What gods did the Gauls worship?
Mercury was regarded as the inventor of all the arts, the patron of travellers and of merchants, and the most powerful god in matters of commerce and gain. After him, the Gauls honoured Apollo, who drove away diseases, Mars, who controlled war, Jupiter, who ruled the heavens, and Minerva, who promoted handicrafts.
How many major Celtic gods are there?
The ancient Celtic pantheon consisted of over 400 gods and goddesses who represented everything from rivers to warfare. With perhaps the exception of Lugh, the Celtic gods were not universally worshipped across Iron Age Europe but were very often limited to only several regions or a specific area.
Who is the Celtic god of the sky?
The wheel, more specifically the chariot wheel with six or eight spokes, was an important symbol in historical Celtic polytheism, apparently associated with a specific god, known as the wheel-god, identified as the sky- sun- or thunder-god, whose name is attested as Taranis by Lucan.
Who is cernunnos?
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.
Are the Gauls and the Celts the same?
The Difference Between the Celts and the Gauls. Celt is a term applied to the tribes who spread across Europe, Asia Minor and the British Isles from their homeland in south central Europe. The bottom line is that there was no difference between the Celts and the Gauls, they were the same people.
Who is the most powerful Celtic god?
Lug was also known in Irish tradition as Samildánach (“Skilled in All the Arts”). The variety of his attributes and the extent to which his calendar festival Lugnasad on August 1 was celebrated in Celtic lands indicate that he was one of the most powerful and impressive of all the ancient Celtic deities.
Who is the Celtic goddess of magic?
Danu – Ireland; Mother of the Gods, she was goddess of rivers and wells, magic, plenty, wisdom. Possible aspect of Anu; ancestress of the Tuatha De Danann. Variant: Dana.
Who is the Celtic god of fire?
Brigit
Brigit. Brigit is the Celtic goddess of fire, healing, fertility, poetry, cattle, and patroness of smiths. Brigit is also known as Brighid or Brigantia and in Christianity is known as St. Brigit or Brigid.
Does Cernunnos have a wife?
Perhaps Cernunnos is balanced somewhat by his marriage to the goddess of Beltane. She is celebrated in a time when blessing comes from rubbing yourself with the dew of early May morning to soak in the blessing of Spring.
What Pantheon does Cernunnos belong to?
Celtic pantheon
Despite (or perhaps because of) his mysterious nature, Cernunnos has made a number of appearances in popular culture: In Marvel Comics, Cernunnos was one of the most prominent figures of the Celtic pantheon.
What is Cocidius the god of?
In Romano-British religion, Cocidius was a deity worshipped in northern Britain. The Romans equated him with Mars, god of war and hunting, and also with Silvanus, god of forests, groves and wild fields.
What is Celtic mythology?
Celtic is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts had a polytheistic mythology and religious structure.
What is the locus classicus for the Celtic gods of Gaul?
The locus classicus for the Celtic gods of Gaul is the passage in Julius Caesar ‘s Commentarii de Bello Gallico ( The Gallic War, 52–51 BC) in which he names six of them, together with their functions. He says that Mercury was the most honoured of all the gods and many images of him were to be found.
What are the symbols of the Celtic religion?
Among these are images of a three-headed or three-faced god, a squatting god, a god with a snake, a god with a wheel, and a horseman with a kneeling giant. Some of these images can be found in Late Bronze Age peat bogs in Britain, indicating the symbols were both pre-Roman and widely spread across Celtic culture.