Celtic Spirit spiritualiteit, Natuurreligie, Keltische festijnen, Volle en nieuwe maan rituelen

And She was one of the Three Matriarchs in this Island.

Fairest Maiden in the world was She.
- The Mabinogion

Great Branwen, the Embodiment of Sovereignty, is the Chief Goddess of Avalon.  Although there is an entire branch of the Mabinogion which bears Her name, Branwen, Daughter of Llyr, (the only branch named for a woman), the story only hints at the importance, and domain of this Goddess.
Meaning "White Raven", this Sister of Bran the Blessed, becomes Queen of Ireland and is sorely mistreated by Her husband.  Sending starlings She Herself has trained, She calls Her Brother, who is King of the Isle of Britain, to Her aid. After battles, the appearance of the Cauldron of Plenty, which restores life, and the beheading of Her Brother, Branwen is returned to Britain where She dies of grief for all of the death and destruction.
She is very concerned with the welfare of Her realm, and is a Goddess of great depth and complexity.

These five Goddesses are far more than the written record tells of them. When their tales where finally written down, they had already been reduced in stature - they were no longer Goddesses but mortal women, queens, creations of magickians, and faerie folk.  Patriarchy was not kind to them either, as their stories are mostly told in relation to the men in their lives.  Seek out what is written, but look beyond the words.  There are symbols to be explored, attributes to understand, and if you seek hard enough.... the Goddesses Themselves will reveal Their TRUE stories to you....
Other Goddess which have connections with Avalon include Brigit, Anu, Danu, Morgan, and countless other local Goddesses brought to the Island by the women who trained there as priestesses.  There are those who say that women came from all over the British Isles, the continental Celtic lands, and even as far as Greece to study at Avalon.  To be sure, they brought some of their local traditions with them.
It has come to us that these five - Blodeuwedd, Arianrhod, Rhiannon, Cerridwen and Branwen, are the Guardians of the Sacred Isle of Avalon...
....All Goddesses are One Goddess
Met dank aan: The Goddesses of Avalon