"Rhiannon"
11"x17"
acrylic and Berol Prismacolor Pencils on Illustration board
Rhiannon is a Welsh Goddess, she is also known as Epona, Macha,
Rigatona and The Great Queen. She is a Mare Goddess as well as a Goddess
of birds. She hails from the otherworld known as Anwynn and is often
connected to the Fey. Her stories are told in the ancient book of Celtic
mythology known as The Mabinogin. The tale leads the reader through her
courtship, during which she displays her intellectual prowess and ability
to get exactly what she wants. Her Wedding tells us of her great
generosity. Later in her story, she meets with tragedy and suffers
humiliation, which she bears with great dignity and grace. She eventually
overcomes her tragedy with great triumph. The Mare Goddess has been a very important figure in history, evidenced
by the many statues of her that have been unearthed, as well as the
amazing monument of the great White Chalk Horse carved into the side of a
hill in Uffington. The horse culture advanced the people with the ability to
travel farther, and their use in warfare as seen in the Goddesses aspect
of Macha. In much later times the horse was used in agriculture and
therefore was a bringer of abundance. Rhiannon is sometimes accompanied by magical birds that sang so sweetly
that they lulled the living to sleep and could wake the dead to repeat
their tales. She has been described as wearing a dress of gold and riding a white
mare that, while seeming to run at a normal pace, can not be overtaken by
the fastest horse. The trick to catching up with her is deceivingly
simple, merely ask her to stop, and she will tell you that you would have
saved your horse the strain if you had asked her sooner.