Why are so few Pagans in England aware of the Brythonic gods
Oct 21, 2017 11:20:37 GMT -1
mrpasserby likes this
Post by lorna on Oct 21, 2017 11:20:37 GMT -1
In his recent essay on Brython 'Missing Gods' dunbrython.wordpress.com/2017/10/14/the-missing-gods-by-jonathon-woolley/ Jonathon Woolley says -
'It is not the presence of gods from faraway lands that is surprising to me, then – but rather the relative unfamiliarity that people have with the gods who are from England. We are not so different from the Romano-British in that we are thoroughly eclectic in our spiritual, ritual, and contemplative practices; we are quite unlike them, though, in that we English seem to have a relatively weak connection with the gods of our native eco-cultural context – the genus loci, or the spirits of place. In Wales this is not the case; the characters of Welsh mythology are written into the landscape – in place names and stories – and are revered there today. The contrast to England in stark; most English people wouldn’t be able to name their local gods. Even many English Pagans would struggle. Despite the fact that the evidence for Romano-British religion and beliefs is relatively plentiful, it has not yet gained a tremendous degree of traction in the modern spiritual imaginations of English communities.'
As someone living in the North West of England, which used to be part of the Old North*, I've certainly experienced this. Many Pagans are completely unaware of the northern British deities and their stories even though they are here just as much as in Wales. We have Romano-British inscriptions to Brigantia, Maponos and Matrona (or at least Dea Matronae), Belatucadrus, Cocidius, Mogons, Vitris... statues to Nodens... Belisama's name appears in Ptolemy's Geography in a reference to the Ribble estuary... Vindolanda may be associated with Vindos...
Then, of course, much of our bardic heritage originates from the Old North. Yet that doesn't get taught on the bardic courses in Druidry in the main orders - OBOD and BDO. They centre on the story of Taliesin and 'The Four Branches'. Now I recognise these are valuable soul-rich stories central to the cultural heritage of all of Britain. But what if those stories aren't written into our immediate landscapes? For me this has inspired a quest to find search out stories from the Old North. These are tougher to work with than 'The Four Branches' because they're contained in heavily Arthurianised fragments in Culhwch and Olwen, the 'romances' of Owain and Peredur, and in poems from The Black Book of Carmarthen (much of which might be missing) and The Red Book of Hergest. Yet they're there.
In Gwyn, Gwythyr, and Creiddylad, which is set in the north, we have a native British seasonal myth to work with and in Gwyn a god of Annwn connected with northern Britain. The number of inscriptions to Maponos and Matrona plus Mabon and Modron's connection with Urien Rheged suggest they were really important here in the north as deities of youth and motherhood with Modron being bound up with the sovereignty and fertility of the land and Mabon perhaps with the rebirth of the sun. Then we have those who we might see as ancestral guides such as Myrddin and his sister, Gwendydd, and Orddu and her ancestors who I believe were a lineage of northern warrior-women and magic-workers who may have interacted with Gwyn and the spirits of Annwn. Taliesin sang for Urien Rheged and is as much a part of northern British tradition as Welsh but that doesn't get acknowledge (maybe because he's not so much a magical shapeshifting shiny-browed bard but a sycophantic supporter of a power-hungry warlord?...)
We have all this and more but as far as I'm aware very very few Pagans and Druids in the north work with it. I know quite a few Druids who live in the north and go to do their training in Anglesey with the ADO. I guess this makes sense in relation to Anglesey having once been the centre for druidic training. But why do we have no such centres in northern and southern Britain centring on the deities from these areas and their stories?
*Northern England and southern Scotland from the post-Roman period until the Anglo-Saxons invaded and settled from the 6th - 11th century.
'It is not the presence of gods from faraway lands that is surprising to me, then – but rather the relative unfamiliarity that people have with the gods who are from England. We are not so different from the Romano-British in that we are thoroughly eclectic in our spiritual, ritual, and contemplative practices; we are quite unlike them, though, in that we English seem to have a relatively weak connection with the gods of our native eco-cultural context – the genus loci, or the spirits of place. In Wales this is not the case; the characters of Welsh mythology are written into the landscape – in place names and stories – and are revered there today. The contrast to England in stark; most English people wouldn’t be able to name their local gods. Even many English Pagans would struggle. Despite the fact that the evidence for Romano-British religion and beliefs is relatively plentiful, it has not yet gained a tremendous degree of traction in the modern spiritual imaginations of English communities.'
As someone living in the North West of England, which used to be part of the Old North*, I've certainly experienced this. Many Pagans are completely unaware of the northern British deities and their stories even though they are here just as much as in Wales. We have Romano-British inscriptions to Brigantia, Maponos and Matrona (or at least Dea Matronae), Belatucadrus, Cocidius, Mogons, Vitris... statues to Nodens... Belisama's name appears in Ptolemy's Geography in a reference to the Ribble estuary... Vindolanda may be associated with Vindos...
Then, of course, much of our bardic heritage originates from the Old North. Yet that doesn't get taught on the bardic courses in Druidry in the main orders - OBOD and BDO. They centre on the story of Taliesin and 'The Four Branches'. Now I recognise these are valuable soul-rich stories central to the cultural heritage of all of Britain. But what if those stories aren't written into our immediate landscapes? For me this has inspired a quest to find search out stories from the Old North. These are tougher to work with than 'The Four Branches' because they're contained in heavily Arthurianised fragments in Culhwch and Olwen, the 'romances' of Owain and Peredur, and in poems from The Black Book of Carmarthen (much of which might be missing) and The Red Book of Hergest. Yet they're there.
In Gwyn, Gwythyr, and Creiddylad, which is set in the north, we have a native British seasonal myth to work with and in Gwyn a god of Annwn connected with northern Britain. The number of inscriptions to Maponos and Matrona plus Mabon and Modron's connection with Urien Rheged suggest they were really important here in the north as deities of youth and motherhood with Modron being bound up with the sovereignty and fertility of the land and Mabon perhaps with the rebirth of the sun. Then we have those who we might see as ancestral guides such as Myrddin and his sister, Gwendydd, and Orddu and her ancestors who I believe were a lineage of northern warrior-women and magic-workers who may have interacted with Gwyn and the spirits of Annwn. Taliesin sang for Urien Rheged and is as much a part of northern British tradition as Welsh but that doesn't get acknowledge (maybe because he's not so much a magical shapeshifting shiny-browed bard but a sycophantic supporter of a power-hungry warlord?...)
We have all this and more but as far as I'm aware very very few Pagans and Druids in the north work with it. I know quite a few Druids who live in the north and go to do their training in Anglesey with the ADO. I guess this makes sense in relation to Anglesey having once been the centre for druidic training. But why do we have no such centres in northern and southern Britain centring on the deities from these areas and their stories?
*Northern England and southern Scotland from the post-Roman period until the Anglo-Saxons invaded and settled from the 6th - 11th century.
