Goddess Arianrhod

Arianrhod is the Celtic Star goddess, whose name translates as The Silver Wheel. She’s the most powerful of Danu’s daughters, and a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann.

She is a primal and complete figure of feminine power, with no need for a mate or consort. Arianrhod lived in a castle named Caer Arianrhod, on a rotating magical island named Caer Sidi, with a number of female attendants. Caer Sidi was known as the Otherworld, the land of the dead. When people died, their souls were brought to Arianrhod in her castle. There, she would decide their fate in their next life while providing them a nurturing home before reincarnation.

In Welsh and Celtic legends, Arianrhod was tricked by the magician Gwydion into birthing his child. One day her uncle Math, a great magician and Gwydion’s teacher, was required to keep his feet in the lap of a virgin when he wasn’t in battle, otherwise he’d perish. The trickster Gwydion suggested he use Arianrhod’s lap.

Math demanded proof of her virginity, and forced Arianrhod to step over his magician’s staff. When she stepped over it, she gave birth to two boys. One was fully formed and immediately ran to the sea and swam away. Math named this boy Dylan. The other boy was made of unformed matter. Gwydion secretly scooped him up and raised it in the forest, thus tricking Arianrhod into giving him a child and causing her humiliation.

Arianrhod spent the rest of her days at Caer Arianrhod, on Caer Sidi. When the sea reclaimed the land, Arianrhod and her realm drowned, thus ending her epoch.