A Prayer to Blodeuwedd 

Blodeuwedd, 
child of blossoms, 
teach me how to speak in light
and live my life as flowers do. 
Help me learn the language of light
written in shades of infrared 
and crystal green and ultraviolet waves 
that tell of birth and growth
and pending transformation. 

Blodeuwedd, 
sister of owls,
fly me through these 
high bright Solstice days 
and show me the wisdom woven 
in the poetry of sun and shadow 
shifting on the forest floor
that hints of summer’s coming end
and winter dark’s return. 

Blodeuwedd, 
woman of turning,
open my heart so I will always know 
when love’s light shines on me 
and let it light the path 
and pattern of my changing days.
Be with me and help me send 
my own love back into this world 
and live my life as flowers do. 

In the Fourth Branch of the Welsh Mabinogi, the wizard Gwydion gathers blossoms of oak, meadowsweet and broom and draws on their shared life and magic to create Blodeuwedd, a woman whose very being is woven from flowers and the living world of plants.

Gwydion creates Blodeuwedd to be the wife of his adopted son Lleu, but when Blodeuwedd sees a passing hunter named Gronw Pebr, she falls in love with him instead. Gwydion’s plans unravel and the story takes a darker turn.

Blodeuwedd tricks Lleu into demonstrating the only circumstances under which he can be wounded and when he is in position, Gronw launches his spear. It strikes Lleu, but he does not die. Instead, he is transformed into an eagle who flies off dripping blood, to find refuge among the branches of an ancient oak.

In his rage, Gwydion transforms Blodeuwedd into an owl, which he intends as a punishment of lonliness and exile, but in my view also has the benefit of bringing her even closer into relationship with the wisdom and mystery of the natural world.

Gwydion finds Lleu in the tree and calls him down—not with force, but with poetry. By reciting three verses of an englyn, he restores the relationship between human, tree, bird and word, drawing Lleu down from the oak and back into the world.

Like the summer flowers and plants that flourish through their relationships with sun, rain, pollinators, birds and soil, Blodeuwedd’s story reminds us that life is never created or restored in isolation. We are continually shaped and influenced by our interwoven relationships in an ongoing conversation that is forever making and remaking the world.

Sun image: Amara Hollowbones

Music pairing: Crosby, Stills and Nash — Suite: Judy Blue Eyes, 1969

May these words bring truth and healing
through open hands and hearts. And then,
let it flow back into our Mother Earth
for the love of all her beings.

This poem was conceived and grown organically from my own unique human experience, thoughts, efforts, knowledge and research.