White Rose of Avalon

Celtic

  • Blessed Lughnasadh!

    Hello my lovely readers, as today is Lughnasadh,  I have decided to write a bit about this first natural holiday of the harvest!   There are three natural harvest holidays, the next two being the Autumnal Equinox, and then my favorite holiday, Samhain!   Lughnasadh is the ancient Irish name for today’s holiday, Lammas is…

  • Birds as Emblems of Goddesses

    For today’s post I have chosen to discuss the birds that are sacred to my four favorite goddesses!    These goddesses are Aphrodite (Venus), Freya, Rhiannon, and Blodeuwedd!   All of these goddesses have bird associations, that make birds sacred to them in some way. First I would like to look at Aphrodite.  The Greek…

  • Faeries of Dark and Light

    Faeries, the Fair Folk, the Wee Ones, the Fae, there are literally thousands of ways to name these magical beings.     There are just as many, if not more, species of faerie beings.    Today they are most often thought of in terms of sweet flower faeries and pixies (like Tinkerbell).    This is…

  • Five Welsh Celtic Goddesses

    For today’s post I want to look at five of the most important Welsh Celtic goddesses.    This list contains five goddesses that appear in the Mabinogion.   I have mentioned all of them before, two of them I have written about more than once!    Today will be a countdown of these goddesses that…

  • Guinevere as Arthurian Adulteress

    Welcome to the first ever Femme Fatale Friday here at  White Rose of Avalon!    For this first post in this themed Friday series I have chosen to discuss a figure I have talked about often on this site, Arthur’s wife Guinevere.    Today I want to specifically look at Guinevere’s role as an adulteress…

  • The Green Man

    The Green Man is a figure in Celtic lore that is the spirit and protector of the forest.   He is a figure greatly associated with Beltane and Summer Solstice rights.   The spirit of this nature deity (or possibly elemental spirit) is ancient, but the term “Green Man” was not coined until 1978, by…

  • My Top 5 Favorite Knights of the Round Table

    Today I want to countdown my favorite Knights of the Round Table.    Narrowing it down to five was quite difficult, but I was able to come up with five distinct favorites! Number 5: Percival ~The story of Percival is one of a young knight coming from humble origins to become one of the famed…

  • Living in My Own World

    Living in my own world is how I phrase my personal outlook on life.    I have my own internal world that is quite a unique, and imaginative place!   I have a deeply complex imagination, and my personal loves and desires are very much things that influence everything I do.    My imagination allows…

  • Gawain and the Green Knight

    The tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a medieval one (14th century) written by an anonymous author.   The title was interestingly only given centuries later.   It has since been translated by many great poets and scholars!    This summer, the much awaited film (that was supposed to premiere last year…

  • Morgan Le Fay as Morrigan

    Morgan Le Fay can be seen as an Arthurian take on the Irish Celtic goddess the Morrigan.   The Morrigan is a death goddess and a war goddess.    She was often associated with battlefields and warriors.    The Morrigan was a crow goddess who was deeply connected to this bird, which makes sense given…