Cernunnos: Celtic God

Cernunnos is a Celtic god, also known as the ‘Horned One’ and sometimes referred to as Herne the Hunter. There isn’t much known about Him really, nothing is written down, the only things that could relate might be in folktales. Mostly he is depicted with stag’s antlers, seated cross-legged and surrounded with animals like stags, wolves and others, holding or wearing torcs. In others he is seen with a ram-horned serpent. He seems to be related mostly to Gaul, but could be known in Britain with other names that haven’t survived, maybe because Cernunnos was not associated with war or heroes, instead he seems to have been a god for animals and forests. He could have some fertility associations too, besides being the lord of the animals and the …show more content…
Not a goddess of beauty or kindness She rules the dark time of the year and the weather it is said. Her name can vary depending on where we hear her story, in Scotland it is Cailleach Bheur or Carlin, and in Britain She is known as Black Annis. The name Cailleach is said to mean ‘Old Wife’, but it is literally ‘Veiled One’, according to one source it is an epithet applied to those that belong to the hidden worlds. The name Bheur is said to mean ‘sharp’ or ‘shrill’, for cutting winds and the northern winter. She is said to be the daughter of Grainan, ‘little sun’, the sun that in the old Scottish calendar shines from Samhain to Imbolc. The legends say that She has been the creator of hills and mountains when she carried rocks across the land and accidentally dropped them on her way. That makes her associated with the creator gods and goddesses. Another story connects her with Brigid. In that one Cailleach is the old hag or crone during the winter, but when spring arrives She is either transformed into a stone boulder or drinking from the Well of Youth, and when that has happened either Brigid takes over the months of summer or Cailleach herself is turned into Brigid. In other stories the two of them are