In the earliest of Western religious systems, the Goddess reigns supreme. In Southern Wales, the Mari Loyd, or Grey Mary, continues a way of worshipping the goddess that has roots going back to when she was worshipped as a horse goddess by the Silures, a South Walian clan all but extinguished by Romans in the first century AD. As Mary, the Goddess is represented by a horse skull which is accompanied by two lesser male deities on a tour of the local area. Her companions ask questions of the people, which by failing to answer are blessed by the Mari Loyd for the following year. While the Goddess is eternal, her consorts are not. They are Old God, Bran and the Young God, Beli. Bran is represented by the wren and is in full throws of life. Waiting for him to grow old is Beli, the robin. The Goddess loves each in their turn but is ultimately dispassionate about who serves her, so long as she gains her various tasks of mother, lover and death. In the background, time thrusts forward in the aggressive manner of a masculine world.