Re: Celtic History


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Posted by sothis on July 05, 1998 at 00:46:11:

In Reply to: Celtic History posted by Sir Randal MacNiall Bundy on January 11, 1998 at 09:15:10:


: It is felt that others may share an interest
: in the History that I personnaly have found
: very enlightening. This article is presented
: here for all citizens of Ladonia and for the
: Knights of Ladonia.

: Submitted on 01-11-98 by Sir Randal MacNiall Bundy

: The Celtic Ancestor Gods.

: Beli Mawr (the Great), God of the Sun

: Beli Mawr, called Belenos by the Romans, was the Celtic
: God of the Sun, representing the curative powers of the
: Sun’s heat. His festival of Beltane, when bonfires were
: lit to welcome in the Summer and encourage the Sun’s
: warmth, was held on May 1st, and is remembered in
: today's May Day festivities. His symbols were the horse
: (as shown, for example, by the clay horse figurine
: offerings at Beli’s Sainte-Sabine shrine in Burgundy),
: and also the Wheel (as illustrated on the famous
: Gundestrup Cauldron). Perhaps, like Apollo, whom he
: became identified with, Beli was thought to ride the
: Sun across the sky in a horse-drawn chariot. Indeed,
: a Celtic model horse and wagon, carrying a gilded
: sun-disc, has been found at Trundholm in Denmark.
: Sometimes he is illustrated riding a single horse,
: throwing thunder-bolts (hence an occasional idenification
: with Jupiter) and using his symbolic radiating wheel as
: a shield, as he tramples the chthonic forces of a
: snake-limbed giant. This personification is similar to
: the classic depiction of the Archangel St.Michael
: defeating the Devil. Sacred pagan hills associated
: with Beli, are thought to have had their dedications
: transferred to this saint (or sometimes St.George)
: by the early Christians. Well known examples include
: St.Michael’s Mount (Cornwall) and the churches of
: St.Michael on Brent Tor (Devon), and Burrow Mump and
: Glastonbury Tor (Somerset): All on a supposed ley line
: that faces the Rising Sun at Beltane. He may also have
: been worshipped on Dragon Hill below the great Uffington
: White Horse in Berkshire.

:

: Don, Goddess of Fertility

: Don was known, in the Celtic World, by several similar
: names: Danu or Anu being the most popular alternatives.
: She was a Mother-Goddess, the wife of Beli Mawr (the Great)
: and considered to be the ancestor of all the Gods, the
: Tuatha dé Danann, who found themselves obliged to the
: reside in the Otherworld when Miled brought the Celts
: to the British Isles. She still looks down on us from the
: night's sky where she appears as Llys Don, better known
: as Casseopeia. Don was especially popular in Munster,
: though her most lasting memorial is a mountain in County
: Kerry called the Dá Chích Anann or "Breast of Anu". The
: Dane Hills in Leicestershire are also named after her and
: this area, perhaps a major centre for her cult, is where
: her memory lives on as Black Annis. This hideous old
: crone's habit of eating young children was, no doubt,
: invented by incoming Christians to blacken the name of
: the Celtic Goddess. In Christendom, the lady usually
: took on the guise of St.Anne, however, in order to smooth
: the path of conversion. This saint's popularity in
: Brittany probably stems from the previous worship of
: the Celtic Goddess there. Don was also the patroness of
: springs and fountains, hence the numerous St.Anne's
: Wells throughout Britain today. Early medieval historians
: confused Don (alias Anu) with Anna, the daughter of
: St.Joseph of Arimathea. In Arthurian legend she probably
: appears as Annowre, a sorceress who imprisoned Arthur in
: the Perilous Forest.

:

: Lludd Llaw Ereint (the Silver-Handed), God of Health & Healing

: Lludd (or Nudd), called Nodens by the Romans, was the Celtic
: God of Healing, and the son of Beli Mawr (the Great). He had
: a large shrine at Lydney in Gloucestershire, where the
: devoted made offerings of small bronze representations of
: their diseased limbs. He was sometimes identified with
: the protective Mars or the regenerative Silvanus and his
: companion and symbol was the dog: a deerhound whose lick
: could cure the afflicted. An old story explains his connection
: with amputees. At one time, Lludd was the leader of the gods,
: but he was wounded in battle and lost his hand. Gorfannon,
: the divine-smith, made him a new one out of Silver, but he
: was still forced to abdicate in
: favour of his nephew, Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Later, Lludd was
: troubled by a constant scream that was heard the eve of every
: Beltane. He travelled to Gaul, where his brother, Llefelys,
: was particularly worshipped, to ask his advice. He explained
: that the cry was made by two fighting dragons. Lludd managed
: to capture the creatures and imprisoned them deep below Dinas
: Emrys. Lludd may have been particularly worshipped in London,
: which was said to have been named after him.

:

: Afallach, God of the Underworld

: Afallach was the son of Lludd Llaw Ereint (the Silver-Handed).
: He was one of the Celtic gods of the Underworld. He ruled Avalon
: where he lived with his daughter, Modron, and her nine sisters.
: Avalon
: was like the Celtic heaven, a peaceful island far away where
: apples grew and after which it became named. It is, of course,
: best known as the place where the High-King Arthwyr was taken
: after he was fatally wounded at the Battle of Camlann. Afallach
: himself appears in Arthurian legends as King Evelake

: _______________________________________________________________________

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