Morgana, also known as Morgan le Fay, is a fairy queen and
sorceress of Arthurian legend. She is one of three elder half-sisters
to Arthur who are the daughters of Ygraine and Gorlois, the others
being Morgause and Elaine. Morgana hated Her half-brother Arthur
nearly from the day he was born, and the legends are full of
Her attempts to bring his downfall. Like Vivian,
She is said to have been a pupil of Merlin, and She is much associated
with the magical island of Avalon.
Avalon, which means "Apple Trees", is a magical Paradise-type
island or joyous Land of the Dead which is usually described
as an island in the seas of the west, and Morgana may originally
have been a sea-goddess. Avalon is also identified with Glastonbury,
a great hill or tor in present-day Somerset England, which in
modern Welsh is called Ynis Afallach, "Isle of Apples".
(Glastonbury Tor was once an island in a shallow marshy lake
before the land was drained). An earlier name for it was Ynys
Wydrin, or the "Isle of Glass" (though, oddly enough, the
English word "Glastonbury" is not a translation), and glass is
a substance associated in the Celtic mind with the Otherworld.
Many legends speak of fantastic castles or towers made of glass,
i.e. made from air or sea water, and Otherworld castles are frequently
said to be islands in the sea or the sky, like Caer Arianrhod.
The Irish legend of Emain Ablach is a probable antecedent for
Avalon. Emain Ablach (ablach means "apples"
in Irish) was another magical Otherworld island in the sea off
Scotland, which was said to be the home of Manannán
mac Lir, the God of the Sea.
Morgana is quite likely related to the Morrigan, the triple
Celtic goddess of battle and sexuality, whose three aspects are
named (usually) Macha,
Badb, and Nemain. Morgana with Her dark powers and designs for
Arthur's death can be seen as the Death or Crone aspect of the
triple Goddess, with Morgause as the Mother (of Mordred by Her
half-brother Arthur, as well as mother of Gaheris and Gawain),
with Elaine (a shadowy figure) perhaps as the Maiden. Morgana's
epithet "le Fay" translates to "the Fate"
(or "the Fairy", itself derived from "fate"),
again marking Her as a goddess of the ending of cycles.
And beginnings. For though Morgana is forever trying to destroy
Arthur, She also has powers of healing, and in the end She takes
Arthur in to Avalon, to be healed of his wounds. According to
prophecy, Arthur will wake, reborn, from an enchanted sleep to
return to Britain in the time of its greatest need. Her predecessor
Argante, called Queen of Avalon in earlier legends, was also
famed as a healer.
This card in a reading indicates great magic and the ending
(and beginning) of a cycle. The situation may provoke anger and
thoughts of revenge; try to access your great powers of healing
in this trying time, and aim them first and foremost upon yourself.
Alternate names: Morgan, Morgan le Faye, Morgain la Fée,
Morgaine
