Epona
Epona
Gods and Goddesses Website
The next morning,
Alanna
woke up from a wonderful dream. She remembered the dream so
vividly that she wondered if maybe it had really happened. In the
dream her figurine, Rhiannon, came to life and spoke to her.
Alanna remembered hearing Rhiannon's story and could even remember what
her voice sounded like. All day, Alanna thought about the
mysterious dream and how real it seemed. Later that night, she
picked up the figurine. Holding it in her tiny hands, she
realized that everything she remembered had to really only be a
dream. Satisfied, Alanna
began to play with her figurines. When she was finished, she
began to put them away. She remembered putting the goddess
Rhiannon in her jewelry box the night before. Out of one last bit
of curiosity, Alanna decided to put her Epona figurine into the
jewelry box. After she put the figurine in the box, she quickly
opened it to see if anything had happened. To her dismay, the
figurine remained lifeless. She shut the box again. This
time, Alanna locked the jewelry box with her tiny silver key.
After a few moments of anticipation, she heard tiny tapping sounds
coming from the box. When Alanna opened the box, she could not
believe what was before her eyes. Her figurine was moving and
breathing! Then, Epona began to speak...
Hello.
I am Epona, the goddess of horses. I am known as the
protectress of horses, animals, riders, and stables. I am also
known as a Mistress of animals and am worshiped as the goddess of
horses, mules, and oxen.
The Celts consider me to be very important because I take gentle care of the horses like a loving mother. Because of this, the Celts began to worship me long, long ago. I was important because horses were a large part of the Celts culture and civilization. Horses represented wealth and success and for this reason were very valuable.
Anytime I am seen, I am sitting among horses or riding a horse or mare with its foal. I ride side-saddle and am half-naked or wearing a wide coat. My favorite coat is midnight blue. I like to wear it at night so the animals do not see me. Foals, dogs, and birds usually follow me wherever I go. I think it is because I sometimes feed them corn or fruit (especially apples - their favorite treat) from my basket.
I am known to promote the fertility of mares, so I am sometimes considered to be the goddess of fertility as well. It gives me great happiness to take care of the mares. Sometimes I even get to help them name their ponies.
It makes me sad to tell you that horses were sometimes sacrificed to river-divinities. Because of this, people sometimes think that I was perhaps originally the goddess of a spring. I love the waters of springs and rivers. But, my most favorite place in the whole world to visit is the Swansea Bay. The water there is so clean and fresh. It is comforting and makes me happy. I consider Swansea Bay to be my true home. When I am there it makes me feel as though everything is right in the world.
Long ago, the Celts told scary stories about me to their children. Mothers told the stories to their children to make them behave. The children were told that if they misbehaved I would visit them in their dreams and bring nightmares. While this started off as an old wives' tale, I thought it would be fun to actually appear in the children's dreams once in a while. I enjoyed giving them a fright, but eventually it got old and I decided I was better off spending my time taking care of the horses.
That is why I do not seem scary right now, Alanna. I am appearing to you in my most beautiful form. I hope that you will remember me and my story.
The Celts consider me to be very important because I take gentle care of the horses like a loving mother. Because of this, the Celts began to worship me long, long ago. I was important because horses were a large part of the Celts culture and civilization. Horses represented wealth and success and for this reason were very valuable.
Anytime I am seen, I am sitting among horses or riding a horse or mare with its foal. I ride side-saddle and am half-naked or wearing a wide coat. My favorite coat is midnight blue. I like to wear it at night so the animals do not see me. Foals, dogs, and birds usually follow me wherever I go. I think it is because I sometimes feed them corn or fruit (especially apples - their favorite treat) from my basket.
I am known to promote the fertility of mares, so I am sometimes considered to be the goddess of fertility as well. It gives me great happiness to take care of the mares. Sometimes I even get to help them name their ponies.
It makes me sad to tell you that horses were sometimes sacrificed to river-divinities. Because of this, people sometimes think that I was perhaps originally the goddess of a spring. I love the waters of springs and rivers. But, my most favorite place in the whole world to visit is the Swansea Bay. The water there is so clean and fresh. It is comforting and makes me happy. I consider Swansea Bay to be my true home. When I am there it makes me feel as though everything is right in the world.
Long ago, the Celts told scary stories about me to their children. Mothers told the stories to their children to make them behave. The children were told that if they misbehaved I would visit them in their dreams and bring nightmares. While this started off as an old wives' tale, I thought it would be fun to actually appear in the children's dreams once in a while. I enjoyed giving them a fright, but eventually it got old and I decided I was better off spending my time taking care of the horses.
That is why I do not seem scary right now, Alanna. I am appearing to you in my most beautiful form. I hope that you will remember me and my story.
I accurately
followed this story
as best I could with a couple of exceptions. I do not know if
Epona ever had a blue coat. I made it up! Also, I
made up the part about Swansea Bay. It is a bay near Wales, so I
thought it seemed pretty appropriate. I also like the name of the
bay. It sounds so enchanting. I also do not
know if
Epona really got to name the horses or not. I like to think that
she did. Last, I do not know if Epona really
visited children's dreams or not. As far as I know this is an old
wives'
tale.
I had to do a lot of research about Epona because none of the stories about her were very long or informational. I basically just took little bits of information from all of the stories and pieced it all together in a way that made sense, as if Epona was actually telling the reader her story.
I found an interesting bit of information that I wanted to add to my Storybook but could not figure out how to work it into my story. I found out that Epona might be closely related to the goddess Rhiannon. I thought that was pretty cool since she was the goddess I wrote about in my last story.
I included this story in my Storybook because Epona was a major Celtic goddess. As I mentioned earlier, horses played a large part in the lives of the Celts. Because of this, Epona was a popular goddess.
I wanted to learn about this goddess because of this popularity. Even though this story was straight to the point, I thought it was interesting to get a basic knowledge of Epona.
This story contributes to my overall topic because it is the second of the two stories that I did on Celtic goddesses. I hope readers enjoyed this story. Celtic stories are not very well-known and it is my goal for readers to find the stories to be interesting while also learning.
This story was told in a style similar to how the other stories in my Storybook will be told.
I had to do a lot of research about Epona because none of the stories about her were very long or informational. I basically just took little bits of information from all of the stories and pieced it all together in a way that made sense, as if Epona was actually telling the reader her story.
I found an interesting bit of information that I wanted to add to my Storybook but could not figure out how to work it into my story. I found out that Epona might be closely related to the goddess Rhiannon. I thought that was pretty cool since she was the goddess I wrote about in my last story.
I included this story in my Storybook because Epona was a major Celtic goddess. As I mentioned earlier, horses played a large part in the lives of the Celts. Because of this, Epona was a popular goddess.
I wanted to learn about this goddess because of this popularity. Even though this story was straight to the point, I thought it was interesting to get a basic knowledge of Epona.
This story contributes to my overall topic because it is the second of the two stories that I did on Celtic goddesses. I hope readers enjoyed this story. Celtic stories are not very well-known and it is my goal for readers to find the stories to be interesting while also learning.
This story was told in a style similar to how the other stories in my Storybook will be told.
 |
As a side note, I came across an interesting bit of information while doing my research. There is a Training and Trail Riding Holiday in Spain. Their logo features the Celtic goddess (I've always wanted to visit Spain so I thought this was pretty cool!). You can check out the website by clicking here. |
Epona
By Micha F. Lindemans
Encyclopedia Mythica
Epona
By Terri Paajanen
About
Epona
Shrine of the Forgotten Goddesses
(***PLEASE NOTE - I do not agree with the intention of this site but found the information about Epona to be informative for this project.***)
Oriental Religions in Roman Paganism: II, Why the Oriental Religions Spread
By Franz Cumont, 1911
Sacred Texts
The Religion of the Ancient Celts: Chapter XIV, Animal Worship
By J.A. MacCulloch, 1911
Sacred Texts
The Religion of the Ancient Celts: Chapter XII, River and Well Worship
By J.A. MacCulloch, 1911
Sacred Texts
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