- Celtic theology
Evidence from the Roman period presents a bewildering array of gods and goddesses who are represented by images or inscribed dedications.Miranda J. Green. (2005) "Exploring the world of the druids." London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 26] Sorting these multifarious and divine beings into some kind of hierarchy is necessary, though not always easy, if one is to make any sense of the religious system in place in Celtic
Europe . By examining the distribution of images and god-names, it is possible to make distinctions between deities who were venerated all over the Celtic world, those who were popular in more restricted regions - perhaps corresponding to tribal boundaries - and those who were linked to a specific locality, sometimes worshipped only at a single sanctuary. The establishment of patterns of frequency and distribution may point to the relative popularity of certain gods, but not necessarily to any order of importance. For example, in east-centralGaul , the localBurgundian healing goddessSequana was probably more influential in the minds of her local devotees than theMatres , who were worshipped all over Britain, Gaul and theRhineland .Miranda J. Green. (2005) "Exploring the world of the druids." London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 27]Certain cults transcended tribal boundaries and were followed everywhere. Examples of universal divinities include the
Matres , the sky-god andEpona , the horse-goddess, who was invoked by devotees living as far apart as Britain,Rome andBulgaria . A distinctive feature of the mother-goddesses was their frequent appearance as a triad: they were perceived as a triple entity in many parts of Britain, in Gaul and on theRhine . Although it is possible to identify strong regional differences between them. [Miranda J. Green. (2005) "Exploring the world of the druids." London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 27-28]The Celtic sky-god too had variations in the way he was perceived and his cult expressed. Yet the link between the Celtic Jupiter and the
solar wheel is maintained over wide areas, fromHadrian’s Wall toCologne andNîmes .Miranda J. Green. (2005) "Exploring the world of the druids." London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 28]Local deities
Regional divinities can sometimes be identified, perhaps especially associated with tribal and sub-tribal territories. Specific to the
Remi of northwestGaul is a distinctive group of stone carvings depicting a triple-faced god with shared facial features and luxuriant beards. In theIron Age , this same tribe issuedcoin s with three faces, a motif found elsewhere isGaul . The inference is that a specific Remic divinity is represented. Another tribal god wasLenus , venerated by theTreveri . He was worshipped at a number of Treveran sanctuaries, the most splendid of which was at the tribal capital ofTrier itself. Yet he was also exported to other areas:Lenus has altars set up to him inChedworth inGloucestershire andCaerwent inWales .Many Celtic divinities were extremely localised, sometimes occurring in just one shrine, perhaps because the
spirit concerned was agenius loci personifying the natural balance of a particular place. InGaul , over four hundred different Celtic god-names are recorded, of which at least 300 occur just once.Sequana was confined to her springshrine nearDijon ,Sulis belonged to Bath. The divine coupleUcuetis andBergusia were worshipped solely at Alesia inBurgundy . The British godNodens is associated above all with the great sanctuary at Lydney. Yet he appears at one other site, atCockersand Moss in Cumbria. Two other British deities,Cocidius andBelatucadrus were both Martial gods and were each worshipped in a clearly defined territories in the area ofHadrian’s Wall . There are many other gods whose names betray their origins as topographical spirits.Vosegus presided over the mountains of theVosges ,Luxovius of thespa -settlement ofLuxeuil andVasio to whom belonged the town ofVaison in the LowerRhône Valley.Cults within Celtic polytheism
Antlered gods
A recurrent figure in Gaulish iconography is a cross-legged deity with antlers, sometimes surrounded by animals, often wearing or holding a
torc . The name usually applied to him, Cernunnos, is attested only a few times, on a relief atNotre Dame de Paris (currently reading ERNUNNOS, but an early sketch shows it as having read CERNUNNOS in the 18th century), an inscription fromMontagnac (αλλετ [ει] υος καρνονου αλ [ι] σο [ντ] εας, "Alleteinos [dedicated this] to Karnonos of Alisontia""Recueil des Inscriptions Gauloises" I (1985), pp.318-325.] ), and a pair of identical inscriptions fromSeinsel-Rëlent ("Deo Ceruninco" ["L'Année Épigraphique" 1987, no. 772.] ). Figured representations of this sort of deity, however, are widespread; the earliest known was found atVal Camonica in northern Italy,Fact|date=February 2007 while the most famous is plate A of theGundestrup Cauldron , a 1st-century-BC vessel found in Denmark. On the Gundestrup Cauldron and sometimes elsewhere, Cernunnos, or similar figure, is accompanied by a ram-headed serpent. At Reims, the figure is depicted with acornucopia overflowing with grains or coins.Healing deities
Healing deities are known from many parts of the Celtic world; they frequently have associations with thermal springs, healing wells,
herbalism and light.Brighid, the triple goddess of healing, poetry and smithcraft is perhaps the most well-known of the Insular Celtic deities of healing. She is associated with many healing springs and wells. A lesser-known Irish healing goddess is
Airmed , also associated with a healing well and with the healing art of herbalism.In Romano-Celtic tradition
Belenus (possibly from Celtic: "*belen-" ‘bright’Fact|date=February 2007, though other etymologies have been convincingly proposedPeter Schrijver, "On Henbane and Early European Narcotics", "Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie" vol.51 (1999), pp.17-45] ) is found chiefly insouthern France andnorthern Italy . Apollo Grannus, though concentrated in central and eastern Gaul, also “occurs associated with medicinal waters in Brittany [...] and far away in the Danube Basin”. Grannus's companion is frequently the goddessSirona . Another important Celtic deity of healing isBormo /Borvo , particularly associated with thermal springs such asBourbonne-les-Bains andBourbon-Lancy . Such hot springs were (and often still are) believed to have therapeutic value. Green interprets the name Borvo to mean “seething, bubbling or boiling spring water”.Goddesses of sacred waters
In
Ireland , there are numerous holy wells dedicated to the goddessBrighid . There are dedications to ‘Minerva ’ in Britain and throughout the Celtic areas of the Continent. At Bath Minerva was identified with the goddessSulis , whose cult there centred on the thermal springs.Other goddesses were also associated with sacred springs, such as
Icovellauna among theTreveri andCoventina atCarrawburgh .Damona andBormana also serve this function in companionship with the spring-god Borvo (see above).A number of goddesses were deified rivers, notably
Boann (of theRiver Boyne ),Sinann (theRiver Shannon ),Sequana (the deifiedSeine ),Matrona (theMarne ),Souconna (the deifiedSaône ) and perhapsBelisama (the Ribble).While the most well-known deity of the sea is the god
Manannán , possible early Irish sea goddesses includeFand , her sisterLí Ban , and the mother-goddess of theFomorians ,Domnu .Goddesses of horses
The horse, an instrument of Indo-European expansion, plays a part in all the mythologies of the various Celtic cultures. The cult of the Gaulish horse goddess
Epona was widespread. Adopted by the Roman cavalry, it spread throughout much of Europe, even to Rome itself. She seems to be the embodiment of "horse power" or horsemanship, which was likely perceived as a power vital for the success and protection of the tribe. She has insular analogues in the WelshRhiannon and in the IrishÉdaín Echraidhe (echraidhe, "horse riding") andMacha , who outran the fastest steeds.The Welsh horse goddess Rhiannon is best known from The
Mabinogion , a collection of medieval Welsh tales, in which she makes her first appearance on a pale, mysterious steed and meets KingPwyll , whom she later marries. She was accused of killing and devouring her infant son, and in punishment she was forced to act as a horse and to carry visitors to the royal court. According to another story, she was made to wear the collars of asses about her neck in the manner of a beast.The Irish horse goddess
Macha , perhaps a threefold goddess herself, is associated with battle and sovereignty. Though a goddess in her own right, she is also considered to be part of the triple goddess of battle and slaughter, theMorrígan . Other faces of the Morrígan wereBadhbh Catha andNemain .Mother goddesses
Mother goddess es are a recurrent feature in Celtic religions. The epigraphic record reveals many dedications to the Matres or Matronae, which are particularly prolific aroundCologne in theRhineland . Iconographically, Celtic mothers may appear singly or, quite often, triply; they usually hold fruit or "cornucopiae" or ""; they may also be full-breasted (or many-breasted) figures nursing infants.Welsh and Irish tradition preserve a number of mother figures such as the Welsh
Dôn ,Rhiannon (‘great queen’) andModron (from Matrona, ‘great mother’), and the IrishDanu ,Boand ,Macha andErnmas . However, all of these goddesses fulfill many roles in the mythology and symbolism of the Celts, and cannot be limited only to motherhood. In many of their tales, their having children is only mentioned in passing, and is not a central facet of their identity. "Mother" Goddesses may also be Goddesses of warfare and slaughter, or of healing and smithcraft.Mother goddesses were at times symbols of sovereignty, creativity, birth, fertility, sexual union and nurturing. At other times they could be seen as punishers and destroyers: their offspring may be helpful or dangerous to the community, and the circumstances of their birth may lead to curses, "geasa" or hardship, such as in the case of Macha's curse of the Ulstermen or Rhiannon's possible devouring of her child and subsequent punishment.
Divine couples
One notable feature of Gaulish and Romano-Celtic sculpture is the frequent appearance of male and female deities in pairs, such as
Rosmerta and ‘Mercury’,Nantosuelta andSucellos ,Sirona and Apollo Grannus,Borvo andDamona , or Mars Loucetius andNemetona .Cult of Lugh
According to Caesar the god most honoured by the Gauls was ‘Mercury’, and this is confirmed by numerous images and inscriptions. Mercury's name is often coupled with Celtic epithets, particularly in eastern and central Gaul; the commonest such names include
Visucius ,Cissonius , andGebrinius .Jufer, Nicole & Thierry Luginbühl (2001). "Les dieux gaulois: répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie." Paris: Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-200-7.] Another name,Lugus , is inferred from the recurrent place-name "Lugdunon" ('the fort of Lugus') from which the modernLyon ,Laon , andLoudun inFrance andLeiden in The Netherlands derive their names; a similar element can be found inCarlisle (formerly Castra Luguvallium) andLegnica in Poland. The Irish and Welsh cognates of Lugus areLugh and Lleu, respectively, and certain traditions concerning these figures mesh neatly with those of the Gaulish god. Caesar's description of the latter as "the inventor of all the arts" might almost have been a paraphrase of Lugh's conventional epithet "samildánach" ("possessed of many talents"), while Lleu is addressed as "master of the twenty crafts" in the "Mabinogi ".Patrick K. Ford (ed/trans). 1977. "The Mabinogi and other Medieval Welsh Tales." University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-03414-7] An episode in the Irish tale of the Battle of Magh Tuiredh is a dramatic exposition of Lugh's claim to be master of all the arts and crafts.Elizabeth A. Gray (ed/trans). 1982. "Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired." Irish Texts Society (Vol. LII), Naas, Co Kildare] Inscriptions in Spain and Switzerland, one of them from a guild of shoemakers, are dedicated toLugoves , widely interpreted as a plural of Lugus perhaps referring to the god conceived in triple form.Fact|date=February 2007The Gaulish Mercury often seems to function as a god of sovereignty. Gaulish depictions of Mercury sometimes show him bearded and/or with wings or horns emerging directly from his head, rather than from a winged hat. Both these characteristics are unusual for the classical god. More conventionally, the Gaulish Mercury is usually shown accompanied by a ram and/or a rooster, and carrying a
caduceus ; his depiction at times is very classical.Lugh is said to have instituted the festival of
Lughnasadh , celebrated on 1 August, in commemoration of his foster-motherTailtiu .R. A. Stewart Macalister (ed/trans). 1941. "Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland. Part IV." Irish Texts Society (Vol. XLI), Dublin.]In Gaulish monuments and inscriptions, Mercury is very often accompanied by
Rosmerta , whomMiranda Green interprets to be a goddess of fertility and prosperity. Green also notices that the Celtic Mercury frequently accompanies theDeae Matres (see below).Miranda Green. 1986. "The Gods of the Celts." Alan Sutton, Gloucs. ISBN 0-86299-292-3]Cult of Taranis
The Gaulish Jupiter is often depicted with a thunderbolt in one hand and a distinctive wheel in the other. Scholars frequently identify this wheel/sky god with
Taranis , who is mentioned by Lucan. The name Taranis may be cognate with those ofTaran , a minor figure inWelsh mythology , andTurenn , the father of the 'three gods of Dana' inIrish mythology .Cult of Toutatis
Teutates , also spelled Toutatis (Celtic: "god of the tribe"), was one of three Celtic gods mentioned by the Roman poet Lucan in the1st century ,Marcus Annaeus Lucanus . c.61 -65 . "Bellum civile", Book I, ll.498-501. [http://omacl.org/Pharsalia/book1.html Online translation] ] the other two beingEsus ("lord") andTaranis ("thunderer"). According to later commentators, victims sacrificed to Teutates were killed by being plunged headfirst into a vat filled with an unspecified liquid. Present-day scholars frequently speak of ‘the "toutates"’ as plural, referring respectively to the patrons of the several tribes.Of two later commentators on Lucan's text, one identifies Teutates with Mercury, the other with Mars. He is also known from dedications in Britain, where his name was written Toutatis.Paul-Marie Duval, who considers the Gaulish Mars a syncretism with the Celtic "toutates", notes that:
Cult of Esus
Esus appears in two monumental statues as an axeman cutting branches from
tree s.Gods with hammers
Sucellos, the 'good striker' is usually portrayed as a middle-aged bearded man, with a long-handled
hammer , or perhaps a beer barrel suspended from a pole. His companion,Nantosuelta , is sometimes depicted alongside him. When together, they are accompanied by symbols associated with prosperity and domesticity. This figure is often identified withSilvanus , worshipped in southern Gaul under similar attributes;Dis Pater , from whom, according to Caesar, all the Gauls believed themselves to be descended; and the IrishDagda , the 'good god', who possessed a caldron that was never empty and a huge club.Gods of strength and eloquence
A club-wielding god identified as
Ogmios is readily observed in Gaulish iconography.In Gaul, he was identified with the Roman Hercules. He was portrayed as an old man with swarthy skin and armed with a bow and club. He was also a god of eloquence, and in that aspect he was represented as drawing along a company of men whose ears were chained to his tongue.Ogmios' Irish equivalent was
Ogma , who was impressively portrayed as a swarthy man whose battle ardour was so great that he had to be controlled by chains held by other warriors until the right moment.Fact|date=February 2007Ogham script, an Irishwriting system dating from the 4th century AD, was said to have been invented by him.Fact|date=February 2007The divine bull
Another prominent
zoomorphic deity type is the divine bull.Tarvos Trigaranus ("bull with three cranes") is pictured on reliefs from the cathedral atTrier ,Germany , and at Notre-Dame deParis . InIrish literature , theDonn Cuailnge ("Brown Bull of Cooley") plays a central role in the epic "Táin Bó Cuailnge " ("The Cattle-Raid of Cooley").The ram-headed snake
A distinctive ram-headed snake accompanies Gaulish gods in a number of representations, including the horned god from the
Gundestrup cauldron , Mercury, and Mars.Deities
This table shows some of the Celtic and Romano-Celtic
god s andgoddess es mentioned above, in Romanized form as well as ancient Gaulish or British names as well as those of theTuatha Dé Danann and characters from the "Mabinogion ". They are arranged so as to suggest some linguistic or functional associations among the ancient gods and literary figures; needless to say, all such associations are subject to continual scholarly revision and disagreement. In particular, it has been noted by scholars such as Sjoestedt that it is inappropriate to try to fit Insular Celtic deities into a Roman format as such attempts seriously distort the Insular deities.yncretism with other polytheistic systems
The "
locus classicus " for the Celtic gods ofGaul is the passage inJulius Caesar 's "Commentarii de Bello Gallico " ("The Gallic War", 52–51 BC) in which he names six of them, together with their functions. He says that Mercury was the most honoured of all the gods and many images of him were to be found. Mercury was regarded as the inventor of all the arts, the patron of travellers and of merchants, and the most powerful god in matters of commerce and gain. After him theGaul s honouredApollo , who drove away diseases, Mars, who controlled war, Jupiter, who ruled the heavens, andMinerva , who promoted handicrafts. He adds that the Gauls regardedDis Pater as their ancestor. [Julius Caesar , "Commentarii de Bello Gallico " [http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Caes.+Gal.+6.17 6:17-18] ]In characteristic Roman fashion, Caesar does not refer to these figures by their native names but by the names of the Roman gods with which he equated them, a procedure that greatly complicates the task of identifying his Gaulish deities with their counterparts in the insular literatures. He also presents a neat schematic equation of god and function that is quite foreign to the vernacular literary testimony. Yet, given its limitations, his brief catalog is a valuable witness.
The gods named by Caesar are well-attested in the later epigraphic record of Gaul and Britain. Not infrequently, their names are coupled with native Celtic theonyms and epithets, such as Mercury
Visucius ,Lenus Mars, JupiterPoeninus , orSulis Minerva. Unsyncretised theonyms are also widespread, particularly among goddesses such asSulevia ,Sirona ,Rosmerta , andEpona . In all, several hundred names containing a Celtic element are attested in Gaul. The majority occur only once, which has led some scholars to conclude that the Celtic gods and their cults were local and tribal rather than national. Supporters of this view cite Lucan's mention of a god calledTeutates , which they interpret as "god of the tribe" (it is thought that "teuta-" meant "tribe" in Celtic).Paul-Marie Duval, "Les dieux de la Gaule", Éditions Payot, Paris, 1993. ISBN 2-228-88621-1] The multiplicity of deity names may also be explained otherwise – many, for example, may be simply epithets applied to major deities by widely extended cults.Fact|date=February 2007References
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