GoddessesOf Avalon

On Avalon, there were five faces of the Goddess which the priestesses worked with, although many continued to honor the Goddesses of their homelands in addition to these Matronesses. We find glimpses of Them in the later written records of the Celts, and because most of the tales were written long after the New Religion had firmly taken hold in Britain, we must look beyond the words to see the ancient truths embedded in them.

From such sources as the Mabinogion and the poems of Taliesin, we begin our quests for the Goddesses of Avalon. Coming to know Them is a life-long process - this brief overview aims to serve as an introduction - the information is by no means complete, but will serve as a compass to point the seeker along their path.....


                           
                           
                           
                           Nine powers of nine flowers,
                           
                           Nine powers in me combined,
                           
                           Nine buds of plant and tree.
                           
                           Long and white are my fingers
                           
                           As the ninth wave of the sea.

Blodeuwedd is the Welsh Maiden Goddess, revered on Avalon as the Goddess of new beginnings, independence and empowerment. The story which patriarchy has to tell of Blodeuwedd can be found in the branch of the Mabinogion called Math, Son of Mathonwy. She is made of Nine Flowers by the great magicians Math and Gwydion, to be the Bride of Llew, the Welsh Sun God. She chooses another lover, who attempts to slay Her husband, but Llew instead turns into an Eagle. Llew is found and restored by Gwydion, who transforms Blodeuwedd into an Owl as punishment. There is much more to this story than meets the eye... look beyond what is written to see the truth.

The name "Blodeuwedd" means "Flower Face", which refers to Her Flower origins as well as her association with the owl.... which in Wales, still bears Her name: blodeuwedd.

I have spent three turns 
                           
                           In the Castle of Arianrhod...

The Goddess Arianrhod, is one of the faces of the Mother Goddess looked to in Avalon. She was Mother to Llew (God of the Son) and Dylan (God of the Sea). Her Name literally means "Silver Wheel", and Her home, Caer Arianrhod, is none other than the Milky Way.

She too is portrayed in Math, Son of Mathonwy, and again we must look beyond the surface of Her tale. She is called to the court of Math by Her brother Gwydion, and is asked to serve as Math's Footholder. To perform this task, She must prove Her virginity, for it is Math's geas that his feet be kept from touching the ground by the lap of a maiden. She is asked to step over the wand of Gwydion to verify Her assertion that She is indeed a virgin. She steps over it, and while doing so, gives birth to Her two sons. Dylan crawls away and slips into the Sea, while the other child is snatched up by Gwydion. The angry Arianrhod swears that the child in Her brother's arms will never have a name, never bear a sword, and never marry a woman of the Earth - for all of these things can only be granted by the child's Mother. Over time, through lies and deception, Gwydion tricks Arianrhod into naming and arming Her son, but only through the creation of Blodeuwedd could the young Llew have a wife.

Arianrhod is the embodiment of the Mother who is Ever-Virgin ... She Who Bears Fruit, yet is Beholden to No Man. From Her astral Throne, She lays our tasks before us as the Wheel of our lives spin on....

And the Birds of Rhiannon 
                           
                           Sang to them from the Otherworld
                           
                           Bringing them joy...

The Goddess Rhiannon, "Great Queen", is the other face of the Mother. She Who is the White Mare, the Queen of the Otherworld, whose Birds could soothe the souls of the most troubled of mortals. She is the Nurturing Mother, devoted to Her children, Who gently guides us that we may learn the lessons before us.

Rhiannon appears in two Branches of the Mabinogion, Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed and Manawyddan, Son of Llyr. As told in these stories, She understands hardship and pain, separation and loss. But always, although She had been wronged, Her love was unfaltering, and Her honor unwavering. Known also as Epona to the Gauls, and Macha to the Irish, this much beloved Goddess is the Great Queen Mother of the Celts.

I obtained my inspiration 
                           
                           From the Cauldron of Cerridwen

Cerridwen, the "White Sow", is the revered Crone Goddess - She who is the Dark of the Moon, into whose Cauldron we must enter to be reborn. She is the Washer at the Ford, the Dark Hag, the Cailleach. Those who do not understand Her regenerative nature, fear Her. Yet, from Her comes Awen - Inspiration.

The Great Bard Taliesin received his gift though a period of testing by this aspect of the Goddess. Once a serving boy named Gwion, he stole three drops of a brew Cerridwen was making for Her son, Avagdu. With this brew, came all Knowledge, and knowing She would punish him, he ran from the angry Goddess. A pursuit filled with shape-changing insued, until finally Gwion became a piece of grain and hid himself on the thrashing room floor. Cerridwen changed Herself into a hen, and ate the grain until she had consumed Gwion. Nine months later, Taliesin the Bard emerged from Her Womb, and She cast him out to sea on Samhain, where he was found in a Salmon weir.

And She was one of the Three Matriarchs
                           in this Island.
                           
                           Fairest Maiden in the world was She.

Great Branwen, the Embodiment of Sovereignty, is the Chief Goddess of Avalon. Although there is an entire branch of the Mabinogion which bears Her name, Branwen, Daughter of Llyr, (the only branch named for a woman), the story only hints at the importance, and domain of this Goddess.

Meaning "White Raven", this Sister of Bran the Blessed, becomes Queen of Ireland and is sorely mistreated by Her husband. Sending starlings She Herself has trained, She calls Her Brother, who is King of the Isle of Britain, to Her aid. After battles, the appearance of the Cauldron of Plenty, which restores life, and the beheading of Her Brother, Branwen is returned to Britain where She dies of grief for all of the death and destruction.

She is very concerned with the welfare of Her realm, and is a Goddess of great depth and complexity.

These five Goddesses are far more than the written record tells of them. When their tales where finally written down, they had already been reduced in stature - they were no longer Goddesses but mortal women, queens, creations of magickians, and faerie folk. Patriarchy was not kind to them either, as their stories are mostly told in relation to the men in their lives. Seek out what is written, but look beyond the words. There are symbols to be explored, attributes to understand, and if you seek hard enough.... the Goddesses Themselves will reveal Their TRUE stories to you....

Other Goddess which have connections with Avalon include Brigit, Anu, Danu, Morgan, and countless other local Goddesses brought to the Island by the women who trained there as priestesses. There are those who say that women came from all over the British Isles, the continental Celtic lands, and even as far as Greece to study at Avalon. To be sure, they brought some of their local traditions with them.

It has come to us that these five - Blodeuwedd, Arianrhod, Rhiannon, Cerridwen and Branwen, are the Guardians of the Sacred Isle of Avalon...

The Goddesses of Avalon