CERNUNNOS
CERNUNNOS : THE HORNED ONE
Cernunnos is the Horned God of the Celtic world, a powerful deity associated with fertility, the hunt, nature, abundance, and the cycles of life and death. His name, recorded in Latin as Cernunnos, is usually translated as “the horned one” and derives from the Indo-European root ker, meaning “growth” or “to become large and hard.” Whether Cernunnos was a personal name or a divine title remains uncertain; the word appears inscribed on an altar discovered beneath Notre Dame in Paris alongside his image.
Cernunnos is a liminal deity, ruling the Otherworld or Underworld and serving as the opener of the gates between life and death. He is also known as the Lord of Souls, with dominion over the dead, healing, and the distribution of wealth. As a god of abundance, he dispenses prosperity, fertility, and material bounty, often symbolised as coins or grain.
His iconography is striking and varied. Cernunnos is most commonly depicted with stag antlers, sometimes seated cross-legged in a posture of sovereignty and balance. In other representations, he appears with serpent legs, a man’s torso, and the head of a bull or ram, or accompanied by forest animals such as stags, boars, and bulls. Roman and Gallic interpretations sometimes portrayed him as triple-headed, emphasising his chthonic and cosmic authority.
One of the most famous depictions of Cernunnos appears on the Gundestrup Cauldron, a richly ornamented gilt silver vessel dated to approximately the first or second century BCE and discovered in a peat bog near Gundestrup, Denmark, in 1891. Widely believed to be Celtic in origin—though sometimes attributed to Gallic craftsmanship—the cauldron depicts Cernunnos in several scenes: seated cross-legged, wearing antlers, attended by animals including a boar; holding a ram-horned serpent in one hand and a torc in the other; and grasping a stag in each hand. These images emphasise his mastery over wild nature, serpentine underworld forces, and sacred wealth.
Additional archaeological evidence reinforces his widespread worship. A relief from Reims, France, shows Cernunnos seated cross-legged with a stag and a bull at his feet, holding a large sack from which he appears to distribute coins or grain. His image has been found throughout Celtic Europe, from Ireland to Romania, with the oldest surviving representation dating to the fourth century BCE in the Italian Alps, a region then inhabited by Celtic peoples.
Cernunnos was venerated not only by the Celts but also by Romans and Gauls, who incorporated him into their religious frameworks while preserving his essential attributes as a god of nature, fertility, and the Otherworld. In modern times, he remains deeply revered within Neo-Paganism and Wicca, where the Horned God is often addressed as Cernunnos in ritual contexts and sometimes associated with the Green Man, embodying the living spirit of the natural world.
Across ancient and modern traditions, Cernunnos endures as a symbol of wild vitality, sacred balance, abundance, and the eternal cycle of life, death, and renewal.
ALSO KNOWN AS:
Kernunnos
MANIFESTATION:
Cernunnos has a man’s body and sports stag’s horns, although this may be shamanic ritual garb. Sometimes his legs are snakes.
ICONOGRAPHY:
Over thirty surviving depictions exist. He is sometimes triple-headed or triple-faced and may be accompanied by a female consort.
ATTRIBUTES:
Sack filled with treasure; a torc, Celtic emblem of power and nobility
ANIMALS:
Ram-horned snakes and regular snakes; bull; boar; stag
SEE ALSO:
SOURCES:
- Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses– Written by Judika Illes Copyright © 2009 by Judika Illes.
- The Encyclopedia of Witches, Witchcraft and Wicca written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley – Copyright © 1989, 1999, 2008 by Visionary Living, Inc.
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