Celtic goddesses

Brigid or Brigit ( , ; meaning 'exalted one'), also Bríg, is a goddess of pre-Christian Ireland. She appears in Irish mythology as a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, the daughter of the Dagda and wife of Bres, with whom she had a son named Ruadán.

deity

sculpture motif

Artio (Dea Artio in the Gallo-Roman religion) is a Celtic bear goddess. Evidence of her worship has notably been found at Bern in Switzerland. Her name is derived from the Gaulish word for 'bear', artos.

In Gaelic (Irish, Scottish and Manx) myth, the Cailleach (, ) is a divine hag, associated with the creation of the landscape and with the weather, especially storms and winter. The word literally means 'old woman, hag', and is found with this meaning in modern Irish and Scottish Gaelic, and has been applied to numerous mythological and folkloric figures in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. In modern Irish folklore studies, she is sometimes known as The Hag of Beara, while in Scotland she is known as Beira, Queen of Winter.

thumb|250px|An altar for Nehalennia in Domburg, [[Netherlands. On her right is a dog and in her hands a basket of apples.]] Nehalennia (also Nehalenia, Nehalaenniae, Nehalaenia, Nehellenia) is a tutelary goddess who was worshipped in 2nd- and 3rd-century Gallia Belgica by travelers, especially sailors and traders, at the mouth of the Scheldt. Her origin is unclear, perhaps Germanic or Celtic. She is attested on and depicted upon numerous votive altars discovered around what is now the province of Zeeland, the Netherlands, where the Schelde River flowed into the North Sea. Worship of Nehalennia

goddess in Celtic religion

thumb|Gilt bronze head from the cult statue of Sulis Minerva from the Temple at Bath, found in Stall Street in 1727 and now displayed at the Roman Baths (Bath). In the localised Celtic polytheism practised in Great Britain, Sulis was a deity worshiped at the thermal spring of Bath. She was worshiped 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 invoked by her votaries.

deity

thumb|upright|Illustration of Clíodhna in R.D. Joyce's Ballads of Irish Chivalry (1872) In Irish mythology, Clíodhna (Clídna, Clionadh, Clíodna, Clíona, transliterated to Cleena in English) is a Queen of the Banshees of the Tuatha Dé Danann. Clíodna of Carrigcleena is the potent banshee that rules as queen over the sióga (fairies) of South Munster, or Desmond.

Andraste, also known as Andrasta, was, according to the Roman historian Dio Cassius, an Icenic war goddess invoked by Boudica in her fight against the Roman occupation of Britain in AD 60. She may be the same as Andate, mentioned later by the same source, and described as "their name for Victory": i.e., the goddess Victoria. Thayer asserts that she may also be related to Andarta. The goddess Victoria is related to Nike, Bellona, Magna Mater (Great Mother), Cybele, and Vacuna—goddesses who are often depicted on chariots. Her name has been translated as meaning "indestructible" or "unconquerable

thumb|200px|Ataegina. Marble, 210x93x72 cm, by the artist Pedro Roque Hidalgo, 2008. Museum of Marble, Vila Viçosa, Portugal Ataegina (; ) was a goddess worshipped by the ancient Iberians, Lusitanians, and Celtiberians of the Iberian Peninsula. She is believed by some to have been a goddess of the underworld or the night, or of the spring season.

In ancient Celtic religion, Sulevia was a goddess worshipped in Gaul, Britain, and Gallaecia, very often in the plural forms Suleviae or (dative) Sule(v)is. Dedications to Sulevia(e) are attested in about forty inscriptions, distributed quite widely in the Celtic world, but with particular concentrations in Noricum, among the Helvetii, along the Rhine, and also in Rome. Jufer and Luginbühl distinguish the Suleviae from another group of plural Celtic goddesses, the Matres, and interpret the name Suleviae as meaning "those who govern well". In the same vein, Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel connects

venerated deities

thumb|upright=1.3|Arch sculptured in relief with figures of the war-god Týr|Mars Thincsus with a goose at his feet and two naked goddesses or cupids (maybe the ALaisiagae named Beda and Fimmelena), found near Hadrian's Wall in 1883, now in Chesters Museum. In Romano-British culture and Germanic polytheism, the Alaisiagae deae were Germanic goddesses who deified victory, or, in an alternative interpretation, embodied justice. Their names — possibly meaning the "all‑respected" or "all‑feared" (from Proto West-Germanic *all- + *aizō- "honour, fear") — were mentioned in connection with the syncret

frame|right|Latin inscription reading DEO MARTI CICOLLUI ET LITAVI ('To Mars Cicolluos and Litavis').Litavis (Gaulish: Litauī 'Earth', lit. 'the Broad One') is a Gallic deity whose cult is primarily attested in east-central Gaul during the Roman period, where she mainly appears as the consort of Mars Cicolluis. She was probably originally an earth-goddess.'' The divine pair Mars Cicolluis–Litavis was likely associated with fertile and nourishing land, an interpretation supported by the meanings of both divine names. In medieval Celtic languages, various terms derived from the name *Litauia'' (

Bandue (previously recorded as Bandua) was a theonym used to refer to a god or goddess worshipped in Iberia by Callaeci and Lusitanians. Whether the name referred to a discrete deity or was an epithet applied to different deities is arguable.

thumb|Bronze statuette of Vesunna with elements of syncretism: sistrum on the head of the goddess Isis - Périgueux Museum Vesunna is a Celtic goddess worshipped in Roman Gaul. She was likely considered a giver of prosperity, abundance and good fortune, as evidenced by the cornucopia she is depicted carrying in her images.

frame|right|The silver Senuna statue recovered in 2002 Senuna was a Celtic goddess worshipped in Roman Britain. She was unknown until a cache of 26 votive offerings to her were discovered in 2002 in an undisclosed field at Ashwell End in Hertfordshire by metal detectorist Alan Meek. Her imagery shows evidence of syncretism between a pre-Roman goddess with the Roman Minerva (for a parallel, cf. Sulis Minerva, the Romano-British goddess worshipped at Bath).

thumb|240px|right|Pierre Puvis de Chavannes|Pierre-Cécile Puvis de Chavannes: An Aisling, 1883