"homogeneity; as a result, there was a great deal of variation in local practices of Celtic religion (although certain motifs, for example the god Lugh, appear to have diffused throughout the Celtic world). Inscriptions to more than three hundred deities, often equated with their Roman counterparts, have survived, but of these most appear to have been ""genii locorum"", local or tribal gods, and few were widely worshipped. However, from what has survived of Celtic mythology, it is possible to discern commonalities which hint at a more unified pantheon than is often given credit. Muma (Celtic goddess) Muna (Mona, Muma) is"
"Belenus Belenus (also ""Belenos, Belinus, Bel, Beli Mawr"") is a sun god from Celtic mythology and, in the 3rd century, the patron deity of the Italian city of Aquileia. Called the ""Fair Shining One"" (or ""The Shining God""), he was one of the most ancient and most-widely worshiped Celtic deities and is associated with the ancient fire festival and modern Sabbat Beltane. He was associated with the horse (as shown by the clay horse figurine offerings at Belenos's Sainte-Sabine shrine in Burgundy) and also the wheel. Perhaps like Apollo, with whom he became identified in the ""Augustan History"", Belenos was"
"Grannus In the Celtic polytheism of classical antiquity, Grannus (also ""Granus"", ""Mogounus,"" and ""Amarcolitanus"") was a deity associated with spas, healing thermal and mineral springs, and the sun. He was regularly identified with Apollo as Apollo Grannus. He was frequently worshipped in conjunction with Sirona, and sometimes with Mars and other deities. In the early twentieth century, the name was connected with the Irish ""grian"", ‘sun’. Along these lines, the god was often linked to the Deò-ghrèine and the character Mac Gréine of Irish mythology. However, the Irish ""grian"", ‘sun’ is thought to be derived from Proto-Celtic *""greinā"" ‘sun’ and"
"Saint Sulien Saint Sulien, Sulian, or Silin was the reputed 6th-century founder-abbot of a monastery at Luxulyan in Cornwall. His feast day is 29 July. There have probably been other Christian Celtic saints with the same (or similar) name, and a variant of it is also used as an alias of Saint Tysilio (see below). Sulien is a Welsh variant of the given name ""Julian,"" but has also been interpreted as being derived from the Welsh ""sul"", meaning ""sun"" + ""geni"", meaning ""born,"" Sulien being the name of a Celtic solar deity. Confusion has arisen between different legends of Celtic"
"eight spokes, was an important symbol in historical Celtic polytheism, apparently associated with a specific god, known as the wheel-god, identified as the sky- sun- or thunder-god, whose name is attested as Taranis by Lucan. Numerous Celtic coins also depict such a wheel. It is thought to correspond to a sun-cult practiced in Bronze Age Europe, the wheel representing the sun. The half-wheel shown in the Gundestrup also has eight visible spokes. Symbolic votive wheels were offered at shrines (such as in Alesia), cast in rivers (such as the Seine), buried in tombs or worn as amulets since the Middle"
"Cian of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Maine mac Darthacht In one history of Celtic mythology, Maine mac Darthacht was the son of Perdition, or night. Maine Mac Darthacht had a cloak fastened by eight stones called Maini. It fell into the lap of his brother Fergus Fairge, the Ocean god, father of Lugaid, who as the god of the summer solstice slew Cuchulainn the sun-god after his left thigh had been weakened. Hence the brooch of the eight (stones) belonging to the son of night is the Irish equivalent of the Welsh Wyth-nos. The god Lugaid mentioned is usually synonymous"
"Kresnik (deity) Kresnik (or rarely Kersnik and Krsnik) is a Slavic god associated with fire, the summer solstice, and storms. His mythical home, a sacred mountain at the top of the world, represents the axis mundi. Kresnik was worshiped among the Slavic population of the eastern Alps. He is probably the same deity as Svarožič, son of the Slavic sun god, Svarog, described as having golden hair and golden hands. He gradually evolved into a Slovenian national hero who lives on a golden mountain, sometimes as a deer with golden antlers, associated with the summer solstice. He became known as"
"etymology, as well as several other characteristics, such as the association with sight, civic law, and epithets relating to light, Sulis has been interpreted as a solar deity, at least in pre-Roman times. Some researchers have further suggested a role as the ""de facto"" Celtic solar deity, the associated Sulevia and similar names being the goddess's attestations elsewhere. Sulis has a number of modern-day worshipers among the Wiccan and Pagan communities. As of 1998, some people still deposited offerings in the waters of the Roman baths. Sulis In localised Celtic polytheism practised in Britain, Sulis was a deity worshipped at"
"Maine mac Darthacht In one history of Celtic mythology, Maine mac Darthacht was the son of Perdition, or night. Maine Mac Darthacht had a cloak fastened by eight stones called Maini. It fell into the lap of his brother Fergus Fairge, the Ocean god, father of Lugaid, who as the god of the summer solstice slew Cuchulainn the sun-god after his left thigh had been weakened. Hence the brooch of the eight (stones) belonging to the son of night is the Irish equivalent of the Welsh Wyth-nos. The god Lugaid mentioned is usually synonymous with Lugh. However Lugh's father is"
"""holy Serapis"" and ""the many-named Isis"", and before ""the unvanquished Core and Mars Sagatus"". Grannus In the Celtic polytheism of classical antiquity, Grannus (also ""Granus"", ""Mogounus,"" and ""Amarcolitanus"") was a deity associated with spas, healing thermal and mineral springs, and the sun. He was regularly identified with Apollo as Apollo Grannus. He was frequently worshipped in conjunction with Sirona, and sometimes with Mars and other deities. In the early twentieth century, the name was connected with the Irish ""grian"", ‘sun’. Along these lines, the god was often linked to the Deò-ghrèine and the character Mac Gréine of Irish mythology. However,"
"being a development exclusive to the eastern Mediterranean. Even in these traditions, remnants of male lunar deities, like Menelaus, remain. Although the sun was personified as an independent, female deity, the Proto-Indo-Europeans also visualized the sun as the eye of *""Dyḗus Pḥtḗr"", as seen in various reflexes: Helios as the eye of Zeus, Hvare-khshaeta as the eye of Ahura Mazda, and the sun as ""God's eye"" in Romanian folklore. The names of Celtic sun goddesses like Sulis and Grian may also allude to this association; the words for ""eye"" and ""sun"" are switched in these languages, hence the name of"
"Sun goddess is Sunna. In the Norse traditions, Sól rode through the sky on her chariot every day, pulled by two horses named Arvak and Alsvid. Sól also was called Sunna and Frau Sunne. Other cultures that have sun goddesses include the Lithuanians (Saulė) and Latvians (Saule), the Finns (Päivätär, Beiwe) and the related Hungarians. Sun goddesses are found around the world in Australia (Bila, Walo), India (Bisal-Mariamna, Bomong, Kn Sgni), among the Hittites (Wurusemu), and Egyptians (Sekhmet), in the Canary Islands (Chaxiraxi)/(Magek), in Native America, among the Cherokee (Unelanuhi), Natchez (Wal Sil), Inuit (Malina), and Miwok (Hekoolas), and in"
"Sól (sun) Sól (Old Norse ""Sun"") or Sunna (Old High German, and existing as an Old Norse and Icelandic synonym: see Wiktionary sunna, ""Sun"") is the Sun personified in Germanic mythology. One of the two Old High German Merseburg Incantations, written in the 9th or 10th century CE, attests that Sunna is the sister of Sinthgunt. In Norse mythology, Sól is attested in the ""Poetic Edda"", compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the ""Prose Edda"", written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson. In both the ""Poetic Edda"" and the ""Prose Edda"" she is described as"
"of Mabon ap Modron. The name Lleu is derived from Proto-Celtic *""Lugus"", the exact meaning (and etymology) of which is still a matter of scholarly debate. Several writers and historians thought that the name ""Lugus"" is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root ""*leuk-"", ""light"", and thus he was considered a sun god. This etymology has been dismissed because Proto-Indo-European *""k"" did not under any known circumstances become *""g""- in Proto-Celtic, but remained *""k"". The direct descendent of the Proto-Indo-European root *""leuk-"" (‘white light’) in Proto-Celtic is *""leuk-"" as in the name of the Gaulish lightning god Loucetios. Proto-Celtic ""*Lugus"" may be"
"has at times been argued as having had a solar nature, fitting her role as a goddess of fire and light. In Ireland, there are numerous holy wells dedicated to the goddess Brighid. There are dedications to ‘Minerva’ in Britain and throughout the Celtic areas of the Continent. At Bath Minerva was identified with the goddess Sulis, whose cult there centred on the thermal springs. Other goddesses were also associated with sacred springs, such as Icovellauna among the Treveri and Coventina at Carrawburgh. Damona and Bormana also serve this function in companionship with the spring-god Borvo (see above). A number"
"Taranis In Celtic mythology Taranis is the god of thunder who was worshipped primarily in Gaul, Gallaecia, Britain, Ireland but also in the Rhineland and Danube regions, amongst others. Taranis, along with Esus and Toutatis as part of a sacred triad, was mentioned by the Roman poet Lucan in his epic poem ""Pharsalia"" as a Celtic deity to whom human sacrificial offerings were made. Taranis was associated, as was the cyclops Brontes (""thunder"") in Greek mythology, with the wheel. Many representations of a bearded god with a thunderbolt in one hand and a wheel in the other have been recovered"
"Mac Gréine In Irish mythology, Mac Gréine of the Tuatha Dé Danann was a son of Cermait, son of the Dagda. Mac Gréine's given name was Céthur and was named Mac Gréine after his god, Grian, the sun. Mac Gréine is Irish for ""Son of the Sun"". His wife was Ériu. He and his brothers Mac Cuill and Mac Cecht killed Lug in revenge for their father. The three brothers became joint High Kings of Ireland, rotating the sovereignty between them a year at a time, covering twenty-nine or thirty years depending on the source consulted. They were the last"
"Koyash Koyash (Turkish: ""Kuyaş"") is the god of sun in Turkish mythology. Gök Tanrı created the earth with rays of sun light, thus, Koyash took part in the creation of earth. Solar rays are also considered to be ""strings"" between the sun and the spirits of plants, animals and humans. Turks who worship Koyash turn towards the sunrise when praying. Koyash is the son of Gok Tengri """"Sky God"""" (Tenger means sky in Mongolian) and the Earth Goddess. The power and vital force of the Sun God, making it a priority to bow to him each morning as he rises."
"proto-Indo-European root ""*swel-"" 'swelter', found in Indo-European words denoting 'sun', was inherited into Gaulish. Nantosuelta In Celtic mythology, Nantosuelta is the goddess of nature, the earth, fire and fertility. Pseudo-historical texts explain how there is an uncanny resemblance between Nantosuelta and what we know of the Irish goddess The Morrígan who was associated with death and war. Evidence suggests that Nantosuelta was the name given to the goddess The Morrígan after a transformation or joining of new alliances. The Mediomatrici (Alsace, Lorraine) depicted her in art as holding a round house on a pole and with a crow. Other likely"
"Helios Helios (; ""Hēlios""; Latinized as ""Helius""; in Homeric Greek) is the god and personification of the Sun in Greek mythology. He is the son of the Titan Hyperion and the Titaness Theia (according to Hesiod), also known as Euryphaessa (in ""Homeric Hymn 31"") and brother of the goddesses Selene, the moon, and Eos, the dawn. Helios was described as a handsome young man crowned with the shining aureole of the Sun, who drove the chariot of the sun across the sky each day to earth-circling Oceanus and through the world-ocean returned to the East at night. In the ""Homeric"
"worship of the Sun. Kresnik is most commonly understood to be the Slovenian name for the common Slavic god Perun. Monika Kropej claims that Kresnik is at the same time Perun’s son and also a seasonal aspect of Perun. Perun is incarnated during the winter as Božič, in the spring as Yarilo, in the summer as Kresnik and in the autumn as Zlatorog, a deer with golden antlers. However, Kresnik’s brother Trot is also connected to Perun, so no clear answer could be given on that matter. Kresnik (deity) Kresnik (or rarely Kersnik and Krsnik) is a Slavic god associated"
"the sun god each dawn. Hathor's name, ""ḥwt-ḥrw"" or ""ḥwt-ḥr"", may allude to this aspect of her character. The name is typically translated ""house of Horus"", referring to the falcon god Horus who, among other things, represented the sky or the sun, although it can also be rendered as ""my house is the sky"". The ""house"" may be the sky in which Horus lives or the goddess's womb, from which he, as a sun god, is born each day. Hathor was herself a solar deity, a feminine counterpart to sun gods like Horus and Ra, and she was a member"
"Gun Ana Gun Ana (Turkish: ""Gün Ana"", Kyrgyz: ""Күн Эне"", Kazakh: ""Күн Ана"", Hungarian: ""Nap Anya"", Sakha: ""Күн Ий̃э"", Balkar: ""Кюн Ана"", Ottoman: ""گون آنا"") is the common Turkic solar deity, treated as a goddess in the Kazakh and Kyrgyz mythologies. The noun Gün in the Turkish and Kyrgyz languages is also the conventional name for the Sun and originates from the Proto-Turkic name Kün. Gün Ana is one of the most powerful deities, the goddess of life and fertility, warmth and health. She is patroness of the unfortunate, especially orphans. She lives on the seventh floor of the sky."
"Elagabalus (deity) Elagabalus , Aelagabalus, or Heliogabalus is a Syro-Roman sun god. Although there were many variations of the name, the god was consistently referred to as Elagabalus in Roman coins and inscriptions from AD 218 on, during the reign of emperor Elagabalus. Elagabalus was initially venerated at Emesa in Syria. The name is the Latinised form of the Semitic ""Ilāh hag-Gabal"", which derives from Ilāh ""god"" and ""gabal"" ""mountain"" (compare ""jabal""), resulting in ""the God of the Mountain"", the Emesene manifestation of the deity. The cult of the deity spread to other parts of the Roman Empire in the"
"the Roman syncretism, Mercury was equated with the Celtic god Lugus, and in this aspect was commonly accompanied by the Celtic goddess Rosmerta. Although Lugus may originally have been a deity of light or the sun (though this is disputed), similar to the Roman Apollo, his importance as a god of trade made him more comparable to Mercury, and Apollo was instead equated with the Celtic deity Belenus. Romans associated Mercury with the Germanic god Wotan, by ""interpretatio Romana""; 1st-century Roman writer Tacitus identifies him as the chief god of the Germanic peoples. Mercury is known to the Romans as"
"Galvaginus (Gawain). The pagan Irish certainly had sun deities and Cú Roi mac Dáire may originally have been one of these. Cú Chulainn, as a son and reincarnation of the Celtic god Lug, may also originally have been a sun deity and there is evidence to link Sir Gawain with Cú Chulainn, as well as a giant churl with Cú Roi. Cú Chulainn besieges a castle belonging to Cú Roi mac Dáire in another ancient Irish tale, in order to release a flower maiden, and as Cú Roi is often depicted as a giant and Cú Chulainn as a child,"
"Belobog Belobog, Bilobog, Belbog, Bialbog, Byelobog, Bielobog, Belun or Bylun, Bielboh or Bialun () (all names meaning ""White God"") is a reconstructed Slavic deity of light and Sun, the counterpart of dark and cursed Chernobog (Black God). It is uncertain whether such a deity was ever worshipped by polytheist Slavs, as there are no reliable historic records which mention this name. While in the past a great deal of scholars studying Slavic mythology took the dualism of Belobog and Chernobog for granted, modern research of the matter makes this theory very hard to maintain. In the later half of the"
"with another indigenous Etruscan goddess, Catha, which is often interpreted as having a solar character. In artwork Usil is shown in close association with Thesan, the dawn goddess, something almost never seen with Helios and Eos. Usil Usil is the Etruscan god of the sun. This name appears on the bronze liver of Piacenza, next to ""Tiur"", the moon. Another iconic depiction features Usil rising out of the sea, with a fireball in either outstretched hand, on an engraved Etruscan bronze mirror in late Archaic style, formerly on the Roman antiquities market. On Etruscan mirrors in Classical style, Usil appears"
"solar deities such as the Greek Helios and Indic Surya, and bears some solar traits like the association with the eye as well as epithets associated with light. The theonym Sulevia, which is more widespread and probably unrelated to Sulis, is sometimes taken to have suggested a pan-Celtic role as a solar goddess. She indeed might have been the ""de facto"" solar deity of the Celts. The Welsh Olwen has at times been considered a vestige of the local sun goddess, in part due to the possible etymological association with the wheel and the colours gold, white and red. Brighid"
"symbolism. This may indicate that the god is a deity of both light, and of curative spring waters, two elements that were strong linked in the Celtic world. Luxovius In Gallo-Roman religion, Luxovios, Latinized as Luxovius was the god of the waters of Luxeuil, worshipped in Gaul. He was a consort of Bricta. The thermal spring sanctuary at Luxeuil produced evidence of the worship of other deities, including the sky-horseman who bears a solar wheel, and Sirona, another deity associated with healing springs. Luxovius is recorded in the following two inscriptions, both from Luxeuil-les-Bains : ""To Lusso(v)ios and Bricta, Divixtius"
"Sulis In localised Celtic polytheism practised in Britain, Sulis was a deity worshipped at the thermal spring of Bath (now in Somerset). She was worshipped by the Romano-British as Sulis Minerva, whose votive objects and inscribed lead tablets suggest that she was conceived of both as a nourishing, life-giving mother goddess, and as an effective agent of curses wished by her votaries. The exact meaning of the name ""Sulis"" is still a matter of debate among linguists, but one possibility is ""Eye/Vision"", cognate with Old Irish ""súil"" ""eye, gap"", perhaps derived from a Proto-Celtic word ""*sūli-"" which may be related"
"to various Indo-European words for ""sun"" (cf. Homeric Greek ηέλιος, Sanskrit ""sūryah"" ""sun"", from Proto-Indo-European ""*suhlio-""). Sulis was the local goddess of the thermal springs that still feed the spa baths at Bath, which the Romans called ""Aquae Sulis"" (""the waters of Sulis""). Her name primarily appears on inscriptions discovered at Bath, with only a single instance outside of Britain at Alzey, Germany. This is not surprising, as Celtic deities often preserved their archaic localisation. They remained to the end associated with a specific place, often a cleft in the earth, a spring, pool or well. The Greeks referred to"
"kings of the Tuatha Dé Danann before the coming of the Milesians. Mac Gréine In Irish mythology, Mac Gréine of the Tuatha Dé Danann was a son of Cermait, son of the Dagda. Mac Gréine's given name was Céthur and was named Mac Gréine after his god, Grian, the sun. Mac Gréine is Irish for ""Son of the Sun"". His wife was Ériu. He and his brothers Mac Cuill and Mac Cecht killed Lug in revenge for their father. The three brothers became joint High Kings of Ireland, rotating the sovereignty between them a year at a time, covering twenty-nine"