Cernunnos

Last June, I went to a weekend escape to Easton Mountain, a gay men’s retreat in Greenwich, NY. One of the activities was a Cernunnos Fire Ceremony. The Cernunnos Ceremony is meant to tap into the energy of the wild ones in the woods that is meant to encourage a person to be free and listen to natures rhythms as a way of healing and self-expression. Cernunnos dates back to the ancient Celtic religion practiced freely in pre-Roman Europe. The picture above is of a modern Cernunnos Fire Festival, which is often performed nude in an effort to break down all barriers between nature and the body.

Cernunnos was a Celtic god who represented nature, flora, fauna, and fertility. He is frequently depicted with antlers, seated cross-legged, and is associated with stags, horned serpents, dogs, and bulls. He is usually shown holding or wearing a torc and sometimes holding a bag of coins (or grain) and a cornucopia. Cernunnos may have been one of the inspirations for depictions of Satan in Christian art and hero figures in the medieval literature of Wales and Ireland.

Cernunnos was perhaps the most important deity in the Celtic religion if we consider the frequency he is represented in ancient Celtic art from Ireland to Romania. Contrary to what many New Age beliefs, few facts are known about the Celtic religion, because there are no surviving native records of their beliefs. Evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology, Greco-Roman accounts (some of them hostile and probably not well-informed), and literature from the early Christian period.

The name Cernunnos originated because of a single instance of the name, an inscription and image on the 1st-century CE Nautae Parisiaci monument (see the image in the upper right of the inner cauldron below). It is also true that there were other Celtic gods with horns whose significance and associations remain unknown. It is important to restate that so little is known of Cernunnos that it is possible we are entirely misinterpreting representations of him in Celtic art. As the historian J. MacKillop notes: “our knowledge of Cernunnos is so tenuous that he may not be a divinity at all but rather a shaman-like priest with antlers affixed to his head”

With global warming, dependency on technology, and even modesty, our connection to nature is often lost. As warmer weather is slowly returning to Vermont, I am hoping to have the chance to do more hiking this summer. I wasn’t able to do so last year because of the floods in Vermont that made the local hiking trails treacherous. Hopefully, this summer will be different. I’d love to be able to connect with nature more, and the exercise will be nice too.