Jeanette Ellis has been working both in the craft and as jewellers for over twenty two years.
Her life is somewhat busy with running a Coven, The Raven and The Rose, two Pagan Festivals, firstly The Halloween (Festival) Bash and later Beltane Bash with its famous Pagan Pride Parade which is the oldest in the world and now The Ancestors Night. The (very) long awaited Forbidden Rites to be published soon. Jeanette is also great believer in conserving folk traditions and so in her spare time (WHAT spare time- J) organise carrying a giantess The Morrigan with her two Ravens and the Raven Drummers. Also of course Jeanette is Caduceus Pagan Jewellery.
Fred Letch
High Priest of The Raven and The Rose coven, Fred's partner and 'affiliated ' to the coven,
due to his performance at The Halloween Festival
fondly known by all as The Man in Woad.
Uzo, Freds partner
Steve Smyth
Coven member with a great sense of humour.
Sarah Smyth -Steve's Daughter (ah Daddy and daughter pretty in pink!)
Pam and partner John
You'll find them both welcoming at the front door.
Feel free to ask any questions, both are lovely people and very helpful.
Dee
What can be said about Dee! Please see The Halloween Bash for details!
Leslie and Vix our famous dancers, they will of course be
dancing again at the Beltane Bash
Last but most important The Morrigan and Her Ravens!!
Who are The Ravens!
You will often see us at events, wearing black tatter capes, which symbolise the feathers of ravens.
We are a friendly bunch of people who meet up for pagan events such as The Beltane Bash and The Halloween Festival, Fairy Fest, The Battle of Camlann (supporting Morgan Le Fay of course) and Folk traditions such as Hastings, Jack in the Green Festival.
We are the team that supports
The Morrigan, which is a 15ft giant weighs about 85 pounds and is carried by only one porter at a time.
The Team consists of The Morrigan (of course!), the two Ravens Glas and Dearg, the Giant Master, Banner Bearer, Porters, Catchers and Drum Core. The Giant Master is Jeanette Ellis and can be seen carrying the Stang leading the team. The Banner Bearer is directly behind the Stang carrying The Raven Banner. We then have The Morrigan who towers above the team.
She is mainly carried by Fred Letch although we now have Pete who carried her up the hill at Hastings this year and is now a porter after a very successful carry. Around the Giants is always a team of catchers which will aid the porter if the need arises. The Morrigan has never fallen or stumbled in her thirteen years however we have an excellent team who are trained for every eventuality. Behind The Morrigan we have the Drum Core which is lead by Uzo. The Drummers form 2 lines behind the Giant with Glas and Dearg our Raven Giants, bringing up the rear. The drummers then part forming a walkway where The Morrigan dances up to Her Ravens and dances with them. The Ravens are carried by Dee and new porter Sarah who carried for the first time the whole route at Hastings!
The Morrigan (The- is her title, there is only one)
The Morrigan is a Celtic Goddess, however she was first worshipped in Pre-Celtic times. She was said to have flown into Ireland with the Tuatha De Danna. Her name is also known in France, first of all settling in Britain and then in Wales before travelling on to Ireland. The Morrigan is the War Goddess and also the seductress and the mother.
The Morrigan means Great Queen and her legend describes her as a beautiful young woman with nine tresses of long dark hair wearing a robe in the colours of the rainbow. The Morrigan also appears as either a young but ugly woman or an old woman with long hair and a torn robe, of course like all good fairy stories, once kissed by the prince she changes back into the sexy Goddess she always was. Her name has survived in Ireland as The Morrigan and in Wales as The Morrigu but unfortunately the English name is lost to history.
The Ravens of The Morrigan
The Morrigan is now joined by two new Raven Giants, which are 7 foot tall.
The Morrigan’s birds are the Raven and the Crow, which are used as messengers to and from Her people. The Crow family are considered to be the most intelligent of all the bird families and they can be taught to speak. The Morrigan is said to wear a cloak of Raven feathers to fly.
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