Cernunnos

The name Cernunnos is known because it was carved on a single such image made by sailors from the Gallic Parisii tribe (from whom Paris got its name) in the 1st century AD, by which time Gaul (modern France) had become a Roman province. The earliest image of him that has been found was carved on rock in Northern Italy in the 4th century BC. It is not known how widespread the use of this exact name was: it is possible that this was the name for this antlered god to no-one but the Parisii themselves, but the structure of the name suggests otherwise.

The word Cornu means "horned" in both modern French and the cognate Celtic Cern_ means much the same. Cernunnos is a Gaulish name meaning "Horned One."

Cernunos' portrayals are unusually consistent. His most distinctive attribute are his stag's horns, and he is usually portrayed as a mature man with long hair and a beard. He wears a torc, an ornate neck-ring used by the Celts to denote nobility. He often carries other torcs in his hands or hanging from his horns, as well as a purse filled with coins. He is usually portrayed seated and cross-legged, in the meditative or shamanic position.

Cernunnos is nearly always portrayed with animals, in particular the stag. He is also frequently associated with a unique beast that seems to belong only to him: a serpent with the horns of a ram. Less often he is associated with other beasts, including bulls, dogs and rats. Because of his frequent association with beasts scholars often describe Cenunnos as The Lord of the Animals. Because of his association with stags in particular (a particularly hunted beast) he is also described as The Lord of the Hunt. Interestingly the Parisi altar links him with sailors, (the altar was dedicated by sailors) and with commerce (he is shown with coins).

In the modern Neo-Pagan movements, of which Wicca is the most notable, the worship of the Horned God has been revived. Whether or not these religious groups are actually surviving cults or modern reconstructions, the adherents generally follow the life-fertility-death cycle for Cernunnos, though his death is now usually set at Samhain, the Celtic New Year Festival usually associated with October 31.