©Selina Fenech
http://www.selinafenech.com

Image used with permission
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Cernunnos / Herne the Hunter
Celtic (Gaulish / British)

This god's name literally means Horned One in Latin, and much of his Wiccan popularity stems from the fact that he and the more general Horned God are nearly one and the same.

It is frequently mentioned how major a god Cernunnos was in the Celtic pantheon. However, this is based on artwork, not literary sources. There is, in fact, only one known actual mention of Cernunnos in history - his name is inscribed above the head and shoulders of a stag-horned figure from ancient Gaul. The presumption of his widespread cult comes from the multitude of images similar to this monument.

The named, Gaulish figure is of a balding, bearded, elderly god. Other depictions display a variety of ages. He is usually bearded, although the most well known image of him on the Gundestrup Cauldron (reproduced at left) features him clean-shaven. He frequently holds or wears (or both) a torque, a symbol of authority and nobility.

He is frequently accompanied in depiction by a ram-horned snake. Across mythologies the snake is identified again and again with knowledge, everywhere from the Greek caduceus to the Biblical Tree of Knowledge.

Lord of the Hunt - Always bearing the horns of a stag, Cernunnos is identified him with the hunted, which in turn identifies him as hunter as well - shamanistic practices across the world bear witness to the concept that in order to catch your prey, you must identify in spirit with the prey.

God of Sexuality, Fertility, and Abundance - Stags are sexually aggressive creatures, and the antlers can certainly be considered phallic, marking Cernunnos as a god of fertility and abundance. This aspect is represented in other symbolism as well: cornucopiae, fruit, grain and coins.

Lord of the Underworld - Along with knowledge, the serpent is also a frequent symbol of death. The cycle of hunter and hunted of course intimately revolves around death and life from death. As Herne the Hunter, generally considered to be the British Celtic version the same figure, he is the leader of the Wild Hunt.

Herne has an interesting footnote. While a completely viable deity, a large number of Wiccans - including myself - were first introduced to Herne not through mythology, history or Wiccan studies, but through a British television series aired in the mid-80s called Robin Hood or Robin of Sherwood. The series was a retelling of the Robin Hood stories, but with distinctly pagan overtones. Herne is a wildwood entity complete with stag horns that helps shelter and direct the forest-dwelling Merry Men again the oppressive King John and his cohort, the Sheriff of Nottingham.