Moon 8
The Moon of Liberation
Moon Eight of the Avalonian Cycle of Revealing is called the Moon of Liberation and is associated with the herb red clover (Trifolium pratense). It is the last of four moons during the Time of Blodeuwedd, and the lunar month begins on the first full moon when the sun is in Gemini; the full moon is in Sagittarius.
What is the nature of freedom? Is it something someone gives you, or is it something you claim for yourself? Freedom of choice is a precious gift and a true privilege, but it must be underwritten by our Sovereignty or else it is just another illusion. If we make choices based on unconscious fears and half-healed wounds, we are still locked in a cage of illusion, often without even knowing it. Look to the treasures unearthed from the darkness of shadow. These hard-earned truths and understandings about ourselves, our lives, and our world are what give us the wings we need to fly and grant us the sight that allows us to see what we need to see. Do not be satisfied with someone else’s version of who you are. Take what is true and leave the rest behind. Let no one define you but you!
The Mythic Portion
Distressed by the news of Lleu’s betrayal and wounding, Gwydion set off to look for his beloved nephew. After searching far and wide, the magician followed a sow that led him to a tall oak tree; in its uppermost branches was a wounded eagle that shook off maggots and rotting flesh, thus attracting the sow every day. Believing it to be Lleu, Gwydion sang three englynion, or metered verses. The eagle responded to him in three stages, descending from the tree and into Gwydion’s lap. With his wand, Gwydion transformed his wounded nephew back to his human form and took him to Math’s court at Caer Dathyl. There, Lleu was nursed back to health and was fully restored by the end of the year.
When he was whole once more, Lleu sought justice from Gronw Pebyr, demanding that he be able to cast a spear at Gronw in the same way it had been hurled at him. When none of Gronw’s men would volunteer to stand in for their lord, he agreed to Lleu’s conditions, asking to be able to hold a stone between them since it was for the sake of a woman that all of this had occurred. Lleu agreed, and in the same place on the banks of the River Cynfal where he was ambushed by Gronw, Lleu cast a spear at his adversary which passed through the stone and into Gronw’s heart, killing him. To this day, a holed stone called Llech Ronw (Gronw’s Stone) stands on the banks of that river. Lleu became lord over his lands once more, and in time would come to rule all of Gwynedd in Math’s place.
In the meantime, Gwydion went to Mur Castell seeking to punish Blodeuedd for her betrayal of Lleu. When she heard that he had come, Blodeuedd and her maidens took flight in search of safety at another court on a mountain. As they ran, the terrified women kept looking behind them to see if Gwydion was catching up with them. In their haste through the hilly terrain, all the women except Blodeuedd fell into a lake and drowned because they kept looking back; to this day, the lake bears their name: Llyn Morwyinion, the Lake of the Maidens. At last overtaking Blodeuedd, Gwydion passes judgment upon her for her shaming of Lleu, saying that instead of killing her, he was going to do worse. She would be transformed into an owl and would never be able to show her face in the light again; instead, she was cursed to forever hunt in the night and be hated by all other birds. Yet, she would keep her name, now Blodeuwedd, a Welsh word for “owl.”
The Work of the Moon of Liberation
Fully embracing one’s truth has many ramifications. At times, society will demonize us for not conforming to its expectations and for daring to do that which so many have resigned themselves to never accomplish. We must overlook this lack of external support; living in right action will reap its own rewards from the Universe. We must seek to embrace the bardic axiom, Y Gwir yn Erbyn y Byd, “the Truth Against the World.” More than this, living from one’s center grants expanded vision, sharpened sight, powerful tools, and the ability to fly free. There is much to be gained.
Although Blodeuwedd is demonized in myth, she serves as an example and role model for women and anyone fighting for their true desire and seeking to live their life on their own terms. She teaches us to achieve our goals based upon the recognition of our true will regardless of the expectations of others and no matter what the cost. Blodeuwedd’s tale illustrates many things for us, among them that wisdom comes from our being able to see in the darkness as well as from daring to grow while we are in the light. Sometimes flowers and sometimes feathers, there are many ways to address the choices before us; we can be flexible and adaptable, using different tools at different times depending on what is needed.
Searching Deeper
From a mythological perspective, the rivalry between Lleu and Gronw has much deeper meaning than a simple love triangle or tawdry affair. To understand its full significance, we need to explore the tale’s cultural context. In Wales and some other Celtic lands is a winter tradition called the Hunting of the Wren. Although differing from region to region, this folk practice typically occurred sometime between Winter Solstice and New Year’s Day, with an occasional outlier happening as late as Gwyl Mair. The time period is significant, as traditions surrounding the new year (however it was measured) in almost every culture saw it as a dangerous time. Indeed, any threshold time carried the potential for disaster as the transition place between the old and the new was considered to be outside time and so did not conform to the natural order of things.
The wren hunt reflects time’s liminality. Except for the one day when it was hunted, the wren was considered a sacred bird, and it was bad luck to even disturb the nest of a wren much less kill it. Indeed, in the British Isles and Ireland, the wren was considered the king of the birds, and throughout Europe, its name reflected its royalty: in Greek (basiliskos, “little king”), Latin (regulus, “king”), French (roitelet, “little king”), Spanish (reyezuelo, “little king”), Italian (reatino, “little king”), Danish (elle-konge, “alder king”), and so on.15 However, during the time of reversals, bands of young men would engage in the hunting of the wren; whomever killed or captured the small bird would become the “king” for the year; that man would oversee the feasting and be paraded around the village, bringing good fortune and abundance to each household he visited.
While the origins and full meaning of the practice is not entirely clear, some scholars believe that the killing of the wren in the darkest part of the year was a sacrifice of the king by proxy; that is, the bird was a symbolic stand-in for the actual king or a priest-king who may once have been chosen to rule for a year before being willingly sacrificed in exchange for the renewal of the Earth and rebirth of the sun in winter.16
While seeking to overcome the three prohibitions placed upon him by his mother, Arianrhod, the yet-unnamed Lleu kills a wren while disguised along with Gywdion as a shoemaker in the Fourth Branch of Y Mabinogi. His unsuspecting mother observes the boy casting and hitting the famously small bird with a stone and exclaimed, “the fair one has a steady hand!” In this way, she unknowingly named him—Lleu Llaw Gyffes—and fulfilled one of the tynghedau she placed upon him, that he would not have a name save the one she gave him. This act takes greater significance in light of the context given above; the medieval Welsh audience would likely have understood that by hitting the wren with a stone, Lleu had effectively established himself as a seasonal king. After likewise obtaining his arms through the help of Gwydion’s trickery, Lleu is prohibited by Arianrhod against marrying a woman of the race that dwells on the Earth, so he must therefore make the sacred marriage to the land with the goddess of Sovereignty in order to take his place as king.
When we first encounter Gronw, he is hunting a stag he had pursued onto Lleu’s land; it is late in the day when he finally overcomes the animal, killing and dressing it on the banks of the River Cynfal. While this may not seem like much to the eyes of the modern reader, to the contemporary medieval audience this was a highly significant act in several respects. First, there are several instances where the presence of the Otherworld has made itself known through liminality: the crossing of borders by Gronw from his own lands into Lleu’s is one, the killing and dressing of the stag on the banks of the river is another, and the time of day—sunset—is yet another. Second, the presence of water is a hallmark of the Otherworld, and rivers are especially symbolic of shifts of status between heroes, as we shall see.
The pursuit of the stag itself is deeply meaningful. In medieval Wales and elsewhere, the hunting of stags was highly regulated; it was royal game, and hunting it was considered the sport of kings. From a literary perspective, “The Chase of the White Stag” is narrative motif that served as a readily recognizable marker heralding the entrance into or involvement with the Otherworld; often the presence of this chase leads to an encounter between the hero and a woman who is a representative of the Sovereignty of the land.17 In addition to being royal animals with Otherworldly associations, stags are symbolic of death and rebirth and are strongly connected to the seasonal round, in part because of their annual shedding and regrowth of their antlers. Therefore, not only can Gronw be seen as having strong connections with the Otherworld, his role as hunter and connection to stags can be seen to confer powerful chthonic associations on him as well.
If we consider the magical or Otherworldly elements of the narrative to be signposts for the former Pagan Celtic culture, the entire love triangle between Lleu, Blodeuwedd, and Gronw—and its attendant deaths and transformations—may represent a memory of a year myth. Much like the battle at the ford between Pwyll and Hafgan in the First Branch that saw the victorious Pwyll become Pen Annwfn (chief of the Otherworld), the back and forth defeat and victory of Lleu and Gronw for the hand of the Flower Bride may be another iteration of this mythic motif. The alternating casting of the spear occurs on the banks of a river—the same river where Gronw killed the stag and later cast his spear at Lleu—a liminal place symbolizing the presence of the Otherworld. The indication is that the action takes place between the worlds, straddling them as with the great festivals of Calan Gaeaf and Calan Haf—gateways between the dark and light halves of the year.
In time, the Lord of the Light (one of the most accepted etymological glosses for the name Lleu is “light”) must make way for the Lord of the Dark, just as the light half of the year gives way to the dark half. Similarly, the hunter Gronw kills Lleu with a holy spear and becomes the new consort of the Sovereignty goddess. Gronw is then in turn killed by the spear of Lleu when the cycle comes around again; whomever has the favor of Sovereignty’s representative is who reigns. We cannot of course ignore the sexual symbolism of the holey stone and spear of kingship, nor the cycle of light and dark that revolves around the axis of Sovereignty that is Blodeuwedd, both Flower Bride and Keen-Eyed Hunter in the Night.
Taken in light of the stories’ cyclical nature, can we finally consider the truth of Blodeuwedd to be laid bare? No longer a betraying adulteress, she is instead revealed as a seasonal Sovereignty figure, she who is wed in turn to the Solar Hero and the Otherworldly Champion. Twice a year, the Lord of Summer and the Lord of Winter battle for her favor in a threshold place and at liminal times, Calan Haf and Calan Gaeaf, when the veil between the worlds is thin. Her aspect changes to reflect the energies of her mate: when she is wed to Lleu, the Solar Hero, she is the Flower Bride; when she is wed to Gronw, the Otherworldly Champion, she is the owl. What a powerful reclamation of this misunderstood goddess!
Seeking Sovereignty Within:
Journaling Prompts and Self-Reflective Questions
Moon Eight
The Moon of Liberation
The Time of Blodeuwedd
Mythic Focus: Lleu reclaims his lands by killing Gronw. Blodeuwedd transforms into an owl.
Personal Insights Around This Moon’s Mythic Portion: Meditate upon the portion of Blodeuwedd’s story associated with this moon, and reflect it within yourself. Her story is your story.
The Focus of the Moon of Liberation by Phase
Seek the lessons of the Moon of Liberation at each moon phase by using the Stations of the monthly Cycle of Healing; be sure to journal all of the insights, symbols, and guidance you receive from each goddess at each moon phase. As you work with the information you receive between each phase, perhaps following the daily process outlined in Chapter 3 of this book, and using tools such as trance postures and doorways as detailed in Avalon Within, be sure to record those insights in your journal as well.
Full Moon: Connect with Blodeuwedd at the full moon. Review the work of the previous month and the insights it brought to you, set up your work for the coming month, and ask for insights on the issue of focus which may have shifted or deepened due to the work you have done.
Third Quarter: Station of Descent in the cycle of the moon. Bring the issue of focus to Rhiannon to explore through the filters of the Station of Descent and the Moon of Liberation.
Dark Moon: Station of Confrontation in the cycle of the moon. Bring the issue of focus to Ceridwen to explore through the filters of the Station of Confrontation and the Moon of Liberation.
First Quarter: Station of Emergence in the cycle of the moon. Bring the issue of the focus to Blodeuwedd to explore through the filters of the Station of Emergence and the Moon of Liberation.
Night before the Full Moon: Station of Resolution in the cycle of the moon. Bring the issue of focus to Arianrhod to explore through the filters of the Station of Resolution and the Moon of Liberation.
At any point in the month, bring the issue of focus to Branwen to explore through the Station of Integration and the Moon of Liberation. Some women will do this on the night after the dark moon in counterpoint to working with Arianrhod on the night before the full moon.
Herbal Ally for the Moon of Liberation
Red Clover (Trifolium pratense)
Creating the Mother Elixir: On the night of the full moon, create your Red Clover Lunar Elixir using the directions found on page 105 of Chapter 4. Be sure to label and date the bottle you are using to store the Mother Elixir. Journal any of your experiences around the creation of the Red Clover Elixir.
Prepare the Daughter Elixir: After you have made the Mother Elixir, use the directions found on page 107 of Chapter 4 to prepare a dosage bottle for use in the daily experience of this elixir throughout the month. Remember to use a blue or amber dropper bottle for this purpose, and to clearly label your Daughter Elixir.
Daily Work with the Red Clover Elixir: As discussed in Chapter 4, begin your daily exploration of the red clover elixir. Be sure to journal everything you can about how the elixir makes you feel, what you think its energetic actions are, where it sits in your energy body, and any and all impressions, insights, symbols, visions, and memories it presents to you:
Week One of Moon Eight: Immerse yourself in the lunar elixir by taking it every day, reflecting upon how it makes you feel, and journaling all of the insights that come to you when you meditate upon the energies of the elixir.
Week Two of Moon Eight: Continue to take the lunar elixir daily, but this week spend time experiencing and comparing the energetic impact of red clover as an essence, and red clover as a magical herb that you burn, as detailed in Chapter 4. Again, reflect upon how each makes you feel, and journal all of the insights that come to you when you meditate upon the energies of the elixir and the energies of the herb itself.
Week Three of Moon Eight: Continue to take the lunar elixir daily, but this week spend time researching the medicinal, folkloric, and magical uses of red clover, beginning with the information provided in Part Three of this book. Compare your findings this week with your direct experiences, being sure to journal all of the insights and connections you’ve made.
Week Four of Moon Eight: Continue to take the lunar elixir daily, but this week meditate upon the mythic portion of the month and reflect upon the ways in which the energies of red clover are related to the present portion of Blodeuwedd’s tale, and how it helps you to build a relationship with Blodeuwedd herself.
End of Moon Reflections: Under what circumstances could you see yourself using the Red Clover Elixir in support of your work and personal process? If you had to describe the actions of this lunar elixir using one word, what would it be? What about using one sentence? What about using a whole paragraph? Again, be sure to journal everything.
Working: Journey Into the
Sacred Landscape of Blodeuwedd
Llyn Morwynion
Please perform the induction to travel over the Ninth Wave, as found on page 74, and then proceed with the working below. When you have completed it, be sure to return from across the Ninth Wave, using the visualization found on page 76.
Having crossed the Ninth Wave into the Otherworld, disembark and envision a silver tether that extends from the center of your torso to the vessel which bore you here; it is of endless length and will expand and retract as necessary as you explore this Realm Over Wave, while keeping you connected to the boat in order to facilitate your return.
Take three deep, anchoring breaths, and immerse yourself in the energies of this place. It is the reflection of the landscape between Mur Castell and Llyn Morwynion, here in the realm of the Mythic Otherworld.
The night is dark. You find yourself in a strange and hilly landscape. Patchy tendrils of mist rise from the earth and hang low to the ground. In the distance to your left is a figure holding aloft a torch walking quickly toward you with intense purpose. Their stride makes you feel fearful; turning away from them, you begin to run in the opposite direction.
The landscape is cruel. You stumble over mossy stones, slick and unyielding as they bruise your feet and send you tumbling to the ground. You struggle to right yourself and continue to flee, periodically glancing behind you to see if the lantern-bearing figure has closed any of the distance between you. You are still fairly far ahead but are unsure how long that lead will last, as the path begins to slope upward. Your now-frenzied footfalls appear to have found their echo … or is this something more? The multiple sounds propel your feet forward even as you look around you in the darkness, trying to identify the sounds and where they are coming from.
The sounds become louder and closer and more numerous, and you realize that you are no longer alone. Around you is a throng of women running beside you; what you are hearing is their voices and the sounds of their own panicked running. It is hard to see in the darkness but you’ve heard these voices before … and the snippets of what you can hear them saying are things that are very familiar to you. You look to your left, you look to your right. And with a flash of recognition you come to see that the women who are scrambling up the hill beside you, trying to get away from the lantern-carrying figure below, all look exactly like you. It is with this realization you know why you recognize the voice and the things they are saying: they are each speaking with your voice. They are speaking your pain. They are glancing behind themselves with your fears. And still the figure holding the lantern aloft follows … and begins to ascend the increasingly mist-enshrouded hill.
And so collectively, you look behind. And so collectively, you forge ahead. As you go and make your way as if in unison, listen. Listen to the words being spoken. Listen for the memories they are speaking. Take some time to be present in this moment and note what is being said … note everything that arises in answer within you at this moment as well. Take three deep, centering breaths … receive and remember.
When you are ready, you collectively press on with the ever-thickening fog rising to swirl around your feet. The darkness of the night and the mist-shrouded hill hides so much from your sight, making the ascent more and more difficult, causing greater and greater panic. You and the women around you stumble on the stones, trip over the tree limbs, and slip on the damp grass … always managing to right yourselves, and continue forward with even more fear, even more abandon, even more panic.
You look behind you once more to see that the figure with the lantern seems to have gotten even closer. Take a moment to reflect upon how this makes you feel. Who is the person following behind you? Why do they inspire such fear in you?
Suddenly, the night is split by a terrible scream, followed by a huge splash. And then a second scream … and then a third … and then a cacophony of frenzied splashing! Suddenly you hear a chorus of terrified screaming. As you glance around you, trying to understand what is happening, looking for the water that must be near but you cannot see, you realize that there are fewer and fewer of the accompanying women. And as they too begin to scream in horror at what they are hearing, they scramble ahead with renewed desperation; they too have noticed that the lantern-bearer is closing in and they cannot keep themselves from looking behind them.
You are surrounded by endless screaming and more frenzied splashing. Unsure of what to do next, you take a moment and come to a stop. Close your inner eye. Take three deep, centering breaths. When you are done, open your eye. Peering through the haze of the swirling mists around you, you realize you stopped just in time … for you are standing at the edge of a ridge and feel rather than see that the land ends and opens up into darkness … a deep fall through space. Terrified, you scramble back and away from the edge only to realize that the other women have not seen the danger because they are too focused on the lantern bearer behind them. You shout to them in warning, but they cannot or will not hear you—and so you watch with horror as their own feet carry them over the cliff and down into what must be a body of water below.
And then suddenly … it is over. You are surrounded only by silence and realize that of all the women who accompanied you up the hill, you are the only one remaining behind. Somehow, you feel lighter; something has changed. Take a moment in this space to take an inner inventory. Contemplate the women … those parts of you in this moment you recognize to be the fears you have carried in life that have fallen into the water. What now is missing? Who is the you who remains?
You are the only one left—and yet, you are not alone.
In this moment, the lantern bearer who had pursued you up the slope has now come into view. The lamp illuminates the space around you as they approach, and you lift up your hands to protect your eyes from the painful and increasingly bright light. Everywhere the light touches, it burns away the clinging mists. As if catalyzed by the bringing of the lantern to the top of the hill, the sky begins to lighten in the east as the sun begins to rise.
The hooded figure sets their lantern upon a stone beside them and extends a hand to you. For some reason, you no longer feel afraid and take a step toward them. As you take their hand, a gentle morning breeze springs to life around you. The first bird of the morning begins to sing, and you are enveloped by the heady scent of fragrant flowers. Take three deep, centering breaths … feel yourself fully in this moment. Feel the energy that rises within from where your hand is nestled in theirs. The breeze rises once again, stronger this time, with enough force to push back the hood of the person before you … revealing their face in the growing light of dawn.
You have no doubt who it is, with her long white fingers and her hair the gold of broom flowers.
It is Blodeuwedd.
She smiles serenely at you, and you realize you did not need to be overcome with fear or run from the truth of the light she carries nor the change it brings. Hand in hand, she leads you to a place where the hill slopes gently downward, skirting around the fatal drop. You follow her down the path, uplifted by the intoxicating scent of dewy heather until she brings you to the shore of the lake known as Llyn Morwynion—the Lake of the Maidens. As you survey the landscape, you notice that parts of the lake are surrounded by steep and rugged hills … while other approaches are flat and easy to navigate.
Blodeuwedd releases your hand and gestures for you to approach the water. She speaks:
“Look at who you are when you let go of what you fear.”
You nod and follow her direction. Standing at the still and glassy water’s edge, a dark pool of a perfect mirror, you kneel before the lake and seek your reflection upon its surface.
What is it you see? Take what time you need to see what Blodeuwedd has charged you to see …
You feel her hand upon your shoulder, and again she says, “Look at who you are when you let go of what you fear.”
Almost immediately, a breeze ripples across the surface of the lake, blurring the place where you gaze upon the water, causing it to shift, impelling it to move. And as the waters become still once more, an image forms … and there in the brightening morning, as clearly as your own hand before you, you see a vision: the reflection of your purest and most authentic self, not held back by fear, not made small by pain. Who is this person? What do you need most to know about her? What does she know that you do not? How can you bridge the gap between where you are in the here and now, and where you are meant to be: fearless, centered, and sovereign?
Take what time you need to receive these answers and ask any other questions you may have.
When you are ready, thank your reflection for all the insights you have received. Ask for a symbol that you can work with to help you with your next step in this process; take what time you need to allow this symbol to reveal itself to you.
When at last you are done, stand and turn to Blodeuwedd. Thank her for her guidance and share an offering with her in gratitude.
She smiles and places her petal-soft fingers on your head, blessing you. Close your eyes and be fully present in this moment, breathing into it. You feel her fingers shift, and when you open your eyes, you find your head being brushed by the velvet-fringed feathers of a pure white owl. You step back, and she flaps in place before you, the large yellow moons of her eyes fixed upon yours, shining like jewels set into her heart-shaped face.
And then she takes off flying. You watch as she circles Llyn Morwynion three times before crossing the sky and heading west, away from the rising sun.
Take three deep, centering breaths. Remember all you have seen, received, and committed to in this moment. When you are ready, follow the thread connecting you to the vessel that took you to this Land Beyond Wave. Take your place in the boat once more to begin the journey over the Nine Waves to the place that is Here and the time that is Now.
15. Elizabeth A. Lawrence, Hunting the Wren: Transformation of Bird to Symbol (Knoxville, TN: University of Tennessee Press, 1997), 23.
16. Karl Wentersdorf, “The Folkloric Symbolism of the Wren,” The Journal of American Folklore, vol. 90, no. 358 (Apr–Jun 1977): 192-198.
17. Will Parker, The Four Branches of the Mabinogi (Oregon House, CA: Bardic Press, 2005), 233.