Ever since having that vision about me wearing antlers, I’ve been delving into the gods with horns – but I couldn’t really find any female goddesses with horns. Not really anyways – I mean there is Isis, kind of depicted with horns sometimes, or is it a disc on her head, or is it not. Then there’s Hathor, but she was a cow horned goddess, not an antlered goddess. Then of course there’s Diana and Artemis – but although they are forest goddesses, they were never actually depicted with horns, like their male counterpart(s). I was a little perturbed by this because I thought for the life of me that there was an antlered goddess – just couldn’t remember who she was.
Then, this week I found this:
Elen of the Ways is about the ancient shamanism of Britain. Elen Sentier grew up in a long family lineage of following the Deer Trods; in this book she tells of the old, forgotten ways of our ancestors. Through her own experience, stories, practical exercises and journeys with the deer, Elen takes you into the realm of the Boreal Forest, of which Britain is a part, to show how the Deer Goddess is the spirit of this land. To walk the deer trods is to realise how close and connected you are to nature and everything in this beautiful world which we share with our non-human brethren. You learn, too, that our everyday world and otherworld are intertwined. Elen of the Ways is both here and there at the same time. You will find her everywhere.
Anyone heard of her? In all my life and study I’ve never heard of this Goddess!! I am so excited. Ordered the book immediately.
Update – a fellow blogger graciously gave me these links – more on Elen of the Ways – Elen of the Lays – the Green Lady. Totally fascinating stuff. I am so grateful for coming across this material – I feel like this is the one I’ve been looking for.
Caroline Wise first rediscovered Elen after many man years of research. I can’t find her book entitled ‘Elen of the Shimmering Ways’, out in 1986, but here is an excerpt from it. I may actually email her and ask where her book can be found.
http://www.andrewcollins.com/page/articles/elen_1.htm
http://mirrorofisis.freeyellow.com/id152.html
February 13, 2014 at 8:56 pm
I wish you hadn’t ordered the book since the information was plagiarized from Carolyn Wise which named her and has researched her for over 20 years.
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February 14, 2014 at 12:50 am
Hi there! Crazy! I haven’t been able to find anything about this plagiarism online – do you have any links?
Read a few book reviews and people do compare the two ladies, but here’s no mention of one stealing from the other. Also on the ‘Star of Elen’ website (Caroline Wise’s) in the friends listings there are two teachers of Sentier’s listed.
Do you know if there is an actual accusation of plagiarism?
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February 13, 2014 at 8:59 pm
http://www.andrewcollins.com/page/articles/elen_1.htm
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February 14, 2014 at 1:28 am
This is great – but the author does state that many other authors have gotten permission from her to use her research and build on it. And a few have. I’ve run across blogs regarding Elen as well. 1986 was a long time ago! It’s good that this Goddess is getting attention again no?
I guess what’s important to know is does Sentier cite Wise in her book? And her book has top notch reviews everywhere I look. She also sates that she has her own hereditary lineage. Perhaps she is building on it with Elen? Or perhaps she had no name for this Goddess before reading Wise?
What I want to know is where the term plagiarism came into it – because that is a very serious accusation for a writer. One she will want to know is being thrown around regarding her work.
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February 19, 2014 at 8:20 pm
Hi there, I have this book and the only mention of Caroline Wise is in the ‘about me’ section at the front of the book where her name is mentioned as part of a list of people who have helped Elen ‘along the way’ you could ask Elen herself, she has a blog and a website, just google her name: http://elensentier.wordpress.com
I enjoyed the book, though it was rather short, she seems to speak from the heart to the reader, which I liked, I hope you are able to find out some more information about the deer trods and Elen of the Ways, if you do I would love to read whatever you have discovered, as I too have been feeling an affinity to deers and antlers recently 🙂
All the best,
Louisa
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February 20, 2014 at 4:48 am
Hi Louisa,
I will keep looking. So far my research points to Caroline Wise – she seems to be the one who brought Elen out of the woods so to speak – but I found this really great article: http://www.traditionalharp.co.uk/Caer_Feddwyd/articles/Elen.htm
that throws a lot of doubt onto the mythos – that Elen, St. Helena and an ancient reindeer goddess are one in the same – and this is really Caroline Wise’s conclusion – that then many many since then (late 80s) have taken and run with (including Marion Zimmer Bradley in the Mists of Avalon series).
However, I am curious about the ancient reindeer goddess herself – and have heard there was one in other reindeer cultures. I’ll write more as I find it.
Antlers! Can’t get enough of them these days : )
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