Pantheon The Welsh is a book in the Collective Ink Books Pantheon collection by Welsh Folk Witch, Mhara Starling. It is the first book I know of that focuses on the Welsh pantheon, as a whole, rather than, more widely, the Celtic Gods.

And there is a reason for this. Starling admits that the claim that the Welsh Gods are Gods is controversial. Within academia, they are largely viewed as mythic and folkloric characters and there has been a great deal of argument about whether they are Gods. As Starling notes, some scholars argue that the names of a few of the Welsh Gods being cognate with those of ancient Gods (ie. Maponos / Mabon and Nodens / Nudd) suggests they are of divine status. However, others argue that such continuity cannot be proved. There is no evidence of shrines to modern Welsh goddesses such as Ceridwen.

A stronger argument, which Starling puts forward, is that many temples to the Welsh Gods and covens and polytheistic groups who revere them exist today. To support this, she provides a chapter on ‘Apotheosis’, a term derived ‘from the Greek apotheoun which means “to make a God of”.’ Her core claim is that the Welsh Gods have now been elevated to divine status and that the evidence of modern cults who venerate them is irrefutable.

And the inspiration of the Welsh Gods sings through the chapters of this book. In Part One, Starling covers History, Cosmology, Magic, Apotheosis, Seasonal Celebrations and Putting it into Practice. In Part Two, she provides a catalogue of the Welsh Deities and discusses Spirits Seen and Unseen. 

Starling does an excellent job of making the often difficult and occasionally baffling literary material engaging and accessible without losing the profundity.

I love the following description of her approach: ‘I often view the Deities of Wales as complex jigsaw puzzles in many ways. In order to gain a clear, precise picture of who they are, we must find all the scattered pieces found in the myths, the poems, the Triads, the etymologies of their names, their links to other characters, and even sometimes elements of belief and lore found in folk traditions. Pulling these pieces together offers us a fuller picture of who they are and how we might approach them today.’

This is exactly what she does in this book. Throughout the pages, she demonstrates deep research-based and experiential knowledge of these Deities. For example, when speaking of Arianrhod, she shows how the representation of this Goddess as a ‘wicked stepmother’ in the Fourth Branch of The Mabinogi is one-sided. Drawing on material from The Triads of the Island of Britain and the writings of Sir Ifor Williams, she provides a poetic translation of her name as ‘The still point at the centre of the turning wheel’. She reveals her to be a more complex Goddess, ‘an initiatrix’ around whom the heavenly Deities such as her sons and consort and our lives turn.

I particularly enjoyed the section on Cosmology. Starling points out that many find Welsh lore frustrating as there is ‘no fixed and objective cosmology’ or ‘creation myth’ because the ‘sources we have available to us are rooted in a period of time when Wales had already embraced Christianity.’ 

Starling goes on to show that, in spite of this, Welsh myth and folklore are deeply rooted in beliefs about Annwfn ‘The Very Deep’, the Otherworld and Awen, ‘divine inspiration’, which flows from and is seen to be shaped in Annwfn. Far from these concepts being remote and of a by-gone age, Awen inspires bards to this day and the Deities of Annwfn continue to appear in folklore and to manifest in the lives of modern Pagans and Polytheists.

There is also some deep discussion of the nature of magic. Starling introduces concepts I was unaware of and find fascinating. Speaking of transformative magic in The Mabinogi, she explains the difference between magic that changes someone’s Rhith, ‘outward form’ and Anian, someone’s ‘inner nature, core or soul’. She uses this to explain the differences between Pwyll and Arawn exchanging shapes but keeping their own nature and Gwydion and Gilfaethwy taking on both the form and the nature of various animals.

She also notes that magic has ‘two different expressions’. ‘The magic of the Otherworld tends to be subtle and part of the Otherworldly denizens’ very nature.’ This struck very close to my soul. It has long been my intuition that the Deities of Annwfn are magic. She contrasts this with the more explicit, ceremonial magic that is practiced by ‘Earthly magicians’ such as Gwydion.

Starling also provides a good grounding for newcomers in Welsh history and language (including pronunciation) and tips for avoiding cultural appropriation. 

This is a brave book in which Starling is not afraid to voice her personal opinions*. It is written with a good deal of love and devotion for the Welsh Gods. I would recommend it to both new and long-time Pagans and Polytheists and anybody interested in Welsh Deities and their lore.

*As a heads-up there is a rather long rant about Mabon’s fabricated associations with the Autumn Equinox in his section!

You can pick up a copy of Pantheon The Welsh from Collective Ink Books HERE.