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"Arianrhod"
Celtic goddesses presided over nature, animals, healing and fertility. Terrifying battle goddesses were invoked in times of war and a Mother Goddess was supplicated for the fertility of animals and crops. Celtic Goddesses illustrates the role of woman as religious leaders, priestesses (even druidesses) and as seers, appeasing and controlling supernatural powers.
The Christian Church absorbed much of Celtic religion: Pagan Gods and Goddesses became Christian saints, sacred springs and wells were preserved and associated with saints, many temple sites became the location of cathedrals.
Much Celtic history and religion has been lost or distorted by and overlay of Christianity.
But, not all is lost...
Dear Lady of Light -
Mistress of Mysteries!
Queen of the earth and sky!
We call upon thee
To restore the balance of our world!
With your quick silver fingers
Spin your web upon our hearts!
Let the vastness of your midnight sky
Make a mirror in which to see
The beauty of our feminine light!
Arise Lady, and come!
Your children are remembering your name!
Long ago, in days more simple than those we know today, the Goddess was revered as the giver of all life. Ancient cultures worldwide looked upon the image of feminine divinity as Creatress, Healer, Muse, and as the fertility of the Earth itself. Her changing face was visible in the phases of the moon as Maiden, Mother, and Crone. Each phase represented a different aspect of influence, and a specific way of connecting with her energies. By honouring the Goddess, and seeing her imminent presence in nature, the ancient peoples aquired a deep respect for the environment, and a reverence for all the magnificent life-forms within the scope of Her creation.
Today, after almost two thousand years of patriarchy, the children of the Earth are remembering the primal feminine force of life. Worship of the Goddess is returning, and with it the respect for the sacredness of her planet. Women are remembering their own beauty and power by connecting with female aspects of deity. No longer are we forced to reckon with a stoic image of a God who sits upon a high celestial throne beyond our reach. The Goddess is EVERYWHERE....in the rain, in the sea, in the green valleys, and the secret caves. She is the rolling of mountains, and the subtle breath of the wind. She is the there, in the the windings of a stream, or in the silver light of a midnight moon...and she is WITHIN!
To honour the Lady, in all her many guises, each one of you should look deeply into the mirror of her sacred wells to find that part of youself that sings the ancient song of the Goddess...."for if that which you seek, you findest not within yourself, you will never find it without. For behold! I have been with thee from the beginning, and I am that which is attained at the end of desire."
The Celts did not form a single religious or political unity. They were organized into tribes spread across what is now several countries. As a result, of the 374 Celtic deities which have been found, over 300 occur only once in the archeological record; they are believed to be local deities. There is some evidence that their main pantheon of Gods and Goddesses might have totaled about 3 dozen - perhaps precisely 33 (a frequently occurring magical number in Celtic literature). Some of the more famous are: Arawn, Brigid, Cernunnos, Cerridwen, Danu, Herne, Lugh, Rhiannon and Taranis. Many Celtic deities were worshipped in triune (triple aspect) form. Triple Goddesses were often sisters.
The dead were transported to the Otherworld by the God Bile (AKA Bel, Belenus). Life continued in this location much as it had before death. The Celts believed that the soul was immortal. After the person died in the Otherworld, their soul lives again in another human body. At every birth, the Celts mourned the death of a person in the Otherworld which made the new birth possible.
~From Dragonwood - 1997~
In Celtic mythology, there is a relation between the ruler and deity, and that of the ruler and the land. The king was wedded in a sacred marriage to the goddess that was supposed to ensure the fertility of the land.
Quite often in ancient religions or myths, the earth and land was often represented by the feminine entities, such as the goddesses, or they were the personification of the land or earth. The goddess of the land often had the attributes of the mother goddess or the fertility goddess.
Of course, it is not necessary that she is a goddess; she may be the queen or the representative of the goddess, like a priestess. The king's consort, whoever she may be, she is often described as the "Sovereignty Goddess". The future fertility and prosperity of the kingdom depends upon the mating the king mating with the sovereignty of the land.
Graphics by Angie
Thank you sisterfriend!
Graphics ©Selkywolf's Den
Midi: "The Foggy Dew"
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