Re: Celtic History

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: : : 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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