Projekt Cernunnos
Contents:
About project Cernunnos
Our first project is related to the Celtic presence on our territory and their continental (Gaelic) mythology. When this project is successfully achieved, the next step will be the Slavs and Slavic mythology. To honour our Celtic past and with the desire to spread awareness of this ancient period of our history it seems worthy that the statue was in honour of the pan-Celtic god Cernunnos who is hospitable, protective and even in modern times has found many adherents as a symbol of nature protection.
Kdo je Cernunnos?
It cannot be said that there is an overflow of information about the Celtic religion in continental Europe. It is covered in the same mist of ignorance as Celts themselves. On the other hand, we can put together enough information to make out a conceivable image of the Celts and their spirituality. If we proceed from archaeological finds, Greek and Roman records and later manuscripts from the British Isles (for example the Welsh Mabinogion or the Irish mythological cycles), we find that these peoples, whose homeland was also on our territory, worshipped hundreds of gods. Most of them were connected to a given tribe or piece of land. Gods that would be more universally pan-Celtic are much less numerous and only some of them can be identified as more powerful and worshipped throughout the then very vast territory that was inhabited by the Celts.
Zdroj: Wiki
The god known as Cernunnos is one of such gods. Many consider him to be the highest god. There are archaeological findings where he is portrayed with the antlers of a stag. He appears in the company of animals, in one hand holding a prestigious jewel of the sovereigns – a torc, while having a second one around his neck, in the other hand holding a snake. Cernunnos seems to be the protector of the forests, god of both earthly life and the life beyond (the symbolism of the snake). His antlers represent prolific male energy so he is also a god of fertility.
The above described depiction of Cernunnos comes from the Gundestrup cauldron which was found in Denmark. It is a silver vessel 69 cm in diameter. The cauldron was found in a bog in 1891 and can now be seen in the Danish National museum. Besides Cernunnos, there are other motives from Celtic mythology on the cauldron. It is still an open question how the cauldron got to the territory inhabited by Germanic tribes and even what its origins are – some authors advert to a Thracian workmanship. The Celts were widespread as mercenaries in many ancient armies and so it is possible that one such traveller had it custom made.
Another representation of this god is on the Pillar of the Boatmen, a stone monument from Gallo-Roma Lutetia. This limestone pillar was made in the first century AD during the reign of Emperor Tiberius (14 AD to 37 AD). The pillar is dedicated to the Emperor and to Roman and Celtic gods – Esus, Tarvos, Trigranus, Smertrios and Cernunnos who is here depicted with two torcs hanging from his antlers.
Another of the numerous depictions of this antlered Celtic god is for example the petro glyph (rock carving) in Val Camonica in Cisalpine Gaul (today Italy).
An excellent source:
http://www.ceisiwrserith.com/therest/Cernunnos/cernunnospaper.htm
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