Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon my Darlings. Today’s post is going to be about Watery Portals to the Otherworld, a very common occurrence in Celtic lore! I will go into different Water Portal locations and the significance of Watery Portals in their own small sections. Without further ado, let’s look at the famed Watery Portals in Celtic lore!
UNDER LAKES
~The first type of Water Portal I want to discuss is portals found underneath Lakes. This is a common type of portal found in tales of Lake Maidens and Ladies of the Lake. In the Welsh tale of the Lady of Llyn y Fan Fach shows that famed Lake in Wales as a portal to the Otherworld! Another ideal example is the Lady of the Lake in the Arthurian legends, who is capable of using seemingly any Lake as a portal into Avalon, as her arm is often famously depicted as rising out of the Lake near where the Battle of Camlann was fought to catch the sword Excalibur when it was tossed into the Water to return the blade from whence it came while Arthur lay dying! This is also something that is described in the folklore of the Gwargedd Annwn, the Welsh Lake Maiden Faery Women, for they are said to tend Watery Cattle underneath the Lakes in their Watery abodes, showing that the depths of the Lake can be turned into portals to Otherworldly Waters where you can tend gardens and animals beneath the Water!
CROSSING WATERS TO ENCHANTED ISLES
~Now, the idea of Crossing Waters to Enchanted Isles is often found in Celtic lore, but of course, the most important example of this to me is the stories of how you reach Avalon! Avalon is reached by Crossing Waters and arriving on the shoreline of the Island of Apples via the Barge of Avalon. There is no other way to reach this Sacred Isle in legend and lore, other than to Cross the Water on the Barge!
MISTY BARRIERS
~Misty Barriers are also deeply connected to Avalon, as, besides Crossing Waters, the Misty Barrier around Avalon must be pierced by the Psychopomp Priestess or Goddess leading the way on the Barge into Avalon! Mist is an elemental weather pattern that combines both Water and Air to create a powerful Barrier of Protection, which is why Mist surrounds Avalon, to protect her and all of her inhabitants from the potential harms of the outside world. When the Misty Barrier is lifted, the spiritual seeker is allowed into the Otherworldly Sacred Isle of Avalon! Misty Barriers are both a protection for the Otherworldly Lands but also create an illusion that can cause confusion. Therefore, Parting the Mists is something that can also help a spiritual seeker gain clarity!
UNDERWORLD/SHADOW & OTHERWORLDLY ABODES
~In this final section, I want to tie together everything by stating that these Watery Portals taking us into Otherworldly lands and abodes is a very telling way of exploring our own inner Shadows. Water as an element is associated with emotions and the unconscious realms, which makes it the element most associated with the Shadows of our own psyches. I always view my Shadow Work as delving into the Waters of my Unconscious to swim in my deep emotions. Cultures outside of the Celtic world also view the Underworld as having a connection to Water, with Greek myth having the River Styx be a portal into the Underworld! I think this brings to light that the idea of Watery Portals taking us to the Otherworld serves to mirror our own Shadows and other cultures’ views of arriving in the Underworld!
~I hope you have enjoyed this short look at Watery Portals to the Otherworld. What is your favorite Watery Portal? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is a photograph of Llyn y Fan Fach in Wales. I believe that it literally looks like a Watery Portal to the Otherworld! I found the image on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llyn_y_Fan_Fach.
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
- Avalon Within by Jhenah Telyndru
- Grail Alchemy by Mara Freeman
- Enchantment of the Faerie Realm by Ted Andrews
- Le Morte D’Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory
- Vita Merlini by Geoffrey of Monmouth
- Bulfinch’s Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch
- The Fairy Bible by Teresa Moorey
- The Mabinogion translated by Sioned Davies
3 responses to “Watery Portals to the Otherworld”
[…] Watery Portals to the Otherworld […]
On night it was raining n a walk out side and a round portal opened up on my right it was like a smoke ring but more misty around the out side edge about 4m in diameter! So I walked through it back n forward a couple of times n it was stationary for about 5min . And then disappeared! So my question is what was it ??
If you are thinking it was some sort of portal, it certainly could have been. If it was perfectly round that’s a good indication that it could be a Faery Ring of sorts (they appear made out of many different things, although mushrooms and flattened grass are most common). If you walking back and forth through it did not do anything to you, the energy may have been dying down (ie, the portal was closing) and that may be why it disappeared.