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| The dry well at Madron Chapel |
Long long ago in a land called Kernow on the far western shores
of a great island there lived a race of elves.
Kernow was then a place of majestic forests full of diverse
and ancient trees. The elves were
wise in the ways of the dryads, the stone people and the healing waters. They were the original peoples of the
land and were equally at home in the middle world as they were in the under
country below.
The elves were a people of peace who honored the Divine
Mother in all things. Their name
for Her is Madron. Madron loved
her elves and gifted them with sacred waters for the healing of all their ailments.
One of the places they treasured most was a sacred well that
had great power and deep wisdom.
They loved and tended that place with reverence and delighted in
adorning the Willow tree with offerings of colorful cloths and jewels. They named it Madron Well.
Time passed and the land changed. Tribes from the north came by boat and began settling the
land. The forests were cut for
homes and fields. More tribes,
more invasions, more people and buildings and roads, more noise and smell and
less reverence for the land… and the elves were forced underground.
With a large invasion came the church and their sun god the
Christos. Some of these people
still respected the old ways and built their churches in places of pagan
power. For a while the Christos
and the Madron were loved and honored equally.
At Madron Well a small stone chapel was built. In the front was an altar to the Sun
and at the back was the ever flowing waters of the Mother. The people came to remember the Divine
in this place for hundreds of years and the stones retained their songs.
The followers of the Christos lost
their way and turned against She who gave them life. They became sick of heart
and did great damage to the people and land. That is a story for
another time… The old chapel at Madron was forgotten and fell into ruin for
a long time, visited only by elves and pagans in the dark and safety of the
night. But still, the healing waters continued to flow.
Times changed and the world got more and more crowded and
out of balance. A reckless monster
fueled by fear and greed was unleashed upon the land and its people, devouring life
and threatening to destroy any who dared to resist his voracious appetite. Some of the spirits in the land
recoiled to protect themselves. At Madrons Chapel, the water stopped flowing for the first
time in centuries.
All the while the spirit of Madron remained deep in the hearts and blood of
the people of peace. Like a well of remembrance her power was profound and
abiding. The time had come full
circle. She quickened her pulse in
the land and more people began to awaken and return to the old ways of their
ancestors.
People returned to her waters. Most came hoping to receive healing, vision, or guidance. But one group was different. They came
in service to the Queen; the Madron.
When they saw that the waters had stopped flowing into the
chapel they were deeply affected and reached out to see how they might help. They knew that in order to open the way
for the flow to return they would have to sacrifice their own waters; their
tears of love and loss for the world.
The women began keening and wailing; offering their tears into the stone
lined well where the waters once pooled.
They cracked themselves open to find the well of sadness within. The local nature spirits were pleased,
and Briga their Go-Between jumped in to help. The men stood behind with deep
respect, protection and love for the Goddess and in that moment something was
made right.
A few days later the harvest eclipse full moon rose and the
magic that had been worked on that fateful day was completed. The waters returned, Madron reclaimed
her rightful throne, and the elves went on a mission of mischief making to
quell the Monster...
