Rhiannon (Great Queen) was the lunar Welsh Goddess of fertility and rebirth, transformation, wisdom, and magic. Goddess of ethereal beauty, she was born with the first moonrise, Muse of poets, source of artistic inspiration, she was worshipped outside amidst the trees at woodland alters and underneath the Moonlight. As goddess of fertility, Rhiannon gave birth to a son, Pryderi, at Yule - the winter solstice being a significant reminder that the ultimate product of death is rebirth. In her death goddess aspect, she is symbolised by an unearthly white mare and three birds that sang so sweetly they could raise the dead. Rhiannon carried the souls of the once-living on her white mare to the Underworld, which, according to Celtic legend, is where the soul exists in a similar way to that in our world.