Cernunnos. Cernunnos was an ancient Gaelic word meaning “horned” or “horned one.” Little is known of Cernunnos for almost nothing was written about him. He was a god of wild places and often appeared as a bearded man with antlers. Some scholars believed his name and characteristics originally belonged to a number of horned gods that were then mixed together.
Cernunnos was a god of the wild who ruled over pristine nature and uncivilized ways. Animals were his subjects and free-growing fruits and vegetable his bounty. Classical depictions of the deity included gatherings of animals such as elk wolves snakes and aurochs. Such gatherings were possible thanks to Cernunnos’ abillity to bring natural enemies into peaceful communion with one another.
Similarly Cernunnos may have been a fertility god or god of life. In some classical societies the natural world was the origin of all life. Under this schema the god of the wilds would also have served as a god of life creation and fertility.
Cernunnos was often shown with a torc— an ancient piece of jewelry demonstrative of status: the more ornate the higher your rank in the clan. He's also shown holding a snake. To the ancient Celts snake symbolism was a tricky one. They possessed a mix of powers representative of both genders signifying the male-female balance and the joining of polar energies.
Cernunnos the Horned God of neopagan traditions is lord of both life and death, he grows old as the year progresses before being reborn and starting the cycle anew. He exists in tandem with the divine feminine the Goddess who is at once both mother and lover, in many traditions his power stems from her. ---
This is my first ever male god drawing. Hopefully you like this little mix in the goddess series! ????