Goddess of Glastonbury

The Goddess of Glastonbury

by Monica Sjoo

For the long ages of the palaeolithic era before 30,000BCE, the Goddess reigned alone. She was the Origin, the Virgin Void out of which She was Self-created. She was present in all forms of life. Her arching Body was the star-filled Sky. She was the Sun, the Moon and the Stars and the Space between. She was Mother Nature, Mistress of the animals and the plants. The Earth was Her Body. The rivers and oceans were Her blood and life fluids. The plants, trees and vegetation were Her hair. She was the Mother of Time. In ancient Britain the pattern of life was determined by the cycle of Her seasons. Through the turning of the year Her body was visibly transformed from the fresh green Maiden, to the vibrant Lover, to the radiant Mother and the slowly dying Crone. Through the aeons this cycle of transformation repeated itself, interrupted only by the Ice Ages in which the British Isles were completely covered in glaciers and sheets of ice.

In ancient Britain the Goddess was the One who expressed Herself through the Many. She was the great Void, the Beginning of all things. She was the Source of Life, the Creatrix, Continuer and Destroyer of all that exists. She was the Matrix, the Great Mother, Spinner of the Thread of Life and Destiny, Weaver of the Web of Continuity and Cutter of the Thread at death. All souls were born from Her sacred Womb, lived for a span upon Her Body the Earth, then returned to Her Tomb/Womb at death. She was Mother of the Stars in the Heavens and of all Nature. She was the Tree of Life.

She was the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone; the Virgin, the Lover and the Whore. The Holy Grael of Immortality, the Chalice of Love and the Cauldron of Transformation were all in Her keeping, reflecting Her Triple nature. She was the Three, Nine and Nineteen Sisters, Ladies, Maidens, Mothers, Faerie Queens, Crones or Hags, who expressed themselves through the fourfold cycle of Her seasons.

One of the earliest figurines of the Goddess in Brigit’s Isles was found preserved in the peat of the Somerset Levels. She dates from 3250 BCE and is 6″ tall and carved out of ash wood. Although claimed by archaeologists to be a hermaphrodite god doll, She has typical large breasts and a lower protrusion, which is on her left side, like a leg rather than in any central phallic position. She was found beneath the Bell Track, one of the ancient wooden trackways which once crisscrossed the watery Levels, where nomadic people fished and hunted throughout the mesolithic and neolithic eras. Perhaps she is the earliest representation of the Lady of the Lake.

Hail to you, Brigit Anna

Hail Great Queen of Brigit’s Isles

Hail Sovereignty, Our Lady Britannia

Hail Goddess of ten thousand names

May you be honoured and adored forever !

Ishtarsgate

Morrígan

Hymn to the Morrigan by Isaac Bonewits

O Morrigan, we call your name Across the dusty years.

You speak to us, of blood and lust. You show us all our fears.

You are a goddess, old and wise. Of holy power you have no dearth.

Beneath your wings : Black, Red and White, We learn of death and birth.

You walk about, this ancient land, Your hungers raw and clear.

You make the crops, grow rich and strong, As well your geese and deer.

A flirting maid, a lusty hag, A mother of great girth :

Without the touch of your black wings, We cannot heal the earth.

You float upon, a blood red wave, Of swords and spears and knives.

Your voice inspires, fear and dread, That you'll cut short our lives.

You try the warriors', courage sore, Our inner souls unearth.

Without the touch of your red wings, We cannot know our worth.

You fly above the silver clouds, To Manannan's shining Gate.

You lead the dead along that path, To meet our final fate.

The joke's on us, we find within, A land of laughter and of mirth.

Without the touch of your white wings, We cannot have rebirth.

 The origins of the Morrígan seem to reach directly back to the megalithic cult of the Mothers. The Mothers (Matrones, Idises, Dísir, etc.) usually appeared as triple goddesses and their cult was expressed through both battle ecstasy and regenerative ecstasy. Later Celtic goddesses of sovereignty, such as the trio of Éire, Banba, and Fótla, also use magic in warfare. "Influence in the sphere of warfare, but by means of magic and incantation rather than through physical strength, is common to these beings." 

Éire, a goddess connected to the land in a fashion reminiscent of the Mothers, could appear as a beautiful woman or as a crow, as could the Morrígan. The Dísir appeared in similar guises. In addition to being battle goddesses, they are significantly associated with fate as well as birth in many cases, along with appearing before a death or to escort the deceased. It is interesting to note that some sources present Éire and the Morrígan as half-sisters.

There is certainly evidence that the concept of a raven goddess of battle wasn't limited to the Irish Celts. An inscription found in France invoking Cathubodva, 'Battle Raven', shows that a similar concept was known among the Gaulish Celts.

Transit of Venus

The Return of the Divine Feminine

by Ishtar Babilu Dingir

I’m sure regular readers of this blog will not have missed the high magical symbolism of the major events of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, so conveniently timed for the return of the Divine Feminine, Venus, as she makes her double pentagram in the heavens and comes in close enough to the Earth for a kiss. We are celebrating that transit tonight (11.00 pm ~ to 4.00 am in the UK) in the Venus Temple which some friends have lovingly created for this occasion, and I hope you will join us in Spirit.

Last night, children lined the labyrinth of the Tor with lit candles, providing a huge and meandering spiral of golden lights going up to the beacon on the summit which was lit by the Glastonbury Candle.  The full moon was behind the Tor, about to go into eclipse. There were many who stood for hours with their candle, in honour of a Queen of this Earthly realm.