ELEN

Illuminate the shining way, pathfinder

Show me how it winds across the land

To the dragon heart at its centre.

The Welsh Mabinogion includes an intriguing tale called 'The Dream of Macsen Wledig' in which the Emperor Macsen Wledig ['Macsen of the People'] of Rome dreamed of a mysterious court. In the dream, a stately old man sat on an ivory throne, carving chess pieces out of pure gold. Two red haired youths, dressed in black silk, sat before him, playing gwyddbwyll [a chess-like game] upon a silver board with golden pieces. But of more import than these, he dreamt of a beautiful maiden, seated on a throne of red-gold. Her face shone as brightly as the sun, and she was dressed in a white silk gown with a surcoat of gold brocade, encrusted with gems. Macsen immediately fell in love with her. Understanding that his dream was a true vision, he knew that he would not rest until he found her, and sent out messengers to the far corners of the empire. Eventually they arrived at the Island of Britain and the castle of Aber Seint, which lay at the mouth of a river. The old man was called Eudaf, son of Caradawg, the youths were his sons, Cynan and Gadeon, and the maiden was his daughter, Elen. The two messengers fell on their knees and hailed Elen as the empress of Rome. Elen thanked them, but declared that if Macsen wished to marry her, he must come to Britain.

Accordingly, Macsen gathered his armies and landed in Britain, conquering the country as he went. For her dowry, Elen asked him for the three islands of Britain. She proceeded to build roads from one fortress to another throughout the land to protect her domain. When these roads were built, they were called Sarn Elen or Elen's Roads.

Macsen remained in Britain with Elen for seven years, during which another emperor usurped his position in Rome. Taking his forces with him, he returned to Italy, but was unable to take the city of Rome until Elen's brothers arrived to help him.

Macsen Wledig was based on a real historical character, the emperor Magnus Maximus [383-8 CE], a Spanish general who came to Britain and married the daughter of a Welsh chieftain, Elen Luyddog, “Elen of the Hosts”.

Roman roads in Britain are often called Sarn Elen, but it is possible that the original Elen's causeways belong to a much earlier period. Evidence of earlier paving is found under some of the roads, but the straightness of the Roman roads must have impressed the locals. 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.

She is certainly a pre-Roman goddess, and possibly much older than the Celts. The first trackways across Britain are said to have been reindeer tracks; Elain is Welsh for deer, and it is possible that Elen is one of the horned goddesses portrayed in Celtic art, such as the two figures found at Lackford and Icklingham. Reindeer are the only deer where the females bear horns, though they died out in Britain at the end of the last Ice Age, so race memories of her must be very ancient indeed. Some of the Sarn Elen tracks are associated with the Wild Hunt, led in some places by the Horned God, and in others by the Death Goddess. Some say that the tracks we call ley lines are spirit paths that the souls of the dead travel to the afterlife. Perhaps she was a psychopomp, guiding wayfarers on unknown paths in this world and the next, or a shamanic deity who guided the spirit flights of witches. Certainly, many people have experienced strange things on the Sarn Elen. The Welsh revered Elen as Elen of the Roads who at Beltane (1st May) opened the season of travel.

It is interesting too that Macsen gained sovereignty of Britain only when he married Elen, perhaps its protective deity. She may have resurfaced in the Arthurian tales, where she appears as Elaine who became the wife of Lancelot and mother of Galahad. The daughter of Old King Cole of nursery rhyme fame is also Helen. Alfred Watkins showed that Cole was an ancient figure, his name relating to coel or 'omen', associated with ancient trackways, or what Watkins dubbed leylines, giving rise to place-names such as Coldharbour, Cole's Farm and Colchester.

We should not forget that Elen is said to shine like the sun, and sits on a red gold throne, indicating that she is a goddess with solar associations. Likewise are two brothers are described as having red hair, which generally indicates a supernatural character. As a sun goddess, she charges the wells and springs of Britain with healing energy. She was translated into the Christian saint Helen.

 Elen guards all the magical pathways of the land, the lines of energy that stretch across the sacred Isle of Britain and the rest of the world, connecting its holy wells, stone circles, quoits, dolmens, holy hills and other holy sites. She is the pathfinder who reveals magical quests, the guardian both the inner and outer life paths. Elen reveals your path as a soul guide, working through omens, dreams and visions. She can be contacted through vision quests, astral travel, pathworking, meditation and dreams.

 NB: This short article is not from my more comprehensive Goddess Encyclopaedia