Witch of the Week: Rhiannon and the Winter Solstice

“Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night

And wouldn’t you love to love her?

Takes to the sky like a bird in flight

And who will be her lover?”

She may not exactly be a witch. Depending on who you talk to, Rhiannon may be a Celtic goddess, a Christian queen, a Welsh sorceress, or a Scottish fairy. Nonetheless, these origins are witchy enough. Rhiannon had some magickal powers, and a special connection to the Winter Solstice, which is now upon us.

On this, the longest night of December 21^st, it is said that Rhiannon rides on a white horse through the dreams of her people. During this supernatural intervention, she is able to bring humans to liminal spaces and Otherworlds. There, mere mortals are able to create their own visions of glory, and make their deepest desires come true! For this reason, the night of the Winter Solstice was called “Wish Night” in Wales and Scotland.

But who was Rhiannon, and why did she have such magickal powers?

The first writings about Rhiannon appear in the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh mythology, written between the 11^th and 13^th centuries. The Marinogion is considered one of the earliest works of British storytelling. However, her roots trace back much earlier, to the ancient Celts, where she appears as a sun goddess. She is associated with horses and birds, especially songbirds. Rhiannon was said to have kept three pet songbirds who tweeted melodies that had the power to wake the dead, or lull an army to sleep! She is also said to rule the element of wind.

Interestingly, the Stevie Nicks song has references to birds and wind, although Nicks claims that at the time she wrote it, she was unaware that Rhiannon had this association.

“She rules her life like a fine skylark

And when the sky is starless

All your life you’ve never seen a woman

Taken by the wind…”

Her name, “Rhiannon” comes from the Common Brittonic word for “queen”.

She is portrayed as wise, intelligent, powerful and strategic. She also had superhuman strength. Like King Arthur, Rhiannon is said to have ruled during the Early Middle Ages, between the fall of the Roman Empire and the rise of modern Britain.   

In the Mabinogion, Rhiannon starts out as a fairy princess from the Welsh Otherworld, the daughter of a great fairy king. She was betrothed to marry a man named Gwawl, but she was not happy with this engagement. Instead, she was interested in a man named Pwyll—a human who also had supernatural powers and happened to be a king. It was Pwyll who drew Rhiannon into the human world.  

Love at First Sight

One day Pwyll went to a fairy hill, and Rhiannon appeared to him as a goddess riding upon a magnificent white horse.

Needless to say, he was smitten, and rode after her. Since she knew every man loves a chase, Rhiannon outran Pwyll. The race lasted for three days, but finally Rhiannon allowed herself to be caught. Pwyll immediately proposed to her, and she happily accepted, as this would keep her from marrying the dreaded Gwawl. Rhiannon and Pwyll conspired together to fool Gwawl and get Rhiannon out of the betrothal.

As it turned out, most of the conspiring was done by Rhiannon. Pwyll seems to not have been very clever, and in the Mabinogion, Rhiannon says of her husband, “Never was there a man who made feebler use of his wits.” It was perhaps for this reason that Rhiannon, as queen consort, was said to rule early Briton, and is sometimes compared to King Arthur.

A few years after marrying Pwyll, Rhiannon gave birth to their son, a child born on May Eve, and named ‘Pryderi’. But tragically, the infant disappeared one night while under the care of his nursemaids. Because the nursemaids were scared that they would be accused of kidnapping, they came up with a plan to frame Rhiannon. (That’s loyalty for you!) Here’s where it gets really gross, so be warned.

Blood and Sacrifice

The nursemaids killed a puppy and then smeared its blood on the face of their sleeping queen. When she awoke, with blood all over her face, Rhiannon was accused of not only killing, but eating her son!

As penance, Rhiannon was made to sit outside the castle walls, and tell passersby what she had done.

“I am she who killed my only child, and this is my punishment, to sit here and tell my tale to all comers.”

This punishment went on for four years. Pwyll remained loyal to her during this time, never believing that his wife was capable of the heinous act. Rhiannon, it seems, accepted her fate and was obedient to her punishment. This, however, was a strategy as well, because as the punishment went on, the people became more loyal to Rhiannon and didn’t believe her to be guilty. Rhiannon gained the people’s acceptance through her unfair sentence. Also, by making a pubic display of things, Rhiannon knew the news of the prince’s disappearance would travel far and wide. Rhiannon realized that eventually, word may get around that her son was missing, she had been targeted unfairly, and thus he would be returned.

Return of the Son and the Sun

After the four year punishment was finished, the son did, in fact, return. He was travelling with a lord named Tyrnon, his adopted father. Because of his special fairy genes, the son had grown far beyond his four years, and now appeared as a young man. Tyrnon and Pryderi came as guests to Rhiannon’s castle. His parents suspected immediately that he was their lost boy.

As it turned out, Pryderi had been kidnapped by a monster. Lord Tyrnon had rescued him and raised him as his own. The young man, however, looked so much like  Pwyll there was no doubt to his true paternity. Thus, the story had a happy ending. Pryderi remained at the castle with is true parents.  Rhiannon was declared innocent of any wrongdoing. And when Pwyll died, Pryderi took over the kingdom and was a great ruler in his own right.

And as for Rhiannon…

“She is like a cat in the dark

And then, she is the darkness.”

Rhiannon went on to do many magickal things with her fairy ways. She was said to be a great mathematician, and the patterns of the solstice were calculated by her. This may have been the reason why she had special powers during the winter solstice, which is also, it should be noted, the return of the sun!

On this night, Rhiannon has the ability to infiltrate the dreams of humans. It is said she can then transport them to Otherwords, and Otherlands. Here, where time and dimensions are different, mere mortals are given the gift of creating their own visions. Hence, they can make manifest their deepest desires.

So be careful what you wish for tonight. Rhiannon may visit you, transport you to the Otherworld, and help make your dreams come true!

Happy Halloween: Honoring the Celts

Happy Halloween! I hope the dark season finds you in good spirits, and a bit magical. On this special, sacred day, I thought it might be fun to explore the festival and the ancient worlds where it originated. So buckle in, and come along with me to pre-Roman Europe, where it all began.

Most people know that Halloween has its roots in the Celtic festival of “Samhain” (pronounced Sow-in). The Celts who formulated it were ancient European tribes. Most people associate the Celts with Ireland and Scotland, but, according to historical sources, the Celts actually had a much farther reach. Celtic tribes lived in various parts of Europe. In fact, they occupied parts of what is now France, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Bohemia. In the south, Celts occupied parts of Spain and Portugal, and Turkey in the Mid-East.

There are many of us with Celtic blood! If your bloodline includes European roots, you probably have a bit of Celt in you.

This might be a reason why Halloween resonates so strongly in some of us. For me, it is DEFINITELY a favorite holiday.  

The Celts had a belief in “the Otherworld”, although the concept itself is ill defined. It is difficult to know exactly what our Celtic ancestors believed, but we do know they had beliefs in gods and goddesses, faeries, ghosts and all sorts of other-worldly beings.

As the sun faded, and dark part of the year closed in around them, the Celts would have observed everything in nature dying. Thus, their thoughts might have centered upon loved ones they had lost. Just like any other people, it would have been important for them to honor their dead, whom the believed had passed on to the Otherworld.

October 31^st marks a halfway point between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. To be fair, some historians have argued about the exact dates – most likely the Celts were not calling the month “October”, but nonetheless, they would have been able to scientifically observe the patterns of the sun, and eventually figure out this midpoint. The ancient Samhain festival would have taken place somewhere near the end of October and the beginning of November.

Writings from ancient Ireland tell us that Samhain was celebrated as a mandatory three day festival. Yes, mandatory! You HAD to attend the feasting and revelry. The village Chieftains were required to go around and check that all their people were making merry during this time.

It was believed that any individual who chose not to participate would be subject to the wrath of the gods. This could result in sickness, or even in death.

It is clear that our Celtic ancestors took the festival very seriously!

And some, of course, went overboard in the celebration. There are recorded incidents of people going on drinking binges for six or seven days. Human nature has always been human nature… Give us an inch, we’ll take a mile.

During all this feasting and celebrating, it was also believed that beings from the Otherworld would be popping in and passing by. The Celts thought that the natural world and the Otherworld were only separated by veils, and during certain times of the year, these veils became thin. Samhain was one of the times when the veils were extremely thin.

Beings from the Otherworld could include the faeries, the gods and goddesses, the goblins, the tricksters, the spirits of family members, and many more. Not wanting to be inhospitable, the Celts would often set a table, with food, for these other-worldly beings.

If the other-worldlies were given food to appease them, they would be less likely to play tricks and cause harm to humans. (And some of them could be very nasty. The Celtic faerie world was definitely not all sweetness and light. Faeries were known to kidnap, maim, blind and even kill people.)  This practice of leaving food to appease spirits is believed to be the origins of our Trick or Treating traditions today.

Some historians believe the Celts also originated the “dumb supper”. This is a ritual in which a family would set a place at their own table for the dearly departed. During dinner, everyone had to keep absolute silence – hence “dumb” – as a way to honor the dead.

Samhain was also a great time for divination. The Celts had a special relationship with apples. (So did many others, including Eve, the Devil, the Beatles, and Steve Jobs!) The simple apple has long been a fruit of fascination. During Samhain, when apples were harvested, they were also used to predict love relationships.

One practice involved the peeling of apples. Young girls tossed the apple peels on the ground, and the shape or letters the peel took was an indication as to whom her future beau would be.

Another divination ritual was bobbing for apples. Initials of young men were carved into the apples. They were then set in a bowl. The young ladies would take turns – with their hands tied being their backs – bobbing for the apple of the man they loved. If a girl was skillful enough to bite the desired apple in one try, the match was considered to be a favorable one. Two tries were not as good as one, but the match was still favored. However, if it took the maiden three tries or more to obtain the desired apple, her love match was doomed!

During Samhain, the Celts also were known to dress up and wear masks. Since it was believed evil spirits from the Otherworld were present, wearing a mask was a way to blend in and fool them. If you wore a mask and were disguised as an evil being, the chances were better that the evil beings themselves would leave you alone. You would be considered “one of them”.  This is believed to be the origins of our costume wearing traditions today.

So, now you might be wondering, how did Samhain change to Halloween? They are similar celebrations, but they are not exactly the same.

In the 1^st century, most of Europe became occupied by Rome. The Romans themselves were pagans at this time, and Celtic pagan practices were probably still observed widely around Europe, with traditions blending. This lasted until around the 3^rd century. It was then that Roman Emperor Constantine switched his faith to Christianity. It became required that Europeans convert as well. However, a lot of the pagan practices were essentially kept intact, but they were given different names.

In Christianity, it was still important to honor the dead. After all, many of them were saints, and had suffered greatly and been martyred for their beliefs! The Church declared November 1^st as the official “All Saints’ Day” in which saints could be honored. November 2^nd became “All Souls Day” in which all souls of the dearly departed could be honored, even those who had not been canonized as saints.

Needless, to say, October 31^st fell on the evening before All Saints’ Day. Saints were known as “the hallowed” – wearing halos. So saints’ day was called “All Hallowed” and the night before was “All Hallowed Eve”. The slurring of the word is attributed to the beautiful Scottish brogue, which would have pronounced it more as “Halloween”. (Imagine Jamie Frazer saying it. You get the idea.)

Halloween itself went through many changes. It was never celebrated in the early American colonies, due to Puritans who simply would not have it! But over time, the European influence of our Celtic ancestors took hold. Well, to he honest, these influences came from our Celtic ancestors, and also from the indominable spirit of Capitalism! (What better way to make a buck? Candy sales bring in $ millions yearly to the US economy. Not to mention costumes and decorations.)

But regardless of our modern trends, it is important to respect and remember the traditions from whence they came.

Thanks for reading, and have a divine All Hallows Eve!