By the members of the FaeryOracle On-line Discussion Group

Latest Additions: 4 April 2002

54. Dorcha, Epona's Wild Daughter

Dorcha (darkness, obscurity) DOOR·chah
It's actually trickier to say her name than that since the "ch" is like in the Scottish word "loch" but she is very forgiving about it.

4 April 2002 - © Copyright Jessica Macbeth, 2002. All rights reserved.
Comparison between Dorcha and Laiste (card 38): Epona's daughter, Dorcha, looks to the past, to the left (conventionally the past in card layouts). The sitting person in the card can be seen as sleeping, as doing inner work in dreams, or as despairing and forced (by Dorcha or by circumstances) to look within—even into the darkest shadows of the past—for insight and healing. Dorcha's name means "darkness" and she helps us find our way when we are groping in the dark. She helps us focus within.

Laiste, on the other hand, looks to the right, to the future, into the light. (So perhaps a little mnemonic is Dorcha Darkness and Laiste Light.) She helps us to see our way forward. And if she cannot get her message across to us, she knows we have a block that is holding us locked into past patterns. If that happens, she calls Dorcha in to help us find our way out of the past. Then, Laiste can help us move into the future. She also helps us to expand our consciousness outward.

Epona is the horse goddess, but she is also a lunar goddess as well. These folk really like to play around with names.

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