This Welsh Moon Goddess sits in her spiral castle known as Caer Arianrhod. Arianrhod, pronounced “Ahr-ee-AHN-hrod,” is the daughter of Dôn and the sister of Gwydion and Gilfaethwy, and the mother of Lleu Llaw Gyffes, known in Ireland as Lugh of the Long Hand (the Sun God Lugh). She sits at a silver spinning wheel high in her castle of light, where she spins the threads of fate, life and death. Her name literally means “Silver Wheel.” The Aurora Borealis is said to be the visible manifestation of Caer Arianrhod in the night sky.
Arianrhod figures prominently in the Fourth Branch of the Mabinogi, where she gives birth to two sons by magical means. Arianrhod is invoked at holidays involving the transition from one state to another, such as the Quarter Days. Hers is the power of life and death, health and sickness. The willow tree is her sacred plant, and she is sometimes represented by a sheaf of wheat. The owl is her sacred bird.
If Arianrhod comes into your life, you may be in a period of transition, or may be about to experience such a period. She is the Goddess of transmutation, and she may be telling you that it is time for a change.
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