The god is generally pictured principally as horned, and usually called Cernunnos. Cernunnos is often depicted with prominent stag antlers on his head and was known as the Lord of the Wild Places or God of the Wilds. Cernunnos (Horned God) Cernunnos is the mysterious horned deity worshipped by Iron age Celts across Europe until the end of the first century. Relating to this association with animals and hunting, some have also conjectured how Cernunnos could be a god of the underworld (since hunting results in death). He was worshipped as a nature god by the Celtic people of Ireland. He stealthily ventures through the forests of the Great Beyond, favouring decisive action to fight off the tide of evil.The Stag Lord aims to set right natural balances that are out of … Cernunnos, the Horned God of neopagan traditions, is lord of both life and death; he grows old as the year progresses before being reborn and starting the cycle anew. Cernunnos, also known as the "The Horned One", is a Celtic god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld. As the horned god of Celtic polytheism, Cernunnos is often associated with animals, forests, fertility, and even wealth. He exists in tandem with the divine feminine, the Goddess, who is at once both mother and lover; in many traditions, his power stems from her. Although Cernunnos is now associated primarily with the Celts and Ireland, images of Cernunnos have been found throughout Europe. Cernunnos was also closely connected to the Germanic Wotan, a variant of the Norse god Odin. Subsequent images often show the Horned God seated in a half-lotus position familiar to yogis. Wotan was also closely related to animals, and in some cases even served as their lord. Cernunnos was often shown with a torc—a traditional Celtic necklace that was made of metal. Today we begin exploring some Celtic Mythology, starting with Cernunnos the horned God of the wild. The use of cern for “horned” was common in Indo-European languages, such as the Greek corn (the word unicorn, referring to the one-horned horse-like creature) and several Latin taxonomic terms for antlered animals. To that end, Cernunnos is perceived in his death aspect at the onset of winter – who is once again resurrected to impregnate the earth goddess, thereby resulting in cyclic regeneration of life by the springtime. Cernunnos was the horned god, the master of wild places and things. Gregory Wright, “Cernunnos,” Mythopedia, accessed , https://mythopedia.com/celtic-mythology/gods/cernunnos/. Cernunnos was a Celtic god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld. Well my dears I hope that you all Enjoyed my post today on the Celtic God Cernunnos Here, he was depicted as a man who had both the face and antlers of a deer, rather than just the antlers; The band Faith and the Muse recorded a song from the deity’s perspective called “Cernunnos.” Elsewhere, singer Monica Richards included a song about Cerunnos on her first solo album, entitled “The Antler King”; The band Borean Dusk used a drawing of Cernunnos on the cover of their self-titled album, Boren Dusk; Cernunnos has appeared in several video games: as a playable god in SMITE, a demon in the Megami Tensei series; and as a monster in Folklore; Cernunnos is a popular figure in modern art, though his appearances are often tied to neopagan interpretations of the deity instead of his Celtic origins. As the Horned God of the Celtic polytheism, Cernunnos is often associated with the deity of animals, fertility, life, and even wealth (in his syncretic Romano-Celtic form, like we discussed earlier). Cernunnos was the name given to the "Horned God" of Celtic mythology.He is interpreted as a god of fertility and hunting. Though he wears a human face his energy and his concerns are non-human. Cernunnos, Lord of the Wild Things. Some associate Cernunnos with the Celtic “Man in the Tree“, also called Derg Corra. As such the term is found only once in the historical context – mentioned in the Pillar of the Boatmen, a Roman column dating from circa 1st century AD, possibly erected by a guild of Celtic sailors. As we mentioned in the earlier entry, there are representations of the Celtic Horned God that predate the Cernunnos on the Pillar of the Boatmen (where he is also depicted as a horned figure). “Cernunnos.” Mythopedia. That was because, according to the Romans, most of these entities were regarded as the rulers of the treasures of the underworld (possibly signifying mineral wealth). He was a god of fertility, life, animals, wealth, and the underworld. https://mythopedia.com/celtic-mythology/gods/cernunnos/. As the son of Lugh the High King of Ireland, Cernunnos is no stranger to the battlefield and can protect his forest … However, the imagery of horns and serpents do play their part in some mythical narratives of ancient Europe. Cernunnos is master here, and although he has much to offer, he will not tolerate greed. Doth all the winter-time, at still midnight. 5.0 out of 5 stars 9. And like we mentioned before, the Cernach epithet could alternatively mean ‘angular, having corners’ or ‘bearing a prominent growth’, thus possibly referring to horn-like receptacles. Cernunnos, wood, oak, Cernun, horned god, celtic god, pagan god, wiccan, wicca, altar, druid, gaelic Blagowood $ 85.00. Some scholars believed his name and characteristics originally belonged to a number of horned gods that were then mixed together. Cernunnos, (Celtic: “Horned One”) in Celtic religion, an archaic and powerful deity, widely worshipped as the “lord of wild things.” Cernunnos may have had a variety of names in different parts of the Celtic world, but his attributes were generally consistent. Cernunnos is a Romanized name meaning "Horned One." Interestingly enough, the very theonym ‘Cernunnos’ is rather a general or conventional one often used in Celtic studies. with a humanoid body in Celtic myth. FREE Shipping. In this depiction, Cernunnos’ torcs hung around his antlers, rather than his neck or hands. Murray, who was a historian, anthropologist, and folklorist (famous for her Witch-Cult theory), surmised that Herne the Hunter, a post-Christianity deity from around the Berkshire region, was a localized version or aspect of Cernunnos. Others have suggested Cernunnos’ traits were taken from Greco-Roman deities of similar appearance. He was worshipped all over Gaul, and his cult spread into Britain as well. He was a mysterious Gaelic deity, whose name is now used to refer to many nameless horned deities of the Celtic world. His very depiction mirrors such attributes, with the conspicuous antlers of the stag on his head and the poetic epithets like ‘Lord of the Wild Things’. Accessed . Norse god Odin. Cernunnos began a particularly active second life in the 19th century, when spiritual movements seeking to revive pre-Christian European beliefs grew in popularity. As for the mythological side of affairs, given the Roman penchant for identifying foreign deities with their own (known as interpretatio Romana), Cernunnos was likened to Dis Pater, along with Mars and Mercury. Dr. Margaret Alice Murray, (1863-1963), who was a prominent British Egyptologist and anthropologist wrote in her book God of the Witches that Herne is a manifestation of Cernunnos, the Celtic horned god. Despite the books problematic nature and many generalizations (particularly in regard to Cernunnos), it did bring the horned god back into the public eye. Classical depictions of the deity included gatherings of animals such as elk, wolves, snakes, and aurochs. Conach Cernach’s name may have simply meant “triumphant,” but could also mean “angular,” or “cornered,” given its similar etymology to Cernunnos. New York: Anchor Books, 1960. https://archive.org/details/godofwitches00murr. He remains a mysterious deity, as his original mythos has been lost to history. Nevertheless, academic and religious scholars alike have used the name as a kind of catch-all for Celtic horned gods, as well as horned deities as far afield as India. Cernunnos was there at the shaping of the wheel, born of the womb of the All Mother before Gods were Gods and the land was shapeless. Cernunn is commonly pictured with stag antlers and sitting in the lotus position. And, should one peer intently enough through the shadowed branches, a figure can be seen, horned as a stag, clothed in moss and leaves, eyes burning like unt… Cernunn is commonly pictured with stag antlers and sitting in the lotus position. He is protector of animals and it is Cernnunos who is the law-sayer of hunting and harvest. Cernnunos, as The Horned God, Lord of the Animals is portrayed as human or half human with an antler crown. However, quite intriguingly, the visual representations of the horned deity (as one of the Celtic gods) predate such inscriptions and names by centuries, including small figurines dating from circa 7th-4th century BC and Ist century BC, from different parts of western Europe. Cernunnos often carries or wears other torcs in his … Now, in an intriguing manner, depictions of snakes and even ram-horned snakes were found in northern-eastern Gaul – the very same area known for its association to the ancient cult of Cernunnos (or the Horned God). There were few similarities between the characters, however, and their names may be related simply by chance. The name itself is only attested once, on the 1st-century Pillar of the Boatmen, but he appears all over Gaul, and among the Celtiberians. When shamans wished to take on the attributes of a deer and elk, they would wear the animal’s fur and antlers. Wright, Gregory. The image, which appears on the Pashupati seal, may have depicted the god Shiva or Rudra; alternatively, it may have simply been an archetypical Middle Eastern god of the wild that bore similarities to Cernunnos. Cern'osia is an eclectic neopagan faith which focuses exclusively on the veneration and worship of the Celtic Horned God, Cernunnos. The deity appeared prominently in Margaret Murray’s The God of the Witches as the embodiment of horned deities; the text stated that Cernunnos was the god of witches during pre-Christian times, and that his worship continued in secret pockets throughout Europe following the spread of Christianity. 99. Cernunnos was an ancient Gaelic word meaning “horned” or “horned one.” The name shares its etymology with similar words across the Celtic world, including several Gallo-Roman cognates. Under this schema, the god of the wilds would also have served as a god of life, creation, and fertility. Though much about the historical Cernunnos is likely lost to history, his presence today is certainly not in doubt. See more ideas about cernunnos, celtic gods, gods and goddesses. Cernunnos God of nature and all wild things. July 27, 2019. What is Cern'osia? Cernunnos, his name meaning "horned one," was a horned fertility god in Celtic mythology along with being the god of the dead, hunting and vegetation. Accessed March 2, 2019. http://shakespeare.mit.edu/merry_wives/full.html. Dating back to the 1st century BCE, the cauldron was believed to have originated near Greece (likely in Gaul or Thrace), due to the art style and metallurgic practices required to create it. Very little is known about Cernunnos except his name and his image, which appears on numerous stone carvings and other religious artifacts throughout Europe. Others think he could be a Latin version of the god Fionn, who was known to have a relationship with deer. In our high-tech world the Horned God tells us we are part of Nature, not separate from it. Cernunnos is the horned god of Celtic mythology. Cernunnos closest analogues in world mythology were Pan and Silvanus from the Greco-Roman world. He was a god of wild places, and often appeared as a bearded man with antlers. 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