CERNUNNOS: THE CELTIC HORNED GOD
© Copyright 2002 Montague Whitsel, All Rights Reserved.
I have long been a devotee of the Horned God;
Cernunnos my Stag. In this article I explore the history of this
elusive and interesting deity, and then delve into some of the
mysticism surrounding him: (1) His traditional titles and (2) how he
appears to those who encounter him, (3) how the Stag God presences to
us at different times of the earthen year and (4) three sacred days
connected with his cult. Finally I explore what it might mean to
‘follow’ Cernunnos today, adventuring through the Wildwoods and Fields
of Life under his mystic spell.
Deer are fascinating, mysterious animals. Quiet,
stealthy, strong; they represent something haunted about Nature.
Whole families of deer can be near us in the woods without our even
knowing it; hidden amongst the bushes or so camouflaged that they just
blend into the background. As such, we can be startled when we
finally ‘see’ them, their form and coloring suddenly ‘emerging’ from
the backdrop of twigs, leaves and mulch as though they were losing
some cloak of invisibility and ‘revealing’ themselves to us.
The ancient Celts were also fascinated with
deer. They hunted them, ate their meat and used their hides for
clothing, all the while reverencing these seemingly peaceful yet
strangely powerful creatures. Deer thus came to play a role in Celtic
spirituality and mysticism, often being featured in stories that
became legendary. The great leader of the Fiana – Fionn mac Cumhaill –
for instance, married a woman who was originally a deer (or was she a
woman who could shape-shift into deer form?). Their son, Oisín, could
change back and forth between animal and human form, and is said to
have been in the habit of following either a hart or a stag through
the woods until it led him across the
sídhe into the Otherworld!
The Celtic fascination with deer came to a focus
in the great Antlered God Cernunnos. Though his name is not recorded
anywhere until historic times, Cernunnos may well have been worshipped
and followed by mystics, hunters and magicians since Paleolithic
times (c. 40,000 – c. 10,000 BCE). Thus his cult and the mysticism
surrounding him pre-date the advent of Celtic culture and religion.
We can now view Paleolithic etchings in stone as well as
cave-paintings of deer and a stag-like deity (or perhaps it’s a shaman
dressed up in deerskins with antlers on his head) in many texts. Does
the cult and do any of the rites associated with the Celtic Horned God
descend from this much earlier time?
Icons of Cernunnos in stone, paint and engravings
have been found throughout the territory of the ancient Celts, from
Spain to Romania and from N. Italy up to Ireland and Scotland. He has
long been associated with druids, mystics and magicians in Celtic
traditions. He is the horn and primary icon of power for male Celtic
mystics, just as the Goddess – in any of her many manifestations – is
the primary source, fount and wellspring of power for female mystics.
Druids, magicians and mystics have long witnessed Cernunnos under two
aspects: (1) first, as a passive icon of Earth-Peace, standing in a
clearing or near a well or spring at the edge of the wilderness, and
(2) second, as the virile, potent, wild representative of the masculine
side of Earth-Power, raging into our circle and our imaginations from
somewhere other than ‘here.’
Cernunnos has long been recognized under several
related titles. As he was one of the central gods in ancient as well
as mediaeval Celtic mysticism, he was given a wide scope of powers,
influences and domains. The Celtic reverence for him can be deduced
from the number of his titles and the variety of the realms over which
he was given sway. By exploring these titles and attributes we might
come to a better understanding of the Horned God and thus be better
prepared to encounter him today.
Cernunnos was primarily known as the Lord and
Protector of Wild Animals. He is often depicted with other wild animals
– foxes, wild boars, snakes, wolves, etc. – gathered around him, as
though they were basking in his aura or perhaps even being ‘restored’
by his presence. Wounded animals were said to be in his charge; they
would either (1) be healed by him and returned to their full vigor or
(2) they might be led across a
sídhe into the Otherworld. (In
Celtic cosmology, animals are also en-souled beings. If they have
developed a distinct personality and individuality in their lifetime,
they quite easily survive death as separate entities, going on from
this life to live in the Wildwoods and Fields of the Otherworld).
Cernunnos is said to be able to influence the winds and rains that
refresh and water the wood and field, valley and heath, keeping them
verdant and life-engendering.
All deer are the emissaries of Cernunnos. I have
often thought of the deer in this way, especially when looking out
into the darkness from the circle of light established by a campfire.
When I see those large yellow eyes glinting back at me, I understand
Cernunnos to be
our guardian and guide as well as the Lord of
Wild Animals. When you see a deer standing in the shadows in the
woods or walking along the edge of a field near where you are
celebrating, meditating or just relaxing, either alone or with
friends, chant his name to yourself, allowing that Cernunnos is nearby,
in spirit if not in the flesh. If you are meditating, you might say a
series of his names, such as “Herne—Cernunnos—Bok—Dumas.” In this
way you participate in his enigmatic power and benefit from his
elusive presence.
Cernunnos is also the Wild Lord of Virility and
Abundance. Though the deer are normally quiet and move with a strange
finesse through forests and along open fields, when they are angered
or when provoked they can fly into a deadly rage. They may kick to
defend themselves; they can deliver quite a blow with their front
legs. Male deer – harts and stags – can also do great harm with their
antlers, if they so chose. Cernunnos, as the ultimate embodiment of
stag-nature, is the manifest icon of male virility, sexual prowess and
power. By analogy, he has also been imaged with a bag of gold or
silver coins at his feet, or with small leather pouches of valuable
objects hanging from the tines of his antlers, as “abundance” is just a
few metaphorical shades removed from virility.
Cernunnos is also known as Guide of the Dead; a
title he is probably bestowed with on account of the stealth and grace
of his movements. In Celtic traditions, those who can walk through
the thickets and off-path in the woods without being seen or heard are
thought to be capable of walking between the worlds. Those who make
too much noise in the wilds of Nature are thought to be too boisterous
to ever find the pathways between Here and There. Those who are
quiet, however, can ‘hear’ the Otherworld, and by following these
sounds they may find the
sídhe (i.e., ‘doorways’) and crossEover.
As such, Cernunnos presides over various kinds of journeys into the Otherworld. He leads mortals across the
sídhe
after death, and guides them to the trailhead of new adventures,
encouraging them to carry on with the quest for wisdom, truth and
beauty that was already begun in
this life. He can also lead adventurers into the Otherlands while still in their
coích anama
(“soul house”; i.e., the body), if they need to see something there,
or if they are looking for someone. Following Cernunnos through the
Veil between the Worlds is one of the surest ways of making the
journey and returning unscathed, as he generally won’t abandon those who
follow him with good purpose.
Cernunnos – in his role of Guide of the Dead –
often appeared near dolmens and barrowsídhe in ancient Celtic times.
Dolmens are stone structures; the remains of pre-Celtic, Neolithic
burial sites. They usually consist of three upright stones across
which a ‘table stone’ has been laid. Neolithic peoples created these
structures and then placed their dead in the ‘chamber,’ after which
they covered the stones over with earth. By the time of the Celts,
all the dirt had been eroded away, leaving the standing stone
structure. Many dolmens are large enough for a person to walk into.
They mark places of intersection between the worlds. Ghosts, deities,
the Faeryfolk and later Christ and Mary and their saints were all
thought to appear to mortals at, near or in dolmens. Barrowsídhe are
long burial mounds; called ‘
sídhe’ because they were also
thought of as places where one world opened into another, creating a
place of synergy between mortals and immortals; between the incarnate
and discarnate realms. Cernunnos has long been among those beings who
appear to mortals at dolmens and barrowsídhe.
Today, following in this tradition, Cernunnos may
appear to his mystics at graveyards and near tombs. Lonesome
graveyards near patches of woods and cemeteries where the Yews and
other foliage have been let grow wild are the best places for such
apparitions, as is a site of a single burial off in the woods or near a
body of water, where the marker has either been decimated or
destroyed by the elements, or where there never was one in the first
place. If you see a deer near a cemetery during the day of a New Moon,
chant the names of Cernunnos, and he will lead you toward the tines of
“new birth,” in spiritual terms. If you encounter a stag near a
lonesome graveyard on a Full Moon night, say his name thrice to
yourself, quietly, and then say the name of someone who has
crossedEover of whom you would like to dream. Cernunnos will usually
oblige us with a memory of the dead if we ask with an open heart.
When I was thirteen, I encountered Cernunnos near
an old 19th century mausoleum in the woods near the town where I grew
up. It was October, and while ascending a well-frequented path up
into the multicolored cathedral of trees, I was arrested by the sound
of a snort accompanied by the sudden awareness of something very
powerful quite close by! I looked up and there, above me to the left,
on the bank above the trail, was the largest animal I had ever seen
close up and in person; a stag with a rack of antlers on his head! He
didn’t seem dangerous; merely powerful.
I saw his black eyes and nearly lost my sense of
place in his gaze. The stag snorted again and backed away, and then
turned and bounded up the hill. Stunned, I pathed on up the little
foot-trail toward the mausoleum; my intended destination. There I saw
the stag again, standing by the old wrought-iron fence that still
surrounded the moldering single-chambered sandstone block edifice in
those days. Whenever I think of Cernunnos, now, I often remember that
scene – the stag at the iron-fence next to a ruined mausoleum out in
the woods. I had begun learning about Cernunnos shortly before this
encounter, and so in my adolescent imagination I ‘knew’ that this stag
was old Downie Hornie appearing to me.
Ever since that time I’ve always had an epiphany
whenever I happen to encounter deer and especially an antlered stag in
wilder than usual places. Though what I encountered that day was, I
have no doubt, a flesh and blood animal, I have always believed that
the Horned God became present to me, poetically and sensuously, via
this wondrous animal that I happened to cross paths with at the
trailhead of my adolescent journey.
Cernunnos can ‘appear’ under a variety of guises –
he is not confined to the form of a stag – and in Celtic traditions
there are several classic images of him. The most mysterious is
perhaps the “three headed visage,” in which the Stag is “three-faced,”
as if just having looked to his right and to his left. As if in
time-lapse photography, you ‘see’ both of the partial profiles as well
as the head-on view in the same instant of the vision. This visage
of the Horned One alludes to something very unusual about him; that he
is triple in himself. Many Celtic deities appear to us in triads, each
‘person’ in the triple manifestation having its own name, aspects or
characteristics. Cernunnos is unusual in that he is a single deity,
yet he can suddenly appear in this three-headed aspect.
Some believe that this evinces his connection
with the Triple Goddess, whose lover he is. Just as She is Goddess of
Earth, Moon and Water, so he is connected with these three realms of
Nature in turn; being an inspiration to poets (lunar), magicians
(earth) and healers (water). Others mystics have suggested that this
merely proves what should be obvious about Celtic consciousness; that
whenever it thinks of the divine or that mysterious ‘otherness’ which
exists just beyond our human ability to comprehend the world, it
always thinks and imagines in threes.
Cernunnos can also appear in human form, usually
as a man with horns or antlers growing from his head or on a helmet
that he wears. Occasionally he is imaged as having a man’s body and a
stag’s head. At other times he seems entirely human, until you see
those two small horns growing out of his head just above his brow,
mostly hidden under his crop of long, matted and quite straggly black
or dark brown hair. When appearing as an adult man, he is in
possession of his full powers. In this manifestation he is often
accompanied by two younger men, both of whom are naked and ithyphallic.
Their condition of arousal speaks to the fecundity of the god; no one
comes into the Horned God’s presence without feeling empowered and
enervated in some way. The power of Cernunnos is exemplified in
sexual potency as well as in the sudden arousal of poetic creativity.
When in human form, Cernunnos may also appear
with a strange horned serpent. Sometimes this animal is held in both
hands while at other times the serpent will be seen entwining the
god’s antlers. This serpent is a mystical symbol of the god’s power
to move back and forth across the side; it is an animal that slithers
back and forth between worlds. It burrows in the earth, evincing its
connection with the Celtic Earth Goddess Tailtiu. It can also travel
subtly across water, suggesting its primordial connection with the
Celtic Source-River-Spring Goddess Danu. It can also climb trees, thus
evincing its connection with the Cosmic Goddess Anu in Her
transcendent aspects. As the serpent represents these connections, it
embodies Cernunnos’ relationship with the Triple Goddess.
Finally, Cernunnos can appear with vines and
mosses strung from his antlers. This is evidence of his adventurous
nature, his wildness and his wisdom quest. As Cernunnos seeks Wisdom
in the Wildwoods and Fields of Life, so we should seek it in
ourselves, in Nature and in one another. The “Vined Cernunnos” (as
this visage of him is sometimes called) is the icon of Celtic
Philosophers and Poets, whose quest in life is for the kind of
awakening that gives rise to ever-deepening glimpses of Wisdom. By
following Cernunnos in this guise, one may be led out on wild
expeditions – imagined or otherwise, intellectual, emotional or
experiential – into strange lands where the soul is educated in
ancient archetypal legends by trial, initiation and endurance. To
follow the Vined Cernunnos is to seek the inebriation resulting from
earthy illumination and lunar enlightenment.
Celtic mystics also experience Cernunnos under
different guises at different times of the year. For instance, in the
vernaltides he is often manifest as a young man – often adolescent –
with horns. In this guise he is similar in aspect to Herne the Hunter
or a very young Green Man who is not yet sexually or poetically
mature, yet vigorous and enthusiastic. It is in this form that
Cernunnos and the Triple Goddess make the fields fertile by their
union. At Summer’s Solstice the Horned One becomes known through the
presence of the Green Man. Then, in August, after Lughnassadh, as the
sun begins to wane, he shifts form again, coming to us as the
ever-pesky Puck. At the autumnal equinox he appears as the Old Antlered
One, Downie Hornie, in which guise he haunts us until Samhain. After
this turnstile in the earthen year he usually withdraws his presence
from mortals, disappearing until he is reborn during the Season of the
Winter Solstice as the Gifting Stag; a young hart whose virility and
strength will enable him to survive the long winter months ahead while
the rest of Nature sleeps.
There are also holy days and nights connected
with Cernunnos, especially in the pattern of Celtic Lunar Spirituality
that I have created over the last 20 years, wherein each Full and New
Moon of the year is given a name that connects it with particular
legends, themes, symbols and rituals. The Celtic year begins on 1
November, after the long night of Samhain, which is often spent in
adventuring between the worlds. The calendar that my students and I
now use is set within the bounds of the solar year, the first Moon of
the year being either the first Full or New Moon after dawn on the 1st
of November. In any given year, there are 12 or 13 New Moons and 12
or 13 Full Moons.
The Ninth Full Moon in this Lunar Calendar is
called Cernobogmas and is dedicated to the “Hunt for the Black Stag.”
The night usually begins with a symbolic meal, at which fresh and
baked apples, fresh nuts and fruits (especially grapes, blueberries
and strawberries, which are often in season at this time of the year)
are served. At this meal, participants relate stories about Cernunnos
and any encounters they may have had with him. Then, as the Moon
rises, they venture out to the edge of a wooded area or some other place
where deer are often seen and where they will be able to tarry for a
while without trespassing or attracting attention to themselves. Here
they will prepare themselves for an encounter with Cernunnos.
Participants – the “hunters” – may stay in one
place, hoping to see the deer pass by; coming out into the open as night
falls. They might also go hiking along the edge of a wood or down a
field path, stealthily like the deer themselves, anticipating seeing a
stag or at least the spoor of one. This “Hunt for the Black Stag” may
go on for hours, depending on what kind of encounter the hunters are
seeking. If all they want is a glimpse of a deer, then the night’s
‘hunt’ need not be long and drawn out. Some mystics of Cernunnos,
however, are never satisfied until they have seen an antlered stag or
hart. If such is their quarry, the quest may well take most of the
night; patience will be required for their vigil.
The “Black Stag” of this hunt is Cernunnos in his
most mysterious presencing. The black fur of this beast indicates
that he is at least 500 years old – so the old legends say – and to
see Cernunnos in this guise is to run the risk of being gifted with a
dose of all his aspects; abundance, virility, sexual prowess, potent
inspiration and poetic creativity. While preparing for the hunt and
also while out on the witch for Cernunnos, participants may chant the
follow invocation:
- Hail Cernunnos, Stag of the Woods
- come to us we pray you!
- Inspire us with an earthen faith
- and an adventurous love of life!
- Lead us and we will follow you
- through the wildwood and to the heath
- where the haunted ones of the Sídhe
- worship in the dark night
- of Mystery’s embrace! Nema!
If Cernunnos or any of his representatives is
sighted, consider yourself blessed. In whatever form you catch a
glimpse of the god – whether in the form of a yearling male, an
antlered hart or as a full-grown stag with a rack that is about
half-grown (as Cernobogmas often falls during July, he won’t usually
have a full rack by this time) – thank him for the ‘hunt’ you have had
and anything else you may have experienced along the way. Often,
when I am in the woods seeking Cernunnos, I am aware of his presence,
even if I never see a tine, black eye or white-tail of him. Ultimately
it is this sense of nearness that you are seeking, of which the
physical animal is but a fortunate icon. After the hunt, those who
have gone out seeking Cernunnos might want to share their accounts of
spurious and more arcane sightings before bidding one another “merry
meet and merry part” and returning home.
The ninth New Moon of the year – called
Cernunnos-Togen – is a day for “the Mediation of the Stag.” As New
Moons are days of solitude and
anal- duccaid (“breath prayer;”
meditation) in my Poet’s spirituality, anything you do will either be
done alone or with one other person. If the year began with a New
Moon, then Cernunnos-Togen may well come before Cernobogmas. If it
does, use this day to tell stories of Cernunnos and reflect on his myths
and any stories you may know about him. If the year began with a
Full Moon, Cernobogmas will usually come after Cernunnos-Togen. If
so, use this day to reflect on your Hunt for the Black Stag, going
back over any significant encounters you may have had, either in the
woods or imaginatively. The day should be marked by the eating of
apples (perhaps in a piece of apple cake or in an apple pie) or by the
imbibing of apple juice with one of your usual meals.
Cernunnos is also associated with the Season of
Yule (13 – 25 December) that I have developed, during which time the
Antlered God is known as The Gifting Stag; a mystical animal whose
antlers symbolize all of the strange powers of the Winter Solstice
Season. The myth of the Gifting Stag arose out of Cernunnos’ role as
the guide of those devoted to earthen wisdom. As one task in this role,
he aids those who are seeking spiritual and psychic rebirth as they
experience the death of Old Sun on 21 December and then the birth of
New Sun at dawn the next day.
The Gifting Stag inspires us to put into practice
whatever insights we may have gleaned from pathing wisdom in and
through the Winter Solstice Season. He has been known to appear on
the 26th of December, sometimes inspiring those who have kept the Yule
well to give away certain gifts they have received to those who are
less fortunate than themselves. During the days after Yule this
strange Stag may be glimpsed here and there as the celebrants return
to their daily routines. [For a more detailed description of this day
see my book,
The Fires of Yule:
A Keltelven Guide for Celebrating the Winter Solstice (2001)].
It is through his titles and guises and via the
rituals through which we adore and admire him that we can come into
contact with the Celtic Horned God today, in the
ordinary-yet-always-haunted course of our daily lives. If you want to
encounter Cernunnos, take a little time at the New Moon each month to
(1) meditate on his visages, (2) reflect on the meaning of his
titles, and then (3) chant his names. What I’ve provided you with in
this article should be sufficient, at first, to gain some acquaintance
– imaginary at least, psychic at best – with the Antlered One.
After you have reflected and meditated at the
time of at least one New Moon, take a little time the next time the
Moon is about to be reborn and hike out to the woods to a cemetery or
to a grave in some lonesome spot. There keep a vigil. The best time
to look for deer is at dawn and dusk. Find a somewhat secluded place,
perhaps up in a tree or amongst some bushes at the edge of the wood,
graveyard or a field, and wait. [Always respect graveyards. Do not
trespass in them after hours unless you have permission from
caretakers or the institution with which they are connected. If the
graveyard is out in the woods and is untended, the place will have
stored up a great deal of
shunnache. Always treat graves with deference, as they are “thin places” between the worlds.] Engage in
anal-duccaid
(“breath-prayer;” meditation) and, chanting the names of the Antlered
God, imagine him coming to you or sending you one of his emissaries.
If you are led, take a couple of apples with you – one for you and
one for any deer that might show up. If a deer comes near, toss the
apple – in as unthreatening a way as possible – toward it. If you
don’t frighten it too badly, you might well foster a more prolonged
encounter, as the animal will perhaps hang around to see if there’s any
more food to be had! Deer rarely ever turn down apples.
While you wait, engage in imaging exercises. You
might – after you have practiced breathing and chanting for a few
minutes – imagine Cernunnos in all of his glory and majesty, off
roaming through the Wildwoods and Fields of the Otherworld. See him,
shaggy-furred and downy horned. He is beautiful, strong and
ever-masculine. His eyes are often yellow, reflecting the light of
the Moon, as he is the servant of the Moon Goddess, Ceridwen, and is
her duly chosen emissary to poets, artists, musicians and other people
with a creative vocation. He may be placid and quiet or ready to
rage. If in this last aspect, know that if you are seen by him in
your imaging you may encourage him to share his virility, abundance
and strength with you! He snorts. He rears up, and then he bounds
off, charging through fields or into strangewoods or vales. Follow
him! Ride the wind and know that you could ride
him, if he were
to let you! If you allow yourself to see him coming out of the woods
or along a path near where you are keeping vigil, this in itself may
summon him to your aid.
Whether or not the deer come near, keep your
vigil, but only so long as you are led; then get up to leave. Accept
whatever you have been given during this vigil. If you don’t have an
encounter with Cernunnos this month, perhaps it will happen next
month. By imaging him on each of the New Moons, you will be better
prepared for the Hunt for the Black Stag on Cernobogmas. An encounter
with the Antlered One, however, may well happen anytime, especially
when you least expect it!
As the purpose of spirituality is to awaken us to
what is already all around us; not only to the visible dimension but
the invisible ones as well – we must be ready to experience whatever
Nature has in store, and not be downcast if we don’t get what we want,
like some petulant child. The magic and wonder of encountering the
deer will be its own reward and will, eventually, make all of the
waiting and chanting and mystical ‘hunting’ worthwhile.
You can read up on Cernunnos anywhere (start with the 
Horns: 
The Celts made numerous models, or icons, of their various gods, and
there are over 60 depicting Cernunnos, from all over Europe. We only
know his name because it is carved on a single one of these, made by
sailors from the Gallic Parisii tribe (from whom Paris got its name) in
the first 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. We do not know 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 images of him are unusually consistent. His main attribute are his
horns, those of a stag. He is usually portrayed as a mature man with
long hair and a beard. He wears a torc: this was an ornate neck-ring
worn by the Celts to denote nobility. He often carries other torcs in
his hands or hanging from his horns.
The origins of the Celts are obscure, but it has been suggested that
they lie far to the East around the Indo-European Plateau. If so, we
should not be so surprised to find ancient gods there who might be
cousins of our own local horned deity. This ancient image came from
Mohenjo Daro, in the North-West of modern India on the River Indus, and
is believed to have been made around 2,000 BC. It is thought to be the
seated figure of a very early version of Pashupati, the Lord of the Animals in Hindu mythology, peacefully surrounded by his beasts.
