Dear Diary,
Yesterday I wrote this article for my blog at:
http://www.morganapendragon.com/blog
In
times gone by, Morgan Le Fay, was also known as Morgaine le Fey,
Morgane, Morgain, Morgana, Fata Morgana as well as other names. She was
known across the lands as a beautiful and powerful sorceress, but an
antagonist of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, according to Arthurian
legend. There are many accounts and depictions of Morgan Le Fay,
although in all of them, she was described as a natural Witch, who
learned of her skills during her early life and then developed them
under guidance of Merlin and the Druids.
Some say that her
personal feelings and fears, combined with the need to keep her magical
powers secret due to the anti-sorcery views of newly Christianised
England, enraged her and encouraged her to turn to the dark magics.
This portrayal of her character becoming more and more evil is one that
many scholars adore to accentuate. According to their often biased
opinions, it is at her lowest points that she seeks to learn the black
arts and is transformed into a Witch.
Of course we now
know that one cannot simply ‘turn’ into a Witch and we know that being a
Witch does not mean one is practicing the dark arts. Witchcraft simply
means ‘the craft of the wise’ and Witches are able, according to will,
to perform both light and dark magics.
Early works
featuring Morgan Le Fay describe her as being a fay, which means fairy,
who performs fay magic. It is much later, within ancient French
writings that she is described as being so much more. These prose go
into great details regarding her relationship with Arthur. In the works
‘Lancelot-Grail’ she is said to be, as the BBC TV drama ‘Merlin’
portrays, the half sister of Arthur, daughter of Lady Igraine and her
husband Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall. She was said to have two older
sisters, named Elaine and Morgause. During her lifetime, she is
detailed as having two sons, Sir Gawain, known as the Green Knight, and
Mordred.
Mordred is the son of Arthur with whome she was
tricked into sleeping with. This story is one that is often elaborated
upon in popular books and films such as the Mists of Avalon.
Throughout all of this she uses her powers of enchantment and is written
to be able to transform at will into a fairy, a raven and other
creatures and animals. She is also very well known for her ability to
communicate with and call upon the powers of the dragon.
The
early works featuring Morgan do not elaborate her character beyond her
role as a fay (fairy) or magician, although she became much more
prominent in the later Old French cyclical prose works such as
“Lancelot-Grail” and the Post-Vulgate Cycle. In these works, she is said
to be Arthur's half-sister, daughter of Arthur’s mother, Lady Igraine,
and her first husband, Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. She has at least two
older sisters, Elaine and Morgause, the latter being the mother of Sir
Gawain, the Green Knight, and the traitor, Mordred. As a fairy later
transformed into a woman and King Arthur's half sister, she became an
enchantress to continue her powers.
The inspiration for
her character may have come from early Welsh mythology and literature,
and she has frequently been compared to a goddess named Modron. This
Goddess is a figure derived from the continental Dea Matrona, who is
featured with some frequency in medieval Welsh literature.
In
some stories she is sometimes associated with another goddess, the
Irish raven goddess Morrigan. The Morrigan is the goddess of the dark
arts, prophecy, war, destruction, death and the winning of battles. My
personal experiences, as you will discover through reading more of my
blog posts and through having sessions with me, reveal that this
connected may have run far deeper than any old stories suggest.
I
too have a strong connection to this dark raven goddess which you can
find out more about on my sister site http://www.ravengoddesstemple.com
and later on in this post.
By exact name, Morgan first
appears mentioned in her own right, in Geoffrey of Monmouth's ‘Vita
Merlini,’ an account written circa 1150 about the wizard Merlin's later
adventures. In the ‘Vita Merlini,’ he describes Avalon, the Isle of
Apples, where Arthur is taken to be healed. Arthur was seriously wounded
whilst fighting in the Battle of Camlann. These works specifically
name ‘Morgen’ as the chief of nine magical sisters who dwell in the Isle
of Avalon. She is known thereafter as a healer of great power.
Due
to the religious changes at the time, Medieval accounts were nearly
always attempting to portray Morgan Le Fay as sinister Witch, rather
than a benevolent enchantress. She did not ‘fit in’ to their believe
systems or desire for a sorcery free society and so was in effect, cast
out. Her position and place within the kingdom was not acknowledged and
this would have naturally led to a hatred of those who stood against
sorcery. The need to hide oneself from the world is a very painful
existance and with pain, comes the feeling that one needs to protect
oneself from that which binds and hinders.
When Uther
Pendragon reportidly kills Morgana’s father in a bid to secure a sexual
relationship with his wife, Morgana’s mother, Igraine, Morgana is sent
away to a convent. There she learns the old ways, of healing, of magic
and of the truth of things.
A forced marriage later leads
Morgana to have a string of love affairs, after she is married off by
Uther Pendragon to his ally Urien. However she is caught by Guinevere
who reports her behavior to Uther which results in her being expelled
from the court.
This lack of care or understanding for her
needs and desires would have further fueled Morgana’s anger towards
Camelot and all who preserved it’s ideals.
Continuing her magical studies, Morgana plots her revenge against Guinevere.
Accounts
of her magical betrayal of Arthur and the kingdom continue with tales
of the sword Excalibur being stolen by one of her lovers in an attempt
to arrange Arthur’s downfall. This can be read in the book ‘Le Morte
d'Arthur,’ published in 1485, where Thomas Malory mostly follows the
portrayal of Morgan in the Vulgate and Post-Vulgate Cycles. He delights
in describing how she plotted with her lover Sir Accolon to obtain the
sword Excalibur and use it against Arthur in single combat. When this
ploy fails, Morgan throws Excalibur's protective scabbard into a lake.
This leads us on to the modern image of Morgana, which is where I come in.
My
own path mirrors much of the tales of Medieval Morgan Le Fay and I too
was born with the gift of magic. I was also born with the ability to
see through time, to know of the true ways of things, to heal and to
seduce, to walk through veil and to fly with the birds and dragons.
After
being born into the grasps of the Morrigan herself and being offered
the choice of life or death, and making no choice except to choose both,
I have lived with one foot in each world ever since. A magical spirit
you see is able to see beyond the first breath of this life, to the
lives before and to know one’s powers, however young or old. I knew
that to be able to touch the great beyond would give me everlasting
access to all of the wisdom and power it allows.
I
wandered here and there, both alive and dead, different from others of
my young age, until I was sent away to a place for unwanted children by
my ‘Earthly’ parents. There, as well as being educated in the artistic
crafts, I learned the whispers of Avalon as I walked upon the grass bare
foot, talking to the grazing sheep after schooling.
I
saw the mist upon the lakes and hills and discovered that I was able to
lift the veil and pass through. I walked in the secret woods and found
the fairies by the ponds who told me of great things. I dreamed of
magical secrets that only a Priestess of Avalon can. I touched myself
and felt it was good and right to feel my sexual energies rise and work
with them magically. I seduced and pleasured those who took my fancy
and helped those who I felt genuine. And so it was.
Welcome to the life of modern Morgan Le Fay.
Blessed Be
Morgana xxx
