Home›Celtic Deities›Veneration Status›Historically attested; no continuous cultBrowse ByHistorically attested; no continuous cultThis page groups deities by how actively they are still venerated today, from gods with a living cult to ones whose worship has died out entirely. Wikipedia defines veneration as "the practice of honoring people and articles of religious significance, for example, the veneration of saints and the veneration of relics." Browsing this way lets a visitor tell a deity that still receives offerings apart from one preserved only in historical study.FactsLearn MoreHistorically attested; no continuous cultSourcesComments (0)Reader Challenges (0)FactsOverviewWhat Defines This GroupingWell-attestedThe gods of the Celtic-speaking peoples, collected by language family rather than by any shared cult. Two evidence bases barely overlap: Gaulish and British theonyms on Roman-period inscriptions, usually paired with a Roman name, and the Irish gods of medieval manuscripts written by Christian monks centuries after conversion. No unified Celtic pantheon is recoverable from either. 2Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedGaul and the Continental Celtic-speaking peoples, known almost entirely from Roman-period epigraphy and from Greek and Roman writers 2Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedIreland, whose gods survive in medieval Irish manuscript literature written after conversion 2Peoples and Traditions CoveredWell-attestedRoman Britain, known from inscriptions and from deities paired with Roman ones 2AttestationEra of AttestationWell-attestedGaulish and British theonyms appear from the first century BCE in Roman-period inscriptions and reliefs; the Irish material only in manuscripts of the eighth to twelfth centuries CE. 2Veneration TodayWell-attestedThe ancient cults did not survive Christianisation as continuous practice. 2Veneration TodayWell-attestedVenerated in modern Druid and Celtic reconstructionist religions, which are movements of the last three centuries and mostly of the last one. 5StatusStanding as a Comparative CategoryWell-attestedCeltic is a classification of languages. Whether it names one people, or one religion, has been actively disputed in the scholarship for three decades, and that dispute bears directly on whether this grouping names anything at all. 4DirectoryCategoryWell-attestedDeities 1Contested UseContested or Appropriated Modern UseWell-attestedCeltic spirituality and modern Druidry draw on this material, but much of what circulates under those names - the tree calendar and its alphabet above all - was composed between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries and is not attested in the ancient or medieval sources. 3OriginsOrigin of the NameWell-attestedFrom the Greek Keltoi, a name Greek and Roman writers used of peoples north and west of the Mediterranean. It was applied to a family of languages only in the eighteenth century, and to the peoples of Ireland and Britain later still. 4Learn MoreThe gods of the Celtic peoples This group gathers the deities of the Celtic-speaking peoples of Ireland, Britain and Gaul. The evidence is uneven: the Irish gods are known from medieval manuscripts written by Christian monks centuries after conversion, the Gaulish and British gods largely from Roman-era inscriptions and altars, so no single, unified Celtic pantheon can be recovered. The browser will find the Irish Tuatha De Danann (the Dagda, the Morrigan, Lugh, Brigid, Danu), alongside Gaulish and British figures such as Cernunnos, Epona and Sulis. The atlas is explicit that these were distinct regional traditions and that their myths reach us through later, often Christianising, hands.Historically attested; no continuous cultFilter Results30 entriesPlanetary FaceAllChiron (1)Jupiter (1)Mars (1)Mercury (1)Moon (1)Neptune (1)Pluto (1)Sun (1)Member OfAllThe Tuatha De Danann (7)Child OfAllBoann (1)Dagda (1)Interpretatio OfAllMars (1)Neptune (1)Pluto (1)HistoricityAllHistorically attested (8)Not a historical person: a divine or other-than-human being (22)TheologyAllPolytheistic: many gods (30)ArchetypeAllThe Caregiver (5)The Explorer (1)The Hero (1)The Innocent (2)The Lover (1)The Magician (4)The Ruler (4)The Sage (1)Era Attested Start YearAll-100 (7)0 (3)1 (2)200 (2)300 (1)700 (9)1000 (1)1100 (3)Worshipped InAllCeltic Paganism (29)Domain / FunctionAllAgriculture and harvest (1)Commerce and wealth (1)Craft, metalwork and smithing (1)Death (1)Fate and time (1)Fertility and generation (1)Healing and medicine (5)Herds and pastoralism (1)Household (1)Kingship and sovereignty (5)Love and desire (1)Magic and sorcery (3)Moon (1)Motherhood (1)Music and poetry (3)Prophecy and divination (1)Protection and guardianship (2)Rivers, lakes and springs (3)Sea and ocean (2)Seafaring and fishing (1)Sky (1)Storm and thunder (1)Sun (1)The hunt (1)The underworld (1)War and battle (4)Water (1)Wilderness and wild animals (1)Writing, scribes and learning (1)GenderAllCollective / plural, not a single figure (1)Female (14)Male (15)PantheonAllCeltic (29)Show ResultsBrowseCompareSelect all 30AengusHistorically attested; no continuous cultArianrhodHistorically attested; no continuous cultArnemetiaHistorically attested; no continuous cultBelenusHistorically attested; no continuous cultBoannHistorically attested; no continuous cultCamulusHistorically attested; no continuous cultCernunnosHistorically attested; no continuous cultCerridwenHistorically attested; no continuous cultCoventinaHistorically attested; no continuous cultDagdaHistorically attested; no continuous cultDanuHistorically attested; no continuous cultDian CechtHistorically attested; no continuous cultDonnHistorically attested; no continuous cultEponaHistorically attested; no continuous cultGrannusHistorically attested; no continuous cultLughHistorically attested; no continuous cultManannan mac LirHistorically attested; no continuous cultNantosueltaHistorically attested; no continuous cultNemetonaHistorically attested; no continuous cultNodensHistorically attested; no continuous cultNuadaHistorically attested; no continuous cultOgmaHistorically attested; no continuous cultOgmiosHistorically attested; no continuous cultRhiannonHistorically attested; no continuous cultRosmertaHistorically attested; no continuous cultSequanaHistorically attested; no continuous cultSulisHistorically attested; no continuous cultTaranisHistorically attested; no continuous cultThe MorriganHistorically attested; no continuous cultThe Tuatha De DanannHistorically attested; no continuous cultSources1. Divinity Atlas Directory Taxonomy, First Edition Category Treetier 12. Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopediatier 1John T. Koch (ed.), ABC-CLIO, 2006s.v. religious beliefs, pre-Christian CelticView the Source3. Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids in Britaintier 1Ronald Hutton, Yale University Press, 2009chs. 4-7View the Source4. The Atlantic Celts: Ancient People or Modern Invention?tier 1Simon James, British Museum Press, 1999ch. 2View the Source5. Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectivestier 1Michael F. Strmiska (ed.), ABC-CLIO, 2005chapter on Celtic PaganismDivinity Atlas Directory Prose, First Edition Category Descriptionstier 1Comments (0)No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.Sign in to join the discussion.Reader Challenges (0)No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.