Who is Cernunnos?
Anyone who checks Wicca online will come across the concept of one goddess and one god, with all other goddess and gods as aspects. The god is generally pictured with horns and called Cernunnos. But many pagans may be surprised to discover that this concept of the horned god of the witches is only a hundred years old, coming from the writings of Margaret Murray, in the 1920s and 30s.
Murray had a lot of success with her book The Witch Cult in Western Europe, published in 1921. She followed it up with The God of the Witches ten years later, popularising the idea of a Horned God whose worship dated back to paleolithic times. Although the books were discredited at the time by her academic colleagues, they gained popularity after the repeal of the Witchcraft Act in the 1950s.
In The God of the Witches, Murray says “… in spite of his Latinised name, [Cernunnos] was found in all parts of Gaul…It was only when Rome started on her career of conquest that any written record was made of the gods of Western Europe, and those records prove that a horned deity, whom the Romans called Cernunnos, was one of the greatest gods, perhaps even the supreme deity, of Gaul… Cernunnos is recorded in writing and in sculpture in the south of Gaul…”
The purpose of this article is to find out whether Murray was telling the truth. Was there pre-Christian evidence for a cult of Cernunnos? What is the evidence?
Before the rise of Neo-Platonism in 3rd century CE, gods were regarded as separate individuals. Take a look at the ancient Greek and Roman dramatists and poets, the Book of Invasions (and other Iron Age Irish works), the Mabinogi (Old Welsh), or (Old Icelandic) Eddas all treat the gods they describe that way. This article is written on the same basis. For me, one horned god isn’t necessarily the same as another – or, indeed, the same person as every other god, horned or not.
Where was Cernunnos worshipped?
We have less than two dozen ancient artefacts of horned gods, and four inscriptions mentioning Cernunnos by name. These come from the UK and Western Europe, with most from ancient Gaul. That hardly proves that Cernunnos “one of the greatest gods, perhaps even the supreme deity, of Gaul… “ as Murray claimed. Neither do we have anything to support her claim that “Cernunnos is recorded in writing,” apart from those four inscriptions (only one at the time Murray wrote). Although the number of finds (when compared to the evidence for other pre-conquest Gallic gods) is large enough to support claims for a widespread cult, there are parts of modern France (ancient Gaul) which contain no finds. Contrary to Murray’s claim that Cernunnos is recorded in writing in the south of Gaul, only one inscription comes from that region. Most of the Gallo-Roman religious sculpture we have comes from north-east and north-central Gaul. Based on the evidence we have, any cult centre of horned gods or Cernunnos lay in central and eastern Gaul.
Where does the name Cernunnos come from?
The next problem is whether a horned god image is meant to represent Cernunnos. We don’t know if they are. The name is only given on three or four inscriptions, and only one - the Parisian pillar - includes a carved image. The Gaulish word carnon or cernon means ‘antler’ or ‘horn’. The middle syllable on denotes a deity, as in Epona or Maponos, and would have been replaced by the Latin un for inscriptions in that language. Latin was the common language of Roman Europe and Gaulish inscriptions within Roman Gaul commonly adopted the Roman alphabet. Names mentioned in Latin texts are converted to a Latin form. Converting a name into a Latin form doesn’t mean (as Murray seems to think) that a god was commonly recognised by the Romans.
Two of the four inscriptions are metal plaques from Seinsel-Rëlent (in modern Luxembourg). They give an alternate name: Deo Ceruninco in one, and to the God Cerunincos in the other. Another inscription is from Montagnac (Hérault, Languedoc-Roussilion, in modern France), where the Gaulish is written in Greek letters: αλλετ[ει]υος καρνονου αλ[ι]σο[ντ]εας. This gives us a Hellenistic name form: Karnonos. These inscriptions provide us with no further information about the god. However, the fourth is different.
picture: Pilier des Nautes Cernunos by Als33120 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
The Pilier des Nautes (Pillar of the Boatmen) provides the earliest written record of the name “Cernunnos”. Although the first letter of the name is defaced, it’s reconstructed on the basis of linguistic and other archaeological evidence. It was common at the time to have a statue or relief made in devotion to a god, usually in fulfilment of a vow. Many examples of this can be seen in the baths in Bath. The Parisian pillar was erected by a Gaulish guild of boatmen who lived among the Celtic tribe of the Parisii and controlled trade along the Seine. What makes it different from the other inscriptions is that it includes an image of the god.
How do we recognise images of Cernunnos?
The image on the Pillar of the Boatmen has horns with the addition of torcs hanging from them. It’s probable that the bit of the image we don’t have shows the deity sitting cross legged. Other faces of the pillar feature other gods, and the inscription mentions many gods, some Roman, some Celtic.
All undisputed representations found share several common features, although not all are included in any one image. These are horns, torcs (which are often pictured on the necks of Celtic divinities), a purse or cornucopia, three heads or faces, the ram-horned snake, animals (principally stags) and being seated, usually cross legged. The more of these features an image has, the more likely it is to be of Cernunnos.
The modern tendency to depict Cernunnos with a prominent erect phallus is not part of the ancient artefacts. It features in Gallo-Roman iconography for other deities, but not for Cernunnos.
Let’s start with horns. The ancient images generally feature stag antlers, which are shed seasonally. Statues found at Etang sur Arroux, Condat and Sommerécourt, which have holes in their heads for removable antlers, and separate antlers have been found elsewhere. This indicates that the seasonal nature of the god was sufficiently important for some devotees to have the means to alter the image to reflect that.
picture: “Kernunnos” by Yannick Germain
What did antlers mean to the ancient Celts?
Unfortunately, it is quite difficult to assign precise meaning. We might guess that virility was part of the symbolism except the removal of horns would argue against aggressive male sexuality being the pre-eminent image. Added to that are the discovery of at least two images of antlered goddesses. On the other hand, the bull as well as the stag appears on the reliefs from Saintes, Reims and Les Bollards.
Among other theories, one of the most popular is that Cernunnos was Lord of the Hunt, and the bulls may represent the wildness of such animals as the boar and the stag existing within some domesticated settings.
Other features
The common position of cross legged pose, seen on the images from Etang, Saintes and Vendoeuvres, especially when associated with the arms raised in the orans style (as seen on the Gunderstrup Cauldron), seems to contradict wildness. In at least three other images Cernunnos is seated on a bench, in a style familiar to those who have seen images of the Matronae, and we gain an impression of a more peaceful deity. The posture would be natural to Celts who didn’t use chairs, so would have squatted or sat cross-legged on the ground.
In at least three of the artefacts that use this pose (such as the one from Etang sur Arroux), the god is accompanied by the ram-horned snake. Snakes had a number of associations: fertility, death, the underworld and regeneration (the last through the sloughing of the skin). It appears as a symbol of healing with Asklepios (Graeco-Roman) and Sirona (Celtic), both gods primarily involved in healing; and with the Gallo-Roman goddess Damona, associated with healing sleep. The ram is associated with Mercury and a symbol of aggressive virility.
picture: Cernunnos from Etang sur Arroux by PHGCOM, via Wikimedia Commons
Snakes
The ram-horned snake is found mainly in North Eastern Gaul, one of the main areas for evidence of the cult of Cernunnos. That’s where the relevant god artefacts come from. The most famous image is from the Gunderstrup Cauldron, which is dated to the 1st or 2nd century BCE and was found in what is now Denmark.
Other images include ordinary snakes. The earliest possible image of Cernunnos is from the Val Camonica Valley in Italy and dated to around the 4th century BCE. A more definite Cernunnos artefact from Venoeuvres in France has boys standing on snakes.
picture: Cernunnos relief from Vendoeuvres - including two companions with snakes
Cernunnos didn’t have a unique association with ram-horned snakes. They are found with other gods, especially the Celtic Mercury and Mars. According to Miranda Aldhouse-Green, the Celtic Mars was a protector and healer as well as a warrior, and he’s accompanied by the ram-horned snake on an image found at a healing spring. The snake also appears twice with the Celtic Mercury, associated with wealth and healing, with one of these finds coming from a healing shrine. Mercury and Cernunnos share a direct association with wealth, and he is found alongside Cernunnos on the Rheims relief.
Heads and wealth
There’s plenty of evidence for a cult of the head among various Celtic peoples. A triplicity of heads or faces seems to denote a sign of wealth, or an intensifying or multiplying of something. Cernunnos is given triple heads or faces in artefacts from Nuits St George, Etang sur Arroux, Langres, Condat, Denevy and on the Les Bollards relief. In the artefact from Beaune, his companion is triple faced. We have no idea what this means, although there are plenty of guesses in books and on the internet.
(By the way – apologies for not being able to show you all these images. You won’t find most of them on the internet, and they’re scattered in books. Thos that exist on the ‘net are largely locked under copyright. However, if you check out Ceisiwr Serith’s page, you might be able to see more, there.)
The association with wealth doesn’t rely on a triplicity of heads or faces. It’s expressly associated with him in numerous images through sacks of coins, torcs, feeding snakes, or, fairly explicitly, a stag vomiting coins in the representation from Niedercorn-Turbelslach in Luxembourg. The Pillar of the Boatman links him with sailors and commerce. Mercury’s associated with commerce and turns up with Cernunnos on the Rheims relief, where he’s holding his caduceus of entwined snakes. Cernunnos has a sack of coins there, as well.
picture: Rheims carving in the Musée Saint-Remi (Wikimedia Commons). The horns have gone but you can just see where their traces on each side of the head of the central figure
The Underworld
Wealth is connected with the underworld, as it’s derived from agriculture (things growing up from below) and mining under the earth. The underworld is another connection between Mercury and Cernunnos. Mercury is usually identified with the Greek Hermes, who is a psychopomp escorting the dead to the underworld, as well as being a divine keeper of herds. Apollo (also on the Rheims relief) picks up on associations with the ram-horned snake, as he’s associated with healing and the father of Asklepios.
The connection with the underworld raises a possible connection with the Celtic god Dispater. This may have been what was in Murray’s mind when she referred to Cernunnos as “one of the greatest gods, perhaps even the supreme deity, of Gaul…Cernunnos is recorded in writing”. In his book The Gallic Wars, Julius Caesar wrote: "All the Gauls assert that they are descended from Dispater, their progenitor." Unfortunately, we have little evidence to help us with Dispater, other than his name is obviously a reference to the underworld, and therefore, to wealth and the dead. However, we don’t know enough about Dispater to make a judgement.
picture: the Marshall Harappan seal featuring Pashupati
Animals
The last great symbol of Cernunnos is that of animals - pre-eminently the stag, although other representations include bulls, a boar, rat, hare, dog, dolphin and lions. This gives rise to the common modern attribution of the god as ‘Lord of the Hunt’ and another connection with the underworld, since hunting involves death. The image on the Gunderstrup Cauldron is often compared to that of Shiva Pashupati, the Yogic ‘Lord of Beasts’, as shown on at least one well known image, the Marshall Harappan seal. In this, a cross-legged Pashupati wears buffalo horns and is surrounded by animals. The resemblance is striking and may have influenced the design of the Cernunnos plate of the Cauldron, which may have its origins in Romania or Thrace, regions that stood between Greece and the east.
So where does this leave us?
It seems fairly safe to say that we have evidence that Cernunnos was directly associated with divinity, wealth and animals, and potentially indirectly associated with regeneration, healing, fertility and death. All of which is not only far from Murray’s certainties, but also from some of the symbology commonly associated with the Wiccan horned god. As to anything else… well, talk to him and find out for yourself.
Alexa Duir © 2004
Some sources
Miranda Aldhouse-Green Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend Thames & Hudson 1997.
Jenny March Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Cassell, London, 1998
Margaret Murray The God of the Witches publ Sampson, Low, Marston & Co Ltd, London (approx 1921).
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