Welcome to Morgan le Fay Week at White Rose of Avalon! For day one of Morgan le Fay Week, I have chosen to focus on Morgana’s aspect of being an Enchantress. The Enchantress is sometimes thought of as the Springtime witch. This is because she is associated with the light half of the year, being the opposite type of magic as the darker Sorceress.
Morgan as an Enchantress is the mistress of light fiery magick. She wields power over the mystical work of oracles and herbal wisdom. The Enchantress Morgana is the youthful and joyous energy of positivity and walking the daylight path of Faery Witchcraft. While many think of her as the dark and scary wicked witch who famously plotted the downfall of Camelot and the death of her brother, this is not all there is to this complex Goddess and Faery Queen.
The Enchantress is one of our prime examples of Morgana being more than simply the Evil Queen figure. To speak in terms of faerytale lore, Morgana can be seen as both the youthful Princess that we root for and the Evil Stepmother or Witch we have cause to revile! In the form of the light-hearted and free-spirited Enchantress, we meet the more Springtime Flowery Goddess instead of the darker Goddess of Death.
In this aspect, we can see Morgan’s connection to other Celtic Goddesses like Blodeuwedd and Guinevere. Both of these Goddesses are Flower Brides as well as Faery Queens and Sovereignty figures! Morgan’s role as an Enchantress has echoes of the Flower Bride in her connection to both the Springtime and nature. Guinevere is so often, or let’s be honest always, depicted as an antagonist of Morgana and vice-versa. When we look at Morgan as an Enchantress, we get to see Guinevere and Morgan on more of an equal footing. I think of Guinevere and Morgan as being sisters in an Avalonian aspect. They are both female figures who are Faery Queens and who are seen as being not acceptable by the standards of the day. The Enchantress Morgan is the one that can help us learn how to begin to use our own Faery Glamour and Faery magic that is innate within ourselves. The Enchantress is one that is most connected to the youthful aspect of the Faery before we will later begin to connect to the Faery Queen or Faery Lover aspects! I think of the Enchantress as a step in evolution for working with Faery’s magical energy.
I hope that you have enjoyed this short analysis of Morgan as an Enchantress. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is Morgan and Merlin. I found the image on https://tamuengl330.wordpress.com/2017/11/20/a-textual-analysis-of-morgan-le-fay-through-medieval-works-of-art/.
Further Reading
- Vita Merlini by Geoffrey of Monmouth
- Arthurian Romances by Chretien de Troyes
- Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
White Rose of Avalon 