Lyn invited me to a week on Orkney at Lammas 1998, to help out with a British Mysteries course she was running. There were six of us altogether, mainly strangers to each other, driving up from London in a rickety van. On the way we stopped off at stone circles and Lyn began to show us how to work. We lay in the grass trying to soak up the feeling of the places and we got used to working together. She gave us each a role from the myth of Arianrhod so that together we could begin to develop a body of experience, and then she gave us exercises to get to know each other and the roles we had taken on.
When we arrived at our destination in Orkney, we had to clear out a hall we were going to use for movement work. Among the stack of chairs we came across a note written on a scrap of paper “Can you spin gold from straw?” which we took as a kind of motto for the week.
The work was sometimes practical and sometimes very subtle. We were trying to explore a world at the threshold of perception. One time, our group was walking on a road by the sea, and we stopped to watch the light playing on the water (both symbols of the house of Arianrhod). At that moment we looked down and discovered an object lying in the road at our feet which turned out to be of great significance to the house.
Lyn also had an ability to generate energy, working with us in a kind of feedback loop to make connections and see what needed to be done next. “Yes, yes!” she’d shout as bit by bit we uncovered or perhaps made the house of Arianrhod on Orkney. As our energy built we spent a night out in the Orkney ‘mizzle’ at a stone circle. During the night, perceptions changed and the stones seemed to move and breathe, and in the dawn light a magical flight of birds seemed to appear and disappear to nowhere. We returned, exhausted, and excitedly began planning the next stage of our week – a labyrinth dance on the beach.
* * * * * * *
Fifteen years later, Lyn began work on her film, The Dancing Floor, intended to capture some of the energy and ideas that she had been working with. She wrote a script and then began work on a 15 minutes pilot with help from many friends and artists. She also produced a dance project which was performed at Brechfa Chapel and in Hay-on-Wye. The film of the dance and the pilot are, I think, a great legacy of Lyn’s work.
Rod Thorn
Ynys Prydein - the British Mysteries 
Oh so sad. I didn’t know that Lyn had passed. I met her in 2010 when I walked across England on a storyweaving pilgrimage. We both told tales around a Gwyl Awst fire at the Hay gardens by the bridge, and I heard her tell about Blodeuedd. We met up again the following day – we both felt there was more to share – I was entranced and yet resistant to that strange tale, and since then have walked across Wales and become totally enchanted by her tale. I did an MA with a dissertation about Blodeuedd, and after giving countless storytelling performances, was finally persuaded to write a novel in Blodeuedd’s voice (which now has a sequel). I have to say that Lyn was the catalyst for my myth work. I had last read the tale of Blodeuedd in Alan Garner’s Owl Service as a young girl. That storytelling round the fire in the liminal lands of Hay altered the course of my life. So though Lyn is no longer with us, on this plane at least, I want to say thank you. Without you, would I have ever stepped onto this path? Thank you too, Rod. It is good to hear more of the story of Lyn ‘s work with Arianrhod. I read Lyn’s book of course ‘Becoming the Enchanter’, but it is good to meet another who was involved in that very magical work.
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Oh how sad. I didn’t know that Lyn had passed. I met her in 2010 when I was walking around England on a 6 moons storyweaving pilgrimage. We both told tales around a Gwyl Awst fire in the Hay gardens by the bridge and I heard the tale of Blodeuedd from her which both entranced and disturbed me. We both felt we had more to share and met up again the following day and I heard of her entrancement with Arianrhod. That meeting changed the course of my life. Though I resisted it strongly, Blodeuedd wanted me to tell her story. I walked across Wales, was asked to tell the tale of Blodeuedd by another Welsh borders liminal fire, and eventually wrote about her, after countless storytelling performances, in my MA dissertation. Finally, I was persuaded to write a novel in Blodeuedd’s voice. I am now writing the sequel.
That meeting with Lyn was the beginning of my work with Brythonic myth. Though she is no longer with us, on this plane at least, I want to thank her for being that guide who put me on the right path. Thank you too Rod, for sharing more of that enchanting story of Arianrhod, which Lyn shared with me and I later read in her book ‘Becoming the Enchanter’. It is good to know of another who was involved in that deep liminal work.
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Thanks for your story Stephanie. I look forward to reading it!
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