Ladi Wen By Bendis

The Ladi Wen by Bendis

Lately I have been studying goddess stories and mythology throughout time. In my studies, it has been very evident the the changes in Her stories are a direct reflection in the lives of women. One such character, be she goddess or faerie, is the Lady Wen in Wales.

The Ladi Wen is a Cymric bogeyman, and of relatively late date, as attested by the mix of the native Cymric feminine form of white gwen and the form of 'Lady' in Ladi though she fits in with the variety of evil spirits abroad at All Hallows' Eve. She is typically represented as the spectral apparition of a woman (often headless) dressed in white. She was used as a bogeywoman to frighten children into obedience. The following poem used to be commonly recited and mentions the Ladi Wen:

A tail-less Black Sow and a White Lady without a head
May the tail-less black sow snatch the hindmost.
A tail-less black sow on winter's eve,
Thieves coming along knitting stockings.

The following are some of the legends associated with the Ladi Wen:

In Wales, there are places named White Lady's Meadow and White Lady's Lane. In former times, the white lady was said to appear, and points towards Ewenny. People said she knew where treasure was hidden, but could never go to find it. She was seen wringing her hands, as if in great trouble. A man once stopped to speak to her, and she was pleased. He asked what he could do to help her, and she answered that if he would hold her tightly by both hands until she told him to stop, her troubles would leave her. The man did as she asked, but the loud barking of a dog caused him to look around and release her hands. With a scream she cried, "I shall be bound for another seven years" and vanished.

At another place, a woman in white would occasionally appear. A farm worker returning home one evening met her. She approached him, saying, "Your wife has given birth to a babe. Go and bring the boy to me at once, that I may be saved." The man was surprised to hear this. He was afraid to do as she asked and was advised to have the infant christened before taking him, for fear he might die before his return. When he reached the spot where the white woman waited for him, he found her crying bitterly and wringing her hands, for one of the conditions of her soul's redemption was the kiss of a new-born and unbaptized child.

A shepherd, minding his master's sheep was resting in a sheltered nook where a huge rock covered with heather shielded him from the fierce sunshine at noontide. He looked a few paces away, and saw a white robed girl scattering a few roses. The shepherd waited until she was gone out of sight, and then went from his nook to gather the flowers. He looked at them, and said, "Oh, what beautiful flowers!" He replaced them where they had been scattered. Suddenly the maiden reappeared, looked at him kindly, and smiled sadly, but never uttered a word. That night he took the flowers home, and placed them in water. In the morning, he found three gold coins where the flowers had been.

A plowman was busy plowing a very large field. As he worded, he noticed a maiden robed in white, smoothing her hair in the sunshine, and beckoning him to her. At first, he took no notice, but as she repeated the signal, he worked up the courage to respond. The maiden told him she was a King's daughter who had sunk with a landslip into the ground. She could only be saved by a man who, without stopping or turning around, would carry her to the nearest churchyard, and throw her down with all his might. The plowman promptly picked her up, and ran with her to the nearest church. He was about to fling her off his shoulders when he suddenly heard something so loud that he looked around, and let her fall. The maiden flew into the air, crying that she must suffer more severely now, and wait another hundred years for a man with a more steady hand.

Another location had a white lady who was supposed to guard treasure, which was kept under the flooring of the tower. A man addressed her once, and she took him to the spot where she asked him to lift a large flooring-stone. This he did, and in a hole under the stone, he found an old crock full of golden guineas. "Take one half," said the white lady, and leave the remainder for me." He did as he told, and replaced the stone. One evening he thought he might as well have the other portion, and went to the spot and lifted the stone, and filled his pockets with the gold pieces. Just as he was leaving the castle, the white lady appeared, and accused him of theft. He denied having taken the gold, but she made him take off his coat, and in doing so the money fell out. The white lady then set upon him, and, to his dismay, he found she had claws instead of fingers, and with these, she nearly tore him to pieces. He shouted, and tried in vain to get out of her grasp, but he was not able to do so until she had badly hurt him. He went home, his clothes all torn, and was accused of having been in a drunken brawl, which he denied. Soon after he became ill, and over time, became worse. Nobody knew what his illness was, and eventually he wasted away. Before he died he confessed to his adventure, and people called his complaint "the white lady's revenge."

I found similarity in the story of Culhwch ac Olwen (Translated by Lady Charlotte Guest) at http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/celtic/ctexts/culhwch.html

“The maiden was clothed in a robe of flame-colored silk, and about her neck was a collar of ruddy gold, on which were precious emeralds and rubies. More yellow was her head than the flower of the broom, and her skin was whiter than the foam of the wave, and fairer were her hands and her fingers than the blossoms of the wood anemone amidst the spray of the meadow fountain. The eye of the trained hawk, the glance of the three-mewed falcon was not brighter than hers. Her bosom was more snowy than the breast of the white swan, her cheek was redder than the reddest roses. Whoso beheld her was filled with her love. Four white trefoils sprung up wherever she trod. And therefore was she called Olwen.”

Guest connects Olwen to Ladi Wen. Could Ladi Wen be a goddess, still hovering with us, attempting to reclaim us to her heart? When discussing Ladi Wen, she is described by Guest as, “a bright vision, clothed in white, with glossy, coal-black locks hanging over her shoulders and with a pale, care-worn face, having an expression of intense pain.”

I find I have great interest in these stories and look for where they cme from and can often see how they represent the disempowerment of the Goddess. In reading of her disempowerment, it was clear that we, who once loved and adored the Goddess, were turned by another god and in that she became something different. In all of these stories, we can read between the lines and hear the Goddess calling us back to her. She makes herself available but either through fear, distraction, of though our own greediness, we turn from her.

At this time of Samhain, it is a good time to pay her honor. Look for her in your dreams, in your visions. Call to her when you seek the spirits from across the veil. Release her from her bondage and offer her your hand.