Fiamma
January 14th, 2008, 01:41 AM
I was going to do this earlier in the week. Um...sorry bout that. Anyway...going with something not Hellenic this time, woohoo! I bring you Epona, a Gaulish goddess who was also adopted by the Romans.
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epona:
In Gallo-Roman religion, Epona was a protector of horses, donkeys, and mules. She was particularly a goddess of fertility, as shown by her attributes of a patera, cornucopia, and the presence of foals in some sculptures (Reinach, 1895). And H. Hubert[1] suggested that the goddess and her horses were leaders of the soul in the after-life ride, with parallels in Rhiannon of the Mabinogion. Unusually for a Celtic deity, most of whom were associated with specific localities, the worship of Epona, "the sole Celtic divinity ultimately worshipped in Rome itself",[2] was widespread in the Roman Empire between the first and third centuries CE.
From http://www.epona.net/introduction.html :
The name Epona comes from Gaulish, a member of the Celtic family of Indo-European languages. Gaulish was spoken during the later Iron Age (La Tène C and D, around 300 BCE to 50 BCE) and then in parallel with Latin during the Roman Civil War and Roman Empire (50 BCE onwards), gradually dying out over the next four centuries.
From http://www.pantheon.org/articles/e/epona.html :
The Celtic horse goddess whose authority extended even beyond death, accompanying the soul on its final journey. She was worshipped throughout entire Gaul, and as far as the Danube and Rome. Her cult was eventually adopted by the Roman army and they spread her worship wherever they went. She was the only Celtic Goddess to be honored by the Romans with a temple in their capital city. Among the Gaulish Celts themselves, she was worshipped as goddess of horses, asses, mules, oxen, and, to an extent, springs and rivers.
Epona is depicted sitting side saddle or lying on a horse, or standing with multiple horses around her. Her symbol is the Cornucopia ("horn of plenty") which suggests that she could (originally) have been a fertility goddess. She is also identified with the Celtic goddess Edain.
From http://druidry.org/obod/deities/epona.html :
Epona is also known as the Great Mare. She is, first and foremost, a Horse Goddess associated with the Gauls. In spite of Her popularity there seems to be little information readily available about Her. Unfortunately, any legends Gaulish Celts may have had have been lost to us. The legends and myths of the British Celts were written down by early Christian monks. However, the Gauls and others did leave a rich legacy of inscriptions and monuments and it is from this that most of the evidence for Epona comes. However there is one tale of Epona’s origin that has survived.
Previous threads on Epona:
Epona, Macha, Rhiannon
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=50364&highlight=epona
Epona?
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=167668&highlight=epona
Info on Epona please
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=130859&highlight=epona
Epona and symbols
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=80273&highlight=epona
Epona
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=120621&highlight=epona
Epona
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=73822&highlight=epona
Epona or Rhiannon?
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=80838&highlight=epona
Need Info on Epona
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=63603&highlight=epona
Epona/Rhiannon
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=35455&highlight=epona
Epona?
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=44108&highlight=epona
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epona:
In Gallo-Roman religion, Epona was a protector of horses, donkeys, and mules. She was particularly a goddess of fertility, as shown by her attributes of a patera, cornucopia, and the presence of foals in some sculptures (Reinach, 1895). And H. Hubert[1] suggested that the goddess and her horses were leaders of the soul in the after-life ride, with parallels in Rhiannon of the Mabinogion. Unusually for a Celtic deity, most of whom were associated with specific localities, the worship of Epona, "the sole Celtic divinity ultimately worshipped in Rome itself",[2] was widespread in the Roman Empire between the first and third centuries CE.
From http://www.epona.net/introduction.html :
The name Epona comes from Gaulish, a member of the Celtic family of Indo-European languages. Gaulish was spoken during the later Iron Age (La Tène C and D, around 300 BCE to 50 BCE) and then in parallel with Latin during the Roman Civil War and Roman Empire (50 BCE onwards), gradually dying out over the next four centuries.
From http://www.pantheon.org/articles/e/epona.html :
The Celtic horse goddess whose authority extended even beyond death, accompanying the soul on its final journey. She was worshipped throughout entire Gaul, and as far as the Danube and Rome. Her cult was eventually adopted by the Roman army and they spread her worship wherever they went. She was the only Celtic Goddess to be honored by the Romans with a temple in their capital city. Among the Gaulish Celts themselves, she was worshipped as goddess of horses, asses, mules, oxen, and, to an extent, springs and rivers.
Epona is depicted sitting side saddle or lying on a horse, or standing with multiple horses around her. Her symbol is the Cornucopia ("horn of plenty") which suggests that she could (originally) have been a fertility goddess. She is also identified with the Celtic goddess Edain.
From http://druidry.org/obod/deities/epona.html :
Epona is also known as the Great Mare. She is, first and foremost, a Horse Goddess associated with the Gauls. In spite of Her popularity there seems to be little information readily available about Her. Unfortunately, any legends Gaulish Celts may have had have been lost to us. The legends and myths of the British Celts were written down by early Christian monks. However, the Gauls and others did leave a rich legacy of inscriptions and monuments and it is from this that most of the evidence for Epona comes. However there is one tale of Epona’s origin that has survived.
Previous threads on Epona:
Epona, Macha, Rhiannon
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=50364&highlight=epona
Epona?
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=167668&highlight=epona
Info on Epona please
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=130859&highlight=epona
Epona and symbols
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=80273&highlight=epona
Epona
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=120621&highlight=epona
Epona
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=73822&highlight=epona
Epona or Rhiannon?
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=80838&highlight=epona
Need Info on Epona
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=63603&highlight=epona
Epona/Rhiannon
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=35455&highlight=epona
Epona?
http://mysticwicks.com/showthread.php?t=44108&highlight=epona