Nuadu
March 20th, 2009, 06:56 AM
I think it is a good possibility that the representation of a Horned God cult is female in the Irish Tradition. I dont see a reason why the deity must be male. Male and female designations in deities are just a reflection of what our cultures perceived to be masculine and feminine qualities. Ireland is unique in some ways our war deities are primarily female a quality given to males in other cultures and while that might be due to their role in the sacred marriage it sets a precedent that I think would allow students of paganism to put aside some gender roles when looking for signs of cults like that of the Horned God.
The idea of the horned God in so far as I am aware comes down through wicca or its predecessors more then anything else but authors like Prionsios Mac Cana placed weight on the idea that in gaulish paganism there was a horned God cult. People look for the Horned God in Irish Culture but there are no direct representations of a Horned God in our literature. Prionsios Mac Cana suggested in Celtic Mythology that a charactor from the Ulster Cycle Conal Caernach might be a vestage of the cult. Cernach translates to something similar to horned and might relate to his charactor rather then it being a tribal designation for the Conali who existed historically in the plains of county louth.
He also mentions that Anne Ross compares Conal Caernachs charactor in the cattle raid of Fraich to a statue from France. Conal traps a snake in his belt and the statue shows a horned deity with snakes wrapped around his waist.
Those are theories from people better educated then I am but I think they might be a stretch when females in literature obviously share the iconography and function of the Horned God.
I would explain the difference in gender here by the idea that in Wales and France the sovereign Goddesses are primarily water deities and they are not associated with the land leaving that function open to the male - the lady in the lake in the Story of Arthur is an example. Irish Sovereigns are Land Goddesses and they like the Horned God are Arborial deities who live in the liminal forests and like the horned god one of their primary functions is protecting the animial life in the territory.
If you put aside the idea that the horned deity must be male in light of the differences in our cultures and in light of the fact that the role the horned god plays in wicca is not an historical one that necessarily has to be applied to historical religions then a very blatant example of a horned Goddess comes to mind. Sadbh in the Fianna Cycle.
Sadbh was the parter of Fionn and their union brought about one of the most famous figures from Irish Mythology Oisin. That image of the divine family is also in the mythological cycle where boann and Dagdas union produces Oengus. Sadbh was in human form while at the Hill of Allen but when she was outside the cultural site she was a deer. Boann is the white Cow another horned animal. They meet the criteria in imagery and if they are sovereign goddesses they share the function of horned gods. I think its possible that they are the Irish representation of the Horned God cult... the Horned Goddess.
what do you think?
The idea of the horned God in so far as I am aware comes down through wicca or its predecessors more then anything else but authors like Prionsios Mac Cana placed weight on the idea that in gaulish paganism there was a horned God cult. People look for the Horned God in Irish Culture but there are no direct representations of a Horned God in our literature. Prionsios Mac Cana suggested in Celtic Mythology that a charactor from the Ulster Cycle Conal Caernach might be a vestage of the cult. Cernach translates to something similar to horned and might relate to his charactor rather then it being a tribal designation for the Conali who existed historically in the plains of county louth.
He also mentions that Anne Ross compares Conal Caernachs charactor in the cattle raid of Fraich to a statue from France. Conal traps a snake in his belt and the statue shows a horned deity with snakes wrapped around his waist.
Those are theories from people better educated then I am but I think they might be a stretch when females in literature obviously share the iconography and function of the Horned God.
I would explain the difference in gender here by the idea that in Wales and France the sovereign Goddesses are primarily water deities and they are not associated with the land leaving that function open to the male - the lady in the lake in the Story of Arthur is an example. Irish Sovereigns are Land Goddesses and they like the Horned God are Arborial deities who live in the liminal forests and like the horned god one of their primary functions is protecting the animial life in the territory.
If you put aside the idea that the horned deity must be male in light of the differences in our cultures and in light of the fact that the role the horned god plays in wicca is not an historical one that necessarily has to be applied to historical religions then a very blatant example of a horned Goddess comes to mind. Sadbh in the Fianna Cycle.
Sadbh was the parter of Fionn and their union brought about one of the most famous figures from Irish Mythology Oisin. That image of the divine family is also in the mythological cycle where boann and Dagdas union produces Oengus. Sadbh was in human form while at the Hill of Allen but when she was outside the cultural site she was a deer. Boann is the white Cow another horned animal. They meet the criteria in imagery and if they are sovereign goddesses they share the function of horned gods. I think its possible that they are the Irish representation of the Horned God cult... the Horned Goddess.
what do you think?