Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings!   This week’s Femme Fatale Friday post will be focused on the Welsh Celtic Goddess Branwen.    Branwen is a Goddess associated with Avalon, whose tale teaches us about the importance of compassion!   Many people associate her with being a Goddess of Love as well as Compassion, even leading to a moniker “the Venus of the Northern Sea” being attributed to Branwen!   Her name literally means White Raven, just as her brother Bran’s name literally means Raven, which is what gave me the idea for the title of this post!   Her tale is found in the second branch of The Mabinogion, which is called “Branwen, Daughter of Llyr.”   

Hers is not a tale in which we find a happy ending, as it is more a tale of sadness and how bitter rivalries can lead to ultimate loss!    Branwen was the sister of the King of the Isle of the Mighty, that is to say, Britain, who was married to the High King of Ireland in order to cement an alliance between the Kingdoms.    This is a pretty standard occurrence for a royal princess by birth to be married off to cement a political alliance, and Branwen was pleased to be doing something to help her family and country, even seemingly happy with her husband.    However, an insult to her husband on their wedding day quickly soured this union.   Her brother Bran was able to bring about peace by replacing her husband’s horses that had been slaughtered and gifting him a Cauldron of Regeneration.    It was with this resolution from her brother that she was able to set sail to Ireland.     The newly married couple had a happy union for the first year of their marriage and Branwen bore a son from the union.     This happiness only lasted until her husband was reminded of the insult that had occurred on their wedding day by his advisors.   After this, she was imprisoned in the kitchens of the palace, forced to work as a servant within the castle where she should have been looked at as Queen!   She was even beaten daily for about three years!      

It was during this time of forced servitude that Branwen befriended a starling.    She taught the bird to speak in order to send a message to her brother Bran, King of the Isle of the Mighty.   Upon hearing of the treachery of his brother-in-law, Bran quickly mounted a war in order to rescue his sister from her struggles!   Being of a giant stature, he used his body as a bridge in order to ensure that his men could get to his sister’s castle to free her of her imprisonment.   The tides of the war turned bloody and cruel, with Branwen losing most that she held dear.   Her son was killed by her own half-brother (who had also caused the strife on her wedding day in the first place), and Bran was mortally wounded.    Bran had his men sever his head, which would continue to speak for years after his body’s demise, so that he may accompany them back to the Isle of the Mighty, and have his head interred under the White Mount in London.

Of the large company that Bran brought with him to rescue Branwen, only seven survived, one of them was Pryderi son of Rhiannon.   This is likely why the feast that the company attended for seventy years, as they rested en route to their homeland, featured the Adar Rhiannon coming in to sing their sweet songs which could “raise the dead and lull the living to sleep.”    After the time spent at this feast, they finally returned to Britain.   This was when Branwen’s tale reached its sad conclusion.

After having endured and been subjected to so many injustices and losing so many that she loved so dearly, Branwen could not go on any longer.    She died of a broken heart!    This is why I feel that her tale is one that is deeply rooted in compassion, as she is a Goddess who can teach us that living and loving others with true compassion is a way to embrace our own inherent softness.   She was not strong enough to continue enduring after losing almost all of her loved ones, but her message is one of holding us through the pain and not feeling guilty for our negative emotions!   Due to the abuse, she endured within her tale, Branwen is often seen as a Goddess that is associated with helping women gain freedom from abusive relationships themselves.   In the end, Branwen is a beautiful Goddess, who can teach us so much about endurance, feeling our emotions (especially the negative ones), and learning when to ask for help (as she asked Bran to help her in her tale)!     

I hope you have enjoyed reading some of my thoughts on Branwen.    What do you think of her story?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!  

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is Branwen.   I found the image on https://aminoapps.com/c/pagans-witches/page/blog/branwen/1Jzl_oRvf6ujDqQVkVY1K6r5MKagbd5aGE.

Tarot Note: I have 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

• The Mabinogion translated by Sioned Davies
• The Avalonian Oracle by Jhenah Telyndru
• The Mists of Avalon Oracle by Rose Inserra
• The Children of Llyr by Evangeline Walton