Description

Rhiannon the Welsh Celtic goddess of sovereignty, love, beauty, fertility, the Otherworld and the Moon. She is also known as the Divine Queen of Faeries and associated with, wisdom, magick, artistic inspiration and poetry.

Rhiannon is often depicted as a beautiful young woman dressed in gold, riding a pale horse, with singing birds flying around her head. These magical song birds could soothe the living into a deep slumber, or wake the dead from their eternal sleep. Adar Rhiannon or ‘birds of Rhiannon’ connect the goddess to the land of the dead and the Fae. The song birds I chose to represent Adar Rhiannon are the Green finch, Great Tit and the Lesser Whitethroat. All birds found across the Isles of Albion, singing their bright songs of hope in our gardens and woodland.

She features in the Welsh Mabinogion, her story was that of sovereignty given, lost and restored again. The goddess’s name, Rhiannon, derives from a Proto-Celtic root which means “great queen,” and by taking a man as her spouse, she grants him sovereignty as king of the land. She is akin to the British Epona and Irish Macha.

She is also associated with horses, often linking her to the land and it’s people, as are Macha and Epona. Rhiannon and Epona are associated with the white mare and Macha appears on a Red steed, often riding into battle. For me the three goddesses from different parts of these Isles represent three powerful aspects of the sacred feminine.

Rhiannon – the young matriarch shining and vibrant with new potential for life. She is Spring the beginning of the growing season. She is bright hope

Epona – the sovereign queen in her prime, she is glorious, expansive and she is the harvest queen. She is bounty and boon

Macha – the fierce feminine, great warrior and defender of her children and children’s children. She is the cold winds of winter, the season when we battle to live. She is the last stand

All goddesses are Great Queens of the land and the tribes.

This depiction of Rhiannon as the Spring goddess was inspired by a west country pagan practitioner, shaman and witch. Her practice is connected to the Fae, dragons and her sacred places are the waterfalls of Devon and Cornwall. I have combined two waterfalls in this picture and surrounded the goddess with spring flowers of hope and happiness. After such a long winter she offers her hand to us and welcomes us to the growing season, to the time when life begins again.

Thank you Claire for being my muse 💚💚💚