For today’s post I would like to look at Morgana aspect as a seductress. In many tales of the Matter of Britain, Morgana is seen as an enchantress and a seductress. She was known in many a tale to be the lover of several knights. This is what would lead to her creating her Vale Sans Retour.
It is a place in the woodland where knights who were unfaithful in love would become trapped. Somehow punishing unfaithful lovers was seen as an evil thing in many of these stories. However, I see that as a highly positive attribute to Morgana, she valued love and respect and punished those that could not live up to this. This is repeated in the story of her sending a cup to court (it was meant to go to Arthur’s court but ended up at Mark’s court). The enchanted cup could not be drunk from by an adulterous woman, it would spill if she tried.
This was meant to expose Guinevere’s relationship with Lancelot, but instead exposed Isolde’s adultery with Tristan! In fact it proved that all the highborn women at Mark’s court were adulterous! While making all the women unfaithful is really Christian scribes saying that all woman are evil and demonizing sexuality, it does prove that Morgana was trying to keep people honest in love.
Much of the reason events such as this occur is that Morgana tried to seduces someone, and was rebuffed, like with Lancelot. Otherwise it happened because her own love life was messed up by someone else. This is the case when Guinevere breaks up her relationship with Guiomar, and when Arthur slayed Accolon! She oozed sexuality, and in most versions this is made readily apparent, even going so far as to state her lust could not be satiated. This is showing the dark aspect and view of love and sex.
In reality Morgan le Fay was a woman who loved and enjoyed sex a lot, and fully embraced that. Her story can teach us that having a high libido and truly enjoying sex should not be demonized! It is very sad that so many writers made her out to be nothing but an insatiable vixen, and glossing over her true power. She was able to rule over a sacred Isle, use her magic to heal others, and teach magic to her sisters on Avalon! These sacred aspects are ignored and made to seem insignificant as time went on and the stories were retold.
If we learn to embrace our inner seductresses, and value sex as a sacred act, we are honoring what Morgana le Fay truly stood for. We are reclaiming our sovereignty and our true power as women. Men too can honor Morgen by reclaiming their divinely sexual natures, as she wants us all to enjoy sex, and not see it as dirty! I hope this post has inspired you to embrace your inner divine seductress. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a very seductive, femme fatale painting of Morgana. I found the image on https://theconversation.com/morgan-le-fay-how-arthurian-legend-turned-a-powerful-woman-from-healer-to-villain-109928.
Further Reading
- Vita Merlini by Geoffrey of Monmouth
- Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes
- Le Morte d’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
- The Vulgate and Post Vulgate cycles
White Rose of Avalon 