The Monastery of Annwn hosts online events open to the wider community.
Our meditation group focuses on the Brythonic lore surrounding Annwn and its King and Queen, Gwyn ap Nudd and Creiddylad. In our meditations we explore the lore experientially in order to deepen our relationships with our Gods and with the Otherworld and share our experiences in group discussions.
Our ritual year centres on the seasonal mythos of Gwyn and Creiddylad. Our ritual format includes prayers, offerings, meditations and the sharing of bardic creativity.
All events take place by video call on Zoom and everyone is welcome. Please email themonasteryofannwn@gmail.com for the link. PDFs will later be made available to those who cannot make the sessions in person.
CALENDAR
Sunday 26th May 6 – 7pm UK – The Sleeping King (Meditation Group)
In British mythology the best known sleeping king is Arthur. It is little known that Arthur’s leadership of the Wild Hunt and role as sleeping king was usurped from Gwyn ap Nudd, Winter’s King, who is killed on Calan Mai by Gwythyr ap Greidol, Summer’s King, then sleeps in His fortress until summer’s end. In this session we will be exploring these myths. We will then discuss our experiences of connecting with Gwyn whilst He sleeps. This will be followed by a guided meditation to visit our Sleeping King in His tomb in the Caer Ochren, the Castle of Cold Stone, and spend some time with Him.
Sunday 30th June 6 – 7pm UK – Summer Here Winter There (Meditation Group)
‘Without contraries is no progression’ – William Blake
Summer and Winter, Gwyn and Gwythyr, Thisworld and the Otherworld, life and death. In this session we will be exploring and discussing the contrary relationships between Gwyn and Gwythyr and the worlds and how they drive becoming. In our meditation we will experience the contrast between Thisworld at the height of Summer and the Otherworld in the throes of Winter.
Sunday 28th July 6 – 7pm UK – Meditation Group
Sunday 23rd August 6 -7pm UK – Meditation Group
Sunday 29th September 6 – 7pm UK – Gwyn’s Feast (Ritual)
Thursday 31st October 6 – 7pm UK – Nos Galan Gaeaf – Gwyn’s Hunt (Ritual)
Sunday 24th November 6 – 7pm UK – Meditation Group
Saturday 21st December 6 – 7pm UK – Winter King (Ritual)
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RITUAL ARCHIVE
2024
Calan Mai – The Battle of Gwyn and Gwythyr 2024
The Flowers of Creiddylad 2024
2023
Calan Mai – The Battle of Gwyn and Gwythyr 2023
Gwyn’s Feast 2023
Nos Galan Gaeaf – Gwyn’s Hunt 2023
Winter King 2023
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MEDITATION GROUP ARCHIVE
2024
Sunday 14th April 6 – 7pm UK time
Sacred places of Gwyn ap Nudd Avalon to Ynyslas
Castel Dinas Bran Llangollen: Reflections on St Collen and the Fairy King through the Mirror in the Mists
This month we will be exploring Castel Dinas Bran and its connection to the story of Gwyn ap Nudd and St. Collen. However not as we know it! Inspired by personal insights, Sister Aelfwyn has rewritten the story with a twist, a mirror image: what if not all was as it seemed? What if St Collen set up his monk’s cell within the dwelling place of Gwyn ap Nudd with the intention of devoting himself to the Fairy King? Did he intend to become a monastic devotee to the gods of Annwn? We will then go onto a meditation to meet Gwyn ap Nudd through the Mirror in the Mists and reflect on our own experiences.
Sunday 11th February 6 – 7pm UK time
Meditation on the sacred places of Gwyn, Avalon to Ynyslas
The Berwyn Mountains – Throne of Gwyn ap Nudd
This month we will be focusing on the surroundings of the Berwyn Mountains North Wales and exploring some of the folklore that came to be associated with Gwyn ap Nudd as The king of mists. We will then go onto a meditation to meet Gwyn ap Nudd upon his high throne located above a magical waterfall.
Sunday 14th January 6 – 7pm UK time – Sacred Silence
Silence is defined in various dictionaries as ‘the absence of sound’ or ‘a state of not speaking or writing’. In The Book of Silence Sara Maitland notes it can mean ‘without language… not a lack of language but an otherness different from language. Not an absence of sound but the presence of something which is not sound… God is silence’. In this session we will be discussing the nature of silence and its role in our spiritual paths and practices and sharing a silent meditation.
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2023
Thursday 14th December – The Birth of Gwyn
We have no lore relating to Gwyn’s birth in the Brythonic tradition. However, in ‘The Spoils of Annwn’, we find lines that suggest there was a certain amount of mystery surrounding the birth of Pen Annwn. Taliesin berates monks who do not know when He was born. We will be looking at the stories of the birth of Gwyn’s Irish cognate, Finn, and other deities then meditating on the birth of Gwyn.
Thursday 9th November – The Forest of Annwn
In this session we will be looking at Gwyn’s associations with forests far away and coming home through the lens of the invocation of Gwyn ap Nudd in the 14th century manuscript Speculum Christiani – ‘Gwyn ap Nudd who are far in the forests for love of your mate allow us to come home.’ We will be visiting the Forest of Annwn in meditation and seeking advice on how to ‘come home’.
From Avalon to Ynyslas
Exploring the sacred places of Gwyn ap Nudd
By Sister Aelfwyn
During the next set of monthly meditations we will be exploring the sacred places associated with Gwyn ap Nudd in a series called from Avalon to Ynyslas
We will be journeying through the magical sites of Wales and the surrounding areas associated with Gwyn ap Nudd with stories, poetry and meditations based on a mixture of personal journeys inspired by The Mabinogion, Welsh Faerie lore and archaeological/historical evidence.
Week 1
Avalon – Glastonbury Tor
Thursday 10th August
The story of St Collen and the King of Faerie
Monastery members will be reading a translation of the story St. Collen in the style of a play, followed by a meditation in which we will journey to the cell of St. Collen, and the court of the Faery King Gwyn ap Nudd.
Week 2
Dream Temple of Nodens – Lydney Park
Thursday 14th September
Exploring Nodens Brythonic God of healing and dreams, father of Gwyn ap Nudd Lord of Annwn.
We will start with a story of Lydney park Temple through the ages using a mixture of archaeological, historical evidence and personal inspiration. Followed by a meditation to meet Nodens and visit to the Temple of Healing and Dreams.
Week 3
Twrch Trwyth
Thursday 12th October
Path of the Twrch Trwyth – Landscape of South Wales.
I offer this talk and meditation in honour of Gwyn as protector of the Twrch Trwyth the wild boar that is hunted and chased down through the landscape of South Wales. I tell this tale inspired by the medieval Welsh story of Culhwch and Olwen found in the Mabinogion, with a mixture of Geological facts, and my own personal research and instinctive visions inspired by meditation and journey work. We will then go onto a meditation to meet Gwyn within the Black Mountains of Wales and explore how we shape our own landscape as we travel upon our path.
Thorn’s Train Journey – Thursday 13th July
In this journey, Thorn guides us to the Otherworld to meet Gwyn ap Nudd as the conductor of a mysterious train. Listeners will have the opportunity for a brief conversation with Gwyn before returning to Thisworld.
Thorn’s Train Journey
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Meditations on the Conversation of Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwyddno Garanhir
We are beginning with ‘The Conversation of Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwyddno Garanhir‘, which is a medieval Welsh poem from The Black Book of Carmarthen. In these sessions we will read it slowly, verse by verse, discuss the meaning and background, and meditate upon chosen phrases and verses in order to gain deeper understanding and gnosis of the dialogue and of Gwyn as a Brythonic God.
Week One – Introduction with translator Greg Hill – Thursday 10th November
An introduction to the ‘The Conversation of Gwyn ap Nudd and Gwyddno Garanhir’ with awenydd and Brythonic polytheist Greg Hill. This will be followed by a short introductory meditation visualising the meeting of Gwyn and Gwyddno.
Devotional – Meeting Gwyn ap Nudd
Introduction to translation of Gwyn and Gwyddno by translator Greg Hill
Meditation – The Meeting of Gwyn and Gwyddno
Week Two – Bull of Battle – Thursday 8th December
We will be looking at the epithets by which Gwyddno addresses Gwyn – ‘bull of battle’, ‘leader of many’, ‘invincible lord’, and ‘lord of hosts’ and meditating on what these reveal about His nature.
Introduction – Bull of Battle
Meditation – Bull of Battle
Week Three – ‘Many battles, many deaths’ – Thursday 12th January
We will be discussing and meditating on Gwyn’s revelation of His land of origin. When Gwyddno asks Gwyn “Where is the land from which you come?” He replies obliquely, “I come from many battles, many deaths.” We will be unpicking the many meanings of Gwyn’s reply and journeying to the land of which he speaks.
Introduction – Many Battles, Many Deaths
Meditation – Journey to the Land of Many Battles and Many Deaths
Week Four – Gwyn’s Descent – Thursday 9th February
When Gwyddno asks Gwyn about His ‘descent’ strangely Gwyn introduces His horse, ‘Carngrwn from battle throng’ before he introduces Himself as ‘Gwyn ap Nudd, the lover of Creiddylad, daughter of Lludd.’ We will be exploring Gwyn’s relationship with His father, Nudd, and sister, Creiddylad and the importance of descent in medieval Welsh culture and in earlier traditions. In our meditation we will be conversing with Gwyn about the importance of knowing our own ancestry.
Introduction – Gwyn’s Descent
Meditation – Descent with Gwyn to the Ancestors
Week Five – The Otherside – Thursday 9th March
Gwyn speaks of being called away to a battle that is not on ‘the Tawe here in this land / But the one far away in a distant land’ and speaks of witnessing a battle at Caer Fanddwy, a fortress in Annwn. We will be meditating on these otherworld conflicts.
Introduction – The Otherside
Meditation – Journey to the Battle at Caer Fanddwy
Week Six – Horse and Hound – Thursday 13th April
Gwyn’s horse Carngrwn ‘Round-Hoofed’, and hound Dormach (which has been translated as ‘Death’s Door’) are intrinsicially linked with Him as a divine warrior-huntsman. We will be looking at their representation in the text and meeting them in a meditation.
Introduction – Horse and Hound
Meditation – A Journey with Carngrwn or Dormach
Week Seven – Warriors of the Old North – Thursday 11th May
Towards the end of the poem Gwyn states His presence at the deaths of a number of northern British warriors. We will be looking at their stories and the battles they died in. We will then be meditating on Gwyn’s presence at the death of Gwenddolau at the Battle of Arfderydd (which is where Myrddin Wyllt went mad).
Introduction – Warriors of the Old North
Meditation – The Battle of Arfderydd
Week Eight – ‘Gwyn and the Warriors of Britain’ – Thursday 8th June
At the end of the poem Gwyn speaks the lines – ‘I have been where the warriors of the Britain were slain / From the east to the south; / I live on; they are dead’. We will be meditating on Gwyn’s role as a psychopomp and God of the dead and His fate of living on whilst all mortals die. We will be discussing Gwyn’s role as a gatherer of souls in the present day and rounding up the series.
Introduction and Meditation – Gwyn and the Warriors of Britain
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