The Gods of Earth and

Sky

"Than this nothing has better served, it has served all..... Served Albic temples in woods or on plains with unhewn pillars and the druids..... Served the long distant Kelt..... Served not the living only then as now, but served the dead."                                                     - Walt Whitman                                                      Song of the Broad-Axe

In 1711 a Gallo-Roman altar, erected sometime between the years 14 and 37 C.E. by the Parisian Mariners, was discovered beneath the choir section of the cathedral of Notre Dame, in Paris, France. The altar, ornamented with a series of sixteen scenes (four to each side), bears depictions of both Celtic and Roman deities in about equal number, some of which correspond quite closely with a first century Celtic relief found in Trier [Treves], Germany. Both show a figure cutting down a tree, in the boughs of which hide a bull surmounted by three birds.      The Paris altar, which includes narrative inscriptions, designates the group of animals as "Tarous Trigaranus" [The Bull with Three Cranes]; while the woodsman is identified as the Gallic god Esus, mentioned by Lucan and equated with Cian and Amaethon of Gaelic and Briton mythology. Evidently the scenes serve to illustrate an event related in some myth which was at one time universal throughout the Celtic religion.

Depiction of the Celtic deity Esus on a panel of the first century Nautes altar, now in the Cluny Museum, Paris.

Also shown is Jovis, the Romanized equivalent of Taranis (Gaelic: Tuirenn, Brythonic: Taran), the Gaulish god of thunder; and Volcanus, god of fire and metal-working, recognized as being the Latin counterparts of Sucellus, a Gallic deity cognate with Goibniu and Gofannon in Irish and Welsh literature. Jovis is shown in a typical pose, holding a thunderbolt, while Volcanus is seen with the tools of a smith, grasping a hammer and tongs.      On another panel of the altar is found a different relief, also bearing an inscription. The depiction, entitled "Cernunnos" [Horned One], shows the Celtic horned god of the wilderness in the form of a bearded man with antlers from which dangle a pair of torcs. The lower portion of the figure is broken away, but it is known from other examples, such as that found on a silver ritual cauldron of Celtic manufacture discovered in Gundestrup, Denmark, that the deity was usually shown in a cross-legged seated position (similar to that of the Buddah in Oriental artwork).

Panel from the Nautes altar showing Tarous Trigaranus "The Bull with Three Cranes"

The Gundestrup rendering has Cernunnos surrounded by a menagerie of animals holding a torc in one hand and a ram-horned serpent in the other. In another relief from a stela in Reims he holds a sack overflowing with acorns upon which feed a stag and a bull, about his neck he wears the same torc as in the previous interpretations, a symbol of power and protection. All of these scenes dating from the third to the first centuries B.C.E. agree in respect to detail with a much older depiction of the god from Val Camonica, in northern Italy, dating to 400 B.C.E.

Two depictions of the Celtic horned god. Above, from the Nautes altar and below on a panel from the silver ritual cauldron found in Gundestrup, Denamark.

Below a Gallo-Roman deptction of Cernunnos from a stella in Reims, wearing a torc and shown in his usual seated position feeding a bull and a stag.

Right: the earliest known depiction of the Celtic horned-god from a rock-carving in Val Camonica in northern Italy dating to 400 B.C.E. showing Cernunnos wearing a torc on his right arm and accompanied by a serpent similar to the one which he holds on the Celtic ritual cauldron found in Gundestrup, Denmark (above). The smaller figure to the left of the deity may represent a worshipper.

Two torc-wearing, cross-legged seated figures which may have been representations of deities like those found on the Nautes altar were found among the remains of the ruined Gallo-Grecian temple at Roquepertuse [Bouches-du-Rhone]. Both are decapitated preventing the actual identity of the images from being discerned, but judging from their proxmity to another effigy of a large sculptured bird, it would seem not unlikely that they may have been a part of the story illustrated on the reliefs from Paris and Trier.      The bird, which would appear to be a long-necked water fowl, reposed on a lentil supported by three pillars, each having carved into them a number of niches, containing human skulls. Originally each of the pillars probably bore a similar bird. On the whole the design of the sanctuary suggests that it was a temple dedicated to the afterlife.

Left: First Century C.E. Celtic relief from Trier, Germany showing the god Esus felling a tree in the boughs of which are hiding Tarous Trigaranus [The Bull with Three Cranes] which corresponds to scenes on the Nautes altar found under the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France, dating to the same period. Right: remains of the Gallo-Grecian temple at Roquepertuse, France, which included two torc-wearing figures in a seated position and a bird effigy closely resembling the cranes in the Tarous Trigaranus depictions.

If indeed the now headless figures were representations of deities from the Nautes altar, then the bull with the three cranes hiding in the tree being felled by Esus was undoubtedly the horned god in his death aspect. This, in contrast to the role portrayed on the Gundestrup cauldron and other instances as lord of the animals, would not seem at all improbable considering the multi-faceted incarnations which characterise many Celtic deities.      Surprisingly the title "horned one" appears only once as the name of a god in the annals of Gaelic literature. In this instance it is mentioned in regard to one of the gaesa or prohibitations imposed upon the High King, Conaire Mor, by Nemghan, a divine bird-warrior from the Celtic paradise world of Tir-nan-Og [the Land of Eternal Youth], in an episode from the Irish Mythological Cycle, where Conaire is warned "Thou shalt not hunt the wild beasts of Cerna."      The Gaelic name of the horned god in his aspect of lord of the dead and guardian of the underworld occurs more often however. He is recalled in Irish literature as Donn [Dark One], son of Midir, who ruled over his kingdom of Tech Duinn [House of Donn] which was guarded by three cranes who stood at its gates, croaking to travellers the warning "Do not enter...Keep away...Pass by!"      Donn's name later appears in the Ulster Cycle where he is found in the incarnation of a supernatural bull having magical powers in the Tain bo Cuailnge [The Cattle Raid of Cooley]. In this story the Celtic goddess of death and battle known as the Morrigan speaks to him of the impending war between the kingdoms of Connaught and Ulster, saying:

"Dark one, are you restless? Do you guess they gather to certain slaughter? The wise raven groans aloud that enemies infest the fair fields, ravaging in packs. Learn, I discern rich plains softly, wavelike, bearing their necks. Greeness of grass, beauty of blossoms on the plains of war, grinding heroic hosts to dust. Cattle groans, the Badb, the raven ravenous among corpses of men. Affliction and outcry and war everlasting raging over Cooley. Death of sons, death of kinsmen, death, death!"

Older than the pyramids of ancient Egypt, the prehistoric burial mounds of of the British Isles such as Newgrange, in Ireland, dating to 3,200 B.C.E. were looked upon by the Celts as magical abodes of the gods and entrances to the otherworld where the next life might be spent.

The Celts and their religious beliefs and practices were familiar enough to the classical scholars of antiquity for the Greeks and Romans to have given some account of them in their writings. Though somewhat biased, these represent the earliest recorded works of refrence which history provides us with, detailing the Celts' customs and traditions with regard to their religious faith. Among the earliest of these accounts is that given by Julius Caesar in his personal journal of the Roman conquest of Gaul, De Bello Gallico [The Gallic Wars], written during his campaign against the Celts of continental Europe between the years 58 and 51 B.C.E., where Caesar reports:

"All Gauls claim that they are descended from Dis Pater, and assert that this tradition has been handed down by the Druids. For this reason they calculate the divisions of every season, not by the number of days, but by nights, they observe birthdays and the beginings of months and years in such an order that the day follows the night."

Dis was the name which the Romans gave to their god of the underworld, known to the Greeks as Hades, he presided over the gloomy realm where the spirits of those who had died of sickness or old age rested in the afterlife, thus we see here, in the aspect of Donn the "Dark One," a third aspect of the Celtic horned god in being the ancestor of mankind in addition to his roles as lord of the animals and guardian of the dead.      In regard to the other gods worshipped by the Celts, Caesar gives a brief summary, though in his typical chauvinistic fashion, he refers to the deities by the names of their Roman counterparts rather than by those which the Gauls knew them, saying:

"They worship as their divinity, Mercury in particular, and have many images of him, and regard him as inventor of all the arts, they consider him the guide of their journeys and travels, and believe him to have great influence over commerce and business transactions. Next to him they worship Apollo, and Mars, and Jupiter, and Minerva, having the same beliefs as other nations in respect to these deities. Apollo averts diseases, Minerva inspires invention and creativity,  Jupiter rules over the heavens, and Mars presides over wars. To him they often dedicate the spoils which they have taken in battle, and after the conflict they will sacrifice whatever animals that may have survived the seige and collect the other objects together in one place. In many regions may be seen great piles of these things heaped up in their consecrated spots, and only rarely will anyone withold captured booty or dare to remove any such spoils from the place where they have been deposited, and the most severe punishment in the form of torture is established for such a deed."

Three of the deities worshipped by the Gallic Celts are mentioned by Lucan in reference to the sacrifices performed by the Druids; among whom Taranis and Esus are counted, as well as Teutates, the god of war, identified as "Mars" by Caesar. Of these Lucan states:

"Cruel Teutates propitiated by bloody sacrifices, and uncouth Esus of the barbarous altars, and Taranis whose altar is no more benign than that of the Scythian Diana."

Apparently the intention of the reliefs on the Nautes altar was to illustrate the relationship between the gods, particularly that of Taranis and Esus in contrast to their antagonistic position toward the horned god. As inventor of all the arts, Esus was credited with introducing agriculture to mankind, overthrowing the more dominant position formerly held by Cernunnos who, as father of men, was seen as an adversary by the gods since he represented an older more independant way of life which revolved around hunting and herding animals. It is this act which is recorded in the Esus and Tarous Trigaranus reliefs -

Esus, having been comanded by his father Taranis, descends unto the domain of Cernunnos armed with the magical blade forged by Sucellus, and proceeds to cut down the forest over which the horned god reigns, deposing him to become Donnus, the lord of the dead and guardian of the underworld, while Esus himself instructs mankind in the agrarian skills, leading them to depend upon the gods for their livelihood.

As a result of this act, Esus, like the horned god, assumes a new incarnation as Lugus, a deity equivalent to the Irish god Lugh Lamfota and the Welsh divinity Lleu Llaw Gyffes [Lion of the Steady Hand]. Echoes of this theme can be found in cultures as distant as that of Egypt where in ancient times cults celebrated the myth of Osiris who reappears after death as the sacred bull Apis, and would later contribute to the mythos of the Christian religion as well, where parallels can be seen in the story of how the archangel Lucifer was thrown out of heaven by Jehova and came to preside over the underworld of Hebrew cosmology as Satan, with whom Jehova's son Jesus would later wrestle.      The three cranes who accompanied the horned god to the underworld and there served as harbingers of fate to all who drew near correspond to Cerebus, the three-headed dog who guarded the entrance to the realm of Hades in Greek Mythology, and like the three raven goddesses, Badb, Macha and Nemain (known collectively as the Morrigan) in Irish legend, are recognized as the triple goddess, Dea Matres [the Three Mothers] in her aspect as the dark crone of wisdom in bird form.      Dea Matres, or Danu as she was called in Irish literature (Welsh - Don), was the celtic equivalent of the Roman Goddess Diana. Like Diana, the triple goddes of the Celts possessed three aspects - Danu, the mother, being the principal aspect; Brigantia or Brighid, the maiden, corresponding to the Latin Proserpina; and Morrigan, the crone, analogous to Hecate of classical mythology.      It is the triple goddess who serves as the primary link in the relationship between Cernunnos and Taranis as in her aspect of the maiden, Brigantia (daughter of Taranis and sister of Esus), she was captured by Cernunnos and became his lover, becoming herself the mother to the race of men, serving as the catalyst for the events portrayed by the Nautes altar -

As Brigantia, the maiden, the triple goddess was abducted by the horned god and the two came to be lovers; from this union was born their offspring, the race of man. In being both father and provider to mankind, the children of Cernunnos honored him with their worship and reverence. Thus Taranis, the father of the gods, grew jealous from the lack of devotion which mankind showed towards him and his children, hence the plot for the downfall of the horned god was conceived by Taranis.      Once the plot had been carried out and Cernunnos had been expelled from his former domain, Taranis punished Brigantia by turning her into the three cranes who guarded the entrance to the region of the dead, where she dwelled with her lover during the winter months in the aspect of Morrigan, the crone, goddess of ghosts and departed spirits. In the summer months she returned to the realm of the gods ruled over by her father Taranis, lord of the heavens.

This story is later retold in degenerated form through a Welsh myth belonging to a collection of tales known as the Mabinogion, compiled in the 14th century C.E. from legends dating back before the introduction of Christianity. In it the goddess is found under the guise of Blodeuedd [Flower-like Visage], the wife of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Having betrayed her husband by falling in love with a mysterious huntsman, she is punished for her infidelity by being turned into an owl. The huntsman, Gronw, is of course the horned god, and he meets his fate at the hands of Lleu who slays him with his own spear.      These myths, which may be taken as the Celtic parallel to the classical legends of Persephone/Artemis/Hecate, Pan/Minotaur/Hades, Uranus/Cronus/Zeus, and Hermes/Theseus/Apollo, represent a motif in the Druidic religion used to explain not only the seasonal changes and their relationship to the affairs of the gods, but also the actual evolution of the pantheons themselves.

Exterior of silver Celtic ritual cauldron discovered in Gundestruo, Denmark,  showing various deities and mythological scenes

Deities of Pagan Europe Graeco-Roman                 Gallic                    Gaelic                  Briton                 Teutonic    Uranus                            Brenos                   Brian                   Bran                       Bor Cronus/Saturn                  Smertullos              Daghda                Math                Odin/Wotan    Zeus/Jupiter                     Taranis                  Tuirenn               Taran                     Thor Persephone/Proserpina       Brigantia                Brighid        Blodeuedd/Branwen      Freyja   Artemis/Diana                  Dea Matres               Danu                    Don                    Frigga       Hecate                           Morigana               Morrigan       Morgan/Cerridwen       Hela     Pan/Faunus                     Cernunnos                Cerna             Cerne/Herne        Ullr/Wuldor Minotaur/Actaeon                Tarous                    Sawan             Gronw/Gwyn           Hodur      Hades/Dis                   Dunatis/Donnus             Donn                 Arawn            Loki/Lodur   Hermes/Mercury                    Esus                       Cian                Amaethon           Hermodr    Apollo/Adonis                  Maponous        Oengus/Cuchulainn   Mabon/Cullwch      Freyr          Theseus                           Lugus                      Lugh                 Lleu/Llwch          Heimdall Hephaestus/Vulcan               Sucellos                  Goibniu                Gofannon          Wieland       Ares/Mars                        Teutates                  Tethra                    Tathal              Tyr/Tiw        Orpheus                          Ogmios                   Oghma                  Taliesin              Bragi       Helios/Sol                         Belenus                  Bel/Beal                    Beli                 Baldur Poseidon/Neptune                   Nodens                 Lir/Nuada           Llyr/Llud/Nudd      Njord    Triton/Proteus                     Mananos               Manannan              Manawydan        Aegir          Plutus                             Medros                    Midir                      Pwyll              Forseti

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