Celtic Horned God

[I. Marc Carlson]

<Sigrid<SusanKFord at aol.com>>
>Does anyone have any good source material on Herne/Cernunous, the Celtic
>Horned God?  I'm doing research for the Stag field for Lyonnese.

You might try a book called "Pagan Celtic Britain. Studies in iconography
and tradition" (1967) by Anne Ross.  The Encyclopaedia of Ethics and Religion,
also should give you some basic background material, as well as "The Mythology
of All Races" (Vol III - Celtic and Slavic), which, although slightly dated,
has some fairly interesting material.  I'll see what else I can dig up.

There is a matter of what interpretation of the "Horned God" you are
wanting to look at since there are many instances of gods, clearly
identified by the iconography, wearing horns, as well as a few goddesses.
There is some arguement to a widespread "Cult of the Horned God" that 
crossed otherwise separate tribal lines.  Some interpretations have the 
Horned God as the leader of the "Wild Hunt" (this is where, I believe, the
legends of "Herne the Hunter" come from, and therefore linking him with Odin),
making him either a Death God, or a Storm God, depending on which view you 
subscribe to.

The real questions though are, how extensive do you want this information to
be, and how appropriate is it to use religious symbology (that some people 
living IN this Kingdom actually maintain as a portion of their religions) for
a planned portion of an event?  I mean if people were planning to leave
crucifixes hanging about during a feast, I'm sure *someone* would object...

I. Marc Carlson, Reference Librarian    |LIB_IMC at CENTUM.UTULSA.EDU
Tulsa Community College, West Campus LRC|Sometimes known as:
Reference Tech. McFarlin Library        | Diarmuit Ui Dhuinn 
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