The online Witches' Sabbat conference hosted by Modern Witch University ran this past weekend from 5-6 November, featuring several fantastic speakers and captivating topics! Most relevant to this site, the Welsh witch Mhara Starling, author of Welsh Witchcraft, was one of these speakers. (The book title has an Amazon link, but her book is in most bookstores and especially occult bookstores at this point, at least in the U.S., so feel free to support your local brick-and-mortar instead, if possible!) She hosted a 1.5-hour workshop on the Welsh Gods in Modern Witchcraft and Paganism. Being a Welsh polytheist and a Mhara fan, you know I just had to attend!
Photo: a large orange mug that says "Drink Up, Witches" beside a large chunk of slate engraved with triquetras, an animal-headed torc, and other Celtic designs that I got as a gift from friends who bought it from the National Slate Museum in Wales, both sitting on my desk.
Mhara covered several Welsh influences in her presentation -- from Gods imported into, or referenced by, Wicca and various branches of Traditional Witchcraft, to Welsh people who were early influences on the latter, to elements that were less obvious unless one already knew them from Welsh literature and culture -- almost like little Easter egg references or secret nods to Wales that were hidden speckled throughout witchcraft traditions. My own reaction to learning about, and being reminded of, all these influences was mixed -- I was glad to hear that Welsh people and Welsh culture had a hand in influencing early popular witchcraft movements. However, I was also disheartened that it seemed in some of these cases the Welsh culture had been picked over, elements from it taken out of context or even rebranded, like a rose bush with its flowers plucked off just because they were pretty.
Welsh Cultural Concepts in Modern Witchcraft
As usual, Mhara not only explained things in an engaging, informative, and accessible manner, but she also would plant seeds for the audience to connect the dots ourselves rather than always spoon-feeding us the answer or the point she was making. It was incredible to hear her go in depth through Gods, practices, customs, and concepts in modern witchcraft that I imagine many people might take for granted or not give much thought to, or that to anyone else may have seemed like just a cool little tidbit added to make things seem more esoteric or "magical," but which, in reality, have their roots in Welsh culture.
Being a polytheist who worships Welsh Gods and someone who studies Welsh folklore, I got to smile and nod as I too had recognized some of the things she spoke of -- but I certainly did not know all of them. It was obvious how much research Mhara must have done sifting through the numerous sources on the founders of modern witchcraft traditions and who they were, where they came from, and how they incorporated various aspects of Welsh stories and Gods into their traditions. Listening to a Welsh voice speak about how these pieces have been woven into modern witchcraft practices at a level of depth and understanding that I suspect only a Welsh person could recognize was a privilege. She spoke of these gems of her land and culture as if they were the glint of diamonds catching her eye in a cavern where she had not initially expected to find them.
Rebranding & Reframing Welsh Gods
Mhara's historical review of the founders of the modern witchcraft traditions and the Welsh elements that had been injected into these was highly valuable, informative, and interesting. However, what was the most striking to me was realizing anew how much of Their original symbolism, personality, and even essential nature had been dampened, lost, or changed outright when the Gods were taken out of their mythical and cultural context and plugged into some other system.
I started out in Paganism with Wicca, as most Pagans in my generation did, but I had not identified as a Wiccan for three or four years by the time I dedicated myself to Rhiannon, so I hadn't ever really thought of or viewed the Welsh Gods within the framework of a specific witchcraft tradition, but rather within Their own context of Their stories. Listening to how some of the various witchcraft traditions had used the Gods (and I do think that is the appropriate term for some of those cases), I was quickly reminded of a part of why I identify as a polytheist who does witchy things rather than subscribing to any particular tradition of modern witchcraft. Of course, following or not following any specific witchcraft tradition, or honoring a pantheon of Gods or eclectic mix of Gods, is highly personal. At the same time, I don't think following a particular tradition or being eclectic absolves anyone of responsibility to engage with the Gods and their cultures of origin respectfully.
For me personally, I worship multiple Welsh Gods, but I am closest to Rhiannon, so I will reference Her here for the sake of example. I have a very personal relationship with Rhiannon. She is powerful and wise, and She has certain things that She is more strongly associated with than others, to be sure. But (to my understanding) She is a (God-)person. She is more than merely an archetype or a reflection of my deeper self. She is more than an abstract list of correspondences or domains of influence such as "Goddess of x, y, z." She is not some static, unmoving and unmoved, impersonal, super-transcendent force. She also is not, in my view, merely a mask some other ultra higher being wears -- at least, not any moreso than you or I are.* (I'm a hard polytheist who also recognizes that all things are connected -- all things, not just Gods.) This fundamental view cannot help but affect how I interact with and venerate the Gods.
These are all my personal views and interactions with deity. There are others who do view the Gods only as archetypes, or as reflections of their own inner selves (these two views are essentially atheist, as the Gods are not necessarily autonomous spirits in these views), or as aspects of some unfathomably high-above and transcendent force rather than (spirit) persons in Their own right. These understandings, like which witchcraft tradition(s) one subscribes to or whether one is eclectic in the Gods they honor, is extremely personal, and there is no "one right way" to conceptualize and understand such mysteries. That said, much like the path one follows does not allow one to dodge responsibility, these views are not excuses to treat Gods as our playthings, to be changed or sugar-coated until They are no longer recognizable, until the only thing that could possibly identify Them is Their name.
It is difficult to have a critical opinion of something, especially something as personal as spirituality choices, without sounding like (or becoming) a judgmental, preachy, holier-than-thou. I try to check this in myself, with varying degrees of success. So, for the sake of an egregious example to illustrate the point: Is someone still honoring "Amaterasu" (a Shintō kami with strong associations with the sun) if they consistently plug Her into the Wiccan duality framework as a "moon goddess"? A harsher question: are they honoring Amaterasu at all if they can't even be bothered to learn Her most basic and essential myths? A more philosophical question: Can one really honor someone (as opposed to their own personal image of someone) when they don't have a basic understanding of who that person is (or, if one views the Gods as archetypes, when they don't have a basic understanding of which archetypes are being invoked)?
It seems far too common that certain traditions wish to strip Gods of Their essential natures and (potential) personhood -- to strip Them of what identifies Them as who They are. This is especially damaging to cultures that are already being, or have been, colonized. We Pagans are improving, as a community, away from fakelore and passing off personal gnosis as what or how a deity or path or culture is. But it is still too common to find Gods approached out of context, plucked from the symbolism of Their cultures or Their stories that give us insight into who They are and what They stand for. They get removed from these contexts and made to be "essentially all the same" but just with different cultural dress or personality quirks, like a skin on a videogame character. Or They get crammed into a box that wasn't made to hold Them, so bits and pieces have to be cut off or reshaped to make Them fit.
Of course, this isn't a problem that is unique to Welsh deities; it has happened to the Gods and spirits and traditional practices of many cultures at the hands of Pagans. We have to address this and work to correct it -- otherwise, we are just doing our own thing but slapping the name of a deity or culture on it, which is disingenuous and lacking self-awareness at best. The Gods, the cultures They come from, and we ourselves deserve a better effort at integrity and grounding in reality. Our personal gnosis can certainly be important and treasured for us personally, but it does not trump the shared gnosis of entire cultures of millions of people over the course of centuries.
A More Holistic Approach
Like most American Pagans, I am intimately familiar with the struggle of trying to respectfully honor and meaningfully support and participate in a culture that does not match my nationality -- as opposed to misappropriating it. I mean, let's just be blunt: It is impossible, as a person who didn't grow up in Wales and does not presently live there, to fully immerse myself in the Welsh (or any other non-U.S.) culture. But that doesn't mean I can't put forth a good effort and do my best to embrace as holistic an approach as I am reasonably able to. Of course, the word effort is there, which means this is work.
I can only speak to what works well for me, and what I believe is respectful, to the best of my knowledge. I try to incorporate what I learn about Welsh culture and history into my lifestyle and allow it to influence my worldview where such makes reasonable sense, rather than keeping it locked away exclusively in the spirituality box. At the same time, I don't currently live in Wales, and so there is a balancing act in ensuring that genuine connections are being forged (or maintained) while also maintaining an American identity and remaining grounded in my reality of place. I don't want to be in danger of escapism or play-acting.
Learning more about a culture, and beginning to see things from that context, is like learning a language (which also of course is a central thread in the tapestry of culture). It opens up entire worldviews and aspects of your own personality that were not accessible before, because it provides another filter through which one can interpret life and the world around us. For example, even simply learning another language (again, which is deeply tied to culture) can affect how we interpret reality -- there is an entire subfield of linguistic study called linguistic relativity that focuses on this phenomenon. It is not a question of whether language influences how we perceive and process reality -- that is established. The question is merely in what ways and to what degree. Given these facts, and the strong ties between language and cultural identity, it is only logical that so many native voices from a wide variety of cultures -- including the Welsh -- insist on the importance of learning their language in order to better understand and ground oneself in their culture.
Listening to Native Voices
We are getting better, I think, in the Pagan community about centering native voices and trying to have more integrity in how we practice and present ourselves. The need to be viewed as someone in possession of hidden, previously-guarded secrets or special wisdom -- and the tendency to make up histories, titles, and "knowledge" for oneself in order to achieve this -- is finally beginning to die away. And good riddance. No community, no individual, can thrive while wallowing in a lack of integrity -- especially in the spiritual sense. And this work of cleaning up our collective act needs to continue. I have seen too many of my formerly Pagan friends fall away, moving on to atheism or reverting to Christianity, due to disillusionment from realizing so much of what was out there was lazy scholarship at best or outright intentional fakelore at worst. As a community, we owe ourselves and potential fellow community members better.
One of the ways we can continue this work is by centering and listening to native voices from the cultures whose traditions or Gods we are following. Of course, individuals from within the culture are not immune to lazy scholarship or misrepresentation, but the more we listen to a variety of native voices, the more we will be able to formulate a better-informed and more well-rounded understanding of that culture, its ways, its worldviews, its people, and also its Gods.
Obviously, Mhara's presentation at the Witches' Sabbat online conference this year really got me thinking. She tends to do that! If you ever have the opportunity to support her work by listening to her speak or purchasing a copy of her book, I would highly recommend it.
If you want to learn more about Welsh Gods and/or Welsh culture from Welsh people, here are some links to sources that I enjoy who you might find helpful:
Mhara Starling:
Patreon, Youtube Channel, Twitter, Instagram, and her book Welsh Witchcraft
Dr. Gwilym Morus-Baird:
Online Courses at Celtic Source, Youtube Channel
Kristoffer Hughes:
Author of several books, head of the Anglesey Druid Order, Instagram
Jen Delyth (Welsh Artist):
Dr. Delyth Badder:
Curious Clwyd:
Siôn Pennant Tomos:
Alan Catherall:
Ysbryd o Annwfn (Welsh Artist):
Welsh Witch King:
Welsh News, TV, Radio, & Books/Sources:
Y Lolfa (Welsh publisher)
People's Collection Wales (Photographs, sound recordings, documents, videos and stories about the history of Wales)
Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru (University of Wales Welsh-English-Welsh Dictionary)
The National Eisteddfod:
*I have animist tendencies. (I'm still working on what it means for inanimate manmade objects to have spirits -- I am believing they do more and more, but damn, do I have some shadow work to face in myself for how I have treated some of them, then.) I believe it is both true and valuable to recognize that we who exist on this planet and in this universe are all interconnected -- often more closely than we'd like to acknowledge. But I am not my neighbour, or my cat, or this keyboard I'm typing on. I'm a part of the Earth, but I am not the Earth any more than one of the hairs on my head is me. And yet the hairs on my head have my DNA patterned right there in each of them. This kind of topic can get pretty philosophical (e.g. what is me?), but I do think it is one of the greater Mysteries -- how we both are, and simultaneously are not, individuals.
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