#horse goddess

[pagan-stitches]

Some of my goddess embroideries over the years.

[feyspeaker]

My tribute to Epona, on the day of her namesake, Epona Day! Bountiful blessings on her feast day to you!

[zelda-photography]

[ihearhercalling]

Archaeological evidence suggests that the domestication of horses and the formation of nomadic horse clans first occurred in a region which is now Kazakhstan around 4000BCE. These people were part of a larger ethnic group which Marija Gimbutas has named the Kurgans, for the small mounts or hills these people build on top of their pit graves. These early patriarchal Kurgancultures from the Eurasian Steppes moved, in 3 waves of expansion, into the Mid European area of the Cucuteni-Trypillian civilizations: Old Europeans who originated from Anatolia. (Marija Gimbutas; The Prehistory of Eastern Europe, 1959). The Cucuteni-Trypillian had the largest settlements in Neolithic Europe of between 10.000 and 50.000 people based on an agricultural gift economy model ofgreat abundance. Known for their pottery, use of copper, and for the invention of the wheel, the peaceful Goddess loving equalitarian communities of the Cucuteni co-existed for a while together with the Kurgan invading groups who settled in the region. (J.P. Mallony; In search of the Indo-Europeans, 1989). That there was cultural exchange between the sky-God worshipping, warring horse riders and the peaceful Goddess honouring agricultural communities that resulted in hybrid cultures, is evident from many grave finds in what is now Hungary, and most noticeably in the Usalova culture of the area of the mouth of the river Danube. It is in this cross-cultural meeting place that the Horse Goddess first arises and Epona-Rhiannon has Her roots.

It feels appropriate that our Goddess of Love finds part of Her origin at the merging point of two diverse and apparent opposite cultures. Her Scythian priestesses found buried in what Vicky Noble calls the ‘Dakini’ (or tree-) pose, connect to the sacred sexual aspect of this Goddess of Horse and Moon. (Vicky Noble: The Double Goddess) We have, of course, no clear knowledge of how Her worship manifested or precisely what ceremonies were held to celebrate the Goddess we now call Rhiannon-Epona, however it feels significant that this culture and time is also where we find the source of the myth of the Amazons. A significant percentage of horse riding Scythian-Sarmatian "warrior graves" on the lower Don and Danube, as well as far away on the lower Volga, contained ‘females dressed for battle as if they were men’, a phenomenon that probably inspired the Hellenistic Greek myths. (David Anthony ‘The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders Shaped the Modern World’ Princeton University Press. 2007).

All Cucuteni and hybrid settlements were abandoned by 2750BCE, probably through a combination of further waves of Kurgan invasion and climatic change. Climatic shifts brought a period of arid, cool and drought prone times to Europe, less sustaining of agricultural practices in a period known as the Sub-Boreal Phase. The genetic lineage of the Cucuteni-Trypillian people was however not lost and makes a significant contribution to European DNA. (Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza; Analysis of human evolution haplo-blood group genetics. Nature Magazine). In other words, the ancestors who worshipped Epona/Rhiannon did not die out, and with them survived their Goddesses.

Later in time, Epona was brought to Gaul by the Sarmatian cavalry of the Romans, and so eventually as far North as the edges of the Roman Empire, where we have found Her images at Hadrian’s Wall. The merging of the Romans with the local population of Britannia’s lands meant that Rhiannon–Epona found a much wider resonance amongst followers, priestesses and devotees across a greater geographical area then Her original region of Wales. She is believed to have been widely honoured and celebrated out at woodland altars under the moonlight. (Robert Hutton: Pagan Britain, 2014)

Soetens, Katinka. The Teachings of Rhiannon Part 1: Sacred Sexual Priestess Empowerment (p. 12)

[a-page-for-epona]

For Her I will ride.

The page is born for share informations about Epona, Gaulish Goddess of Horses. For that reason, it is important to understand who is She, what was Her role in the Gaulish pantheon and what are Her divine competences.

Meanwhile, I give to Her a rose 🌹 I put it on Her altar, as the Ancestors did before me.

[chikkenhawke]

hunter's moon

[mochiwei]

Ilia and Epona for @goddesszine!

Prints available here

[illustratus]

Dream Idyll (A Valkyrie) by Edward Robert Hughes

[romegreeceart]

Athena mounting a four-horse chariot

Mersenaki

Ca. 510-460 BCE

Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm

Stockholm, November 2023

[kraftykelpie]

her <3

[glitchy-creations]

LOOK AT MY BABIES!!!

I’m so happy with them!! I have one more in the kiln from the first batch but wasn’t able to grab it today, so I’ll update when that one is in hand. But look at how cool they look!! The black glaze is splotchy is a few places but I feel like it just adds to the ancient look of the pieces 💕

The mini skyphos was wheel thrown and has hand built handles, while the two plaques are simple slabs. All of these were made with our studios orange engobe and clear glaze, as well as the amaco brent Obsidian celadon glaze.

[feyspeaker]

Epona Day piece, WIP #2! I wanted to redraw the horses after getting some more time this evening to properly compile references. ALSO I feel the significance of Epona travelling from left to right should be preserved, so flipped the piece!

[musing-druidess]

[wierdshenanigans]

Demeter has a fucked up life man she hooked up with her brother and gave birth to a horse, then she got with her OTHER brother to give birth to a girl only for her daughter to marry her other other brother and give birth to demeter's sister.

[xxcherrycherixx]

Rip to c.a cupid, she would’ve loved my little pony: friendship is magic😔

[wildheavn]

Deusa Epona