Rhiannon ~ Divine Chanteuse of Healing Songs

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I chose my beautiful and talented cousin, Hillary, to be the representation of the goddess Rhiannon because she asked me if I'd design a tattoo for her earlier this year.

Once upon a time when I was 20 I'd actually apprenticed for about 6 months with a tattoo artist. I'd not really wanted to become a tattoo artist but my boyfriend at the time, Sean, had a friend who knew this guy who had trained with Keri Barba of Twilight Fantasy Tattoo Parlor in Anaheim, CA, and supposedly he was willing to train me. Sean and his friends were far more excited about this prospect than I was... but at the time I wasn't really clear on exactly what I wanted to do with my life yet so I just shrugged and said, "Okay, I guess."

John, my teacher, halted my lessons after about 6 months when he insisted I get a tattoo and I insisted in turn that there was nothing I wanted so permanently on my body to make me make such a choice... other than a small, light blue crescent moon lying on it's back and about the size of a dime set in the space on my forehead just above my eyebrows. Those of you who have read Marion Zimmer-Bradley's epic The Mists of Avalon will understand why. At the time, however, no reputable tattoo artist would ink anything on a body from the neck up - and John was no exception. Thus ended my illustrious tattoo career... and thankfully spared me from a lifetime branding smack in the middle of my forehead!

But I did learn how to design things in a way to make them tattoo friendly and Hillary's request was not the first I've received over the years since then. There are, in fact, a good two dozen or so folks out there in the world walking around with my artwork on them - which I find kinda neat.

Anyway, Hillary said, "I don't really have much of an idea in my head as much as a feeling about what I'd like, if that makes any sense. I'd like smallish birds, swallow-like minus the forked looking tails. I'm going to put them across my back, but not low, about right below where a bra goes across, one in the middle and one on each lat muscle. I haven't figured out how to have them sitting, maybe on a thin branch or something. I'd like the middle one to be just sitting and the outer ones maybe with wings spread like they're about to take off. I'm hoping for a dignified feeling. I'm very confident that your creative ability will bring out the idea that I'm going for, no matter what you come up with."

Her vision was inspired by the Three Birds of Rhiannon and the Fleetwood Mac song of the same name.

A bird that is not mine...

Three birds that belong to her

One emerald-green,

One snow-white...

One golden, flashing like a

Sunbeam through the night...

One golden, flashing like a

Sunbeam through the night...

The first "Rhiannon" illustration, done in 1992

Most people are familiar with Fleetwood Mac's Rhiannon but perhaps not so familiar with the other song about her three birds. I happened to be one of them. As for Rhiannon - the goddess - I was very familiar with her. In fact, years ago in my very early 20's when I used to contribute regularly to SageWoman magazine - a magazine that focused on various expressions of the women's spirituality movement - I'd done an illustration of her for an article. I knew she had a strong connection to music and horses but still, I was totally unaware of these three birds. Thus, you won't see them in the early drawing done back in 1992.

The British Isles with Wales highlighted in green

Rhiannon is a Welsh goddess of ethereal beauty with strong Celtic ties (and may I just add here since this is one of my quirky little pet peeves: the word Celtic is pronounced Kel-tic with a hard K sound and not a soft S as so many Americans seem think) and is featured in the famous Welsh collection of mythological stories, The Mabinogion. Her name is a variant form of the Welsh word Rhiain, meaning "maiden", and is also derived from the Brythonic goddess, Rigantona, and means "Great Queen" - and that's exactly what she was: a great queen of the fairies. She loved her horses and her dogs - a pack of Welsh border collies. She rode so wildly and swiftly upon her horses with her dogs easily keeping pace that it was said no man, no matter how fast he was said to be, could keep up with her let alone catch her.

Rhiannon is a goddess closely associated with the night and the moon, thus she's an instrument of change, movement and magic much in the same way the moon is. Her color are silver, white and blood red. Jasmine is her sacred flower and moonstones are her precious gems.

She was said to be a great healer - and not just of the body but of the wounded heart and soul. Like all great healers, she endured great suffering of her own so her compassion and insight into such matters was boundless. She gives us the gift of tears, forgetfulness (to aid in the healing process) and humor to bear what may seem unbearable. She is also a goddess who brings great joy - because sometimes the only way to know what something truly is requires we experience all that it is not. Sorrow and joy are two sides of the same coin.

Rhiannon's Three Birds

And, of course, she had three magical birds. The Welsh called them the Adar Rhiannon - Birds of Rhiannon. It was said these marvelous birds could revive the dead, restore life, heal all ills but also lull the living into eternal sleep with their song. And when her song is joined with that of her magical birds, it is said the song is so beautiful it can heal all sadness and pain.

A very realistic statue of "The Fine Lady" at Banbury Cross

In her maiden aspect, Rhiannon is associated with a white horse, and depicted as finely dressed in gold. The famous nursery rhyme, Banbury Cross, is actually attributed to her. Although nursery rhyme books recite the words differently now, the original rhyme is as follows:

Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross

To see a fine lady on a white horse.

With birds at her shoulders

And bells on her toes,

She will have music wherever she goes.

The story goes that Rhiannon chose to fall in love and marry a mortal king by the name of Pwyll (pronounced Pow-ell) and together they had a son whom they named Pryderi. Not long after the child's birth, he vanished in the night while Rhiannon and her ladies-in-waiting slept. A nursemaid was supposed to be watching the boy but she had fallen asleep as well. Fearing dire consequences for slacking off while on duty, the nursemaid took a newborn puppy from among Rhiannon's dogs and killed him. She smeared it's blood all over Rhiannon's hands, face and clothing.

When the household awoke the next morning all eyes fell on the bloodied Rhiannon and she was immediately accused of not only murdering her own son but eating him as well. She was, after all, not of the earthly world and thus an outsider and, like most outsiders, considered different and feared by many in the kingdom. Consensus felt Pwyll should have married someone "of his own kind".

King Pwyll, however, was despondent at the loss of his son and even more aggrieved that his beloved and much adored wife was the one accused of being responsible for his death. He could not bring himself to have her executed so, as punishment Rhiannon was made to sit upon a horse-block outside the castle walls and offer all passers-by a ride on her back for a duration of seven years.

Rhiannon was devastated at the loss of her son, too, but could find no way of proving she'd not been the one to murder him. And so, without any defense, she had no choice but to endure her punishment. Being the great and dignified queen she was, she bore her task without complaint. She bore her humiliation with such grace and dignity despite her overwhelming grief that she was said to have moved even the most hardened of hearts of her adopted countrymen.

All the while, Pryderi was alive and well and being raised by unknown persons. When her seven year trial came to an end, he reappeared at the castle gates. He had no explanation for where he'd been but Rhiannon obviously didn't care. Her son was alive and with his return, she was vindicated and absolved of the crime she'd been falsely accused of. More importantly to her though was that she had her beloved son back and safe in her arms once again.

Statue attributed to both Rhiannon and Epona, another Celtic horse goddess

Thus, Rhiannon is considered to be an archetype of understanding and compassion. She understands hardship and pain, separation and loss. Yet she also teaches that even when we are wronged we can find a way to not only forgive ourselves and others but also to remain true to ourselves by loving and honoring the truth of who we truly are within - even when it seems the world is against us.

In my research I ran across what I considered to be a moving statement, written as if Rhiannon were speaking them herself and given as food for thought:

All my life, I've heard about the wonderful friendships women have. I'm a woman. But I'm probably not your friend. Let me tell you who I am...

I am the woman you will tell your troubles to in the line at the store...the one who will listen and empathize. But then you will smile, and maybe say thanks, but never ask my name.

I am the one who will walk out of the school with you and two other moms after a project in our children's classroom, and will hear you invite the other moms over for lunch, but will not be included.

I am the one who will hear all about the great scrapbook retreat you and another woman went to, and how you can't wait to do it again. But you will never ask me if I would like to join you.

I am the one you will tell all about your big, crazy Thanksgiving family dinners, and maybe you'll even ask to borrow a recipe or a baking pan, but even though I have no family within a thousand miles, you will not invite my child and me to join you because after all, we're not family.

I am the one with the book you need to borrow, the name of the doctor or Realtor you want to find, the one with information on the new restaurant, places to go on your vacation, or the website to help with your child's project. I am the one who can pick up your child when you're running late, pitch in when another mom didn't show for the gift wrapping table at the school holiday market, or hold your hand when the doctor's news is scary.

I am the one who will ask you over to lunch, only to have you cancel... twice. I am the outsider, the not-from-around-here, the stranger in your midst. I am educated, well dressed, well mannered, and literate. I am a woman, a mom, a neighbor But I do not go to your church. I do not celebrate the same holidays you do. I was not born here. I did not grow up here. I am a woman with no friends. You tell me of the wonders of women's friendships. But you never see my tears. Do you even see me?

-Lynn, a subscriber to The Goddess Path

How many of us have been this woman? How many of us have been guilty of doing this to others?

An ancient Welsh coin with the image of Rhiannon imprinted upon it

Rhiannon also teaches us how to work with doubt and to doubt someone or something when our instincts are giving us warning signals to do so - and that this is healthy (and puts me in mind of Gavin de Becker's wonderful book, The Gift of Fear). To spend precious time doubting oneself is self-negating and unhelpful. Rhiannon teaches us that the best way to work with self-doubt is to turn it into self-questioning and not allow it to erode your self-esteem and Sacred Self. Allowing yourself to question rather than doubt is to allow the answer you need to reveal themselves so you can continue on your path to wholeness and happiness once again.

There are two festivals connected with Rhiannon. Gwyl o Rhiannon - Feast of Rhiannon - is celebrated at sundown on December 2nd. The other, Rhyfeddod Lleiaf o Rhiannon - The Lesser Mysteries of Rhiannon - is celebrated from sundown on March 3rd through sunrise on March 6th. Both of these holidays are still celebrated by modern day Welsh witches and pagans.

Self portrait of my cousin Hillary (modified a little by moi for the blog). She's 11 weeks pregnant here with her second child, due in early 2009

Just a few pieces of some of Hill's fantastic photography. I told you she was talented!!!

Hillary's affinity with Rhiannon's birds was not the only reason why I asked her if she'd allow me to use her likeness for this illustration. Like Rhiannon, Hillary is a beautiful but intense person and she's endured her share of sorrows of the heart and soul over few years of her young life. Yet it has been my observation that she's not only borne them with grace and dignity but she has turned them around and used them as tools for her own personal healing. They have served to make her more compassionate, more loving, more present and more appreciative of those in her life and all those she loves. I think, too, that she's found a way to incorporate these qualities in to her work as well. 

Hillary is a very gifted photographer and her work is very evocative and moving... and a little ethereal too... as if she, herself, is of the realm of some other world and has managed to capture glimpses into her reality for the rest of us to experience via the expertise of her dreamy, shuttered lens.

Thank you so much, Miss Hill, for channeling your amazingly beautiful energy into this piece! I love ya muchly!! And I promise as soon as this project is done, you will have your beautiful birds. :)