White Rose of Avalon

Maranda Wabik

  • Beauty in Fairytales

    The subject of beauty in fairytales is one that is present in many folk tales.   The word beauty even appears on titles of fairytales like Beauty and the Beast and Sleeping Beauty. In Snow White the Wicked Queen is a prime example of vanity in a woman who is aging.   The Queen is…

  • My First Poll

  • My Top Ten Magical Romance Poems

    Romantic and magical themes in poetry have been important parts of literature for millennia.   In the medieval period these themes became even more popular, and this was especially so due to the popularity of  Arthurian legends!    Number 10: Erec and Enide by Chretien de Troyes ~This is the earliest Arthurian poem by Chretien…

  • Morgan Le Fay

    Morgan Le Fay was the half-sister of King Arthur in many tellings of the Arthurian legends.   She was a faerie woman and sorceress, and is often depicted as an evil figure.   She is mostly depicted as the mother of Mordred, although sometimes Morgause is his mother.   In popular culture Morgan featured in…

  • Dionysus in Other Cultures

    Given Dionysus’ reputation as a wanderer, it is not surprising that he as seen as a cross cultural deity in a way that few are.   Dionysus also has several similar deities in other cultures. Dionysus was said to have traveled through Egypt, and India, and to have engaged in a war with the Amazons. …

  • Maenads in 21st Century Pop Culture

    For any fan of the HBO television show True Blood there is no surprise that today I am going to focus on Maryann from season two.   The second season of True Blood has long been a favorite of mine due to the way they handled the maenad storyline! The books that the television show…

  • Maenads

    Maenads were the female followers of Dionysus.   They were the ones that participated in his revelries.   Some maenads were depicted as being forced by the god to take part in often atrocious religious events.    Other maenads were happy to be a part of Dionysus’ cult!    These women were also referred to…

  • Cult of Dionysus

    The Cult of Dionysus was a very popular one in the ancient world.    Dionysus was a god who knew how to gather followers, and he reveled in partying with his followers.   He was not a god to stay high on Mount Olympus.    Instead he would go out and actively find followers to…

  • Ariadne: Wife of Dionysus

    Ariadne was the wife of Dionysus in the Greek myths.    She was the daughter of King Minos of Crete, and his wife Pasiphae.    Pasiphae was the daughter of the sun god Helios and Oceanid Perse (an Oceanid was a type of water nymph).    This gave Ariadne divine origins through her mother’s side. When…

  • Dionysus as Archetype

    Carl Gustave Jung introduced the theory of archetypes that impact our personalities, based in the cultural unconscious.   In the 1980’s Jungian psychologist Jean Shinoda Bolen used these archetype theories in the form of Greek gods.    First in her book Goddesses in Everywoman and then in the follow-up Gods in Everyman.    In the…