Rhiannon is the Great Goddess as worshiped by the Welsh. She is an embodiment of life, death, and rebirth, for in her realm there is no death without regeneration.
Her name derives from Rigantona, which means “great queen.” A shape-shifter, she can assume any form she wants; she often appears as a white horse. She is a muse goddess and is accompanied by three sweetly singing birds who can revive the dead or put the living to sleep.
The source of the king’s power derived from Rhiannon, the queen, and a candidate for kinghood met Rhiannon dressed as a stag, a regal figure symbolic of rejuvenation, beauty, strength, and instinctual masculine energy. In alter myth she appears a Nimue or as Vivien, the Lady of the Lake.
Rhiannon is a beautiful queen of the night, a reminder of the close balance between death and rebirth. She demands that we honor our instinctual and animal selves as a source of creativity, abundance, and order.
Our beautiful global goddess images are drawn each month from the Goddesses Knowledge Cards, painted by Susan Seddon Boulet with text by Michael Babcock. The deck of 48 cards can be ordered from Pomegrate Communications in Petaluma, California. (We are not affiliated with Pomegranate in any way, we just love these cards!)
This is lovely, it would be nice if you could indicate the correct pronunciation of the goddesses. Thanks