harpinghawke
Newbie
Posts: 43
Pronouns: ze/zir
Religion: Dedicant of Cernunnos, Road Witch
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Post by harpinghawke on Mar 3, 2015 1:20:33 GMT -6
As I'm sure y'all GaulPols are familiar with, Cernunnos is a god who's been McWiccanized almost to the point of no return. This is a thread where you can rant about it.
What are some of the weirdest (and most incorrect) things you've heard about him?
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Yellow
Newbie
Posts: 6
Religion: Gaulish Polytheist
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Post by Yellow on Mar 16, 2015 8:34:23 GMT -6
Well, having previously been a Wiccan my head is still mixed up between various allegations about Himself. How would you describe Him?
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harpinghawke
Newbie
Posts: 43
Pronouns: ze/zir
Religion: Dedicant of Cernunnos, Road Witch
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Post by harpinghawke on Mar 17, 2015 9:02:46 GMT -6
Well, having previously been a Wiccan my head is still mixed up between various allegations about Himself. How would you describe Him? Do you mean describing his attributes or UPG/SPG of his personality? Also, what have you heard?
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Yellow
Newbie
Posts: 6
Religion: Gaulish Polytheist
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Post by Yellow on Mar 17, 2015 14:59:46 GMT -6
Well, having previously been a Wiccan my head is still mixed up between various allegations about Himself. How would you describe Him? Do you mean describing his attributes or UPG/SPG of his personality? Also, what have you heard? Well I would say both but I'm not sure what you mean by UPG/SPG. My general knowledge of Him is that aside that He's got antlers, He also commands life & death, the wild, and is part of something called The Wild Hunt? (Also that He's got a big dick for the fertility stuff)
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harpinghawke
Newbie
Posts: 43
Pronouns: ze/zir
Religion: Dedicant of Cernunnos, Road Witch
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Post by harpinghawke on Mar 17, 2015 18:51:21 GMT -6
Okay. So, as far as I know he's not a fertilty god, and generally he's not part of the Wild Hunt. Antlers, yes. I wouldn't say he commands life and death, but he's certainly a psychopomp figure. Aside from life and death, he's certainly associated with the liminal, or the inbetween. Mod Jess, you got anything to add to this? (Jess is great and she knows a lot)
UPG - Unverified Personal Gnosis; knowledge you've gained that is yours and personal and cannot be verified by myth.
SPG - Shared Personal Gnosis; UPG, but someone else shares it.
These terms and their limitations are often up for debate, as someone can say 'The Morrigan is a goddess of love and panda bears and it's my UPG' and expect not to be challenged because it's 'my UPG!'
That said, you still want my UPG?
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Yellow
Newbie
Posts: 6
Religion: Gaulish Polytheist
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Post by Yellow on Mar 17, 2015 20:43:00 GMT -6
Sure I'd love to hear it. I love those terms and will be using them in the future. I don't have much of a UPG, I've tried to connect to Him (Cern) before, but I somehow get the feeling he'd only respond to me when I'm farther away from urban areas.
I'm a Belenos worshiper myself, there's always sun.
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harpinghawke
Newbie
Posts: 43
Pronouns: ze/zir
Religion: Dedicant of Cernunnos, Road Witch
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Post by harpinghawke on Mar 18, 2015 18:07:23 GMT -6
Sure I'd love to hear it. I love those terms and will be using them in the future. I don't have much of a UPG, I've tried to connect to Him (Cern) before, but I somehow get the feeling he'd only respond to me when I'm farther away from urban areas. I'm a Belenos worshiper myself, there's always sun. Belenos seems like a pretty good dude. I work a little bit for Belisama, myself. Cernunnos is...a bit hard to describe. He's very quiet, and very gentle, but also don't piss him off because under the chillness he gets shit done. He seems somewhat protective to me. It's kind of interesting--a lot of the deities and spirits that deal with death have a very protective energy, at least to me. I actually read a description that fit very well, once. I don't remember where it's from--if anyone's read something similar to this please link! I'm just paraphrasing, but he's not going to change you into something you aren't already. He takes you as you are. You may change with his influence, but he basically brings out what was already inside. He's very solid, very warm, very wild. And, to be quite honest, I don't think I can describe him more than that, just because at least for me his personality's harder to capture than a beam of light.
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Post by Jess on Mar 19, 2015 21:03:47 GMT -6
Hey, guys! Sorry it took me so long to get back on this one, since I feel like I really should have gotten back sooner as a mod and Cernunnos devotee. /dutystress I was trying to write something new, but I just can't find the time! D: That said, here are some older things I've written: I would also greatly recommend reading Serith's essay on Cernunnos, Cernunnos: Looking a Different Way, which is probably one of the best out there as of now, and thoroughly integrates archaeological evidence with praxis. It also does a good deal to debunk the "Lord of the Animals" and McWiccanization theories, which is always important! I also have other things to share that are UPG, but I'll omit those for now since this does seem primarily to be a fact thread. Regarding your comments, - My general knowledge of Him is that aside that He's got antlers, TRUE haha
- He also commands life & death, While there is no evidence supporting this directly, Cernunnos does appear to be a liminal god and this is a large liminal role. This is also common SPG.
- the wild, Similar to the above, there is no evidence supporting this directly. I would argue that, though he doesn't take on the aspect of "Lord of the Animals" in the Wiccan sense, he does in fact have some sway over the wild because of his liminal nature.
- and is part of something called The Wild Hunt? More complicated. The only essay I've ever found on the Gaulish wild hunt is apparently a broken link now, sadly, so I can't show you any sources. TL;DR, though, no, not really--unless you hold Cernunnos cognate with Woden. He also fits into a Wild Hunt mythos quite well, being that the Hunt is regarded to consist of the hunters, fey spirits, and the dead, all of which are liminal and thus fit the "theme." But no, there is no evidence supporting this.
- (Also that He's got a big dick for the fertility stuff) Outright untrue. There are no archaeological sources to support him as a fertility god, nor are there any depictions of him with an erect penis despite many, many Wiccan depictions showing one.
(Also, hello, fellow Belenos worshipper! I didn't think there was anyone else around who worshipped Belenos, neat! And Belesama too?! Anyone opposed to starting a thread...?)
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