Brigid: Protector of Thresholds

Sgáthach: Warrior Queen of Shadows

This month on “Journeys with the Goddess,” we travel to Dunscaith castle on the Isle of Skye in Scotland to meet the ruthless warrior queen of those lands, Sgathach. Her story has been veiled in mystery in the lore, and we usually only hear of in her in reference to Cuchullin, the might warrior of Ulster who she is said to have trained. But her story has so much more to tell us about the powerful women of the Celtic world who were also warriors and leaders in their own right. This retelling of Sgathach’s story focuses on her academy of warriors and the three pillars of her school: mental focus, physical strength and second sight. We hear of her as a young, wild woman and how she trained herself by tapping into the ancient energies of past warriors and how she faced her own demons to become one of the most powerful and revered queens and warriors of her time. We find that her story carries its own potent medicine in a time of illusions and patriarchal collapse... And then we journey into meditation with her to be initiated as warriors ourselves, remembering our own power and strength when supported by other women and mentors. The song at the end of the episode is an original melody ("Enegeni Yalo or "Daughter of the Earth Prayer") and the lyrics are written in Proto or Common Celtic. Their translation is below. Exploring Further: Books: Warrior Goddess Training by Heather Ash Amara Women in Celtic Myth: Tales of Extraordinary Women from the Ancient Celtic Tradition by Moyra Caldecott. Websites: Source text of “The Wooing of Emer”: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T301021.html [https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T301021.html] Journal Prompts: * What are the core values, passions, or people that I am fiercely dedicated to protecting? * What is your relationship with the Warrior? How much does it resonate inside of you? * If this feels like a strong archetype for you, what presence does the shadow side of Warrior have? How would you like to work with the shadow aspects, if they are present for you? * If you would like to cultivate more Warrior energy in your life and activism, what are some of the practices below you would like to try this week? Practices to connect with your Warrior energy * Contemplative practices that are based on martial arts… aikido, karate, tai chi * Yoga poses like the warrior poses or mountain pose * Connect with the Earth through gardening or farming * Create art in nature using stones and other Earth materials * Set boundaries and practice saying ‘no’ * Do something (small or large) you are afraid of every day! * Give your inner warrior a theme song Song: Enegeni Yalo (Daughter of the Earth Prayer) Aleyo Biwo (Nourish life) Aleyo Korda (Nourish the sacred journey) Tuwetsu (Guiding with wisdom) Gigena genjo (Will be born bright) Wela kuno (Become beautiful in wild ways) Wela derwo (Become steady as oak) Ati biwe mero (Awaken wild) Ati bite togo (Awaken strength) Kenyeyo, kenyeyo (Rise, rise). Connect with Bronwyn: Website: www.bronwynclaireasha.com [http://www.bronwynclaireasha.com] Instagram: @bronwynclaireasha_ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bronwynclaireashamusic [https://www.youtube.com/@bronwynclaireashamusic]

Blodeuwedd: She Who Was Made and Then Became

In this seventh episode of Journeys with the Goddess, we step into the wild, flowering magic of Beltane and the Flower Moon to meet Blodeuwedd: Welsh flower maiden, lover, shapeshifter, and owl. A woman born of blossoms, made by men and ultimately transformed by her own fierce and irrepressible nature. Together, we explore her story from the fourth branch of the Mabinogion, from the weaving of a woman from meadowsweet, broom, and oak blossom, her life as a queen behind castle walls, her awakening through love, and to her final transformation into the owl of the night. We touch on what her myth can teach us about authenticity, the wild self that cannot be tamed, the price of living truthfully, and the unexpected freedom that can be found in darkness. In a guided meditation we journey to meet her for ourselves to receive a special seasonal gift in a sunlit forest clearing. We talk about what she can teach us at this potent time of flowering and emergence, and the episode ends with an original song written by Bronwyn called "By the Bright Side of the Moon." Exploring Further: Books: The Mabinogion (trans. Sioned Davies) The White Goddess by Robert Graves Pagan Portals: Welsh Mythology by Danu Forest Celtic Myth and Magic by Edain McCoy Websites: https://druidry.org/resources/blodeuwedd [https://druidry.org/resources/blodeuwedd] https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/t4mab.html [https://www.maryjones.us/ctexts/t4mab.html] https://www.learnreligions.com/blodeuwedd-welsh-flower-goddess-2561559 [https://www.learnreligions.com/blodeuwedd-welsh-flower-goddess-2561559] Journal Prompts: * Where in your life have you been playing a role written for you by someone else and what would it mean to lay it down? * What part of your wild, authentic self has been quietly growing beyond the castle walls without your permission? * Is there a love, a calling, or a truth you have been afraid to act on? What is the cost of staying still? * What are you being asked to transform into right now? Can you surrender to that transformation with courage, as Blodeuwedd did? * The owl lives in the dark and sees clearly within it. What wisdom are you beginning to find in your own darkness or difficult seasons? About the Show: Journeys with the Goddess is a monthly podcast by Bronwyn Claire Asha (singer, storyteller, and sound healer). Each episode follows the turning of the seasons and explores a mythic goddess through story, meditation, and music as an invitation to meet the Divine Feminine as a living force within yourself. New episodes released on the last Friday of every month. Connect with Bronwyn: Website: www.bronwynclaireasha.com [http://www.bronwynclaireasha.com] Instagram: @bronwynclaireasha Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bronwynclaireashamusic [https://www.youtube.com/@bronwynclaireashamusic]

Inanna: The Path You Seek Within

In this episode, we meet our first goddess of the ancient Mesopotamian world and the oldest goddess in recorded history, Queen of the Heavens and of the Earth: Inanna. We hear the myth of her descent into the Underworld, following a voice within to go down into the shadows and meet her dark sister, Ereshkigal...This ancient story is modern medicine in a time of war, upheaval and in preparing ourselves for how we want our new world to look and how we can discover our own resiliency in facing the shadows to excavate our own power. Inanna's transformation is immense and the lessons she learns you can only truly discover if you too are willing to go to the places you have not yet been to find your own wisdom within. In the meditation, we journey within to dance in the balance between the dark and the light; the grounding forces of the Earth and the connecting forces of the Cosmos. And then the episode ends with an original song called "Down to the Darkness." Further Reading & Sources Books: Inanna: Queen of Heaven and Earth: Her Stories and Hymns from Sumer (Dianna Wolkstein and Samuel Noah Kramer.) Enheduanna: The Complete Poems of the World's First Author (Sophus Helle) Inanna, Lady of Largest Heart: Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna. (Betty De Shong Meador) Website articles: https://kimberlyhetherington.medium.com/the-descent-of-inanna-heroines-journey-c140e546ad49 [https://kimberlyhetherington.medium.com/the-descent-of-inanna-heroines-journey-c140e546ad49] https://shinjinim.com/2021/12/20/the-descent-of-inanna-a-template-for-the-heroines-journey/ [https://shinjinim.com/2021/12/20/the-descent-of-inanna-a-template-for-the-heroines-journey/] https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/she-measures-heavens-and-outlines-earth [https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/she-measures-heavens-and-outlines-earth] (Enheduanna) Journal Prompts: 1. What about Inanna's story of descent speaks to you in your own life? In what ways might you be being called to descend deeper into yourself and to listen to your own wisdom/intuition more right now? 2. What is the cost of ignoring this call and continuing without changing anything? 3. If you had to pass through seven gates to get rid of things you no longer feel you need (be they material possessions, people, situations, lifestyles, limiting beliefs), what would they be? What is stopping you from letting go of them now? 4. In many ways, Inanna is on her journey to reclaim all the parts of herself that have not been allowed. What would those parts be for you? Take some time to delve in your own shadows to look at what you have hidden away from the world and what is preventing you still from showing up as your true, authentic self... New episodes released on the last Friday of every month. Connect with Bronwyn: Website: www.bronwynclaireasha.com [http://www.bronwynclaireasha.com] Instagram: @bronwynclaireasha [https://instagram.com/bronwynclaireasha] Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bronwynclaireashamusic [https://www.youtube.com/@bronwynclaireashamusic]

Boann: River Goddess of Ireland

In this episode of Journeys with the Goddess, we travel back to the source of all things, connecting with the element of water through the story behind the Well of Wisdom and the creation of the Boyne River. We start the episode with a retelling of the story of Boann's origins as the Mother of the River Boyne, and then explore her through the history and lore, reflecting on how her story has been co-opted over the centuries to take away women's power. From there, we move inward, with a purifying and healing guided meditation where we travel back to the source to remember we are always connected to something much bigger than ourselves. Further Reading & Sources * The Making of an Irish River Goddess: https://medium.com/queen-s-children/the-making-of-an-irish-river-goddess-603b311b0a63 [https://medium.com/queen-s-children/the-making-of-an-irish-river-goddess-603b311b0a63] * Excerpts from the relevant Dindshenchas :https://heelancoo.wordpress.com/tag/boann/ [https://heelancoo.wordpress.com/tag/boann/] * Save the Boyne campaign: https://www.savetheboyne.org/ [https://www.savetheboyne.org/] Journal Prompts: 1. In what ways have you disconnected with the natural forces of our Earth and how might you find ways to reconnect? 2. How has your voice been silenced by what you were told was forbidden or how society might have conditioned you to be a certain way? 3. What does the "Well of Wisdom" mean to you and how might you better access it in your own life? The Song: "The poetry of water, the poetry of sound. Deep down, braided deep way down in the ground. Water dancing, surging, merging, tumbling, oh so clear Spirals, drips and drops and cycles and the changing of years Whispered secrets, all conspiring, caught in the flow Voices joining sing together its not so far to go.. To the waters, to the lakes the rapids, down to the sea, Waterfalls, and lakes and pools and puddles, rivers, and streams, Waves and movement, always trusting in the ebb and the flow, Well its not so far to go… Back to the source. Ancient messaging down from clear and starry skies But you don’t even have to look so hard or far or even try For the source is always quiet and it comes from within If we all share it, well then why’s it called original sin…? The well it keeps the wisdom locked up in one place, Whoe’er controls it, well its only its power that they taste, But Who shall break it? Who’ll forsake their life for one for all When Eve ate the apple didn’t she do it for us all? But Why’d they call it the Fall?.. Water flows and yet look closely, for its always the same When you look, outside, elsewhere, away, you’ve only got yourself to blame But in the water are the secrets of all life and death To Source eternal; now here then gone in one breath... New episodes released on the last Friday of every month. Connect with Bronwyn: Website: www.bronwynclaireasha.com [http://www.bronwynclaireasha.com] Instagram: @bronwynclaireasha [https://instagram.com/bronwynclaireasha] Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bronwynclaireashamusic [https://www.youtube.com/@bronwynclaireashamusic]

Brigid: Protector of Thresholds

In this special Imbolc episode of Journeys with the Goddess, we step into the threshold moments when winter hasn't yet released its grip, but spring is already stirring beneath the soil... We start the episode with a continuation of the story from our last episode with the Cailleach, and then explore Brigid through the history and lore, reflecting on her as a woman of many callings, representative of many archetypes at once. Patron of poets, healers, and makers, she reminds us that we do not have to choose just one way of being. We are allowed to be many things, in many seasons. From there, we move inward, with a guided meditation to meet Brigid as protector, guiding us at the threshold through a series of doorways and choices ...and then the episode closes with a gentle song of prayer, drawn from a traditional Scots Gaelic invocation to Brìde. Further Reading & Sources * Pagan Portals: Brigid - Morgan Daimler * Brigid: History, Mystery, and Magick of the Celtic Goddess - Courtney Weber * Goddesses in Everywoman: Powerful Archetypes in Women’s Lives - Jean Shinoda Bolen (for an accessible introduction of how the Greek goddesses can be explored and connected with the archetypes for better self-understanding). Journal Prompts: 1. Looking back over your life, which choices feel quietly significant, even if they didn’t seem important at the time? How might those choices have been guiding you toward who you are becoming, rather than who you thought you were meant to be? 2. What would it feel like to trust that you are exactly where you need to be, based on every choice you have made so far? If you allowed yourself to be fully seen from this place, what might awaken or shift for you? 3. What is slowly forming in you right now which is not yet ready to be named, shared, or acted upon but is gently whispering to you? How are you protecting and nurturing this in-between phase, and what kind of care might it most need? 4. This episode explores divine archetypes not as fixed roles, but as living energies that coexist within us. Which archetypes feel most present in you right now, and which might be asking for more space, voice, or integration? The Song: The words are taken from a traditional prayer to Brigid in Scots' Gaelic, collected in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland. and published by Alexander Carmichael in Carmina Gadelica, 1900. Words: Brìde nam Brat, Brìde nan Bruach, Brìde nan Cleachd, Brìde na Fàisneachd. Brìde nan Cas-Geal, Brìde na Sìth, Brìde nan Lamh-Geal, Brìde nan Sprèidh, Brìde, ban-chomunn. Brìde nan Bruach, Brìde, ban-chobhair, Brìde, ban-mhìn. Tha mi fo chomraich Mo Naoimh Moire; ’S i mo chompanach, Brìde ghràdhach. About the Show: Journeys with the Goddess is a monthly podcast by Bronwyn Claire Asha (singer, storyteller, and sound healer). Each episode follows the turning of the seasons and explores a mythic goddess through story, meditation, and music as an invitation to meet the Divine Feminine as a living force within yourself. New episodes released on the last Friday of every month. Connect with Bronwyn: Website: www.bronwynclaireasha.com [http://www.bronwynclaireasha.com] Instagram: @bronwynclaireasha [https://instagram.com/bronwynclaireasha] Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bronwynclaireashamusic [https://www.youtube.com/@bronwynclaireashamusic]