Cernunnos

CERNUNNOS

The antlered god of ancient Gaul, named once in stone and pictured many times

Cernunnos is the antlered god of the Celtic peoples of ancient Gaul. His name is clearly attested only once, carved on the Pillar of the Boatmen, which the boatmen of Lutetia (Paris) raised under Tiberius, between 14 and 37 CE. Images of his type go back to the 4th century BCE and continued after the Roman conquest. No myth about him survives, so what is known comes from those images.

Scholars have read him as a god of fertility, of the underworld or of passage between realms, though none of these readings is certain. Today some Celtic reconstructionists, Druids and Wiccans honour him, and some do so at Samhain. No ancient feast day for him is known. He is a Gaulish god, not an Irish one.

See the gallery

Gundestrupkedlen- 00054 (cropped), 2007. Wikimedia Commons (public domain), Nationalmuseet, Roberto Fortuna og Kira Ursem

How to recognise Cernunnos

AntlersBranching stag antlers rise from his head; they are antlers, not horns, and they are his key mark, echoed in his name from Gaulish karnon, 'horn' or 'antler'.
TorcA torc is a heavy open-ended neck-ring of twisted metal, a sign of status and wealth; on the Gundestrup cauldron he holds one, and on the Pillar of the Boatmen torcs hang from his antlers.
Ram-horned serpentOn Gundestrup plate A he holds a serpent with curled ram's horns in his other hand, and ram-headed serpents also appear with the figure on the Étang-sur-Arroux statuette.
Cross-legged seatHe is typically shown seated cross-legged, as on the Gundestrup cauldron; the figure on the Boatmen's pillar is assumed to sit the same way.
Stag and wild animalsOn Gundestrup plate A he is surrounded by animals including a stag, and at Reims a stag and a bull stand at his feet while he pours coins or grain from a bag.
Aged, bearded faceHe has a human face, aged and bearded; on the Boatmen's pillar he is balding, with animal ears.

Names and titles

The Antlered OneHis name comes from Gaulish karnon, 'horn' or 'antler'; he is 'the horned one'
Seated on the Silver CauldronThe most detailed image of him is on plate A of the Gundestrup cauldron, found in a Danish peat bog
Named on the Boatmen's PillarHis name is carved once, on the pillar dedicated by the boatmen of Paris under Tiberius
Bearer of the TorcThe torc, a neck-ring of status and wealth, is his most constant attribute
Friend of the StagHe is shown with deer and wild beasts, especially the stag, around him

Feast days

Samhain31 October, every year (date to be confirmed)

Samhain marks the end of summer and the start of winter, when the worlds of the living and the dead are believed to draw close. No ancient feast of Cernunnos is attested; some modern Pagans honour him at this season.
How it's celebrated. Some modern Pagans, especially Wiccans, honour Cernunnos at Samhain, and many Neo-Pagan groups set the death of the Horned God at this time, within a yearly cycle of life and death. Altars may hold antlers, candles and photographs of the dead, and covens often feast with a place left for ancestors. Observance varies widely between groups.
Sources: Britannica: Samhain · Interfaith America: How I am Celebrating Samhain This Year · Wikipedia: Cernunnos