandalwood, neroli, bergamot, lavender, narcissus, and geranium. | | Gems and Metals: | | Gold, silver, cat's eye, moonstone, crystal quartz, ruby, red garnet, bloodstone, turquoise, and amethyst. | | Colors: | | Dark green, maroon, gold, silver, rich brown, white, black, charcoal grey, and ruby red. | | | |
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| Sheelah's Day (Ireland) Sheelah-Na-Gig Themes: Fertility; Sexuality; Protection; Passion; Femininity Symbols: Nakedness; Lust-inspiring Scents; Whiskey About Sheelah-Na-Gig: The image of this Irish goddess of ferility tell us much about the unbridled nature of feminine passion that Sheelah inspires with springlike whimsy. She is shown smiling broadly, holding her legs wide open, completely naked. Nonetheless, this is not irresponsible lust; it is the gate of life through which we all pass. Interestingly enough, Sheelah's image, in an amulet, offers protection, too-perhaps she was the first goddess of safe sex? To Do Today: Sheelah's Day is celebrated in true Irish fashion by drinking abundant whiskey and drowning a shamrock in the last glass comsumed, to end the festivities. This particular custom denotes the idea of consuming one's luck, increasing fecundity, and internalizing the goddess's protective energies before the day is over. So if you can tolerate whisky, toast Sheelah, take a sip, and warm up your passion! Otherwise, offer her a libation of whiskey, asking for her energy to be likewise liberated in your body. If you have a significant other, one of the best ways to honor Sheelah is through passionate encounters that are balanced with wisdom and foresight. Take a condom and bless it, saying, Sheelah, my hunger see, let my body love freely. But keep us safe, fertility bind, no matter our haste, keep protection in mind. Carry this condom with you to your tryst. |
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| Epona |  | | Goddess of Abundance | | | 
| Celtic Mother Goddess of Abundance Epona is the Celtic Goddess of Fertility
Holder of the Gates to the Otherlife
after death
and accompanying the soul on it journey. Mistress and Protector of Animals,
horses are under her special protection. | | | Epona was worshipped throughout entire Gaul, and as far as the Danube and Rome.
Her cult was eventually adopted by the Roman army
and they spread her worship wherever they went.
She was the only Celtic Goddess to be honored by the Romans with a temple in their capital city. Among the Gaulish Celts themselves, she was worshipped as goddess of horses, asses, mules, oxen, and, to an extent, springs and rivers. The Goddess was associated both with water/healing and with death.
In Gaul she was depicted in the guise of a water nymph.
Frequently, she was also represented with a dog which could reflect either healing or death. | |
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Rhiannon 
Rhiannon (her name is either "Maid of Annwn" or a variant of Rigatona, "Great Queen"), a version of the horse-goddess Epona and of sovereignity. She was mistress of the Singing Birds. She appeared to Pwyll, lord of Dyfed, as a beautiful woman in dazzling gold on a white horse. Pwyll sent his fastest horsmen after her, but could not catch her. On the third day, he spoke and she told him she wanted to marry instead of her espoused husband Gwawl. Pywll was to meet her in a year and a day. He won her at the court of her father, Hefeydd the Old, by her aid. She bore Pwyll a son, who vanished. Her women killed a puppy and smeared its blood on her, to avoid blame at the child's loss. As punishment, Rhiannon spent seven years telling her story to all comers and bearing them, like a horse, to the court. The child, meanwhile, turned up at the court of Teyrnon, whose mares foaled on May eve and lost the foals mysteriously. When Teirnon kept watch, he saved a foal from a mysterious beast and also discovered, outside the stable, a child, whom he and his wife adopted. Then child grew to young manhood in seven years, and was given the foal rescued on the night he was found. Teirnon recognised the child as the son of Pwyll and returned him to his family, where he was named Pryderi ("worry") by his mother. Later, after Pwyll's death, Rhiannon married Manawydan, brother of Bran and Branwen and son of Llyr, a great magician. One day, all of Dyfed turned into a wasteland, and only Rhiannon, Manawydan, Pryderi, and his wife Cigfa, were spared. Manawydan and Pryderi out hunting followed an enormous white boar into a caer, where Pryderi saw a golden bowl; when he touched it, he was enspelled. Rhiannon went after him and fell under the same spell the caer then vanished, taking them with it. She was rescued when Manawydan captured the wife of their enemy, Llwyd, who was taking revenge for the illtreatment of Gwawl. |
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