Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Deities: Celtic

 

Cernunnos 

    Cernunnos (Cair-NUH-nos) has Celtic origins and unfortunately does not have too much information on him. He is also known as The Horned God and The Green Man. There are also a variety of horned Gods which have been found from the Gallo-Roman period most of which were in eastern Gaul as well as among the Celtiberians. He is depicted with antlers, typically seated cross-legged and associated with stags, horned serpents, dogs, bulls, and rats. Cernunnos can also be seen depicted wearing or holding a torc, also spelled torq or torque. A torc is a stiff neck ring made of metal typically twisted together. Most are open while some had clasps. Torcs are found in the Scythian, Illyrian, Thracian, Celtic, and a few other cultures of the European Iron Age (from around 8th century BC to the 3rd century AD). This certainly does help to confirm that Cernunnos's origins are Celtic. 


Deities: Irish

 

The Morrigan


    The Morrigan is of Irish origin and has quite a few other names such as Morrigu. Mór-Ríoghain in modern Irish can be translated to "great queen" or "phantom queen". She is associated with war, fate, death, or victory in battle, and the land and animals, particularly livestock. She has an affinity for all things living. She watches over all living things and protects them. She cares for the prosperity of the land and (when it is conceived as a political unit) its security against external forces. She can be seen as acting as a goddess of sovereignty, not necessarily war as she is a guardian of (a) territory and its people.