|
|
|
Cernunnos |
| Also Cerne, Herne. His name means "The Horned One". He appears to have been worshipped all over Gaul (Celtic France), and his cult spread throughout Britain. His image is shown on the Gunderstrop Cauldron, which was found in Denmark. We know his name only from a single inscription, and he may have been known by many other names which are lost now. He is usually shown with the antlers of a stag, and carrying a purseful of coins, which he is sometimes seen as casting onto the ground. On the Gunderstrop Cauldron, he is pictured as sitting in a yoga position with his right heel against his genitals. He carries a torc (a neck-ring symbolizing chieftainship) and a snake. In Gaul, he was pictured with reindeer horns, or accompanied by a ram-headed stag. He may date back to paleolithic times. Cave paintings have been found which show a man in a stag costume, or a stag standing as a man. The Romans sometimes showed him with 3 cranes flying over his head. He is seen as the guardian of life, animals, wealth, fertility, the underworld, forests, the hunt, and harvest, and he is definately a Nature God. He was known by the Druids as Hu Godarn, and they encouraged his popularity. In fact, his worship was so widespread and entrenched that Christianity had trouble getting around it. Therefore, Cernunnos became the symbol and the prototype for the Christian devil. He is born at the winter solstice and dies at the summer solstice. He marries the Lady at Beltaine, and they have an equal partnership where neither is more than or less than the other. He is also seen as the sacrificial stag, who continues the cycles of nature through death and rebirth. He is seen as the guardian of the Underworld. He was the giver and the taker, and simultaneously guarded the animals, while also being the God of the Hunt. The idea of Cernunnos being an Underworld God is backed up by his image of carrying coins. Both coins and metal are seen as Underworld symbols. He is also accompanied by a snake, which is also an Underworld symbol. And like the Egyptian Osiris, he dies and is reborn, depending on the seasons. There appears to be debate on how much Cernunnos was actually associated with fertility. As a horned God, associated with animals, he probably was associated with fertility. The image of coins being cast on to the ground is also a symbol of fertility. As a sacrificial God, who dies at the summer solstice, the connection with fertility and the turning wheel also seems apparent. Finally, he is the consort to the moon Goddess, and therefore also attached to fertility. In my own work, I have personally found Cernunnos to be associated with sexuality, which in my own subjective opinion, indicates a strong association with fertility. This page may be copied,
distributed, posted, transmitted, linked to, and edited to match the 'look
and feel' of your particular website, provided the text is not edited and
this notice is attached. |