In this episode of Journeys with the Goddess, we travel back to the source of all things, connecting with the element of water through the story behind the Well of Wisdom and the creation of the Boyne River.

We start the episode with a retelling of the story of Boann's origins as the Mother of the River Boyne, and then explore her through the history and lore, reflecting on how her story has been co-opted over the centuries to take away women's power.

From there, we move inward, with a purifying and healing guided meditation where we travel back to the source to remember we are always connected to something much bigger than ourselves.

Further Reading & Sources

• The Making of an Irish River Goddess: https://medium.com/queen-s-children/the-making-of-an-irish-river-goddess-603b311b0a63
• Excerpts from the relevant Dindshenchas :https://heelancoo.wordpress.com/tag/boann/
• Save the Boyne campaign: https://www.savetheboyne.org/

Journal Prompts:

1. In what ways have you disconnected with the natural forces of our Earth and how might you find ways to reconnect?
2. How has your voice been silenced by what you were told was forbidden or how society might have conditioned you to be a certain way?
3. What does the "Well of Wisdom" mean to you and how might you better access it in your own life?

The Song:

"The poetry of water, the poetry of sound.

Deep down, braided deep way down in the ground.

Water dancing, surging, merging, tumbling, oh so clear

Spirals, drips and drops and cycles and the changing of years

Whispered secrets, all conspiring, caught in the flow

Voices joining sing together its not so far to go..

To the waters, to the lakes the rapids, down to the sea,

Waterfalls, and lakes and pools and puddles, rivers, and streams,

Waves and movement, always trusting in the ebb and the flow,

Well its not so far to go…

Back to the source.

Ancient messaging down from clear and starry skies

But you don’t even have to look so hard or far or even try

For the source is always quiet and it comes from within

If we all share it, well then why’s it called original sin…?

The well it keeps the wisdom locked up in one place,

Whoe’er controls it, well its only its power that they taste,

But Who shall break it? Who’ll forsake their life for one for all

When Eve ate the apple didn’t she do it for us all?

But Why’d they call it the Fall?..

Water flows and yet look closely, for its always the same

When you look, outside, elsewhere, away, you’ve only got yourself to blame

But in the water are the secrets of all life and death

To Source eternal; now here then gone in one breath

The motion is only to the ocean,

The motion’s only to the sea,

The motion is in the devotion.

Devotion to the ocean…

Only those who drink the water will they know,

Only Those who listen trust in the flow,

In the echo of the stars, the earth below, the weeping wind,

The rain falls down reminds us to look within.

All is within, all is within.

The river flows, all we do is listen, clear our minds and listen

To The river as it flows, To the Poetry of water, the poetry of sound."