Gods of the Celtic Pantheon
Antvmnos, the Celtic afterlife.
Antumnos
Death and the Afterlife
Antumnos is the Otherworld, used by most modern Gaulish polytheist to also refer to the afterlife. Depending on your social status there were a few rules set in place. Within a grave the deceased was laid on their back with their head to the west and their feet were to the east. If you were a tribal leader, or had lot’s of gold to spend, your clan might be kind enough to bury you with jewelry, weaponry and trinkets, as well as having the luxury of being buried properly.
For almost everyone else, there were a few ways your life could end. Dying on he battlefield could lead you on a quick trip to a mass grave. Hold on to you head though, it was common for Celtic soldiers to cut off heads of their enemies and parade them around or mount them on pikes. If you didn’t die immediately, they may give you the pleasure of leaving you to die by being slowly eaten by birds and animals; a tasty treat for the vultures.
Cremation also became common, indications appear that Celts would often cremate their slaves.
As for what happens next, accounts vary. In general, the Antumnos was considered a place of perfection and beauty. It was also a place of celebration and merriment. Those that lived within the Other World were called Antumnatîs. Some beliefs hold Antumnatîs would travel between their world and ours during certain times of the year, and at mystical sites such as sacred caves or mounds.
Artio, a druidic goddess of wildlife and transformation, coming from the gaelic word for bear.
Artio
The Bear, Goddess of Wildlife and Transformation
Artio is a Celtic Goddess of wild life, transformation, and abundance. Like many members of the Celtic pantheon, Artio is obscured in mystery. She is often shown with baskets of plenty and surrounded by animals. Her name comes from the old Celtic word for bear, and she is often shown either next to one, as one, or transforming into one. A bit like the animated Disney classic, Brother Bear. Or alternatively, druids in Dungeons and Dragons.
Their are two surviving artifacts with her inscription. The first is a tall bronze statue with her inscription was found in Berne, Switzerland. Another inscription of the goddess was found near Trier in western Germany (Cartwright, 2021).
She is often an exemplar of the trait compassion and what happens when compassion is taken too far. Fiercely protective of her followers, to those who oppose them she seeks vengeance in the name of compassion for those who worship her.
Her worshipers often included hunters and trappers as they pursued bears and wild animals in their natural habitat. The power and protection Artio granted may have been similar to the fierce instincts of a mother bear safeguarding her cubs in the wild.
Aventia, a goddess of rivers and springs.
Aventia
Goddess of Healing Springs
Of Aventia little can be said but this. She appears on lists, but no surviving records exist to validate her historical authenticity. Reportedly there are hundreds of Celtic gods and goddesses, the vast majority of which we know nothing more then a name. She is no exception.
Despite this, wherever she came from, her followers seem to be devoted. She is worshiped most heavily in Switzerland and eastern Germany, and is likely the inspiration for the name of the town Aventicum, the largest town in Roman Switzerland. The city had large defensive walls, is the birthplace of Roman emperor Vespasian, and is on the edge of Lake Murten. For hundreds of years, Lake Murten was home to over a dozen towns and settlements including Aventicum.
She is one of countless goddesses of healing and renewal, and is told to give blessing and restore those in need through purifying waters. Often associated with hot springs, though she can also protect those within waters of lakes and streams. Next time you take a bath, consider Aventia for your patronage.
The annual May Day festival to celebrate Belenos. Also known as the Night of the Night Fires or the Festival of Beltane.
Belenos
God of Fire, Warmth and Light
Belenos is a god of fire and celebration. Every year hundreds of groups around the world celebrate Beltane, a night of rituals, feasts and fires. The days for Beltane also coincide with the Gaelic festivals of May Day, hearkening the thawing of Spring. Both are celebrated on May 1st every year.
Due to his passionate nature Belenos is worshiped widely in the 21st century, as the night of Beltane often involves heavy drinking and intense celebration. To this day, thousands celebrate Beltane every year, largely across Europe, but also around the world.
Also known as the Shining One, Belenos brings sanctuary in the darkest hours of the night. The fire of a burning hearth in the middle of a home. A campfire protecting a band of adventurers from the dangers of the wilderness.
Caturix leading an army into battle.
Caturix
The Battle King of Gaul
If you were a Gaelic warrior, I’d strongly recommend believing in Caturix. Stories recount him riding into battle side by side with armies, leading the charge to destroy those who opposed him. Warriors would chant his name, starting soft, growing louder as voices joined in. Eventually the sound would reach a fever pitch, leading the soldiers in a frenzied rhythm into battle. He is a warrior and defender, worshiped for protection of the tribe. Into battle he rides with a mighty hammer and spear ready to strike down opposing foes. He was worshiped in regions near and within the Swiss Alps.
The Celtic pantheon can be roughly divided into the older Gaulish/Brythonic deities, mostly described by Greco-Roman sources, and the Welsh and Irish deities, found in Celtic mythology. Caturix falls into the first group.
Cernunnos Lord of the Wild.
Cernunnos
Lord of the Wild
Cernunnos is a prominent Celtic god known as the Lord of the Wild Things. He is associated with the wild, nature, animals, and fertility. Cernunnos is often depicted with stag antlers, a characteristic that links him to the stag, a symbol of virility and the wild. Cernnunos in His Ancient Forest, His Sacred Temple, His Holy Grove, Cernnunos and His children dream the Worlds.
At the Sacred Centre, in the Grove of all Worlds, He sits with legs crossed beneath an ancient Oak. Entranced, connecting the three worlds Earth, Sea, and Sky, and the worlds behind the worlds, the god and the Great Tree are One, His immense limbs widespread, stretching into distant sky and starry space.
Epona, the patroness of horses and mares.
Epona
Goddess of Horses and Mares
Epona is renowned as a protectress of horses, symbolizing fertility and prosperity, and her stature as a deity expanded into the realm of the Roman Empire, where she was associated with sacred rituals and equine symbolism.
A late Greek writer, Agesilaos wrote that Epona was born of a mare and a man, Phoulonios Stellos. He chose to spurn womankind and instead mate with a mare. The mare gave birth to a beautiful and lively daughter whom she named Epona, and who became the Goddess of Horses. The giving of a name in most Celtic legends is of vital importance in that individual’s future. The naming of Epona by her mother implies that the mare may have had a divine nature herself and that Epona followed on in some way from an earlier Horse Goddess.
Small images of Epona have been found in stables and barns all over Europe. A niche would be cut in the walls and a little statue of the Goddess would be found often garlanded with roses and sometimes with a mare’s head. Epona is known to be one of a very few Gaulish deities whose names were spread to the rest of the Roman Empire. This seems to have happened because Roman cavalry units stationed in Gaul followed Her and adopted her as their Patroness.
A photo of a willow tree, one of the only known symbols of the god Esus.
Esus
Woodcutters and Willow Trees
One of the most mysterious of all, there are only two known artifacts with his inscription. One is the ‘Saliors Pillar’ discovered beneath the church of Notre Dame, showing Esus using a giant axe to cut down a tree. Some scholars speculate a willow, others argue perhaps the tree of life. Beyond the artifacts, there are several examples in writing. In myths, Esus often appears at the end of battles where his victims were hung from trees.
With information as limited as it is, I’m going to quote directly from Sheena McGrath, a medival scholar and author of five books on the history of pagan gods and goddesses. She writes,
“Looking again at Esus’ imagery, you notice how much is to do with marshlands. The herons or egrets that sit on the bull’s back live where land and water meet, as does the willow tree that Esus is cutting (or pruning – another interpretation!). Willows have been pollarded (cut back hard periodically to harvest the branches) since medieval times, and their regeneration, as well as their ability to root when used as stakes or fencing, has always been impressive. It’s not hard to imagine Esus as a deity of cyclical life, symbolized by water and the deciduous tree that roots itself anywhere it’s stuck.”
Grannus and Sirona are Celtic healing deities associated with hot springs and wells.
Grannus
God of Healing and Hot Springs
Grannus is a solar deity, possibly God of the Sun, certainly God of Light. Even more, he is a healing deity, called on to cure injury and illness. He was also called on for health and protection. As a deity at once solar and watery, hot springs are especially sacred to him.
Grannus is often shown next to Sirona, the goddess of healing springs. Both Grannus and Sirona were widely worshipped together near mineral springs in eastern France and Germany.
Lugus, the courageous warrior
Lugus
The Courageous Warrior
Most surviving dedications to Lugus survive from Iberia and date to between the 1st century BCE and the 3rd century CE. They were mostly dedications in Latin from Roman troops in the region. In all but one example, Lugus is referred to in the plural as Lugoves, suggesting that the name might not belong to a single deity but a class of deities, such as personal protective deities of people and places like the Roman Lares.
Merrigan, the shapeshifter
Merrigan
Shapeshifting Mystic
Nantosvelta, She of the Winding River
Nantosvelta
Goddess of the Winding River
Nantosuelta is a Celtic goddess whose name translates to "She of the Winding River". She's often depicted with the raven, connecting her to themes of home, fertility, and death, and sometimes shown with a small house or beehive, suggesting domesticity and prosperity. Her cult partner is the god Sucellus.
Nemeton, the sacred grove.
Nemetona
Goddess of the Sacred Grove
Nematona is an elusive Celtic Goddess. Her rites have not been recorded nor do we know anything of her attributes, yet her name ‘She of the Sacred grove’ whispers to our heart of protection, safety, a connection with nature as divine ‘sanctuary’. Nemeton is the name for a sacred grove itself.
Ogmios, god of charisma and poetry.
Ogmios
God of Bardic Eloquence
One of his prominent attributes is his role as the god of eloquence, and he is hailed as the bringer of inspiration and persuasion. Ogmios’ presence exemplifies the power and wisdom revered by the ancient Celts. He was also a god of eloquence, and in that aspect he was represented as drawing along a company of men whose ears were chained to his tongue.
Sucellus
Protector of the Peasents and Down Trodden
He was above all a god of peasants and slaves, of people who had neither the money nor the prestige to offer him magnificent monuments. His importance, therefore is much greater than the number of inscriptions or temples dedicated to him might suggest. He protects the areas that lie at the margins of society—woods and wild places—but also fields and vineyards. Many inscriptions in his honor have been found near mines and quarries. He guarantees the protection and prosperity of the working class at large.
Taranis, King of storms, wind and rain.
Taranis
King of Storms and Fury
Taranis was a little known god of storms, and thunder and raging rains. Taranis was a violent harbinger of storms on land and sea. Wielding a powerful thunderbolt as a weapon and a wheel.
The Celtic tree of life.
Tarvos
Protector of the Tree of Life
He is the protector of the Tree of Life, and companion and male counterpart to the Triple Goddess. He is associated with abundance of the earth, wealth, male virility, fertility, endurance, strength, stability, loyalty, and sacrifice.
