#welsh pagan

[welshwitchking]

The Houses of the Mabinogi

The Houses of Dôn and Llyr are connected by marriage through Llyr's wife, Penarddun but are diverse in their stories and personalities.

Dôn collage to the bottom left, Llyr collage to the bottom right.

The House of Dôn, apart from the mother goddess herself, boasts two powerful magicians: Math and Gwydion. Also the Goddess of the Wheel of the Year, Arianhod, and her estranged son Lleu Llaw Gyffes are popular characters of this house. The children of Dôn also include Amaethon, the god of agriculture and who started the 'Cad Goddeu' or Battle of the Trees, where all the children declared war against Arawn, King of Annwn. They only won due to Gwydion's expert wizardy with his summoning of a tree army. Finally, the grandson of Dôn, Gwyn, son of Nudd, is popular in Welsh folklore as the king of the Tylwyth Teg (fairy-folk) and leader of the Wild Hunt.

The House of Llyr is smaller in sized but full of tragedy.

Llyr has two sons and one daughter, Branwen. She gets betrothed to the King of Ireland, Matholwch. On return to ireland though, she gets forced into the kitchens. After hearing of his sisters plight, Bran the Blessed, a giant and the King of Britain, wades across the Irish Sea with an army of Welshmen, including his brother and trusted advisor Manawydan. After the tragic death of Branwen's son Gwern, the Welsh and Irish fight until no-one is left but Bran, Branwen, Manawydan and six Welshmen. Unfortunately, Bran finds a poison arrow in his leg and as he is dying, asks Manawydan to cut off his head and take it back to Wales. Upon their return, Branwen dies of a broken heart from her brother and sons death.

[altar-of-ace]

Hope everyone is having a blessed Imbolc! My day has been pretty busy with celebrations, I’ve done some cleaning, bought flowers, had a ritual, and baked bread.

May the coming spring be warm and full of blessings, may gentle Braint smile upon us ☀️

[satinsparring]

I didn't even notice it was Gwyl Awst until someone liked my post from last year.

With that said, no matter where you are or what you're harvesting, I hope it's bountiful.

If you're like me, spending this time, what you feel like should be a time of celebration, alone and afraid and in pain, know that I'm here. And we have sown seeds of happiness over the last year, whether we noticed or not. And I hope that our harvests are bountiful and beautiful when we need them most.

[flowerpotmage]

if ur gonna be a celtic/welsh pagan maybe don't shittalk cymraeg spellings idk ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[arianrhodsprophet]

hail and well met, witchblr!

you can call me silas or prophet! i'm in my late 20s, white, queer, autistic, and use he/they/it pronouns, and astrologically, i'm ♏ sun, ♓ moon, and ♈ rising! and while i'm relatively new to witchblr (i've reblogged tarot stuff + followed some witchy blogs on my main, but now i've fully converted an old sideblog into what you see here!), i'm not new to tumblr! i am however, still also relatively new to witchcraft itself, only starting in the last couple of years and being hindered by chronic/mental illness.

some of my hobbies outside witchcraft are pro wrestling, video games (arknights, zero escape, disco elysium), music (the paper chase, the mountain goats, elliotly), furbys and beanie babies (they are NOT cursed!!!), twitch streamers (jerma985, wayneradiotv et al), ttrpgs, horror genre, nbc hannibal... i could go on and on, haha.

at any rate! i'm looking for some blogs to follow. i do a decent amount of tarot but i'm looking to branch out beyond that a well! i'm a devotee of the goddess Arianrhod (if you couldn't tell from the username, ehe), and am working on dabbling in various ways to honor Her, and plan to document my journey as a worshiper here!

to note: despite said username, i don't see myself as an irl prophet! just a fun internet nickname. and i like the idea of being Hers, as opposed to Her being mine if that makes any sense whatsoever lol.

so uh like this post and/or follow me if you'd like me to check out your blog, and i'll follow some people back!! (i follow back from @prophetesque, which is my main blog that i don't really post witchy stuff on). also, i would prefer if no minors followed me, as i'm almost 30. thank you for understanding!

i don't have a full dni or anything but nazis/terfs/fascists can choke thanx.

dividers by @firefly-graphics !!

[haloquin]

Welsh Occult Conference 2023

This year's Welsh Occult Conference was great. Some brief thoughts...

Click for the Welsh Occult Conference Facebook Group (image taken from there) It is often said that paganism is the religion with homework, and occultists (like reconstructionists) take this to the next level. We are the people of the library! I love a good conference, and the Welsh occult conference is excellent. Organised and hosted by Sian Sibley and the DragonOak coven, there are always a…

[dairedara]

Had a super rough class today with a professor who is very old fashioned and a hard grader (I’m talking interrogate you after your speech) and as I stepped out of the building this gorgeous hawk flew right over my head, close enough that I could see its eyes. Gwydion, I love you, that was exactly what I needed <3

[witchygirlgray333]

Some topics + prompts for your grimoire or book of shadows

books you want to read

local folklore / mythology / legends

the wheel of the year

plants you have in your house or garden (their care, properties, uses, draw them etc)

theban alphabet

days of the week and their correspondences

write about a deity you worship / are drawn to

draw art for / of a deity you worship or are drawn to

colour magic

the elements

write about the crystals you own (draw them, write their properties, correspondences, uses, how it makes you feel etc)

how to make your own crystals

your birth chart

your sun, moon and rising sign

natural medicine (as a chronically ill witch I love natural medicine NOT AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PRESCRIPTIONS! for example I take all my prescription meds and then if I'm having period pain I might drink some raspberry leaf tea)

positive affirmations / mantras that you connect with

how to manifest

history of witches

deities in a certain pantheon you're interested in or drawn to

write about a spell you've done (how you did it, why you did it, how you felt, the results of it, what you would change if you did the spell again etc)

chakras

write about a dream you've had

tarot reading tricks and tips

moon phases

sabbats

zodiac signs

family tree

poetry / songs / quotes you connect to (i like to find ones that make me feel powerful or witchy, or remind me of certain aspects of my practice. a song i like for this is rhiannon by fleetwood mac and i'm going to post more things like this regularly on my page)

feathers and their meanings

simple everyday magic

recipes

some ideas for the next sabbat you plan to celebrate

tarot spreads you like

write about a tarot reading you've done (any prep you did, the deck you used, the cards you pulled, your personal interpretation of the cards based on the art and how you feel, the meaning of the cards, how the cards relate to the questions you asked, final reflection on how you feel the reading went)

interesting mythology

tree of life

glamour magic

money bowls

crystal shapes and their meanings

grounding techniques

cleansing

protection

banishing

cord cutting spells

essential oils

types of divination

planets and their correspondences

angel numbers

witchy wishlist

go to supplies and ingredients (herbs and things that you use regularly)

favourite crystals

working with your inner child

if you've had a really good or particularly insightful meditation session it can be nice to either draw or write what happened and how you felt during it

witchy arts and crafts and diys you want to do

altar ideas

read a witchy book / watch a witchy video and take notes

write about your ancestors

witchy things to incorporate into your daily routine

what is a tower moment

witchy reset / self care days

the history of the area you live in

veiling

how to make your own incense sticks

shadow work

shadow work prompts

ok, that's all the ideas I have for now and I hope that helps someone! I'll be posting some pages from my grimoire and some more prompt / topic ideas in the near future which I'm really excited for.

P.S. please remember that everyone's practice is their own and you should do what feels right to you while respecting that other people have their own beliefs (as long as they're not hateful).

[alterlest]

𓃶 What Is The Wild Hunt?

The Wild Hunt is a common belief among many Northern European cultures. In short, the hunt is a cavalcade of ghosts, spirits, fairies, elves, and other spiritual beings that is said to sweep across our world every year. Depending on where your beliefs come from, when it happens will differ.

It is commonly believed that the leader of The Wild Hunt is a deity or figure of importance of some kind, such as Odin/Woden in Norse and Saxon traditions, or King Arthur in British lore. Other leaders of the hunt include but are not limited to:

𖤓 Arawn or Gwyn ap Nudd, commonly seen as the Welsh lords of Annwn

𖤓 Danish king Valdemar Atterdag

𖤓 The Norse dragon slayer Sigurd

𖤓 Biblical figures like Cain, Gabriel, Herod and the devil

𖤓 Gothic king Theodoric the Great

☾༺♰༻☽

𓃶 What Did People Do For The Wild Hunt?

The Wild Hunt was generally seen as a bad omen; one for destruction, famine, war, plague, or the death of the one who saw it. In many traditions, witnessing the hunt would result in the viewer being abducted to Otherworld or Underworld. Other times, those who were not protected would have their souls pulled from their bodies while they sleep, and they would join the menagerie of the dead.

To avoid this fate, people in Wales, for example, began the tradition of carving pumpkins as a way to avoid being taken by the fae. In Scandinavia, offerings like bread were put outside the home as an offering to the spirits joining Odin for the hunt.

☾༺♰༻☽

𓃶 When is The Wild Hunt?

Depending on where your beliefs stem from, there are various answers to this question.

In Britain, The Wild Hunt is associated with the autumn season, specifically around and on Samhain/The Autumn Equinox.

Scandinavian tradition tells us that they prepared for the hunt around December, specifically Yule/The Winter Equinox.

☾༺♰༻☽

𓃶 What Entities Are A Part of the Wild Hunt?

Many entities are associated with the Wild Hunt in different areas. These entities include but are not limited to:

𖤓 The Fae (The Sidhe, The Tlywyth Teg, etc)

𖤓 Spirits of the Dead

𖤓 Demons

𖤓 Valkyries

𖤓 The Spirits of Huntsmen or Nobles

𖤓 Horses (sometimes with an abnormal amount of legs)

𖤓 Wolves and dogs (sometimes spiritual in nature, i.e. the Cwn Annwn)

☾༺♰༻☽

[welshwitchking]

A Collage of my Practice 🌙

I saw this trend going around on TikTok, mainly with Hellenic and a few Norse polytheists so I wanted to give it a go!

Until researching for my organised/tidy grimoire, I didn’t consider myself much of a polytheist at all. I liked working with the spirits of the land and the elements of nature but Welsh polytheism is as beautiful and as complex as the Greek pantheon. This has driven me to invest more time in the inspirational figures that led me here. The great magician Gwydion, a force of magical good spurs me on. Braint, the goddess of healing and light, who I’m closest to now as we transition into spring. Then, Taranis who much less is known about historically but I am aiming to get to know this god through experience instead.

If anyone else is a Welsh polytheist I would love to hear from you! Also anyone please feel free to drop a message I would love to discuss our practices ☺️

May the gods bless you on your way

~Cadno

[altar-of-ace]

Night-time prayer to my deities

Thank you Aphrodite for blessing me with your love

Your beauty and kindness brings me so much warmth

I am so grateful for your presence

Please continue to give me love and confidence when I wake.

Thank you Cerridwen for watching over me

You are so patient and wise

You bless me every day with the gift of Awen

Please continue to help me feel inspired when I wake.

I ask you, kind Goddesses, to watch over me and protect my sleep.

Praise be 🌹🌾

[llyfrenfys]

See, I personally find this quest to find pagan/pre-Christian elements in Welsh/Irish literature quite unnerving - I don't know about anyone else.

There's something to be said about genuinely discovering pre-Christian elements in a narrative or story and that being where evidence and study has led you. But I see some people on this fruitless quest to find pagan elements in very Christian texts and sometimes it feels like if no pagan elements can be found, people start making stuff up out of whole cloth - and that can be very dangerous for already not-well known texts in minoritised languages!

There's already so much misinformation out there about Irish/Welsh texts and literature in general - so it hurts to see people carelessly adding to the misinformation either out of ignorance or lack of respect for the source material.

I promise you the source material being Christian doesn't ruin it - you can in fact, enjoy these myths without making them into something they're not!

[satinsparring]

do any other welsh folk practitioners have any resources or insights on the existence of a concept like the "evil eye" in welsh superstition? the idea of a smaller-scale jinx or hex placed (potentially unintentionally) through a glance, glare, look, or unresolved jealousy/envy seems… almost ubiquitous amongst most folk practices i've seen. however, i haven't ever really seen or heard of the concept in relation to welsh folk belief, superstition, or folk ways. the most i can seem to find is an unsourced line on wikipedia, and a brief mention in one of my source texts that's otherwise unsupported. it's just smth that's been bouncing around in my head for a while and i figured i'd consult the Tomes (the mutuals)

[the-merry-gnome]

[cajunwitch101]

[arianrhodsprophet]

What is Welsh Polytheism? Mhara Starling ft. Kristoffer Hughes