Morgan...Argante...Nimue...Niniane...Viviane...Niamh...Nynaeve...The Lady of the Lake appears in the myths of every Celtic nation, under many different names. She is a representative of the land's sovereignty, a priestess of the Earth Mother. It is she who gave King Arthur his sword Excalibur, the sacred blade by which he was empowered to do the Mother's will. The Lady of the Lake appears in many guises in the Arthurian cycle, sometimes challenging Arthur, but sometimes saving him from danger. She is the Lady of Destiny, whose task is to keep Arthur strong and powerful as long as he needs to be, and then to preside over his inevitable defeat at the hands of the next king. For it is also she who rears the great Sir Lancelot in the depths of her lake, and trains him to become the greatest warrior alive. (The later stories depict Lancelot and Guinevere as merely a human couple sneaking around behind a husband's back, but a deeper analysis reveals that Guinevere, also a representative of sovereignty, is thereby choosing the worthiest man in the land to be the next king.) And yet the Lady is not an enemy of Arthur's; it is she who carries him to her Lake for healing after Mordred wounds him. In the Lady's care he rests, waiting until the time is right to return.

The Lady of the Lake can be found at any of the places which have been reputed to be the site of Avalon. It was in an astral journey to Dosmary Pool, in Cornwall, that I met her. There, she lives in an underwater castle, shielded from mundane eyes by the illusions of the Ellyllon (faeries). The faeries can be mischievous, but are friendly when approached respectfully by a person who keeps magic alive in her or his heart. The Lady herself can tell you many secrets of the past and future.