Rhiannon, Goddess of Birds and Horses by Judith Shaw

[icymist]

Rhiannon, Goddess of Birds and Horses, is also know as the Queen of Fairies. She is a Sovereignty Goddess who the king must wed to legitimate his rule. A Goddess of Transformation, she uses her powers for love of others or self. She shines in our hearts as an example of true love and beauty. She appears in both the first and third branches of the Medieval Welsh stories, The Mabinogion, a narrative which grew out of the ancient myths of the Celtic Gods and Goddesses.

Rhiannon is associated with Epona, the Gaulish Horse Goddess. They are probably both derived from the ancient Celtic Goddess, Rigatona, whose name means “Great Queen”. Unfortunately, Rigatona’s stories and meaning are lost to us today.

Things sacred to Rhiannon are the moon, horses, horseshoes, songbirds, gates, the wind, and the number 7.

http://feminismandreligion.com/2013/03/13/rhiannon-goddess-of-birds-and-horses/

[sigmasix]

1. we named our eldest "Rhianon"

We found the name in an old book of welsh myths. according to the book Rhianon was a queen and her husband was away at the wars. Her son gets kidnapped by enemies of the kingdom, but a rumor that the queen is a witch that killed the boy to consolidate her power goes round, and she gets exiled to the woods. Rhianon spends years and years in the wilderness, acquinting herself with the magic denizens of nature and perfecting white magic that helps the people of the kingdom. One day her son returns and tells the truth of his circumstances. The people welcome the queen Rhianon back into the castle and she magnaminously forgives everyone. The name also means "white witch" or "fairy queen" or something like that. I was not aware of this history- will share it with my daughter. Thank you for an interesting OP.