Divine Feminine

Posts Tagged ‘flowers’

Not of mother and father
Did my Creator create me
But of nine-formed virtues,
Of the fruit of fruits,
Of the fruit of the primordial God,
Of primroses and blossoms,
Of the flower, wood and tree.

Blodeuwedd is the white Goddess of Death and Life in Her May-aspect, and part of a triad consisting of Arianrhod, Blodeuwedd and Cerridwen.

She represents temporary beauty and the bright blooming that must come full circle through death: She is the promise of autumn visible in spring.

Blodeuwedd was the Flower Maiden, made by men, for a man, in the image of their own desires. She became the perfect wife for Llew but made a choice to be with Gronw. By doing this she took her power back.

She was pursued and, as a punishment, turned into an owl.

Owls are associated with wisdom, and Blodeuwedd has become wise. She accepted herself and turned against that which others wanted her to be.

NanLT, wife, mother, healer, witch, has a personal experience with Blodeuwedd.

I was very much out of touch with my feminine side, having focused so much attention on the masculine. Through Her I was able to discover that there could be strength in femininity. That I could embrace and show myself as a woman without sacrificing my independence.

For Nan’s insight, see Blodeuwydd, Flower Face

Flora, the delightful Goddess of Flowers, was welcomed by the Ancient Romans in April and early May.

Her festival was the Floralia, and it symbolised the ancient renewal of the cycle of life. She was honoured as the Bringer of Spring Flowers and to this day we use her name to denote all plant life on earth.

When Julius Caesar reconfigured the Roman Calendar he set the date of her celebrations as running from 28 April to 3 May. Games, merriment, theatre and parades marked this time of year, and much drinking and dancing was enjoyed by the common people. And, of course, lots of flowers. These events were collectively known as the Ludi Florales.

Flora may have been a relatively minor figure in the mythology of Ancient Rome but she was originally much more important. To the indigenous people she was a Fertility Goddess but she lost much of her status when the influence of Greece spread over the land. Alas! This has happened time and time again, I saw it in my own day and it’s worse now.

At least she is content in her domestic life for her consort is Favonius, the West Wind, the sweetest and most gentle of all the winds, the fructifying wind.

His very name means ‘Favourable’ and his breath (all the way from Thrace) is the Messenger of Spring. Favonius, as is befitting, is the protector of flowers and plants.