5) What Do Women Want? The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Hag Ragnell "Interpretation #1"

And from that point on they lived happily ever after, or at least as long as they lived. The witch, now transformed back into her original self--the Lady Ragnell--was very beautiful. Indeed she was regarded as the most ravishingly beautiful creature in the kingdom. She and Sir Gawain were ecstatically happy together.

She had changed. You see the witch is the person, man or woman (in this case a woman), caught in an image of ugliness, inadequacy, unworthiness. And the transformation out of that spell, out of that state of consciousness that takes over our self-image, is to awaken, to gain "self-awareness" and to know who we really are. And to have the courage and "self-control" to appropriately ask for what you really want and what you really need and deserve; even though your appearance hides or masks the reality of who you are as a person underneath a cloak of ugliness.

People hearing this story are often puzzled as to why the woman is described as a hag that must transform into a beautiful woman. Some women have even been offended by this story, asking, "why is it not a story about an ugly man?" Or, "that it is Hollywood's misconception of Goddess spirituality that has transformed witches into ugly hags, because witches can also be beautiful."

Responding to the first question, "why is it not a story about an ugly man?" The best answer I can give is that this story is an honest representation of the mythic folklore of the Celtic people who inhabited Ireland, Wales, Britain and Scotland. In response to the second question, or comment, "that it is Hollywood's misconception of Goddess spirituality that has transformed witches into ugly hags, because witches can also be beautiful." No one is denying the fact that witches can be both ugly and beautiful. But focusing on this kind of literal interpretation totally misses this stories lesson, and reminds me of people that spend their time trying to interpret how long "a day" was in the Judeo-Christian story of creation.

Those of you interested in examining similar kinds of mythic folklore will greatly benefit from reading Anne Ross's essay, "The Divine Hag of the Pagan Celts," in her book titled "The Witch In History." Another good source is "Celtic Goddess and Sacred Land," which was a presentation I had the opportunity to hear given by Dr. Eunice McCarthy at the 13th International Transpersonal Psychology conference, held in Killarney, Ireland, at the Great Southern Hotel in 1994. CD audio recordings of this talk are available from Conference Recording Service. http://www.conferencerecording.com.

Returning again to this stories interpretation, the transformation for Sir Gawain was to be able to give up his right to choose, his right to control the situation, thereby in fact obtaining what he really wanted; and what he wished and hoped for. The relationship was transformed from one that bound them together out of obligation and unwilling duty, to one that met each person's deepest desires and aspirations. I have written more about the role of choice and chance in our life in my blogs titled "Libido's Casino" here on Light Workers.

The ingredient of "trust" is therefore an essential aspect of a good relationship. The opposite of trust is control. When we do not trust our self, when we do not trust others, is when we move into control. We often think the only problem here is that of controlling others. But it is also possible to internalize this process, whereby we end up controlling our own actions, and making sure that we are always "in control." This of course limits our ability to freely act, freely experience, and freely choose our path toward "self-awareness" because we do not allow things in our life to happen that have not first passed through our filters and screens of acceptance. The character of King Arthur in this story is a mirror for us (whether we are male or female) of that quality of trust in a person. King Arthur trusted in a life and death circumstance that some other part of himself could get the job done. This is similar to the idea of trust in relationships. We have to ask our self: Do I trust another person enough to let them get the job done? This is an elemental component of any successful relationship.
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I have added significant commentary, references and improved the flow of the discussion in this blog. The original comes from two sources.
Ralph Metzner (1986). "The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Lay Ragnell." From "Opening to Inner Light." El Verano, CA: Green Earth Foundation. http://www.greenearthfound.org
Angeles Arrien. (1991). "Power and Love In Relationships." Boulder, Colorado: Sounds True Recordings. http://www.soundstrue.com
See Also Angeles Arrien. (1992). "Signs of Life: The Five Universal Shapes and How to Use Them." Sonoma, CA: Arcus Publishing Company.