Arianrhod
Arianrhod, whose name means "Silver Wheel", is a Goddess of fertility, the full moon, the stars, regeneration, and reincarnation, whose pathway is an eternal quest or thread that has no beginning or end. The spirit of Arianrhod is a symbol of prophecy and dreams. As a meditative glyph, She provides a glimpse of both the past and future, but the traveler must follow the Spirit of Arianrhod with an open heart and mind. She controls the time dimension that allows access to the whirlpool of Creation; an enigmatic vision of the universe as perceived by the Celts. She is the personification of the ever-turning Wheel of the Year. This wheel was also known as the Oar Wheel, a ship that carried dead warriors to the Moon-land (Emania). She is a primal figure of female power and authority and is considered an Ancestral Goddess of the Celts. The key to the nature of this Goddess is that She is a weaver, in control of the interactions of human lives and of the matter of creation itself. In Irish tradition we find that the Goddess of the Land of Erin may manifest as a weaver. She lives in a stellar realm, Caer Arianrhod - otherwise known as the Corona Borealis, with her female attendants and there she decides the fate of the dead. The Corona Borealis is the self-same constellation that is associated with Ariadne, a Greek resonance of Arianrhod. She is a very sexual Goddess and mates freely with any man she chooses, whenever she chooses, as her body is hers to do with, as she wants. For this reason she is often in open rebellion against patriarchal society. Many believe that her myths represent the shift from the time of Celtic women's full freedom to that of male centered clans and male domination of women.
Correspondences
General: a silver wheel, the moon, the stars, the Corona Borealis, air, fertility, reincarnation, regeneration, weaving
Animals: owl
Plants: sage, wheat, willow tree
Scents: sage
Gems/Metals: geod stones, moonstones
Colors: green, white, silver
Invocations
Hymn to Arianrhod
Arianrhod of the Silver Wheel
By all the names men give thee -
We, 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 magick of the Earth and Sky.
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