Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings!    Today’s post is about how Dark Goddesses and Faery Goddesses are aligned.   This is something that I have been thinking about quite a bit recently.   The connection and crossover between Dark Goddesses in general and Faery Goddesses is quite obvious.   Commonalities between Dark and Faery Goddesses include helping us face our shadows, the ability to shapeshift, associations with liminal spaces, having a tricksy nature, being shadowy, having transformational energy, an association with prophecy, and knowledge in herbcraft!

Many Faery-related Goddesses are certainly also referred to as Dark Goddesses.    The primary example of this is my most beloved Goddess, Morgan le Fay.   She is most definitely a Faery Queen Goddess, who rules over the Isle of Avalon.   Avalon is at once a Faeryland, an Otherworldly Isle, and an Island of the Dead.    She is also a Dark Goddess in that she is known for her sorcery and her infamous plots against Camelot, at least in later legends.   

The Dark Goddess is not a deity to be feared, instead, she is a figure who brings knowledge of life and death.   This knowledge of the cycle of life and death can seem frightening to those not ready to learn about their own shadows.   It is within this context that we see the Dark Goddess being an ideal figure to teach us about our inner shadows.   Dark Goddesses are generally great to work with in order to bring light into the shadows within ourselves and to learn to do Shadow Work.   Similarly, Faery Goddesses are able to teach us about the liminal spaces, those spaces in between.   The liminal spaces are often misty and shadowy in nature making Faery Goddesses that rule over these spaces just as Shadowy as any Dark Goddess! 

While we see some Dark Goddesses that are simply seen in the fierce or even threatening veins, like Lilith, Hekate, Kali, and even Persephone’s Underworld Queen aspect, there are Faery Goddesses that are just as able to encapsulate the Dark without being as feared.   Rhiannon and her birds that can “raise the dead and lull the living to sleep” is a prime example of this.   Blodeuwedd has a darker Owl Goddess form that literally embodies the Night Bird of Prey.   Maeve is literally a Warrior Queen Goddess who incites both lust and warfare, making her another example of a Faery Goddess that can also be seen as a Dark Goddess!   In the case of Lilith, Hekate, Kali, and Persephone, all are much more nurturing than what some would have you believe due to their fierce natures.   They should not be seen as simply threatening, which is part of why I wanted to do this post!    

At the end of the day, Faery Goddesses and Dark Goddesses have so many overlapping qualities that I could not help but do this post to examine some of them here.   I hope that you have enjoyed this short post.   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is an artwork of Morgan le Fay.   I found the image on https://www.tuttartpitturasculturapoesiamusica.com/2013/12/Amy-Brown_25.html.

Tarot Note: I have launched a page offering tarot and oracle readings for those interested in these services!    I am very happy to be offering these readings to my treasured readers at White Rose of Avalon!  Link to page: https://whiteroseofavalon.life/tarot-and-oracle-readings/

Further Reading

• Encountering the Dark Goddess by Frances Billinghurst
• Celtic Lore and Spellcraft of the Dark Goddess by Stephanie Woodfield