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Mother and Sun in Romano-Celtic Religion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2011

Miranda J. Green
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Summary

This paper examines the two dominant cults of Sky and Fertility in the Romano-Celtic world. There are no literary allusions to a link between the two concepts, but a substantial body of archaeological data does exist which testifies to a close iconographic association between the images and symbolism reflecting beliefs in celestial and fertility powers. The most important material evidence consists of a group of small clay statuettes representing female figures decorated with what are probably solar symbols. Allied to this is evidence for an association between the Celtic Mother-Goddesses (the Deae Matres) and cosmic motifs, particularly the solar wheel. It is also possible to identify traces of a fertility aspect to the cult of a male solar divinity. Whilst the simplistic argument for a divine ‘marriage’ between sky-father and earth-mother (Hatt 1965) is not here advanced, there is, nevertheless, strong evidence from Gaul and Britain that the two major cults of the Romano-Celtic world were clearly intertwined. This association need not be such a paradox as it might seem; the sun, like the rain, was essential for crop-growth, and the iconography appears to demonstrate acknowledgement of, and gratitude for, this interaction between natural—or supernatural—phenomena.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , March 1984 , pp. 25 - 33
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1984

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