Elphame
Art by Carmon
Deyo
Story
by DeborahAnne Mac Gillivray
When
one people are conquered by another, a curious phenomenon often
occurs. As the sway of the conquered race shrinks into the background,
they 'take' their beliefs and their Gods with them. Instead of
being all-powerful and awe-inspiring, the deities' legends and
lore are relegated into minor importance, such as the Faeries
of Scotland and Ireland, till they become the 'Wee Ones' or the
'Little People.' No more clearly is this demonstrated than with
Elphame. She is now the Queen of Scotland's faeries, her role
of a stronger importance, the Goddess of War and Horses, almost
forgotten.
Elphlane
or Elphame, which some believe is a corruption of 'elfland,'
like so many of the Auld Goddesses and Gods suffered greatly
through interpretation at the hands of coming Christianity. She
became the Goddess of Disease and Death, and the Goddess of Witches.
In Robert Grave's classic tale The White Goddess,
he tells of several 16th century Scotswomen on trial for offense
of witchcraft, branded with 'dealings with the Queen of the Witches,
Elphame.' This resulted in the death of the women.
Elphame
was originally associated with the May Day Festival of Beltaine
(literally Bel's fires) and was the Queen of May. The old, old
American TV show, 'Queen for a Day,' was a distant take-off
on this rite of selecting a mortal female to represent Elphame
for the day. She is the 'maiden' for the female cycle of maid,
mother and crone, with Epona the mother or woman in full power,
and Cailleach the 'old woman.'
Thomas
Learmonth of Ercildoune, known as 'Thomas the Rhymer' or 'True
Thomas,' the seer who predicted the death of Alexander the III
and the rising of Wallace and the Bruce, always maintained she
appeared to him on May Day Eve, dressed in green silks and riding
a snow-white palfrey, with fifty-nine bells tied in its mane.
(The bells make her a Pictish Goddess predating the arrival of
the Gaels of Dal Riada, for the Irish have always believed
faeries to shun the ringing of bells.) It was below Eildon Hill
North, a site of the largest dun in Scottish History, where she
came to him. So overcome by her beauty, he ran to Elphame and
asked he to lie with him. She did as he bade, but hen compelled
him to join her in Faeryland. Thomas lived there for what seemed
like seven days, but later discovered it to be years. Before
Elphame returned him to Middle Earth, she bestowed the gift of
truth, poetry and prophecy, then left him where they met under
the Eildon Tree. The Eildon Stone today marks the site
of the original tree. If you listen to this story carefully,
you see where Burn's Ballad of 'Tam Lin' got its foundations.
Tam is the Scots name for Tom.
The Moon,
apple blossoms, silver, cuckoos, hares, robins, primrose, silverweed
and cowslips are associated with her, as well as the numbers
three and five.
36"
X 36" one of a kind handpainted silk wallhanging. Winner
of the Mythology Division at the 2000 North Texas Irish Festival
Celtic Art Competition.
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