On Cernunnos- Anyone have any experience with Him?

[Keiyaku]

Yes, folks, let's talk about the Stag With Seven Tines Himself. I've been interested in Cernunnos for... a while. I haven't been directly contacted by Him, but when I spend time in the forest I think I can feel him. Since so little about the historical Cernunnos is available, we are left mostly with modern experiences to inform us about Him.

In your experience, what is Cernunnos all about? I can understand why He's Lord of the Hunt and patron of the forested areas, but does His dominion extend beyond the wooded vales? Would I find Him in the mountains or the plains? Could He be accessed from the 17th floor of an apartment building in central Philadelphia?

Another aspect of His seems to be death. I've seen convincing arguments that Cernunnos, as Lord of the Hunt, is at least partially related to dying and rising. For example, one article I read noted that some statues of deities believed to be Cernunnos had hollows in the head that may have been used for antlers. The article went on to argue that this not only represents actual deer, but also the changing of the seasons and the cycles of life and death.

A different article argued that Cernunnos was a god of material success. The author pointed to His image on the Pillar of Boatmen as evidence for His patronage of wealth. The author then went on to describe the rams-horned snakes as possibly related to Celtic Mars, a healing deity, and Asclepius with His Rod. At the same time, snakes represent wisdom. That point, along with Cernunnos' seemingly meditative pose, developed into an argument about Cernunnos being a deity of magic and wisdom.

So we've got: Life and Death (Possibly a dying-and-rising God?), wisdom and magic, material success, healing and medicine, nature (with a focus on forests), and of course, sexuality.

My own limited experiences with Cernunnos have given me this image: immense. An ancient deity of immense power; a deity that possibly saw the birth of this planet if not this world. He is reserved and quiet, but also given to fatherly love. His patience is being tested, but He is willing to forgive humanity's mistakes so far. It's a good thing too, because I doubt humanity could stand against an enraged Cernunnos.

What do you guys think? How far does His patronage extend, and what is just grasping at straws? What are your experiences with Cernunnos? Are there any goddesses or other deities He gets along with? Any deities He is on less than cordial terms with?

[Nyktipolos]

Hoofprints in the Wildwood: A Devotional to the Horned God
 
While this anthology isn't entirely about Cernunnos, it has a lot of content in there about him. I'm just linking to this in case you had never seen it before.

[Louisvillian]

In your experience, what is Cernunnos all about?

Wilderness and wild-ness. He is a powerfully ancient god. Very primal and wild, but not in the bug-fuck crazy way. In the same way an untamed deer is; placid but majestic, and capable to tremendous damage if you fuck with it.
I venerate him, and consider him to be one of my patron gods.

Another aspect of His seems to be death. I've seen convincing arguments that Cernunnos, as Lord of the Hunt, is at least partially related to dying and rising.

The connections are slim, though I won't say they aren't there at all. I just feel like, at least in the sense we think of it in modern day, the linkages between Cernunnos and the dying-and-rising archetype is because James Frazer wanted to see it that way.
Though in my personal experiences, I do get the feeling that there is somewhat of a rebirth element to him as well as the life and death parts.

A different article argued that Cernunnos was a god of material success. The author pointed to His image on the Pillar of Boatmen as evidence for His patronage of wealth.

Something very common to cthonic deities. Which Cernunnos may have been, if the associations with death are accurate.

That point, along with Cernunnos' seemingly meditative pose, developed into an argument about Cernunnos being a deity of magic and wisdom.

Ehh...you can make a stronger argument that the pose is more related to a hunter in a moment of calm and rest.

[Leanan Sidhe]

Yes, folks, let's talk about the Stag With Seven Tines Himself. I've been interested in Cernunnos for... a while. I haven't been directly contacted by Him, but when I spend time in the forest I think I can feel him. Since so little about the historical Cernunnos is available, we are left mostly with modern experiences to inform us about Him.

In your experience, what is Cernunnos all about? I can understand why He's Lord of the Hunt and patron of the forested areas, but does His dominion extend beyond the wooded vales? Would I find Him in the mountains or the plains? Could He be accessed from the 17th floor of an apartment building in central Philadelphia?

Another aspect of His seems to be death. I've seen convincing arguments that Cernunnos, as Lord of the Hunt, is at least partially related to dying and rising. For example, one article I read noted that some statues of deities believed to be Cernunnos had hollows in the head that may have been used for antlers. The article went on to argue that this not only represents actual deer, but also the changing of the seasons and the cycles of life and death.

A different article argued that Cernunnos was a god of material success. The author pointed to His image on the Pillar of Boatmen as evidence for His patronage of wealth. The author then went on to describe the rams-horned snakes as possibly related to Celtic Mars, a healing deity, and Asclepius with His Rod. At the same time, snakes represent wisdom. That point, along with Cernunnos' seemingly meditative pose, developed into an argument about Cernunnos being a deity of magic and wisdom.

So we've got: Life and Death (Possibly a dying-and-rising God?), wisdom and magic, material success, healing and medicine, nature (with a focus on forests), and of course, sexuality.

My own limited experiences with Cernunnos have given me this image: immense. An ancient deity of immense power; a deity that possibly saw the birth of this planet if not this world. He is reserved and quiet, but also given to fatherly love. His patience is being tested, but He is willing to forgive humanity's mistakes so far. It's a good thing too, because I doubt humanity could stand against an enraged Cernunnos.

What do you guys think? How far does His patronage extend, and what is just grasping at straws? What are your experiences with Cernunnos? Are there any goddesses or other deities He gets along with? Any deities He is on less than cordial terms with?

There's a really good book, not just on him, but on several Horned Gods: Horns of Power: Manifestations of the Horned God edited by: Sorita d'Este

Some of the Gods listed aren't ones I think of as Horned Gods, but maybe that's just me. Nonetheless, I loved the book.

There's also an incredibly useful website here: http://cernosia.webs.com/

There's even a forum -- though that part of the site has been pretty dead whenever I go into it.

The issue with what we know about Cernunnos is... that we don't. Effectively we've got some images and maybe a name. The images may or may not be of the same deity -- may, in fact, not even be of a historical deity at all.

In my UPG, he is a God of forests, but also the wild and the land in general. A God of sex, virility, hunter and hunted. I also see him as a God of death -- but I usually work with him in his aspect as a God of life.

He feels strong, powerful, and wild to me. He strikes me as an embodiment of the masculine principle. He also seems very wise to me.

I do see him as a God of wealth, though usually in the sense of wealth from the Earth, rather than financial wealth.

But as I said, that's my own UPG.