A NOTE ON THE CELTS -
Within the Celtic Tradition, storytelling has long been a favored occupation
and, generally speaking, the longer and more intricate the story, the more
revered
the legend and the teller. Long held as the embodiment of most ancient Welsh
legends is the Mabinogion. The story of Branwen is contained therein, as is
the legend of Blodeuwedd. In order to offer some sort of clarity to these legends
it is necessary to give you some background in the history of the Celts and,
therefore, shed some light on the intricacies of the stories. The Celts, historically,
were matrilineal; you were born to your mother’s line, not your father’s.
Kingship, therefore, landed upon the son of the king’s sister and not upon
the offspring of the king and the queen. Very often, too, the queens were the
actual power, with her spouse being a Duke of War, rather than a true king.
In order to be a king, one had to marry the land in order to demonstrate his
devotion to the sovereignty. Often, this marriage was symbolic and accomplished
by the practice of the Great Rite between the proposed king and a priestess
of the Goddess. The commission of this act would ensure the king’s love
for the land and a lifelong desire to defend her as he would his wife. It is
also important to note that there is no Goddess of Love, such as Ishtar, Aphrodite
and Venus in other cultures, but there were, throughout the legends, Maiden
Goddesses made of flowers or fruit. The most important aspect of the Goddess
is triune in nature - the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone - and most legends
involve three Goddesses representing these three aspects.
The Legend of Blodeuwedd is also the story of Llew’s struggle for his kingship
which was averted and made more difficult by the Goddess Arianrhod who tried
Her best to prevent Llew, Her son, his birth-right due to the shame brought
upon Her by his companions. (Another story which will be told later.) In short,
Arianrhod stated that he would not receive a name, unless it be from Her; he
would not receive his arms, unless it be from Her; and, he could never marry
a mortal woman. Thus, he could not become king unless it be through Her auspices.
In order to assure that Llew would survive long enough to attain his kingship,
some magick was given to him in the form of the circumstances of his death.
As has been typical of the Celts, his death could only be accomplished through
a set of very unlikely and almost preposterous circumstances. He could not be
killed indoors or out, on horse or on foot, and the spearhead capable of killing
him had to be cast during a sacred period of time. Arianrhod was tricked into
giving Llew his name and his arms but the larger problem of having a wife, which
would assert his right to the land, was accomplished through the magick of his
cousins, Math and Gwydion, who created Blodeuwedd from the flowers of the Oak,
Broom and Meadowsweet. Due to the nature of Her Birth, Blodeuwedd - whose name
means either ‘Flower Face’ or the ancient name for the Owl - and represents
the Earth in full bloom. Through their marriage, Llew’s requirement of
marrying the land and thus, his Sovereignty is completed. One day, Llew goes
hunting, leaving Blodeuwedd alone with Her ladies in the castle. A young huntsman,
Gronw, later seeks shelter and he and Blodeuwedd experience love at first sight.
Wanting nothing more than to be together, Gronw persuades Blodeuwedd to discover
the improbable circumstances surrounding Llew’s death, an act he would
help to accomplish. The plan made, Gronw departs from Blodeuwedd and they remain
separate for a long period of time, during which Blodeuwedd feigns anxiety concerning
Llew’s death. Eventually, Her pleading persuades Llew to demonstrate these
very circumstances in order to allay Her fears by showing Her his death could
not be easily accomplished. They prepare a bath on a riverbank, covering it
with a thatched roof, being neither indoors nor out. As Llew stands with one
foot upon the edge of the tub and the other upon the back of a goat, Gronw
throws
the specially-made spear, hitting Llew in the side. Llew immediately turns
into an eagle and flies off, later discovered and nursed back to health by
his cousins,
Math and Gwydion. When the two lovers are found, Gronw is killed and Blodeuwedd
turned into an owl.
Due to the very circumstances of Her Birth, the actions of Blodeuwedd may be
seen in a more sympathetic light. She was created from the flowers of a
very
powerful Tree - the Oak - and from flowers of an explicitly healing nature,in
order to give power to Llew and to be able to continually heal and renew
him.
She is never asked whether She loves him or desires to marry him. She was created
for his purposes, solely to assure his right to rule the land. Her Own
desires
are impossible to achieve while Llew lives and She is often seen as the epitome
of non-assertive femininity, fickleness and the faithless wife, using the
passion
of two men for Her to seal the doom of both. In truth, Her supposed treachery
creates the very conditions to enable Llew to experience the ritual death
and
rebirth commonly required of the Druidic priesthood, thus ensuring his kingship.
Blodeuwedd is seen as a part of his hard and difficult destiny. Throughout
Celtic
legend, otherworldly women are created and utilized to represent the Land,
which is definitely feminine in nature. Owl, the totemic representation
of Blodeuwedd,
signifies the complete transformation of the initiate as represented by Llew‚s
virtual death and subsequent healing. She is signified by the Empress card
of
the Tarot. She is a Goddess of emotions, representing the matrix that reforms
transpersonal and universal energies into well-defined life force. She is also
the Maiden Goddess of initiation ceremonies and is known as the Ninefold Goddess
of the Western Isles of Paradise. Flowers, the wisdom of innocence, Lunar Mysteries
and initiation are Her provinces.
Winter Cymraes
©1994
