Lesson Three ~ The Gods and Goddesses
In the modern world we like to divide things up into neat boxes: Greek gods in one corner, Norse in another, Chinese in yet another, etc. The ancient world was somewhat messier. The Anatolians had a goddess called Akta, whom the Greeks so admired they took to worshipping her, pronouncing the name as Hecate. The Romans were so impressed they built temples to her in Rome. As their empire spread, so temples to Hecate were built in all sorts of countries. Centuries later, bishops in Britain moaned about peasants worshipping Hecate. These days Hecate is worshipped in London, Athens, Paris, New York, Sydney, etc. We call her a Greek goddess, yet she was worshipped before the Greeks knew of her, and these days is honoured by every nationality going, in nearly all parts of the world. In what sense is she exclusively Greek? In what sense can any deity be said to have a nationality?
When we talk about Celtic gods we usually mean ones worshipped by British, Irish or some continental tribes during the Iron Age. However, it is worth bearing in mind that some of those deities were popular elsewhere too. The goddess Nehalennia was worshipped by Celtic tribes in what is now Holland, but neighbouring Germanic tribes also made offerings to her, as did some Romans. Plus these days people who are not even remotely Celtic by birth perform rituals in honour of Celtic deities.
There are hundreds of statues and altar stones found throughout Celtic lands. Many of the statues have no names, and it is anyone’s guess whom they represent. Some of the altars have names carved on them ~ certain names appear frequently, others only once. We know that some gods were called by several different names, so it is not always clear if ten different altars are to ten different gods, or to the same god under ten different titles.
We need to stop and think about how the early British and Irish saw their Gods (and whether or not you share their views.) Many pagans these days believe that all goddesses are aspects of One Goddess, and likewise with the gods (this idea is usually called duotheism, or duolatry by academics). This is a perfectly valid belief, but it is worth knowing that there is no evidence that the ancient British tribes shared it. Rather, the indication is that they were polytheists ~ which means that they believed in loads of gods, goddesses, and other spirits ~ each real and separate, not an aspect of anything. At first you might not think it makes much difference, but it does effect how people relate to their Gods.
If a Druid believes that each god is unique and separate, then she must relate differently to each. So having got on well with Danu would not guarantee that she would get on well with An Chailleach (in the same way you have to treat each person as unique ~ just because one doctor is nice to you, doesn’t mean they all will be, given that each doctor is a separate person with their own ideas and views). It also means that not all Gods might relate well to each other ~ some chemicals when mixed cause an explosion, and so some Gods might cause mayhem if they both turned up at the same ritual!
Notions of good and evil were not very relevant to the old Druids. They had a strong moral code, which we will look at later, but didn’t think in quite the same way as most people do today. The Gods are neither good nor evil, they simply are. If a storm rages and lightning strikes your house, it would be silly to accuse the lightning of being wicked or evil ~ it’s simply behaving according to its own nature. Likewise, Donn (Lord of the dead) does not bring death into the world because he is awful or cruel ~ death is natural, it just happens whether we like it or not.
A polytheist also learns that just because two deities have some things in common, doesn’t mean they are the same deity, or identical in other respects. Owen and Rhys might both have the same hair colour, but that doesn’t mean they like the same music, have the same hobbies, or eat the same food. Nuada and Moccus are both rather war-like, but have little else in common.
The Gods are not seen as all-powerful. They have their limits, and must operate within the same universal laws as the rest of us. However, the Gods are more powerful than us mortals, and deserve respect. Druid rituals do not summon the Gods to attend ~ if a God wants to turn up, it will do so without an invite, and if it doesn’t want to come … well, it won’t matter how many candles we dance around, or how much we chant! The Gods can be praised, but it’s up to them if they turn up or not. As well as Gods, there are lots of other spirits which we will learn about in a future lesson. There are some spirits that only seem to appear if specifically invited; we’ll cover them in a future lesson too.
As you encounter Gods, you will see that each has their own character and temperament. This shapes how they respond to requests, which in turn is likely to influence whom you turn to for help. A lot of books talk in terms of Zeus being the god of thunder, Apollo the god of the sun, etc. This is fine up to a point, but it’s a bit limiting. Gods have lots of interests, just as humans do. Vincent Price, for example, was most famous for acting in horror movies, but he was also a gourmet cook, an expert on Native American art, an author, a husband (several times over) ~ there was more to him than just one dimension, and the same can be said for all of us. When a Druid considers which deity to approach for help with a problem, they don’t just look in a book to see who the goddess of that thing is.
Supposing someone wanted help getting a job. If they approach a teacher, she might give advice on how to study for the best qualifications to get the job. A fashion model might give ideas on the best clothes to wear to look stunning at the interview. The clerk at the local Job Centre might show how to write a really good CV. The local Crime Lord might just threaten to beat up the interviewer if he doesn’t give them the job. They could all help get the job, but each would have a totally different way of going about it. Whose help you sought would depend on what you felt the most effective approach to be. The Gods are the same, they can all help ~ but in very different ways.
You can learn about Celtic myths and Druid ideas without having to be a polytheist yourself. However, it will help you to know how polytheists think in order to understand the myths, and why rituals are done in certain ways.
The names most of us know the Old Gods by now are the versions of them spoken during the Dark Ages and Medieval periods, when the monks were writing them down. This is not how they would have been spoken in the Iron Age. Some names are known from altar inscriptions, whilst with others linguists have made educated guesses as to how people would probably have called their Gods in the days before Christianity. Some examples are below ~
| MEDIEVAL VERSION | IRON AGE VERSION |
| Lugh | Lugos |
| Rhiannon / Morrighan | Rigantona |
| Fionn / Gwynn | Vindos (or Vindonnus) |
| Aognhus | Oinogustus |
| Beli | Belinus |
| Ogma | Ogmios |
| Boannan | Bouvinda |
| Nuada | Nodens |
| Goibniu | Gobanos |
| Brigit | Brigantia |
| Bran | Brannos |
The early Celts saw their Gods as ancestors, and often claimed to be descended from one or other of them. They were, in essence, family ~ part of the Tribe. As such people probably looked on them in the same way they might a wise and powerful uncle, mother, cousin etc. The names given to the Gods often reflect this ~ An Chailleach can mean ‘The Grandmother’, for example.
The following deity names are from inscriptions found on statues, altars, etc, during the Romano-British period. Prior to then the native tribes did not (as far as is currently known) inscribe the sacred names. These names, it must be borne in mind, are often Roman attempts to pronounce local words ~ so they are not always exactly the same as the names which the natives used. There may have been many other Gods whose inscriptions have never been found, and we don’t know how many of the names below are just different titles for the same Beings.
| Andraste | Goddess of victory, called upon by Boudica during the rebellion, who released a hare in order to see how the course of battle would go. |
| Antenociticus | The name of this Celtic god is known from three inscriptions found in a small shrine at Benwell near Newcastle-upon-Tyne. He is shown as a young man with what may be the first buds of antlers on his head. |
| Arnemetia | Most likely this is a title of Nemetona. Temple found at Buxton near a healing spa (just like Nemetona’s shrine at the Bath spa). |
| Belatucadros | God of war and destruction. His name means “fair shining one”. The Romans equated him with their god Mars. Variant spellings include Belatucader |
| Belinus | God of light, and referred to as “The Shining One”. He is in charge of the welfare of sheep and cattle. His wife is the goddess Belisama. They were compared with Apollo and Minerva. |
| Belisama | Goddess of light and fire, the forge and of crafts. She is the wife of the god Belinus. Associated with healing springs. |
| Brigantia | Goddess of victory known from inscriptions in Britain. Her name means “The Exalted One”. Thought to be the guardian deity of the Brigantes tribe. Sometimes equated with the goddess Victoria. Portrayed with a mural crown, wings, spear, and shield, usually associated with Minerva. Her consort was the god Bregans. |
| Callirius | Associated by the Romans with their woodland god Silvanus. A shrine to him was found in Colchester. His name associates him with hazel trees. A stag icon was found in the Colchester pit. |
| Camulus | Celtic warrior god known in both Britain and Gaul. Known to be important in pre-Roman times, and equated with Mars as Mars Camulos. Camulodunum (Colchester) was named after him. |
| Cernunnos | God of fertility, abundance, regeneration and wild animals. Cernunnos means “antlered one”. The distribution of images show that Cernunnos (or someone very similar in appearance) was widely worshipped in both Gaul and Britain. The name Cernunnos does not appear on the British statues, but the images are near identical. |
| Cocidius | “The Red One”. Mainly worshipped in Northern and Western Cumbria, and near Hadrian’s wall. A god of woodland and hunting, also a god of war sometimes depicted with a shield and spear. At Ebchester there was an inscription to Cocidius Vernostonus, (the vern element meaning “alder tree”). Sometimes syncretised with the Roman Silvanus, and at other times with Mars. A sanctuary of Cocidius is believed to have been near the Irthing River valley. |
| Corotiacus | God of battle, an image of him found in Martlesham, Suffolk shows a man on horseback wielding two axes. |
| Coventina | Goddess of a healing spring at Carrawburgh, near Hadrian’s Wall. Referred to in inscriptions as “Augusta” and “Sancta.” Coventina is usually portrayed as a maiden, naked and resting on waves. She holds a water lily, and in one depiction is shown in three forms pouring water from a jug. Her name is pronounced “co-vent-eena” rather than “coven-Tina” (she ain’t an Essex girl!). |
| Cunomaglus | The Great Hound (or possibly Great Wolf.) Associated with Apollo by the Romans, either in his solar or healing capacities (or maybe both.) Temple at Nettleton. |
| Deae Matres | The “Mother Goddesses”. Usually seen as a trinity, and shown holding baskets of fruit, bread, or fish. Linked with sacred springs. Statuary found at Cirencester, Bath, Lincoln, and London. |
| Dea Nutrix | The “Nursing Mother”. Clay figurines show the young goddess seated in a high-backed wicker chair nursing one or two infants. |
| Epona | Horse goddess whose worship was spread all over the Empire, and even had a Roman feast day of December 18th. Epona was always portrayed riding or alongside a horse, and sometimes with plate full of corn, ears of corn, baskets of fruit, a dog, a goose, and a key. |
| Maponos | Name means “The Young Son”, with inscriptions from Hadrian’s Wall and Chesterholm. He is usually connected to Matrona, the great Mother. |
| Mogons | Name means “The Great One”, and is also spelled Mogonus. Dedications to this god, often paired with Apollo, occur at several fort sites around Hadrian’s Wall, including Netherby, Vindolanda, Risingham, and Old Penrith. |
| Nemetona | Guardian of the sacred places, a statue to her was found in Bath. Her worship was also prevalent in Germany. |
| Nodens | God of healing sanctuaries, much associated with dogs and hunting. Temples to him at Lydney Park (which also has lots of sea-imagery, suggesting an ocean-link). |
| Rosmerta | Goddess usually found as a companion of Mercury in Britain, Germany, and Gaul. She appears on a relief in the Gloucester Museum holding a plate over an altar. |
| Sulis | The patron deity of Bath (Aquae Sulis), she was associated with water, hot springs, and healing. The temple at Bath was dedicated to Sulis Minerva. |
| Taranis | God of thunder and lightning (taren is Welsh for “thunder”), symbolized by a wheel. Known archaeologically in Gaul and Germany, and mentioned by Lucan in his play Pharsalia, he is linked to Jupiter in an altar from Chester. |
| Teutates | Mainly found in Gaul, one inscription to him has been found in Cumberland. His name signifies that he is a general patron and protector of the tribes. |
| Veteris | A warrior god, whose name is also spelled Vitiris. At least seven versions of the same name are recorded in 54 inscriptions, most from the eastern half of Hadrian’s Wall. Some of the altars have boars and snakes carved on them. |
| Vindonnus | Whilst the only inscriptions to him have been found in Gaul, linguists link the name to Gwynn and Fionn. There is a strong suggestion that both those figures may have their roots in Vindonnus or Vindos (or a deity with a very similar name.) |
Clearly you could spend a lifetime conducting rituals without even beginning to scratch the surface of who half these gods are. In practice, most people feel drawn to a handful of deities, often ones with whom they have a close affinity. Some people also find a deity makes itself known to them in order to convey some lesson about an area of life they have no real affinity with (yet.)
To flesh out some of the Gods, and make them more than just names on altars, lets take a brief look at some we have personal experience of ~
Ogmios is the main patron of our small group. In Gaelic, a patron is called a Flaith, and is someone ~ a deity or another person ~ who looks after you in exchange for offerings or support. The Greek writer Lucian described a picture he had seen in Gaul, where this god was shown as a bald old man with thin golden chains going from his tongue to the ears of lots of happy, smiling followers. However, the very early Celts did not think of their Gods as being human in appearance, but embodied in animals and the forces of nature. In Irish myth Ogma (a name with clear relationship to Ogmios) is believed to have invented the alphabet named after him, ogam. He is described as a bard, a poet, and given the title of ‘The Honey-Tongued’ (or Honey-Mouthed) ~ someone for whom language is terrifically important. His other interests, as described in Irish myths, are wrestling and shot-putting! He was also called Grianianech (Sun Faced) and Threnfher (Champion), and is certainly a bright, sunny presence to encounter. He is a god that relishes language, learning and teaching.
Lugus appears in numerous place names around Britain and Europe. His Irish form, Lugh was described in myth as having a Fomori mother and a Tuatha father. His name means ‘light’, and he is often compered to the radiance spreading across the land from the eastern horizon. In one story he arrived at the gates of the Tuatha fortress at Tara, seeking admission. The gatekeepers asked him what skills he could bring to the assembly at Tara, and he began to list his talents. Each time the gatekeepers told him that there was already a god who could perform that skill, until at last he asked if they had one person who could do all the things listed. Having no one that talented, they admitted him to Tara and gave him the title of Samildanach, which meant ‘the many-skilled one’. He lead the armies of the Tuatha in battle to vanquish the forces of the Fomori, and afterwards taught many new skills in peacetime. Two of his most popular gifts to humanity were horse racing and a board game called fidchell. The Welsh know him by the name of Lleu, and tell the story of how he married a magical woman made entirely out of flowers.
Brigantia had a vast tribe named after her who owned territories covering modern-day Yorkshire. The image of the warrior-goddess Brigantia is still around today, on the back of 50p coins (only these days she is called by her Roman name of Britannia.) In Ireland and Scotland she was known as Brighid and considered the special protective goddess (or Ban-Flaith, female patron) of the province of Leinster. When a nun of the same name set up a monastery on the site of an old pagan temple, the stories of the nun (who eventually became a saint) began to entwine with the stories of the goddess. The Abbess Brigit maintained the old pagan tradition of keeping a sacred fire burning in a grove, which only women were permitted to enter. Even the bishops could not step foot inside the grove at Kildare. Fire is an important emblem of this goddess, who also looks after the interests of blacksmiths, poets and healers. She is a guardian of farm animals (especially sheep), and it was a popular activity on her feast day to leave out bowls of milk for her creatures to drink. The kinds of domestic chores commonly associated with women in Iron Age Ireland were also seen to be under Brighid’s aegis ~ things like churning milk to make butter, spinning, weaving, cooking, running a happy home etc.
These three deities are but the tip of the iceberg, but enough to be thinking about for now.
Some questions for you to think about:
How do you see the Gods? Do you feel they are real or symbolic? Are there many separate Gods, or are they all aspects of something else? Are there any Celtic gods or goddesses you have read about, with whom you feel a connection? Can you see ways in which stories about the Gods might be used to convey moral lessons, ideas about the natural world, advice on how to live or behave?
Practical task:
Pick an Irish, Welsh etc myth and read it aloud to a friend (ideally one with the same interests.) Discuss the ideas in the myth, and how you each feel about the themes and events. Which characters appeal to you most, and which least? Pick one of the god-like figures in the tale, and discuss how the story might seem from their viewpoint. Why did they act they way they did? Were there any particular animals, items, images associated with them in the myth? If so, what do you think they mean?
Have a go at creating an image of that character in a medium with which you are comfortable ~ you could write a poem about them, or paint a picture, or model an image in clay, carve something in wood, compose a song about them, embroider a banner etc. Try to think about the story and the character as you work in whatever form of artistic expression you most like.