A White Goddess
They worshipped the Great Goddess Danae, or Danu, and it is suggested that another band of these refugees went to Ireland, where they were known as the Tuatha De Danaan, “the Children of the Goddess Dana”.
Gerald Brousseau Gardner (1884 -1964)
Doncaster in South Yorkshire owes it’s name to the now more beautiful than it has been in years, dark hungry river Don, so called in turn in remembrance of the Celtic mother Goddess Don, or as she was also known; Danu or Anu.
Not just a mother Goddess, Don was the mother of the Gods. She ruled over the watery depths.
She afforded protection and rescue from drowning for those who sought her benediction.
Her starry counterpart is the constellation of Cassiopeia. A shamed mythic figure suspended upside down (sound familiar?) in the depths of the night sky forming a letter “W”, or to put it another way; an inverse “M”. (Consider Inguz?)
Following on from our pilgrimage to Walsingham to encounter there the sacred feminine, members of The Clan of Tubal Cain visited a Marian shrine in Doncaster.
Like her counterpart in Walsingham, the icon of our Lady of Doncaster had been taken to London from its home in the Carmelite priory, and given to the pyre of the reformation.
Interestingly our Lady of Doncaster is also said to protect and rescue from drowning.
On 15 July 1524 William Nicholson of Townsburgh attempted to cross the Don with an iron-bound wain in which were Robert Leche and his wife and their two children; being overwhelmed by the stream they called on our Lady of Doncaster and by her help came safely ashore; they came to the White Friars and returned thanks on St. Mary Magdalen’s Day, when ‘this gracious miracle was rung and sung in the presence of 300 people and more.’
William Page (1861-1934)
We found her modern day counterpart in the church of Saint Peter in chains in Doncaster not far from where the original shrine had stood (but is now built over).
Surrounded in an aqua glow, north light pouring through the exquisite stained glass, her pure white image issued consolation, peace and gentleness in a building full of sharp angles and everything that is so wrong about a certain era’s bleak architecture.
Her shrine is without doubt the vital core of that particular sacred space, rewarding those who approach in a good heart and with an open mind.
Enjoy the images and if you get the chance to, check her out for yourself.
Long years have passed since your shrine was forsaken,
Now once more honoured, we kneel here today,
Come to our aid in this land, once your dowry,
Lady of Doncaster, hear us we pray.
(Extract from Hymn to Mary of Doncaster)
FFF
Carol Stuart Jones
Maid of Tubal Cain
References:
1) The Meaning of Witchcraft: Page 57: G B Gardner: (1959) available at Melissa Seims wonderful website: http://www.thewica.co.uk/Gerald%20Gardner.htm
2) The Victoria history of the county of Yorkshire: Volume 3: (1907) Page 267: Edited by William Page: Constable and Co: London: Online version at: http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924088434919
3) Mary of Doncaster: http://doncaster.catholicweb.com/