The pendant in the above photograph hangs on the staff I carry with me whenever I’m off for a random bout of wandering, exploring … walking.
When I look at it, I see not just the forest and mountains, but also a dragon curled around and through the landscape.
It causes me to pause and remember the ancient Celtic stories and beliefs that dragons (as with some Chinese) were creatures that lived between worlds and wherever they traveled … they created and awakened the sacred spaces and created what some call “Dragon Lines” and others ley lines.
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According to Trevor Mendham of Dragonorama, “Dragons were an important part of Celtic lore. The Celts were highly attuned to the land and dragons were believed to influence the land…. Areas frequented by dragons were believed to possess special power.”
~ Fantasy-Ireland.com
Dragons have always been associated with the Power of the Land. Even today, in many esoteric rituals, people believe that invoking the “Eye of the Dragon” will increase their personal power.
The ancient Druids believed the Earth itself was like the body of a dragon, and they built their sacred stone circles upon the “Power Nodes” of this body.
They believed dragons connected us with the Earth’s magnetism and healing waters.
Many of us have heard the mysteries of the “ley lines”, especially in relation to the location of mystical sites such as Stonehenge and the site of many mysterious crop circles. What you may not know is that another way of saying “ley lines” is “Dragon lines”.
In ancient Celtic Ireland, the “ley of the land” was not about the geographical, physical nature of one’s surroundings. It had a much more powerful meaning than that.
To the ancient Celts, the “ley of the land” was a term describing how the Cosmic forces flowed through and influenced the area, as well as how the area itself affected those Cosmic forces. Dragons were thought to have a tremendous influence on the “ley of the land”, hence the term “Dragon lines”.
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So, when I first saw these pendants, I was put into the mindset of the above, and so asked the blacksmith to put the head on the top of the dragon curl at the design’s top to complete the form.
The piece has always come to represent “The Old Mother of the Ways” …. or Elen of the Ways — an old goddess with antlers who is the original pathfinder, guardian of the paths and ways of both this world and beyond as well as is Keeper of the Forests.
Regarding “Elen of the Ways”
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Elen Goddess of the Ways
Elen is the Guardian of the ancient track ways, the Leys, the kundalini currents in nature, and as the Horned Goddess, she leads us to the first trackways, the migratory tracks of the caribou or reindeer and later, she leads us to the path of the red deer through the forests. From here she leads us to the lost Shamanism of the isles of Britain, and we can follow her across Scandinavia, Russia, Mongolia, Siberia, India and beyond. ~ The Quest for Elen by Caroline Wise
At a time when people belonged to the Land, practiced gift economics and worked cooperatively the Deer Goddess was the spirit of this land. Her forests may have diminished but in the north they still exist. The hunter gatherer societies are fewer and fewer but they still exist.
Elen wears the antlers of the reindeer, the only species of cervid whose females also grow antlers, and whose ancient migratory paths took them to Britain.
Elen of the Ways, takes rest on an ancient mysterious path at Lands end in Cornwall (Britain) the western most point of the land they called Albion. Also known as the Green Lady, she is the only antlered goddess known to exist.
Wearing the antlers of the female reindeer. The birds visiting her are red billed Choughs. Legend says it is one of these that King Arthur shape shifted into rather than truly die.
SOURCE: The Shadow Self- A Journey into the Occult
SOURCE: http://www.watkinsbooks.com/shaman-pathways-elen-of-the-ways-british-shamanism-following-the-deer-trods
Artwork – Shaman by anotherwanderer on DeviantArt
(via tarotcult-blog)
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The above is a good overview of this goddess.
And let me say that although I cannot outright prove it, I believe she is a goddess that also existed in Norse culture and beliefs once upon a time …. most likely as a Vanir which is what Jörð, who is the personification of earth, is.
Old Mother is another name I ran across somewhere (and will have to track down exactly where) while researching Elen of the Ways.
And it is a name that has stuck with me, feeling like it fits in this case.
So consider my research regarding the Old Mother of the Paths as a work in progress.
With her as mentioned above is the association of reindeer which is an animal spirits that has been speaking to me lately.
With its antlers I see the paths that area woven among the branches and roots of Yggdrasil … the World Tree.
It’s easy when meditating to follow the smooth paths of reindeer antlers and feel drawn to the paths and ways beyond this realm.
But what does any of this have to do with dragons and dragon lines?
As stated in the beginning, another name for ley lines are dragon lines.
And Elen of the Ways (The Old Mother of the Paths) as described above has been associated by some as connected herself to ley lines …
“The Celts associated straight paths with magic and the Otherworld, the paths that fairies took from one mound to another, the straight path of a magical spell, and the spirit flight of the shaman. It is significant that Elen is first beheld in a dream, then goes on to build a network of magical roads across Britain. Some associate these with ley lines, the ancient trackways that are said to join together ancient sites, such as tumuli, burial mounds, hillforts, stone circles and so on. It is possible that Elen is the guardian of these, or perhaps she is the guardian of the paths of dreams and visions.”
~ teifidancer
While walking the paths of the forest hereabouts recently, I have grown more certain that this goddess is not just associated with reindeer, but also the dragons themselves.
This thought goes back to the dreams I had of dragons a short time back.
Not sure if she herself is also dragon, but would not surprise me as gods and goddesses come in many shapes and forms that change from time to time.
Just look at the many forms and shapes of Odin as an example.
In the meantime, a disclaimer that a lot of what I’m running on in the above thoughts are simply feelings I have had that feel as if truths within them, but nothing I can problem and why I will keep seeking and researching.