Beltane/Calan Mai: The Dove and the Sparrowhawk

May 1, 2025May 5, 2025 ~ Erin Guinevere ~ 1 Comment

Beltane/Calan Mai

Clover blooms in the fields
Spring breaks loose, the time is near
What would he do if he found us out?
Crescent moon, coast is clear
Spring breaks loose, but so does fear
He’s gonna burn this house to the ground

How’s one to know?
I’d live and die for moments that we stole
On begged and borrowed time
So tell me to run
Or dare to sit and watch what we’ll become
And drink my husband’s wine

Ivy by Taylor Swift

The Wheel of the Year turns once again to Beltane/Calan Mai, by far my favourite holiday and time of year. Last night, before laying my offerings, I sang songs to Gwenhwyfar and Rhiannon, and also acknowledged Olwen, Blodeuedd, Creiddylad as May Queens whose energy is strong this time of year.

I also acknowledged these ladies’ consorts, particularly Edern/Ydern the Sparrowhawk Knight as Gwenhwyfar’s lover in the Otherworldly faery realms, and Arthur as her earthly consort.

Edern ap Nudd

But wait, who is Edern?

Edern/Ydern/Isdernus/Yder, known as the Sparrowhawk Knight is a lesser-known Arthurian knight who appears in both antagonist and heroic roles in roughly equal measure, but in most of these stories he always ends up reconciled with Arthur. In the ‘Romance of Yder’, it is Arthur who is antagonistic, being depicted as a selfish and borderline-tyrannical king, and Ydern is depicted as a young, courageous, noble but untested young man desperate to prove himself. He is also a son of Nudd, like Gwyn. Nudd is likely identical with the proto-Brythonic god Nodens. Gwyn is an Otherworldly faerie figure, Lord of the Wild Hunt, which would likely make his brother Edern more-than-human too.

But here’s where it gets interesting. In a cathedral in Italy, Arthur and Edern (as Isdernus) are depicted rescuing Guinevere from a tower, in a motif that parallels the later abduction of Guinevere by Melwas and then Maleagant, in which she is rescued by Lancelot. In an early version of Tristan and Isolde, there is an allusion to Edern being a lover of Guinevere. In the ‘Romance of Yder’, his lover is a ‘Guenloie’, who is likely a split-off version of Guinevere created to keep two traditions alive: Guinevere as the wife of Arthur, and Guinevere as the lover of Edern, without upsetting Christian morality and monogamy norms. In the Modena relief, Edern/Isdernus is not wearing armor, unlike the other knights, which could point to his Otherworldly faery origins, and the fact that in courtly love romances, knights were often depicted as vulnerable before their ladies.

The evidence, to me, seems to suggest that Edern was ‘the original Lancelot’, serving as Gwenhwyfar’s original protector and lover. At first this conclusion was mostly academic and based on research, but I was experiencing such a strong sense of intuition that this was the truth Gwenhwyfar was pushing me to find. Last night, on the eve of Beltane, I had a dream in which she confirmed this for me. I couldn’t believe it. On Beltane! How fitting and magical. I have jokingly said that this discovery has been ‘my Da Vinci Code’ and dubbed it ‘The Modena Code’.

Constructing A Unique Mythognosis

As I have discussed prior, the ‘Gwen’ in Gwenhwyfar’s name means something like white, holy, or blessed. The ‘Hwyfar’ means something like phantom, enchantress, or fairy. In Culhwch and Olwen, Arthur lists Gwenhwyfar among his most prized possessions, many of whom seem to, based on their names, possess magical and otherworldly characteristics. Considering his raid on the Otherworld in Preiddeu Annwfn, is it possible Gwenhwyfar was one of his spoils? A faerie maiden of the Otherworld taken from her home to legitimise the Sovereignty of a mortal king?

Considering the story in the Italian cathedral is parallel to the story of Guinevere’s abduction by Melwas who is identified with Gwyn ap Nudd, an Otherworldly faery king associated with Glastonbury and Avalon, here is the brief shape of my UPG around this whole love… diamond? Square? Please keep in mind I am not presenting this as The Truth, just mine, based on a blend of research and intuition, plus Gwenhwyfar’s messages to me herself.

Gwenhwyfar is a Queen or perhaps a Princess of the Otherworld.
Faerie Lords/Kings/Princes Gwyn (who later becomes Melwas, Mardoc and Maleagant) and Edern (who later becomes Ydern, Yder, Isdernus and somewhat Lancelot), brothers, are in love with her. The former represents winter and death, the latter represents summer and life, like several other Celtic love triangles including the one from Culhwch and Olwen in which Gwyn is also involved.
But there is a third contender in the battle for Gwenhwyfar’s here, too. Arthur, King of the Britons. Perhaps he loves her, perhaps he seeks her hand in marriage to legitimise his sovereignty and claim to the throne. I have mostly positive feelings around Arthur, but I’m aware he is still mostly seen as a Christian king with his own agenda, although he may have earlier origins as a pagan bear god. He finds Gwenhwyfar in the Otherworld and consensually or not, the two end up married. Perhaps this was done to forge an alliance between the Otherworld and the mortal world, as several knights and ladies who seem to have Otherwordly origins end up becoming loyal to Arthur, not just Gwenhwyfar and Edern.
Edern joins Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table in order to stay close to Gwenhwyfar and protect her even in this new, dense, material world of men and a foreign religion.
Years go by, Gwenhwyfar beside Arthur as his queen consort, Edern watching from the sidelines. Edern comes in to relative conflict with Arthur a few times, but always ends up remaining loyal to him. Gwenhwyfar learns to appreciate Arthur and believes him to be a good king trying to do right by his people and understands her role in protecting Albion by staying by his side and embodying Sovereignty Herself.
Gwyn, rightfully annoyed a Christian king is treating a divine faerie goddess as his own possession to legitimise his sovereignty, kidnaps her and takes her back to his Glass Tower in Avalon/Glastonbury. Gwenhwyfar may or may not have complied.
Arthur, Edern and the other knights show up to get Gwenhwyfar back.
Gwenhwyfar is returned to Arthur, but her and Edern remain as lovers in secret, much like how she is written with Lancelot.
Eventually this is revealed. Arthur is destroyed and his sovereignty is lost as he no longer has the favour of the Sovereignty goddess, in the form of his wife, Gwenhwyfar.
The stories are written down by monks and scholars, and carved into cathedral walls. Gwyn becomes Melwas/Maleagant/Mardoc/Mordred, Gwenhwyfar becomes Guinevere, Winlogee and Guenloie, Edern becomes Yder, Ydern, Isdernus and… Lancelot.
Edern is canonised as a Christian saint, like many other Celtic deities and Otherworldly/faery figures.

A Note on Totemic Animals

Many Celtic deities are associated with birds, be it birds in general or specific ones. Rhiannon has her Adar Rhiannon, whom I see as songbirds; sometimes robins, sometimes blackbirds, sometimes three different coloured birds whose species I cannot quite place. Cliodhna, the Irish goddess, has similar magical birds. Brigid has a swan. The Morrigan, Morgan le Fay, Bran and Gwyn ap Nudd are all associated with crows and ravens. Bran’s sister Branwen has both the white raven and the starling. Blodeuwedd is of course the owl. Lleu is a majestic eagle. Edern is known as ‘the Sparrowhawk Knight’, and I believe that to be his totemic bird. Gwenhwyfar, though it may be UPG, I associate with a white dove, a classical and Near-Eastern symbol of the love goddess, and Guinevere is syncretically linked to Aphrodite/Venus. She is sometimes depicted with a dove in art. Having just Googled ‘Guinevere and doves’, it turns out doves are actually associated with her in a Grimm brothers tale of Guinevere and Arthur.

In his saint/monk form, Edern is depicted riding a stag, an obvious symbol of the Celtic Divine Masculine that can symbolise death and rebirth due to their shedding and regrowing of their antlers.

In Praise of Guinevere

Navigating the world of UPG vs attested sources can be confusing. I would never want people to end up stumbling upon this personal blog entry annoyed at me for trying to preach that my UPG is The Truth, but I’m certainly not the only one who believes Edern to be Gwenhwyfar’s true love, even if the specifics may be unique to me.

But as a Sovereignty Goddess and a figure associated with Venus, Gwenhwyfar’s love is not bound by Christian morality. She bestows it upon who she sees fit, for reasons I cannot begin to truly comprehend. Regardless of whether her lover is Edern, Lancelot, Arthur, Melwas, Mordred, multiple of these, or she has no consort at all, she remains my Lady, Venus of Albion, Sovereign and complete in herself with or without a consort. I can only implore you, if you are called to worship and work with Gwenhwyfar, to spend time with her, pray to her, and do your own research to figure out who you should honour as her consort(s). She is a most loving, warm but firm goddess who, just like she does with the knights in service to her, shows me how to become a better version of myself. She embodies the paradox of the Lady of Love who both loves you as you already are, and wants you to rise to meet her.

Beltane Blessings

This morning, I awoke early to go and collect morning dew from a local hawthorn tree. When I got there and found her bone dry, I instead just spent some time with her before heading back home to instead dab my face with dew from our own garden. Feeling refreshed, I called in the Wheel of Rhiannon and blessed and consecrated several pieces of jewellery to, Rhiannon, Gwenhwyfar and one to Venus. After that, I recorded a journey meditation for my Beltane gathering this coming Monday, for meeting your faery guide and Gwenhwyfar, which I can share if anyone wants it.

I intend to spend the rest of the day meditating on these themes, sacred union, and enjoying the beautiful golden May sun on my skin. Gwenhwyfar reunites with Edern, and the light half of the year returns. Sunday I am going to a Beltane event with my beloved who is a complete newbie to anything pagan related- breaking him in should be fun! I’ve told him to think of it as like church, but with more whooping, dancing, moving, sensuality, and acknowledgement that all of creation is sacred. On Monday I am hosting my third annual Beltane gathering with my friends- which I think will be the best one yet.

On May 12th, the next full moon- the ‘Flower Moon’, I will conduct a small ceremony in praise of Guinevere. I am currently constructing a system of lunar workings in which for each full moon in the 13 month year, I worship and work with a different Celtic goddess. The Flower Moon corresponds with Guinevere, and next will be Rhiannon.

Blessed Beltane, one and all!

Sources:
https://clasmerdin.blogspot.com/2011/05/modena-archivolt.html
https://clasmerdin.blogspot.com/2011/05/white-winter-king.html
https://clasmerdin.blogspot.com/2011/05/white-phantom.html
https://clasmerdin.blogspot.com/2011/07/isle-of-glass.html
https://clasmerdin.blogspot.com/2011/07/isle-of-glass-2.html
https://www.maryjones.us/jce/edern.html
https://nightbringer.se/the-legend-of-king-arthur/arthurian-characters/y-arthurian-characters/yder-the-son-of-nut/
https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9780231879439_A39320851/preview-9780231879439_A39320851.pdf
https://druidry.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Guinevere-as-Venus-revised.pdf
https://aegtte.weebly.com/de-bruidsjurk-van-guinevere-guineveres-bridal-gown.html

Olwen: May Queen and Solar Goddess of Love

May 10, 2023April 19, 2025 ~ Erin Guinevere ~ 1 Comment

I know I said I was done with the Beltane/Calan Mai/May Day posts but we’re still in Beltane season until the solstice so I lied. And I have a couple more ideas for Beltane related posts. So there.

One of the Beltane/May Queen goddesses I’ve not really talked about is Olwen of the White Track. She is much more obscure and not as widely acknowledged in Brythonic polytheism/the Avalonian based traditions as her similar sister-goddesses Gwenhwyfar, Blodeuedd, Rhiannon etc. (Creiddylad, Yseult etc too but they’re also quite obscure).

In the main text in which she appears, Culhwch and Olwen, she does not appear much in the story because obviously it’s a tale of Manly Knights doing Manly Knight Things, but she is the reason they headed off on their adventure to begin with, as in order to marry her, Culhwch has to go on an epic quest which will prove his worthiness to her father, Ysbaddaden (whose name refers to the hawthorne tree, an obvious link to Beltane), who will die if she marries. Many believe him to represent the old Winter King who does not want to give up his throne, with Olwen as the Flower Bride waiting to be set free from this overprotective paternal figure- one of the oldest examples of stories about fathers who believe no man to be good enough for their daughter, perhaps. This leaves Culhwch as the young, untested Summer Lord who needs the hand of the Flower Bride to begin his reign as Summer King.

But what makes Olwen so different from the other Flower Brides (other than it being her father and her potential lover who she is the hinge in the love triangle between and not two lovers) is, to me, she seems to have more agency. We do not hear things from her point of view, but she seems to actually be attracted to Culhwch. Culhwch asks for her hand, and she simply says her father won’t allow her to marry, not that she doesn’t want to. Red, to the Welsh Celts, was not, as far as we know, associated with sexuality as it is today, but represented the Otherworld (along with white). When we think of most of the Flower Brides, who many associate with the Maiden aspect of the Goddess, we think of them as wearing white. But Olwen, she wears red. From a contemporary comparative mythology and symbolism perspective, this to me indicates she is ready to become sexually active and enter in to the Lover stage of her life, the transitory period between Maiden and Mother. In the Avalonian tradition of Glastonbury Goddess Temple, Maiden, Mother, Crone is stretched to Maiden, Lover, Mother, Crone, with the Lover archetype representing Beltane (the Maiden instead represents Imbolc, the Mother at Lammas, and the Crone at Samhain). Olwen isn’t a passive figure who has little control over her fate like Creiddylad, or forced in to a marriage she didn’t consent to like Blodeuedd, or married for political reasons like Guinevere/Gwenhwyfar. She seems to actually want to marry, and it’s simply her father holding her back. Not to say that we cannot interpret the aforementioned goddesses as having agency too (the latter two definitely express agency in choosing who to love later on in their stories), but I feel like with Olwen there’s less reclamation that needs to be done. As well as her signature red gown, she is described as wearing many rings upon her fingers, and a necklace of red gold and jewels. She is fully aware of her beauty and sexuality, as opposed to a white-robed, demure, innocent maiden. It’s UPG and modern comparative mythology, sure, but I feel like Olwen is, probably along with Gwenhwyfar, the Flower Bride who is the most aware of her role as passionate Lover. Her red gown such as those worn in depictions of sensual Irish goddesses Áine and Medb, and jewellery worn by the likes of the Nordic love goddess Freya and Mesopotamian love goddess Inanna, tell her father “I’m not a little girl any more, dad.” I think about the way the Glastonbury Avalon tradition depicts Rhiannon, and that’s very close to how I view Olwen. I wonder if parts of Olwen’s energies are being channeled in these more modern depictions of Rhiannon as Lover Goddess.

Rhiannon altar at Glastonbury Goddess Temple or House

Her name is said to mean ‘white track’. Where she steps, tiny flowers bloom below her feet. Like Brigid, and Ostara/Eostre, she arises from the underworld out of slumber to awaken the land. Today, while I was walking through a local green space to feed the birds, there were thousands of daisies. One of the best things about this time of year is the little wildflowers that cover the grass. There were so many daisies that I could smell them in the air as I walked. I imagined myself as Olwen, awakening the land with my footsteps.

There is some etymological research to suggest her name means ‘Golden Wheel’, in contrast to the Silver Wheel of Arianrhod, which may make her a sun goddess, due to the fact that the word ‘olwyn’ is believed to have meant Wheel, though I’m unsure where the ‘golden’ part come from. As a spring/summer goddess, she certainly is aligned with solar energies. Arianrhod doesn’t have as clear of a connection to the moon as people may think (though she certainly does with the stars), but as I’ve said in the past, modern interpretations of the domains of these deities aren’t invalid just because we can’t find indisputable proof for them. The silver wheel in Arianrhod’s name, if indeed ‘Rhod’ does mean wheel, I suppose could be due to her association with the Corona Borealis. That being said, I see no reason why modern pagans shouldn’t be able to associate Arianrhod with the moon. Moving back to Olwen, I get annoyed by the New Age and Wiccan idea that all goddesses are lunar and all gods are solar, when the Celtic pantheons and other European pantheons have no shortage of solar goddesses and in the Nordic tradition, the sun is female and the moon is male. One theory as to why there are more sun goddesses and moon gods the more north you get is that in warmer climates, the daytime sun is viewed as a harsh and aggressive force, associated with masculine energy, whereas the night is cool and gentle, associated with feminine energy. Whereas in more Northern climates, the nights are bitter and hard, whereas the warmth of the sun is benevolent and loving. I’ve always been drawn to solar goddesses, and Olwen is no exception.

In another story, Einion and Olwen, a young shepherd travels to the Otherworld, wins her heart, and the two marry and have a son named Taliesin (likely different to *that* Taliesin.) Olwen exercises plenty of agency in this tale, falling in love with Einion and wanting to marry him rather than him just pursuing her which is often the case in these stories. She has two sisters, pointing to a triple goddess, like Gwenhwyfar in the Welsh Triads, the three Brigids etc.

By Judith Shaw from her Celtic Goddess Oracle Card deck

I have read her described as being the keeper of the Apple Orchard of the Otherworld, a role that is often given to the god Afallach, his daughter Modron, Morgan le Fay, and various sovereignty goddesses associated with the Otherworld. Given Olwen fits nicely in to this archetypal ‘family’ of Otherworld deities, and her associations with the colour red and love, I can accept this correspondence on the grounds of syncretism and comparative mythology, although I would like to find the source for it and the direct justification. Honestly, a lot of these sovereignty, love, spring and Otherworld goddesses are so similar that it can be hard to discern where one ends and one begins.

We can interpret Olwen as triple-aspected: when she is with her father during winter, she is the Lady of the Underworld. She then leaves with her lover to the upper world to bring about Spring, making her almost like a reverse Persephone. She is also a solar goddess, giving her heavenly connections. As such, she can be seen as Lady of the Underworld, Lady of the Earth, and Lady of the Heavens, just like Ostara/Eostre.

The theme for the 2019 Glastonbury Goddess Conference was ‘Sun Lover’, a combination of the solar goddess & lover goddess archetypes. I cannot think of a better candidate for this than Olwen other than maybe Áine, who is an Irish goddess and therefore not as much of an ideal fit for an Avalonian tradition, but still relevant. I believe Áine was honoured as I read the little Sun Lover book published after the conference, but did not recall any mention of Olwen, which is a shame. I would love to see this powerful, beautiful, sensual, loving Goddess honoured more among those of us who gravitate towards Welsh traditions and the more neopagan, sacred feminine focused Avalonian traditions, especially at Beltane/Calan Mai, which is her time of year.

If you wanted to build an altar for Olwen, at Beltane or any time of year, here are some things you could include:

Small white wildflowers, especially trefoils
Gold rings and necklaces
Solar imagery and crystals associated with the sun
Red altar cloth, red candles
Rubies
Broom flowers
Red roses
Hawthorne flowers
A printed off painting of her, or a drawing you’ve done yourself
Makeup

I believe Olwen encourages women to embrace their beauty and sexuality, inflames the passion between lovers, and encourages women to be active participants in our own love lives. However, the fact that Culhwch had to perform thirteen impossible tasks to be able to marry her shows that we should have high standards for who we choose as our lovers, and we can invoke our inner masculine, our inner father, to hold that boundary for us if we feel we cannot do it through our feminine. She also tells us that ‘vanity’ is not a sin and its okay to want to dress up, wear makeup and jewellery to feel sexy and confident. When I put on my red dresses with matching signature red lipstick and gold jewellery, I instantly feel a boost of confidence and sexual, feminine power: Olwen’s influence. She also does not need to wait for a lover to awaken her sexuality, she seems capable of doing it herself, though she awaits her king to have someone to share it with. Therefore, she reminds me that I am capable of embodying the Lover Goddess and embracing my sensuality and sexuality whilst single, awaiting my king or queen to share it with.

Hail to the triple-aspected Lady of the Underworld, Lady of the Earth, and Lady of Heaven. Hail to the May Queen and Her King. Hail to the Summer!

~ Rhianwen

Beltane: The Coronation of the Queen & King of the Land

May 4, 2023April 19, 2025 ~ Erin Guinevere ~ 4 Comments

Beltane, or, as I’ve been calling it more often since I’ve adapted a more firmly Welsh/Brythonic influenced path (I have just applied to join the Sisterhood of Avalon), Calan Mai, is my favourite festival in the Wheel of the Year. Everything about this festival sings to my soul. I’ve always loved May. The transition from the beginning of April to the end of April is so stark. The days are much longer, the trees are approaching their leafy fullness, and every patch of grass is alive with daisies, dandelions, bluebells, forget-me-nots and more (in my neck of the woods, your local wildflowers may be different). In the UK, we have two bank holiday Mondays this month, too, with an extra one this year due to the king’s coronation (which, regardless of your thoughts on the monarchy, the day off is very nice, and metaphysically May is the best month they could’ve picked for a coronation).

Beltane is celebrated slightly differently across different pagan paths, but there are some shared themes: fertility, the sun, summertime, light, fire. Historically, cattle would be driven between two bonfires to purify them. People would wash their faces with the morning dew to bring them beauty and a youthful appearance throughout the year. Hawthorne branches would be gathered and homes decorated with wildflowers. When the Romans conquered Britain, the festival was syncretised with Floralia, the feast day of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, and young women would weave flower crowns in her honour.

In my practice and Wheel observance, which is inspired by the various Avalonian traditions and Brythonic/Welsh mythology, Beltane/Calan Mai is where we honour the Sovereignty Goddess in Her Maiden guise of the Flower Bride, known by many names such as Gwenhwyfar/Guinevere, Olwen, Blodeuwedd, Creiddylad, Bláthnat, Iseult & more.

I’ve began to explain the Flower Bride deific to those unfamiliar with these stories by dubbing her a ‘Welsh Persephone figure’. Stories of the Flower Bride usually involve a love triangle, and she is always associated with spring time/summer time, and flowers; the Goddess that every May Queen embodies as well as the goddess Flora.

Like all Sovereignty goddesses, a man cannot step in to Kingship or more broadly speaking any sort of true power or leadership unless he is married to Her. If we are to take Her consort as being a god as well as a mortal king in these stories, which is fair to do because we know many deities were demoted to mortals in the Christianisation of the Welsh tradition, it is fair to say that while She is always a Goddess, He ascends to the rank of a God through Her, anointed and awakened through sacred sexuality. The phrase ‘men must become, women just are’ may have sexist connotations, but when applied metaphysically to divine masculinity and femininity, there is basis for it in some of our mythology. To me, this is because, if you imagine a wheel, the divine feminine is at the center at the divine masculine is the protective, moving rim, but there are many different perspectives on this.

In some Flower Bride stories, she is kidnapped and passed from one man to another and seems to have little agency, leading some to perceive these stories as sexist. I completely understand that, but something to consider is that we don’t have to perceive it that way if we don’t want to! There is no metaphysical, spiritual or nature-based reason why we have to imagine the Flower Bride being forcefully passed between two men, OR as an unfaithful woman of loose morals committing adultery, when we can instead cut away all the baggage and get to the metaphysical HEART and thesis of the story, which is “Seasons and Kings come and pass, but the Goddess is forever.” Her two lovers usually fill these two archetypes: Otherworldly Champion, associated with Winter, (sometimes known as the Holly King), and Solar Hero, associated with summer (sometimes known as the Oak King). Who she begins the story with and who she ends up with depends on the story. In Blodeuwedd’s story, she begins married to the Solar Hero, and falls in love with the Otherwordly Champion. In Olwen’s story, while not her lover, her father can be seen as analogous to the old Otherworldly King, and the young, untested Solar Hero has to win her hand. Gwenhwyfar/Guinevere, throughout Arthuriana, is constantly being kidnapped by various Otherworldly/dark figures who obviously represent the Winter King, or betraying Arthur for the young Lancelot who is, interestingly enough, both more of a young/youthful Summer figure, and also an Otherworldly Champion seeing as he is raised by the Lady of the Lake. In Creiddylad’s story, where she begins betrothed to the Solar Hero and is kidnapped by Gwyn Ap Nudd who is absolutely an Otherwordly Underworld king, the story is open ended because she returns to her father’s house and the two men must fight over her every May Day. Whichever man steals away (either by consensually wooing her or by kidnap) the Flower Bride can give us a clue about whether or not the story is about the dark half of the year giving way to the light half, or the light half giving way to the dark half. However, since myths are supposed to be read not as literal events taking place within the realm of time and space (unlike the Abrahamic stories which we’re supposed to take as factual events happening in linear time), but eternal, out-of-this-world events that play out on the World Stage (the Plemora in Platonism), all of the stories can be read as a metaphor for Seasonal Sovereignty and when the story ‘ends’, it begins again and she returns to her original lover, and the story repeats itself. Another thing to consider is that some scholars believe that when the Flower Bride is seemingly ‘kidnapped’ by these mystical/otherworldly figures such as Gwyn ap Nudd kidnapping Creiddylad or Melwas (who is potentially Gwyn in disguise) kidnapping Gwenhwyfar, what is actually happening is that he was her original lover first- the Flower Bride was kidnapped initially by the Solar Hero and the Otherwordly Champion is merely taking her home where she belongs. Considering Flower Brides are very clearly otherworldly in origin, this holds up. The most interesting example of this, to me is a lesser-known story in which Edern ap Nudd, another son of the clearly otherworldly Nudd/Nodens and brother of Gwyn ap Nudd, who in one story is adversarial towards Gwenhwyfar, is her lover who seduces her away from Arthur. Perhaps the Otherworldly figure was truly the good guy in these stories and him being demonised as a ‘kidnapper’ is simply a case of ‘history is written by the victors’ since the Solar Hero is much more in alignment with Christian ideals as opposed to pagan, faery ones.

In other Sovereignty stories, where She takes forms other than Flower Bride, She is the golden-robed Apple Queen of the Otherworld who reveals Herself to worthy men who would be Her King. I see this as a more mature form of the Flower Bride. While the Flower Bride can be viewed as Spring/Early Summer Maiden, the Apple Queen is the Late Summer/Early Autumn Mother, fully authoritative and at the height of Her power. Sometimes she is a Winter Crone, who is turned in to a beautiful maiden again by the kiss (or more) of a worthy knight, representing either winter becoming summer again or simply the fact that the land must be brought back in to balance by choosing a rightful king. Sometimes she takes an adversarial form, such as Morgan le Fay, where she appears on the surface to be actively trying to hinder the heroes but from a pagan perspective we can understand Her as testing them to ensure they are up to the job of ruling the land that is Hers, especially given the fact that She represents the old pagan order and in the Christianised Arthurian stories, they represent the new Christian order. Given that they are essentially bringing great change upon the land, why would She not do what she can to ensure those of the new order can respect the natural laws of Sovereignty and do right by Her people?

While Beltane is usually a celebration of the Flower Bride aspect of Sovereignty, I consider Rhiannon to represent more of the Golden Queen/Apple Queen aspect, placing her period of rule more firmly in the later days of summer. However, she is celebrated at this time of year, too, in the Avalonian tradition practiced by Glastonbury Goddess Temple and its priestesses and priests. I do think, as a sovereignty goddess, it makes a lot of sense to celebrate her at Beltane too. Rhiannon of the Glastonbury Avalonian traditions seems to embody aspects of various goddesses of love and sexuality, placing Her in a red gown (like that worn by Olwen), and is seen in a similar way to other sovereignty goddesses such as Aine and Medb. She also seems to have more obviously Venusian elements, acknowledging the Celtic connection between mares and the sea, and the fact that in the third branch of the Mabinogion she marries Manawydan, often thought to be a Welsh version of Manannán mac Lir, an Irish sea god. This modern view of Rhiannon is very much that of a love and femininity goddess in the vein of Aphrodite, Ishtar and Mary Magdalene, and while the Celtic tradition doesn’t really have deities with such clearly defined domains, I can very much understand why Rhiannon has taken on that mantle, and believe other Sovereignty Goddesses such as Gwenhwyfar to also be love goddesses (To quote Caitlin & John Matthews in their book Ladies of the Lake: “In a tradition that does not go in for Classical goddesses of love, Guinevere is virtually the British Venus.” I recommend this video for further exploration of this, in fact, her whole channel is excellent, and so is her blog which you can find over at White Rose of Avalon. Demelza Fox of Rockstar Priestess also references Rhiannon as a love goddess here at 7:09 onwards.

A priestess I know and admire said the other day that being single during the Beltane period is almost like being single during Valentine’s Day and she’s so right, it really is. Celebrating sacred sexuality, union, the sacred marriage/hieros gamos and all of those things when you’re single feels a bit weird. Especially because it was this time last year that I entered my first proper relationship and now I’m back to square one. But I truly love this topic, and am celebrating fertility and the union of masculine and feminine within myself and in the earth around me. Considering I’ve had such a complicated relationship with the topics of love and sexuality, though I am not the kind of woman who most obviously embodies this type of energy at first glance, I feel very much in alignment with the Lover archetype of the Goddess, and when I’m financially better off and can afford the costs of travel & accommodation I very much intend to do the Priestess of Rhiannon sacred sexuality training one day. While I do not currently worship the masculine God, I do acknowledge him in his archetype of King of the Land, in both his Otherwordly Champion and Solar Hero guises. For deeper exploration of this, check out Caitlin Matthews’ ‘King Arthur and the Goddess of the Land’. I may not be devoted to the pagan God but He is a part of my life, and I credit Him with healing many of my issues with the masculine and allowing me to feel safe enough to enter in to my first relationship with a man last year. He does not force Himself in to my life or my practice as He knows this isn’t what I need right now. Instead, he is a presence that holds me, protects me and asks for nothing in return, and perhaps one day I will devote myself to Him as fully as I do with the Goddess. Below is the King & Goddess Wheel of the Year from King Arthur & the Goddess of the Land, which I am incorporating in to my usual Wheel observance as a way to acknowledge the journey of the Sovereign King.

Sexuality is something I don’t think our culture has ever been able to ‘get right’. The pendulum never settles nicely in the middle. Instead, the ideal woman is either a chaste Madonna or a wild Whore with no sexual boundaries. Sex before marriage makes you tainted and impure (especially if you’re a woman) or it’s a requirement to be as sexually open as possible if you want to find a partner and those who don’t are shamed as prudes. Either the only acceptable way to have sex is a married, heterosexual couple doing missionary once a month with the lights off until the man finishes and the woman lies there unsatisfied OR all kinks and fetishes, even the most dangerous and degrading ones, are seen as utterly exempt from criticism and teenage girls end up hospitalized trying to do things their boyfriends have seen in hardcore porn. Either we’re never allowed to talk about or acknowledge sex or we can scarcely turn on our televisions without seeing pornography. I believe Sacred Sexuality is the cure for this, the one view of sexuality we’ve never truly tried in our culture, either demonising sex or forcing it down everyone’s throats to the point where it looses all its meaning. But our bodies are holy and pleasure is our birthright. Sacred sexuality occurs when we truly treat sex with the reverence it deserves, as a spiritual sacrament, and you see the God or the Goddess in your partner. In heterosexual relationships, this comes in the form of union of opposites, Chalice/Grail and Blade/Wand, Goddess and God, Queen and King. At a time when gender relations are so rife with tension and an almost sibling rivalry type of energy, when women, deeply hurt by misogyny, declare men are useless trash who don’t need to exist and men declare that women should submit and be led by men, I believe union between the masculine & the feminine are needed now more than ever, not as competitors battling for dominance, neither one submitting to or domineering over the other, but two equally valuable and potent forces that stand side by side. But homosexual relationships are no less sacred; metaphysically they can be explained as Source returning to Source, and there are various pagan traditions that celebrate gay love, though on the surface I can see why it may seem like all this talk of union between masculine & feminine at Beltane means gay love is less worthy. I want to assure you that as a bisexual woman and someone who thought I was a lesbian for many years, that’s not the case. For lesbians, I suggest looking in to the Dianic tradition and to Artemisian and Sapphic sexual mysteries, and to gay men I point you towards the Feri tradition, which I believe deeply celebrates love between men.

Last month in my moot, I gave my talk about the Flower Bride and the King of the Land, which was my first time giving a full talk on a pagan topic. Before that, we performed a small ritual in which I was the May Queen/Flower Bride & the embodiment of the Goddess, whereas the amazing Kev was our Green Man/Jack-in-the-Green/Oak King/God. I was so so nervous about that talk but everyone loved it and gave me such positive feedback. Interesting that based on our ages and genders we have Holly King, Oak King, Maiden, Mother & Crone here, as Jan remarked!

On May Day itself, which obviously is a bank holiday (another reason why Beltane is my favourite of the Wheel festivals!) I hosted a pagan gathering for the first time. We performed a simple ritual, I told the story of Rhiannon & Pwyll, exchanged gifts, made flower crowns, ate picnic food, sang songs, did some spellwork & just enjoyed each other’s company in a little grove we found right next to a hawthorne tree/May bush, which we didn’t even realise until we sat down. It was genuinely one of the best days I’ve had so far this year and I’m so grateful to everyone who came. I almost cancelled so many times because I didn’t think anyone would come. I’m manifesting, praying & hoping for more of this in my life.

Before I finish off with a bibliography of reading I’ve done last month and prior to that relating to these topics, I want to leave you with two poems I’ve written about Beltane. One was written last year and partially inspired by my former muse, my ex boyfriend, who is no longer in my life, but I am still thankful for what he did for me and the way he showed me what requited, healthy love feels like, and I see no reason why I would have to discard the whole poem when its themes are universal. The other was written specifically with the theme of the Goddess choosing Her God/the May Queen choosing the May King in mind, and I read it aloud at both Beltane events mentioned above. In this latter one I really wanted to acknowledge the Lover archetype between Maiden and Mother, the archetype honored by the Glastonbury Avalonian tradition at Beltane.

Sound the trumpets, blow the horns!
She shall be a maiden no more.
Light the fires, call the dance! She meets her paramour.

Dressed in crimson, dressed in white,
Their innocence, their love.
From their union comes the light,
The Firebird and the Dove.

He is hers and she is his,
They leap over the flames.
Kiss me now, touch me there,
Begin the fun and games.

She makes him king, he crowns her queen,
Sovereignty through desire.
The Lady and the Horned One’s love
Forged in Beltane’s fire.

She whose body is the land
And rules with a flower sceptre
Initiatrix-Queen of Kingship
Calls only he who is worthy
To join her in divine sovereignty
And as her hero kneels before her
She lays an antlered crown upon his head
And leads him to his throne

Then he, newly crowned Solar King
Her chosen Champion
Unmatched in power, passion and potency
Awakens her potential through his touch
And soon her belly will swell
And her blossoms will be transformed
Into the most succulent of fruits

But for now, tonight, it’s just them
Young and wild king and queen
And the roaring fires of Beltane
In which they stand in the liminality
Between Maiden and Mother
Between Youth and Father
We say Hail to the Summer
And to the Sovereign Lovers

As promised, here’s some reading if you want to learn more about the Flower Bride/Sovereignty Goddess and Her King.

Blodeuwedd: Welsh Goddess of Seasonal Sovereignty by Jhenah Telyndru
Rhannon: Divine Queen of the Celtic Britons by Jhenah Telyndru
Flower Face: A Devotional Anthology in Honor of Blodeuwedd by Ninth Wave Press
King Arthur & the Goddess of the Land by Caitlin Matthews
Ladies of the Lake by Caitlin & John Matthews
Once & Future Queen by Nicole Evelina
Priestess of Avalon, Priestess of the Goddess by Kathy Jones

Sorry, one last thing, then I promise that’s it! Here is my Beltane playlist, featuring mostly pagan songs with a sprinkling of Taylor Swift, because it wouldn’t be a Rhianwen playlist without at least one Taylor Swift song (convert to paganism, Taylor, please, the Christian conspiracy theorists already all think you’re an actual witch!)

The actual/seasonal astrological date for Beltane is tomorrow, so regardless of when you celebrate I hope you all have/have had a wonderful Beltane/Calan Mai/May Day/Floralia etc. May your summer be full of love, sunshine, optimism & magic.

Rhianwen

Kali: Holy Slayer of Demons or Chaotic Devouring Mother?

March 13, 2023April 19, 2025 ~ Erin Guinevere ~ Leave a comment

O human mind, throughout your thinking process invoke the subtle sound of Kali, Kali, Kali. Why not ground your entire being in Her Holy Name, which dissolves all dangers arising from without and from within?

How can you forget, even for an instant, Her supremely precious Name? The mind that remembers the Mother experiences no fear when facing the terrible expanse of universal suffering.

Overcome with fervent love, this poet pleads: “O mind, how can you possibly forget the Mother? At the very center of your being sing ceaselessly the Name of Kali, for your life in the current of time is coming to an end.”
Ramprasad poem No. 21, translated by Lex Hixon, featured on the Shakti Bhajans album by Jai Ma Music.

I am writing this on my phone, stood under a bus shelter, because I wanted to get this out but will be busy tonight and will need to go straight to bed as soon as I get home.

Jordan Peterson is having some sort of mental breakdown in which he thinks worshipers of Gaia, Pan, and now the Hindu goddess Kali are on some rampage to destroy the West. Most recently he made some downright genuinely offensive comments about the goddess Kali, for which he not only refused to apologise and admit his mistake, but doubled down upon when challenged on it by Hindus, the overwhelming majority of whom were very polite about it.

(Note: I’ve chosen to censor that bottom one because it uses what I perceive to be a homophobic slur, and it’s getting in to sociopolitical issues that I’m not at liberty to comment on right now).

I genuinely think this man is suffering from a form of spiritual psychosis and he’s seemed more… Troubled than usual since his coma and benzo addiction.

I’ve said a lot about my dislike for this man’s views and politics (especially around the feminine and the environment) but I also think there’s something to be said for how his earlier work has genuinely benefited a lot of young men’s lives. I don’t like to demonise people I disagree with and with some notable exceptions I can see the good in many different psychologists, theologians and philosophers whose work I personally don’t like. To be honest, while I’ve not read his books other than a flick through my ex’s copy, some of his earlier interviews and lectures have genuinely helped me adopt a stronger mindset and ‘get my act together’ so to speak. I think he spoke to a dadless generation and as someone with little to no masculine influence in my life, I get it. He is certainly a better role model for young men than some so-called ‘masculinity gurus’ that have risen (and fell) in recent years.

But this is ridiculous. Pagan gods and Hindu gods are not malevolent archetypes of chaos that want to attack Western values. On the contrary, Indo-European polytheism is the basis of Western civilization. Who are the last mainstream, far-practiced IE religion left on earth? Hindus. Whom I have so much respect for.

Even his most ardent defenders, if they have a shred of intellectual honesty, should admit that this is a bad look. No one is forcing college students to worship a Hindu goddess (and environmentalists aren’t forcing Christians to worship a Pan or Gaia).

He has also taken a very Christian-centric approach in which masculinity = order and femininity = chaos. Inasmuch as we can appreciate Chaos as a force of change, intuition, flow, power that cannot be dominated by any human, beauty, love, I have no problem with that, but you can’t apply it to religions where it does not fit. Kali Maa is not a force of chaos. Her name means ‘time’. She is a fierce defender of the divine order, slaying those demons who threaten her children. She is much more akin to Jesus or Our Lady Mary in Christianity than Lilith or Tiamat. And it is pretty clear to me that Peterson has a deep fear of what he perceives as ‘feminine chaos’, instead of an understanding that it is an equally necessary, equally-capable-of-good force as order is. You need a balance of order and chaos. Peterson is very influenced by the likes of Jung- and somewhat by Joseph Campbell, who spoke fondly of the Goddess, the Earth Mother, and so forth. Campbell never disparaged Her as a dangerous, chaotic, idolatrous force. There are those who have told me Peterson is not a Christian supremacist and is okay with pagan religions but at least now, that no longer seems to be the case. From what he has been saying lately, perhaps since his full conversion to Christianity (rather than dancing around the subject when asked about his religion like he did for years) it seems he is genuinely anti-pagan and anti-any religion that isn’t Abrahamic, or worships a single, transcendent, masculine-coded God. Many such people look at Kali’s frightening appearance and perceive her as a demon, or at least something she very much isn’t.

This is also why, as somewhat of a Jungian and comparative mythologist myself, we must be careful that we are not applying our own culturally Christian biases to deities whom they do not apply. Many goddesses from not just Hinduism but also IE paganism generally who appear to represent ‘chaos’ on the surface are actually acting in favour of the divine order. Let’s think about this metaphysically for a minute. Many goddess worshipers, Jungians etc agree that the feminine represents nature, matter, the changing seasons, the changing earth. Okay. Do the seasons just come whenever they want? Do you wake up one morning in January and find suddenly it is late summer and the apples are beginning to fall? Of course not. Nature is deeply ordered. I do not disparage those who, in an attempt to understand our complicated universe and the relationship between the divine feminine and the divine masculine, have came to the conclusion that chaos is feminine. I have friends who take this view. But even in Yin and Yang, which influences this Jungian chaos/order dichotomy, a seed of Yang lives in Yin and vice versa. Therefore, can we not concede that even if the Goddess represents chaos, she employs order to weave the patterns of the seasons?

Kali does not come from the underworld. I assume he is conflating her with figures such as Hekate and Ereshkigal. All broadly fit under the banner of ‘dark goddess’ but there’s a lot of nuance that gets missed in these modern conversations about polytheism. Archetypes can be useful to understand how the gods influence our lives but they are not the be-all-and-end-all. The ‘Devouring Mother’ Peterson speaks of is a Jungian archetype that influences mothers who are overprotective of their children. It seeks to prevent children from reaching their fullest potential at its most benign by stifling their development (picture the mother who won’t let her son skateboard with the other boys in case he hurts himself) and at its most damaging it is abusive and narcissistic. I’ve certainly seen this archetype influence mothers I know (including one significant one who does not like her adult sons having serious girlfriends or making decisions without her approval). It can be understood in terms of figures like Mother Gothel from Rapunzel.

But Kali Maa is not an example of this archetype. As for ‘the Goddess’ in the sense that many modern Westerners use it, She is all, and can be said to contain this archetype within Her, but Christian, and culturally Christian patriarchal men like Peterson hyperfixate on archetypes such as this as if that’s all the Goddess is, implying She is a threat to Western values (when actually Her civilization arguably influenced much of ours). I’m also not sure how he came to the conclusion that the Devouring Mother is influencing academia but I’d genuinely be interested to know why he thinks this. Perhaps he’s saying she prevents professors from allowing students to reach their own conclusions on topics and instead wants them close to her ideas? I’ve heard that about academia before, but to be honest, while the series of tweets seems like mostly incoherent psychobabble to me (as do most of his tweets of late), it seems to be more that he’s associating her with leftist ideologies such as feminism. Which brings me to my final point.

While Paganism and especially goddess worship have became very politicized due to their association with environmentalism, equality and feminism, you don’t have to identify as a feminist or any political ideology to come to Her. Her worship transcends human bi-partisan issues. While I’m basically a leftist (and some spicy flavour of feminist, depending on who you ask) myself, I think it would be great if the Goddess could be separated from these issues and depoliticised. I know that’s not going to be a popular take and I understand the argument that the Goddess calls us to embrace ideas of equity, balance, empowerment of the oppressed, protection of the planet and so on. I very much agree, but people have different ideas on how to do that, so rather than saying, for example, ‘you have to identify as a feminist to worship the Goddess’ I’d prefer if we could say ‘the Goddess teaches us that women are of equal value to men and deserving of protection, dignity and respect’. Associating the Goddess (and paganism generally) too heavily with leftist politics also lends credence to the idea our religious views are not sincere and instead we’re just using them as political tools.

I would ask you all to go listen to what Hindus have to say on the topic of Kali rather than doing what many tend to do in the Western, Jungian-influenced Goddess movement and paying more attention to non-Hindu, culturally Christian sources on Her. I saw many well-worded, intelligent, beautiful responses in response to Peterson’s tweets from Hindus across the political spectrum.

Jai Maa.

~ Rhianwen

Welcome!

February 1, 2023February 1, 2023 ~ Erin Guinevere ~ Leave a comment

Hello readers, whoever you may be!

This is the fourth blog I have ever began on Goddess religion. The first three, though, were from a time when my approach to it was much different than it is now. As such, I thought it was time for a clean slate. I have learned so much since I made my last blog entry, exactly a year ago today, on my old WordPress site.

For those of you who don’t know me, my name is Erin, but my ‘spiritual’, Goddess-inspired/channeled/given name is Rhianwen Dôn. The name apparently means ‘pure maiden’, but to me is also a combination of two goddesses I adore deeply: Rhiannon and Gwenhwyfar (Guinevere). Rhiannon’s name means ‘Divine Queen’ or ‘Great Queen’, while Gwenhwyfar’s likely means ‘White Enchantress’, ‘White Spirit’, etc. All three of my patron ‘Celtic’ goddesses (I also worship Venus) have associations with the color white. It typically represents maiden-like, gentle, pure, holy energy (though it has a shadow side which I’ll explore in the book I want to write on Gwenhwyfar). Purity doesn’t have to have the connotations many in the Christianized west hold it to have, for purity and innocence are available to any of us at any time, no matter how impure we may feel. The ‘Rhian’ part, the Queen part, is an acknowledgement of my understanding of Divine Sovereignty, particularly in relation to the divine feminine when women have been denied sovereignty in their own right for thousands of years. I’m going to explore that deeply in the book I’m currently writing, but I’m sure it’ll come up in my posts. Finally, my ‘last name’ is Dôn, the Welsh name for the ‘Celtic’ (I am aware this term is a great oversimplification and not historical but just for the purposes of this post please don’t kick up a fuss, I don’t have time to get in to migratory anthropology) Mother of the Gods also known as Dana, Danu, Anu, Ana. I chose the Cymric (Welsh) name because of my Cymric heritage, and an acknowledgement of the role that beautiful land, its stories and goddesses, have played in my spiritual journey since I was a little girl. As someone in the controversial ‘soft polytheistic’ camp, I view Dôn by all Her names as the Celtic manifestation of the Great Mother, who I view as not only an ‘Mother Earth’ figure but also an eternal, celestial force that existed before the physical planet Earth came in to being.

I have always been deeply religious and spiritual. I was raised Anglican, attended evangelical churches for a while, became a Mormon, then went back to evangelicalism for a short time while secretly keeping an altar to Sophia, the hidden divine feminine figure in Christianity. However, it wasn’t enough, I wanted more. I have been walking the path of the Sacred Feminine for about 8 years now. My spiritual path is ever-evolving. I have jumped the fence between a niche goddess tradition known as Filianism, hardline reconstructionism, new ageism, and back again multiple times. I now think it’s fair to say I sit between the revivalist/neopagan and reconstructionist camps; I try to stick to the original, ancient stories as much as possible, while believing it is okay to have our own interpretations and gnosis about them that others may not share. An example is my view of the Brythonic ‘Sovereignty Goddess’ as being a matriarchal concept and not a patriarchal one (again, will get more in to this in my upcoming book), and how I worship beings not typically regarded as goddesses by the hardcore reconstructionists who insist on having indisputable historical proof for everything (Gwenhwyfar, Rhiannon, Morgan le Fay, Olwen, etc).

It also must be said that at this point in my life, despite trying to include worship of the divine masculine/male gods in my practices, I find it hard to do so for I feel very little spiritual resonance there when I try. When I do, it is of Kings of the Land and consorts to my goddesses. I believe this comes from my spiritual upbringing and I do believe that while we still live in a world where 95% of spirituality is patriarchal, it’s not going to tip the scales in to an unbalanced gynarchy any time soon if a few pagan women want to focus on the feminine exclusively. Even in many of the pagan polytheistic faiths, many powerful goddesses in their own right began being reduced to mere helpmeets of male gods around 6,000 years ago as civilization began to lean more patriarchal for reasons that I am still pondering and exploring. I suppose one could compare my beliefs to the Shaktism branch of Hinduism, where the Devi is considered the supreme power of creation and therefore it is goddess-centric as opposed to Shaivism and Vaishnavism in which the goddesses are usually seen as consorts of the more frequently honored male gods. As I mentioned earlier, I believe in the Great Mother Goddess, the Lady of 10,000 Names, the primordial, elemental, eternal yet changing, cosmic yet earthly, feminine energy that permeates all of existence, and I believe one of the ways we can best connect with Her is through a relationship with the many ‘polytheistic’ goddesses, who are both Her and also individuals in Their own right. When I talk about ‘the Goddess’, I am talking about the One and the Many. I believe humans also possess some of Her creative spark through our inner feminine energy, which most people possess to some degree regardless of gender.

I do not typically practice ‘witchcraft’, but do believe in the power of manifestation, which I practice in a very goddess-focused way: aligning myself with my goddesses, carrying myself how I believe they would if they were to walk this planet, being their hands upon the earth. It is for this reason I currently call myself a Handmaiden of the Goddess. While I was initiated as a priestess in my old tradition (Filianism), I was always a spiritual leader online only, but now that I have diverged from Filianism (though I still believe in many of its metaphysics) I want to step in to priestesshood in my ‘real life’ community, and want to make a concerted effort to do so. Handmaiden was also a term used in Madrianism (old Filianism) to refer to something similar to a Deacon in Catholicism, and an aspirant priestess undergoing study before initiation. My other spiritual passions, interests and practices (budding or fully realised) include ritual practices, tarot, ecstatic dance, bardic arts (sacred storytelling, poetry and song), mantras & rosary beads, goddess embodiment & oracle practices, Jungian psychoanalysis, & more.

My non-spiritual interests include typical ‘girly girl’ stuff: pop music, video games, fiction books. To be honest, though, my spirituality is my life and my main area of interest. The Goddess has completely changed my life in so many names and teaches me new things every single year. She has been with me since I was a little girl seeing Her in the rolling hills of North Wales. She has healed my broken heart many times over, and been my best friend and closest confidante when I felt completely alone. I know now that I will be Her student my entire life.

Tomorrow I’m going to make my first proper post about how I celebrated Imbolc this year. In the mean time, you can find me at @rhianwendon on Instagram. Eventually I’ll be picking a better theme, creating an About page (which will probably just be this copied and pasted, to be honest) and getting set up properly. If you’d like to follow me I hope you enjoy learning about my walk with the Goddess and I hope it can inspire your own.

Blessed Be!

~ Rhianwen