rhiannon

Rhiannon is one of my favorite Goddesses. She is a Celtic Goddess can aid you in moon rituals, working magick, enhancing dreams, overcoming your enemies & exercising patience. Her correspondences are mares, waning moons, jasmine, silver, blood, moonstones and the color white. Her aspect is fertility & her moon is Willow.

Briefly the legend about Rhiannon--whose name means divine or great queen--goes somewhat like this. She is a potent symbol of fertility, yet she
is also an Otherworld & Death Goddess, brings you your dreams and is symbolized by a white mare.

Her father was Heveydd the Old, more correctly called Hevydd Hen. "Hen" means ancient, indicating he was once part of an old oral tradition which is forever lost to us.

Pwyll was her first husband & it is interesting how they met and married. The story of their son is heartbreaking & wonderful at the same time. The first meeting was at Narberth, where he had partaken in a huge feast for him and a group of great men. After eating Pwyll walked to the top of a mound, called Gorsedd Arberth. He was warned that no one had ever set there without either receiving hard blows or seeing a wonder. Pwyll was not afraid of being hit, so he said he would stay there to hopefully see the wonder.

After awhile he saw a lady coming on a huge white horse, wearing a garment of gold around her. She was coming towards him, moving at a slow even pace. None of his men new her, so he ordered his best man to get the fastest horse and stop her. He ran the horse as fast as possible, and even though she never sappeared to speed her pace, the man could not catch her. In fact, several men tried and could not do it, but she never increased her pace once.

Pwyll then took his horse and attempted to stop her, but he could not catch her either. He then yelled out to her to stop. She gladly did. Pwyll asked who she was & why she was there. Her answer was, 'I am Rhiannon and I have come to seek thee.' She went on to explain how she had been promised to another man she didn't love. She came to seek Pwyll out as her husband. Rhiannon was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, so of course he said he would love to marry her Rhiannon stated she wanted him to meet her a year from that day at his palace.

One year later, Rhiannon came and they had a huge feast and seated at the main table was Rhiannon with Pwyll on one side and her father on the other.Then Gwawl entered the room and no one knew who he was except Rhiannon and her father. Gwawl told Pwyll he had come for something from Pwyll, and Pwyll was so gleeful about the prospect of marring Rhiannon, he said he may have anything he wanted. Gwawl then surprised everyone when he said he wanted Rhiannon fro his wife. Pwyll was silent, as since he was true to his word, Rhiannon would have to go to him, the man she did not want to marry----the whole reason she had came to Pwyll to start with.

Rhiannon gave Pwyll a small bag to keep, and said she would tell Gwawl she would marry him one year from today. Rhiannon did have something up her sleeve(a little magick??) becasue she then told Pwyll to come to the meeting place dressed as a begger, along with 100 of his knights. He was to bring a bag and ask that it be filled with food to the top. Of course Rhiannon would make sure no matter how much food was inserted, it would never be full. Then he was to ask Gwawl to step into the bag to shove the food down with his feet. Then Pwyll could tie him up in the bag. Pwyll agreed.

The next year there was a huge feast and Pwyll arrived and everything went according to plan. After Gwawl was in the bag, Pwyll's 100 knights came in. They all wanted to know what was in the bag. Pwyll told them it was a badger. Each knight went by the bag and kicked it. After they were done, Gwawl begged tp be spared. He knew he deserved to die, but if they would spare him he would be very grateful. If let out he promised to never try to avenge what happened to him. He agreed, so he was free to go.

That night after the feast, Rhiannon and Pwyll were married, and they went to their bed chamber with great joy. The next day Rhiannon wanted to give all the people great gifts, which she did. She did this the whole way to the Palace Narberth. For the next 2 years they ruled very prosperously.

The next year they had a son. The night he was born there were 6 women brought in to watch the baby. They all fell asleep befreo midnight. As they awoke at dawn, they noticed the child was gone. They feared being punished so they killed some pups and spread the blood on Rhiannon & put the small bones around her bed. When Rhiannon awoke she asked to see her son, but the women told her they all tried to fight her off, but che had gotten up and ate her own child. Rhiannon begged them to tell the truth, and they would not be punished. They all stuck to their stories, though.

The nobles of the land wanted Rhiannon put away or killed for this crime, but Pwyll refused. He knew she needed some punishment, so he ordered her to stand at the gate of the city and tell every passer-by her horrible story, then to carry them to the palace on her back, as a horse would do. She spent most of the year doing this.