CELTIC mythology: featured gods

One of the beliefs with the greatest relevance in the history of Europe, but at the same time that we tend to forget the most is the Celtic, being a mythology that features gods in many European areas from the United Kingdom to Spain, influencing the culture of many of these locations. To know the main gods of these beliefs in this lesson from a PROFESSOR we must talk about the gods of celtic mythology.

Index

1. Irish Celtic Gods
2. The gods gods of Celtic mythology in Wales
3. Gods of Celtic mythology from other regions

Possibly the place where celts came to have greater influence was in the region of Ireland, being for centuries a very important town in the area. The importance of the Celts in the Irish region has come to make many historians consider only those who lived in this region as true Celts, discarding the rest of the peoples who must be named as Celts for their particularities.

The pantheon of irish celtic gods

• Dagda: Supreme God of the Irish Celts, being the one who represents the Druids, knowledge and natural elements.
• Bleat: A kind of villain belonging to the dangerous Celtic giants, it was said that he possessed an eye that when opened could destroy everything.
• Morrigan: Goddess of death and destruction it was said that her call was what made men go into combat.
• Brigid: Goddess of fire and poetry, it is thought that many of the elements of her were taken later by Christian saints.
• Epona: Goddess of horses and nature among many other factors, she is usually related to the Greek goddess Cibeles.
• Lug: One of the most adapted deities was by the numerous Celtic peoples, being the god of arts and skills and therefore deity of everything and nothing at the same time.

Of all the peoples that can be considered Celts, except the Irish, the closest to the concept of Celtic would be the peoples that they inhabited the area of ​​Wales during much of the Old Age. This people is often known as British Celts to differentiate it from the Gaelics who inhabited Ireland, but of all those who inhabited the island of Great Britain without a doubt those of Wales were the most important.

The gods of Wales They also appear in many Celtic cultures, being almost as important as those characteristic of Ireland, so we must talk about them. The main Celtic gods of Wales are as follows:

• Cernunnos: A deer-horned god who is thought to have represented dominance over wild creatures.
• Belenus: God of the sun and agriculture that many thinkers consider that it was not a deity as such, but that it was a representation of the rituals.
• Teutates: One of the main gods of the tribes, possessing a protective and warrior role. He is considered a deity highly respected by the Druids for the role of protector of him.
• Taranis: God of thunder and storm, being a very feared god for the problems that he could cause. He is considered the ancestor of Thor.
• Esus: Considered the most bloodthirsty god of all those in the Celtic pantheon, it is considered that there were many sacrifices to appease his anger.

To continue this lesson about the gods of Celtic mythology, we must talk about the deities of this people in other cultures clearly influenced by the Celts, being cultures that have had a great impact on European history and are therefore very necessary to understand.

Gaul

The Gauls were a people who inhabited France, Belgium and parts of the present-day nations of Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany. With a birth in the Celtic thoughts the Gauls arrived until the Roman time, being conquered by the Romans and turned into a very different people. The main Celtic gods of the Gauls were the following:

• Borvo: Healing God and the water that had a presence in Gaul and in the Galician area.
• Dusios: We do not have much information about him although his importance seems to be enormous, he is spoken of as a fertilizer of animals and as a version of the god Pan.
• Sucellos: God of agriculture, alcohol and Gallic forests, being therefore key to the Druids and very represented with a mug of beer.

Galician or Celtiberian Celtic gods

Another of the peoples influenced by the Celts that had great weight in Europe were the Celtiberians. Located in the Iberian Peninsula, the Celtiberians were a people with great relevance that over the years gave way and influenced the well-known Iberians. The most important gods of the Celtiberians were the following:

• Ataecin: Goddess of fertility, spring and nature, it is said that her influence was so great that she passed to other cultures such as the Carthaginian.
• Andera: Goddess of the earth with great similarities to Ataecina, being according to some sources the same god.
• Cosus: God of war of the entire peninsula, it is thought that over the centuries his particularities were united with those of the Roman god of war Ares.
• Endovelico: God of fire, organizer and preserver of the universe, was one of the most important deities.
• Reve: Supreme God and protector of rivers, closely linked to the hot springs already used by this town.

If you want to read more articles similar to Celtic mythology: featured gods, we recommend that you enter our category of Story.

• Green, M. (1995). Celtic myths (Vol. 5). Akal editions.
• Blázquez, J. M. (2001). The Celtic religion in Hispania.
• Filpo, V. F. (2006). The Celtic priesthood. Between God and Men: The Priesthood in Antiquity, 7, 181.