Epona
Written & Art By Liza Lambertini
Epona is revered through legend and folklore as a Goddess of compassion of love. She is the protector of all horses, fondness for mares and their foals. She carries the Horn of Plenty (abundance). In this picture I chose to depict her in a happy moment during the early morning as the suns rays begin to warm the grass and air. Everyday Epona visited Sky (the mare) until she was ready to give birth. The mare Sky allowed Epona to tend to her during that fragile moment of giving birth. Soft words spoken and gentle hands, soothed the mare during this time, forging a friendship between them both of mutual trust and respect. Now that the foal is doing very well, his curiosity of Epona gets the best of him. Sensing his mothers relaxed posture, he boldly steps forward to meet her. Sniffing her hand, he touches her for the first time. Epona makes no move to touch him but allows him to explore her hand and sleeve. She talks to him softly all the while.
“On the morrow he will be sitting in my lap I believe” Epona says to Sky smiling down at the little foal.
“Lets have a look then” Epona says to Sky
Lifting up each hoof she cleans out the packed mud, carefully checking to make sure that Sky is doing well. Satisfied, Epona gives the mare a scratch behind the ears and combs out her mane with her fingers. Sky has come to love the attention and grooming that Epona does for her. Turning her head she presses Epona into her front shoulder hugging her, wrapping her arms around the mare she hugs her back resting her head into Sky’s neck..
This is a moment filled with love and gratitude for them both.
The little foal decides to grab Epona’s cape with his mouth and tug. Laughing Epona lets go of Sky and shoos the little bugger off.
“Now they’ll be none of that I say” Epona wags a finger at the foal smiling all the while. Letting go he scoots around his mother.
“I see he has a strong spirit already Sky. I will think on it and perhaps on the morrow I will have come up with a good strong name for your son. We’ll work together on teaching him and he will turn out to be a noble and gentle horse with a very sweet eye.”
Giving the Sky a kiss on the nose Epona turns and walks past Sky to greet and check the other horses that live in the lush green field below the castle. All excitedly weave back and forth knowing Epona is coming greeting each and every one. None would rush or trample her, nor crowd her or argue in her presence.
I wanted to depict a story here about Epona that had to do with her daily life after she was restored to her position. I made this up as I went along. I would suppose anyone who loved horses had a daily routine day by day. I would imagine a strong woman like herself would want to oversee her own horses, care for them, communicate with them loving them. Moving onward and doing what she loved most in her life.