SHRINE TO ARIANRHOD

This Page Is Protected By Arianrhod,
Lady Of The Silver Wheel!






o, my Goddess,

i've worshiped Arianrhod for almost a year now (4/24 will be my anniversary), and She is very, VERY dear to me, for a multitude of reasons! i was looking to get into paganism proper, finding a deity to worship, and did a tarot spread claiming to help nail down 'what deity is courting you', more or less. the conclusion i came to was... Her. the eyes of the birch tree led me straight to Her, along with The Star, the Queen of Wands, and the High Priestess in particular. a confident, powerful, determined woman associated with the moon, eyes (possible UPG), wands, intuition, breaking through, and having Her goals blocked? i've got Her. in addition, i've always felt drawn to wales/welsh things, especially after creating a welsh oc back in 2017, and though i've never been to the country (but would love to go one day!), starting to worship Her felt like coming home.

my biggest takeaway about Arianrhod's story is bodily autonomy. content warnings for rape, but per wikipedia, Her story is thus:
According to the Fourth Branch (circa 12th century), Arianrhod's uncle Math fab Mathonwy would die if he didn't keep his feet in the lap of a virgin when he was not at war. Gilfaethwy develops a lust for Math's original footholder, pretty Goewin, and he and his brother Gwydion engineer a war with King Pryderi of Kingdom of Dyfed, forcing Math to leave his court. In Math's absence, Gilfaethwy rapes Goewin. When Math returns, he punishes his nephews severely by turning them into a series of mated pairs of animals and marries Goewin to alleviate her shame. However, he must find a new virgin to hold his feet.

Gwydion suggests his sister, Arianrhod. To test her virginity, Math tells her to step over his magician's rod. On doing this, however, she immediately gives birth to a young boy, Dylan ail Don, and a blob-like entity which becomes Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Dylan is a sea spirit, who flees to the ocean immediately after he is baptized. Gwydion grabs Lleu Llaw Gyffes before anyone else sees it and places it in a chest. Before long, it becomes a boy who grows at twice the normal rate; when he is four, he is as big as an eight-year-old. Gwydion takes him to see his mother at her home, Caer Arianrhod.

However, Arianrhod was angry about her humiliation at Math's court. She places a tynged (a geis or taboo) on the boy that he will never have a name unless she gives it to him. Gwydion disguises the boy as a shoemaker and returns to Caer Arianrhod; while Arianrhod is being fitted, she sees the boy killing a wren with a single stone and remarks that the fair-haired one ("lleu") has a skillful hand ("llaw gyffes"). Gwydion reveals the disguise, and says she has just given her son a name – Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Arianrhod then places a second tynged on Lleu, that he would never take arms unless she armed him. A few years later, Gwydion and Lleu return to Caer Arianrhod, this time disguised as bards. Gwydion is an accomplished storyteller and entertains her court. That night, while everyone sleeps, he conjures a fleet of warships. Arianrhod gives her guests weapons and armor to help her fight, thereby dispelling her second curse. When Gwydion reveals the trickery, Arianrhod places a final tynged on Lleu: he would never have a wife from any race that is on this earth now. Gwydion and Math eventually break this curse by creating a woman out of oak blossom, broom, and meadowsweet; she is named Blodeuwedd ("flower face").
gwydion takes advantage of Arianrhod (possibly literally, in some interpretations), and Her consent is violated; she is humiliated in front of the king and everyone. She is often considered a 'virgin' Goddess, but not in the sense of did not have sex but rather in that She belonged to no man; Her body was Her own, and that really resonates with me as a trans person, i guess!!

links i want to keep


O Arianrhod of the Silver Wheel,
By all the many names men give to thee-
We, all thy hidden children, humbly kneel
Thy truth to hear, thy countenance to see.
Here in the Circle, cast upon the Earth
Yet open to the stars – unseen, yet real-
Within our hearts give understanding birth,
Our wounds of loss and loneliness to heal.
Isis Unveiled, and Isis Veiled, thou art;
The Earth below our feet, the Moon on high.
In thee, these two shall never be apart-
The magic of the Earth, and of the sky.