And, lastly, if we glance over some of the medieval Welsh and Irish traditions we might see useful links back to these Iron Age motifs of the Goddess.
Ceridwen has been thought to derive from ‘crooked’ or ‘bent’ woman. In true Celtic fashion this ambiguous name/definition can be related to one who stirs a cauldron, or to a river’s appearance, or to the crescent moon. But might it not also refer to the winding-unwinding serpent? To the adder, with its distinctive zig-zag patterning, to its lightning-like wriggling through the undergrowth? To its circular, curled, incubation of its eggs? The image of sudden initiation, realisation combined with the shock of venom, with the flash of lightning (another ‘crooked one’). All these elements, snake, zig-zag, spiral snake, lightning, are prominent and inscrutable visual elements in coin art also.
And let us not forget the vivid, unforgettable description of Ceridwen, as well as numerous other Otherworld Hag and Sovereignty Goddess figures. Do they not very clearly carry the attributes of the wild boar? They are come across in deep woodland; they are huge, monstrous; they have long, hooked, dripping noses; they have huge hanging teats, prominent hanging bellies; they have sabre-like nails on hands and feet; they have stiff, black barb-like body hair; they have black hide-like skin; they have tusks curling from their mouths. They are hideous and inescapable. What is a clearer set of attributes than this? It is only the bravest and most skilled of warrior/hunters who can come away unscathed from a boar hunt; only one chosen to be the best; only one who is given the best haunch of meat at the feast, who is given the most honoured seat.
The horse is the Primal Goddess of Sovereignty in her purest and most amenable, placated form.
She initiates and tests through her wrathful form of the boar.
She empowers and watches over the souls of warriors in her carrion bird forms.
She brings transcendent, timeless and transformative, secret wisdom through her snake form.
Art From The Edge Of Time 
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