(Images above are of St Melangell's monastery built for her (and later her followers) by the Prince of Powys, which was later further added to and cherished, from here)

(Most of these thoughts were originally from around Easter 2006, and simply more formalized now)

St Melangells legend (see here and here) reads like a fairy tale to me, but with a twist. Her prince does find her. And falls in love with her and maybe she with him as well. But she is a hermitess and married to Our Lord really by calling, truly needs that sort of life, and has to refuse his offer of marriage. The Prince pf Powys is a future king, then the Welsh Prince of Pengwern Powys. His name was Brochfael Ysgithrog. And what would many such men do? Carry her off against her will like this was a "battle", or leave in a huff of wounded pride perhaps. But not the Prince of Powys. He gives her a healing gift instead, a lovely monastary. I can't imagine how healing this must have been for her life and her soul. She was truly, manifestly, loved.

But there is even more there than meets the eye. I've looked closer at the Prince of Powys and his relationship with St Melangell, he is after all an ancestor of mine (geneology buff Joseph (thank you Joseph!) uncovered this). And its all got me thinking bit...

Said geneology buff (how d'ya like that title, hehe) is very generous with his giving and prayerful healing intent, and when thanked he usually graciously says " a healing given is a healing recieved". And I can see that here. Because the monastory the Prince built for her he requested to be a place of refuge, particularly for the hares she had already so bonded with. And there is much under that I feel. It's helping me in fact in my shift from paganism to a deeper Christianity, cherishing the pagan door (see here) but also walking through it. The door in this case is the myth of Ceridwen.

In Ceridwen's tale (see here for her tale ), there are ways I am very drawn but other ways I'm realizing more and more I'm also uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. That part about how she hit one of the cauldron stirrers with a board and then hunted down the other (Taliesin) when the brew was ruined. I know it was an important brew, I know it was for her son and had taken a year to prepare, and I know that also now the knowledge itself she had wanted for her son had competition now in Talesin. She definitely had a reason to be upset, but she didnt have to let it take over her like it did. Why did it all have to be so violent, not just violent in action but also in feeling? This is not a princess of con-tent-ment (aka the biblical Sarah in later life) but rather someone who probably is an amazing and good soul deep down but in the tale she is trapped drowning in mistrust and bitterness and prone to harmful rage--more like Sarah's original name of Sarai meaning contentioius. I feel that mythically, Ceridwen's tale is like the pre-healed biblical Sarah. As such it shows the wound, but also is a door as its an early form of the archetype perhaps and so connected--IF one opens to seeing that wound that's also there and so opens to the shift needed.

Back to the tale, and the healing I see in the later contrast with St Melangell who was from the same area...Running from Ceridwen poor Taliesin first shiftshapes into a scared little hare to try and reach safety. The chase turns out well in the end, when she becomes a mother hen and puts him (as grain) in her womb to give birth to him as a future famous poet. Because she really gave him the gift of transformation in the end, his emerging from the cauldron/grail anew through that. But still, there is trauma hidden there. And I feel something gets healed there in St Melangell's tale. Instead of the hare being chased by the "Ceridwen figure" the little hare is instinctively running towards her instead, knowing he can truly trust her, and given gentle refuge in her skirt and then her sanctuary. How healing it might have been for the Prince of Powys (he must have been aware of Taliesin's tale due to his being Welsh) to know that this refuge he helped build was protecting those gentle hares, a deep archtypal shift sort of healing. A healing given truly is a healing recieved.

And St Melangell was further healed too from this connection. Because I see in the Prince of Prowys a healing of his own "hunter" archetype, and she got to see this shift, and even recieve from it. He came as a hunter who was care-less, hunting for mere sport, harming. And he left as a hunter who was a healing hunter now, he had "aimed his bow" and focus at building this monastery instead. It truly is a healing place, and a healing tale. And it really moves me to know this is in my lineage, it is healing to think of turning to these ancestors. And we can all turn to them really.

And what's more, we all have our own special, and precious, healing ancestors. Special ancestors of our past who we can learn from and cherish. All is in God's hands really, but still through Him we are His hands for one another. And I feel our ancestors, as well as our legends, can offer Such deep healing there...

(Images from here)