We are past the point to Imbolc, the turning of the Wheel where we recognise that light has returned from out of the darkness to inspires us to new beginnings and renewal. It feels like a good time to share with you all a little more about the various threads we are weaving into the ceremonial container of the Goddess Conference this year.
For this ‘Mother year’ of the Goddess Conference, we are connecting back to the Matrilineal ancestors of Avalon, to the Proto-Celtic peoples of this land. These ancestors all over Europe, are generally believed to have had a tripartite cosmology consisting of the Land, the Sea, and the Sky.
We know from as far back as the Minoan/Ariadnean civilisation of Crete that the mythology of the Three Realms related to these spheres of water, earth and air as Underworld, Middleworld and Otherworld respectively, and that these were believed to be interconnected, and had specific portals, ‘veils’ or entry points for traveling into and between them.
We can assume that, for our ancestors, the Three Realms were intertwined aspects of the cosmos where the physical world (Land) existed between the Otherworld (Sky) and the Underworld (Sea).
The Underworld, linked to the element Water, was a realm known as Dumnos or Andumnos in Gaulish/Proto-Celtic and also known as land of the Sidhe in Irish tradition. The sea and other bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, wells or still pools, were often seen as thresholds or gateways into this Underworld. It is the reflective realm of the ancestors, and of the chthonic Deities, shapeshifting spirits, selkies and mermaids, as well as of the unconscious- rising to become consciousness.
The Upperworld, linked to the element Air, was the domain associated with the sky and weather Deities. The air as breath is our personal place of connection to this realm, as the many spiritual breath practises from many cultures teach us. The Air is also the gateway into the Otherworld, which was often accessed through the physical world from the high places of peak sanctuaries, holy hills or sacred mountains. Called Albios in Proto-Celtic, this was the domain of the celestial Goddesses and Gods, of the fairies, sylphs, of soul-connection, and of the winged ones; the sacred emissaries of the Goddess in Her most ethereal form.
The Middleworld is linked to the element Earth. This was the realm of living beings of the Land; of plants, trees, animals, stones and humans. It is the Earthly plane where we get to live and love, and in which we get to experience the living presence of the Divine, of the Goddesses and Gods in physical reality, in all the many named and unnamed forms we recognise Them by. In Gaulish, the Middleworld was called Bitus. Some of the inhabitants of this world could travel between the realms with magical ease, or, such as sacred trees, could reside between the realms or were seen as a physical link between them.
As the planet, our Earth Goddess holds all the elements and encompasses all the Realms and portals into these other dimensionalities.
As ceremonialists, we are seeing the ancient Indo-European mythology of the Three Realms as Her elemental wombs of creation, carrying the treasure fire, the spark and flame of Her inspiration, potency, and ingenuity as gifts for us all to manifest our creativity.
By Katinka Soetens
