In the dark time between Samhain and Imbolc I have been quiet and withdrawn. For Imbolc I lit an array of candles for the awakening light. I have been - spiritually - in a hidden valley learning about Melangell. I've known something about her for a while, the story that she hid a hare under her frock to hide it from a hunter. Last summer I visited the valley of Pennant Melangell in Wales where this story is set. It's very remote and the little medieval church is as far as the narrow road goes. It's a place of retreat and I sat outside under the yew trees thinking about her story, and it hasn't left me, and neither has she.
So I've been meditating and researching all I can and all the time bringing her closer. She has been adopted as a christian saint, but some see her as a pagan hare goddess or a protective deity of the Pennant valley. But her protective veil goes wider than that, and I feel myself under her care in a way that i have never felt before. Like that hare under her frock. Safe in the darkness.. Now the light is returning, and the hare can run free.
There's some info about her on the web from Wikipedia to the website of the centre in Pennant, and this site which has some interesting discussions: MELANGELL
It's now my quest to find out anything more that I can by reading and by personal meditation, which I think she encourages.
I've been to that valley and I agree that it is a beautiful and moving place, and also that Melangell's story is very compelling. I've blogged about this a couple of times in the past, though some time back now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to that very interesting site and good luck with your investigations.
Thank you for commenting.
ReplyDeleteI looked up your blogs. The one about the 'Book of Giants' is interesting as it suggests an identity for her before she was a saint.