Arawn: Welsh God of Trickery, Vengeance, and Winter

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user525
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Patron Deities: Arawn
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Hello all! I've been debating making this thread for a little while. My patron deity is Arawn, and while my time working with him so far has been short, it's been very powerful for me personally. I wanted to share here what I've found and experienced about him, as resources on him seem to be few and far between.

Arawn is traditionally a Welsh god of Revenge, Justice, War, and Death. He is introduced in "The Mabinogion", which is a series of stories not unlike epic tales such as King Arthur or the Odyssey. In the First Branch, he is found making a deal with Pwyll after the lordling kills his hunting quarry, wherein they will switch places (Arawn lording over Pwyll's land, and Pwyll taking Arawn's place in the underworld) for a year and a day in order to defeat one of Arawn's long time enemies. I bring this up because we'll come back to this in just a second, if you're interested in the story at all I recommend giving it, and the rest of The Mabinogion a read.

In later years, the idea of the king of the Otherworld and king of the fae changed to an entity called Gwyn ap Nudd, who adopted the role of the god of Death and associations with the Wild Hunt. Mentions of Arawn faded in many texts that I have found in recent years outside of translations/dissections of the Mabinogion.

In my experience, Arawn is a god of Vengeance, Trickery, and Winter. The characterization of him prizing justice and punishing those who have wronged you have been very strong in our interactions (and I can share how he reached out to me in another post as this one is getting long haha). What seems to surprise most people that I speak with is that I consider him a god of trickery. I do not believe that he evolved into Gwyn ap Nudd. I believe that they changed places. In many of the original stories about Arawn, his playfulness and grey nature has always stood out to me. In my experience, I believe he was initially tasked with watching the Otherworld, but upon the rise of the fae king, managed to get the hell out of dodge and give that responsibility to someone else. Finally, it's been often said that Arawn is mostly active through the seasons of Fall and Winter. While I don't know what he is up to right now (hopefully vacationing somewhere warm with the Cwn Annwn!), this also seems to be true in my experience with him. His energy and strength of contact has dropped off since the beginning of spring.

I hope that this may help some people, and this is more of a summary of my experiences with Arawn rather than an end all be all. Please feel free to ask me any questions about my experiences with him, any confusions you may have, or anything else you'd like to know! I will try my best to answer.
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Shifa
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Ooh a trickster!
Fall into the depths of nothingness beyond the dark
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Noctua
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I've worked with Gwyn ap Nudd and I definitely agree with you about these gods changing places. There seem to be quite a few Underworld lords and ladies among the celtic pantheons and I love how, based on what I've learned, even these deities have such a practical sort of political approach to reign over their domains. Replace the presidents or prime ministers of a nation with revolving gods of an entire realm.
I've noticed in my interactions that the Welsh, Scottish, Irish deities seem to be on certain terms with each other and reasonably acquainted as well. They also tend to reach out and to make 'relations' with gods of other pantheons (Greek, Roman, Norse).

There is just soooo much to learn interacting with them. I love that you've spoken about Arawn here and it's honorable you're representing him. I'm of Welsh heritage, yet for some reason beyond a few exceptions have not had the calling or opportunity to work with very many of these powers. My namesakes are after a few welsh deities whom I didn't have full conscious communion with until much later in my path. I'm thrilled to see the energy of this divine current honored here and tip my hat to you, Ms! A humble hail to Arawn from me.
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Conium
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Ah! I've been wondering about Arawn for a while now. The thing that strikes me the most is the interplay of his "domains:" vengence, trickery, and Winter. At first glance it doesn't really seem to fit all that well together, but after thinking about it, it really does. There's a beautiful balance there and I'm so happy that you've made this post :devillove:
"Let your darkness lead you to your light."

“You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
user525
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Noctua wrote:
Thu Mar 07, 2019 4:11 pm
I've worked with Gwyn ap Nudd and I definitely agree with you about these gods changing places. There seem to be quite a few Underworld lords and ladies among the celtic pantheons and I love how, based on what I've learned, even these deities have such a practical sort of political approach to reign over their domains. Replace the presidents or prime ministers of a nation with revolving gods of an entire realm.
I've noticed in my interactions that the Welsh, Scottish, Irish deities seem to be on certain terms with each other and reasonably acquainted as well. They also tend to reach out and to make 'relations' with gods of other pantheons (Greek, Roman, Norse).

There is just soooo much to learn interacting with them. I love that you've spoken about Arawn here and it's honorable you're representing him. I'm of Welsh heritage, yet for some reason beyond a few exceptions have not had the calling or opportunity to work with very many of these powers. My namesakes are after a few welsh deities whom I didn't have full conscious communion with until much later in my path. I'm thrilled to see the energy of this divine current honored here and tip my hat to you, Ms! A humble hail to Arawn from me.
Thank you for replying! It's really relieving/validating/I'm not finding the right word here lol to have someone else see the same things diety wise, especially when I feel like I'm sometimes stumbling in the dark on finding things on and about Arawn. And also thank you for your super sweet comments in general, I'm glad that this post could give you some good vibes, and glad that it stirred something in you <3
Wilboi wrote:
Fri Mar 08, 2019 2:48 pm
Ah! I've been wondering about Arawn for a while now. The thing that strikes me the most is the interplay of his "domains:" vengence, trickery, and Winter. At first glance it doesn't really seem to fit all that well together, but after thinking about it, it really does. There's a beautiful balance there and I'm so happy that you've made this post :devillove:
I had no idea! Feel free to hit me up on discord or here with any questions you may have or any experiences you have with him, I would LOVE to read them! And I suppose it does seem like an odd grouping of concepts, now that you bring it up haha!
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Passchendaele
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Thank you so much for this post. I am not at all familiar with Welsh Deities, but would love to learn more, their place in the greater Celtic belief systems of the the British Isles and Brittany, in France.
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“All art that is not mere storytelling or mere portraiture is symbolic...If you liberate a person or a landscape from the bonds of motives and their actions, causes and their effects...it will change under your eyes, and become a symbol of infinite emotion, a perfected emotion, a part of the Dark Divine Essence.”

William Butler Yeats

(The italicized word “dark” is my addition.)
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laalbieglna
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Wilboi wrote:
Fri Mar 08, 2019 2:48 pm
Ah! I've been wondering about Arawn for a while now. The thing that strikes me the most is the interplay of his "domains:" vengence, trickery, and Winter. At first glance it doesn't really seem to fit all that well together, but after thinking about it, it really does. There's a beautiful balance there and I'm so happy that you've made this post :devillove:
Growing up somewhere with severe winters, and the trickery of false springs for that matter, his group of domains makes total sense to me. A deep study and contemplation of various aspects of the natural world, and experience consciously living in them, gives so much insight into Deity and opens up such deeper levels that their sacred stories have to offer.
Conium
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laalbieglna wrote:
Sat Mar 09, 2019 9:05 am
Wilboi wrote:
Fri Mar 08, 2019 2:48 pm
Ah! I've been wondering about Arawn for a while now. The thing that strikes me the most is the interplay of his "domains:" vengence, trickery, and Winter. At first glance it doesn't really seem to fit all that well together, but after thinking about it, it really does. There's a beautiful balance there and I'm so happy that you've made this post :devillove:
Growing up somewhere with severe winters, and the trickery of false springs for that matter, his group of domains makes total sense to me. A deep study and contemplation of various aspects of the natural world, and experience consciously living in them, gives so much insight into Deity and opens up such deeper levels that their sacred stories have to offer.
That's actually something I've never consciously thought of in all honesty. That opens up a whole other level of connecting to different deities and learning more about them. Thank you!
"Let your darkness lead you to your light."

“You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know.”
― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray
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