Horse Goddess

The Other Side of the Pond

I went to the U.K. in October for two weeks. Making the voyage to the other side of the pond always makes me wonder if I’ll feel a connection to the land when I’m there. Ireland was about the same feeling as I have in the U.S.: a stranger walking on someone else’s land.

France was different. Bourgogne felt like home.  I could feel a strong connection even from the air before the plane landed in Paris. Driving into Bourgogne region was like crossing some mythical boundary. That’s what my friends meant when they said they had come home, that the land welcomed them.

The second day of the trip, my friend and I went to the British Museum in London. We had lots of sections we wanted to see, but there was one artifact there that drew me: Epona from Wiltshire. When you have a connection with a deity, you can often feel the resonance of their artifacts in locations like museums. We got up to Her room and I immediately said HI MOM! And that was it. That was the introduction for my trip. Nothing else at the museum mattered except seeing Her. I felt giddy after seeing Her.

Epona from Wiltshire.
Informational text for the Epona from Wiltshire.

Even though the U.K. was a fun trip, there wasn’t a connection with the land. Even when we went to the White Horse of Uffington on a super windy day, it was a place I was visiting, not some place I belonged.

The trail up to the horse was often a steep climb
The white horse taken from the trail up to the horse.

I felt more connected when visiting tack shops than I did out at sites famous to pagans, like Avebury. It was breathtaking to see the sites. They just weren’t *my* places.

Would I do the trip again? Maybe. It was an opportunity to do a dream-trip with a good friend. One of the longest vacations I’ve taken and I was ready to come home to the horses and the kitties.

Review of Epona: The Hidden Goddess of the Celts

When Epona: The Hidden Goddess of the Celts was published, I was excited to see a new book about Her in English. (Struggling through French and German languages texts is complicated — it’s hard to know if how you read something is the correct meaning when working with translation tools.) Here’s part of the book description from Amazon:

Epona: Hidden Goddess of the Celts reflects the importance of gender in ancient religion, and the author explores the primacy of the Feminine through Epona’s sovereignty as Horse Goddess among the Celts; her identity as “Mistress of Animals” in her love affairs and working relationships, and the surprising role she apparently played in the ancient Greek and Roman Mysteries.

P.D. Mackenzie Cook’s unique study of Epona positions her in a broad cross-cultural context. The story he presents is at the same time historical, speculative, and deeply personal – at once a scholarly survey, intriguing detective story, and spiritual message to be taken to heart.

I reviewed the book, Epona: The Hidden Goddess of the Celts by P.D. MacCenzie Cook[1] in the Imbolc 2017 issue of Air n’Aithesc. A friend of mine read the review and asked that I make it more readily available.

Overall, the book is an interesting read. It’s nice to have some clear information in English, instead of French or German. However, the author clearly states that the story of Epona presented in the book is constructed in the book is speculative and original. You have to keep this in mind when reading, especially the later chapters where the author extrapolates information that could tentatively have been related to Epona.

Here is my full review: Review-Epona-Hidden-Goddess_Ceffyl

Would I recommend it? Yes, with caveats. You have to keep in mind that the author is both presenting well researched information *and* constructing a narrative for Epona to attempt to build a story that ties together evidence and conjecture.

[1] P.D. MacKenzie Cook, Epona: The Hidden Goddess of the Celts, Avalonia: London, UK 2016. ISBN-10: 1905297963; ISBN-16: 978-1905297962

 

Finding Epona

An article I wrote about Epona was included in the first issue of Air n’Aithesc in 2014. The article, “Finding Epona,” is about the search for Epona both from a spiritual aspect and looking for information about her in scholarly literature.

Aedui, C. (2014). Finding Epona. Air n’Aithesc, 1(1), 51-63

Here is the opening of the article:

My life has always revolved around horses. Horses are an extension of the divine present in my everyday life and part of my connection to Epona, the Celtic horse goddess. Touching my mare’s neck is like touching a piece of history.

When I was in college and first exploring pagan paths, my grandmother gave me a copy of Morgan Llewellyn’s The Horse Goddess, which tells the story of a young woman named Epona in 8th century Europe. I was enthralled. Who was Epona? Hodges Library at the University of Knoxville at Tennessee only had one hit for “Epona”: a recording by the Tanahill Weavers.

Since that time, my quest to learn about Epona has included research and personal gnosis, with the research inspiring everyday practice and intuition leading me to search for information in areas I might have otherwise overlooked. My emphasis has been on understanding Her by understanding Her cultural context.

Air n’Aithesc is accepting submissions

Have an idea for an article related to Celtic Reconstructism? Consider submitting your article, art work, or poetry to AnA for the Spring 2017 edition.

Read more about the AnA submissions guidelines. To send your work:

We accept submissions only through our email address. We do not accept submissions through postal services. We welcome submissions on any topic related to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism with an emphasis on research and research based Unverified Personal Gnosis. These articles may be on various roles of Celtic cultures, including but not limited to, poet, druid, hearth keeper, healer, warrior, artist, smith, as well as cultural overviews. Your manuscript must be in one of the following file forms: .doc, .rtf, .docx, and .txt.

Please send your submissions too ciannait@live.co.uk with the subject line: Air n-Aithesc Submissions

New book about Epona

Avalonia Press published Epone: Hidden Goddess of the Celts by P.D. Mackenzie Cook. I’ve received my copy and am looking forward to reading it. The initial flip through of the book is promising. The bibliography has many of the primary sources I’ve used in my own research.

The description of the book on the publisher’s site says, in part:

“Epona: Hidden Goddess of the Celts reflects the importance of gender in ancient religion, and the author explores the primacy of the Feminine through Epona’s sovereignty as Horse Goddess among the Celts; her identity as “Mistress of Animals” in her love affairs and working relationships, and the surprising role she apparently played in the ancient Greek and Roman Mysteries.

“P.D. Mackenzie Cook’s unique study of Epona positions her in a broad cross-cultural context. The story he presents is at the same time historical, speculative, and deeply personal – at once a scholarly survey, intriguing detective story, and spiritual message to be taken to heart. The author offers fresh and original perspectives on Epona’s historical origins and her “birth” in human form. He explores her early presence in southern Italy; investigates her probable identity as “Macha” in Ireland and “Rhiannon” in Wales as well as her indirect influences on the ideals of chivalry and courtly love in the Middle Ages. We are then introduced to Epona’s possible presence in a set of mysterious caves in the New World, and finally to her rediscovery by present-day equestrians, and in the personal lives and accounts of modern priestesses and men devoted to her.”

Help Gleann and Grainne

My friend Saigh has had a lot of bad luck this year. She lost one of her dear pets and shortly after two more of her dogs were diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. Medical tests are expensive, whether they are for people or for pets. It’s heart-wrenching when you don’t have the funds to do the tests that your loved ones, whether human or fur-covered, need.

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If you can, please consider helping Saigh out.

Book of Pagan Prayers

prayer_book_coverMaya St.Clair of Air n’Aithesc has compiled An Leabhar Urnaí: A Book of Celtic Reconstructionist Friendly Prayers. Epona has two prayers in the book, including one by written by me to use before riding.

Here is the summary of the book from the AnA web site:

An Leabhar Urnaí: A Book of Celtic Reconstructionist Friendly Prayers was inspired by Ceisiwr Serith’s books and A Pagan Ritual Prayer Book.

This book offers prayers and invocations in Old Irish, and Gaulish, with their English translations; as well as prayers in English to Welsh, Irish and Gaulish Gods. The authors and editor also took the time to add a little information on the Gods they pray to and the reasons behind writing their prayers or invocations.

New issue of Air n’Aithesc!

Air n'Aithesc vol 3 issue 1 The Imbolc 2016 issue of Air n’Aithesc is now available in ebook and print versions from MagCloud. In this issue, I have an article on how to succeed at your research projects and not get lost in the weeds.

I finally ordered print copies of the magazine. The quality is excellent for a print-on-demand work. The paper is good quality. Ink doesn’t smudge or smear. Images are crisp. It’s something special to see something you wrote in a printed copy, instead of an ebook.

Rabbit hole example

I’m working on an article on research methods. The current section discusses scope and discipline when doing research with the key point being to resist the rabbit holes. Don’t go off on that tangent! I wrote an example that had me snickering but was far too specific for the target audience. Here is my example.

For example, were any of the horses on Epona artifacts painted? One site equates Epona with Rhiannon, and since she had a gray horse then Epona must also have had a gray horse. Rhiannon also rode a horse, but she’s from a later time period and in Wales. There is a related link to the Welsh Mari Llywd traditions around Christmas as well as hobby horses. And they could all possibly related back to Epona, but it really isn’t answering the question of whether or not any of the equids depicted with Epona had been painted.

Happy Eponalia!

Happy Eponalia to anyone who celebrates it! May Her day be blessed.

It has been raining constantly here. I’m going out to the barn tomorrow to celebrate. I’m going to pamper the mares, and if the conditions are okay, maybe get in a ride too. Later, I’ll make apple brownies and clean the altar.