Grisaille Spirit Horse

Description

It is hard to measure the importance of the horse in Celtic Society.

Contrary to popular New Age opinion, there is no evidence that goddess worship was the primary tenet of ancient Celtic religion. The central notion was of sacred kingship - as it was in most barbarian cultures of Europe at the time (Etruscan, Thracian, Germanic etc) This concept was embodied in the horse.

This connection between the horse and kingship is very ancient. The Vedic horse sacrifice or Ashvamedha was a fertility and kingship ritual involving the sacrifice of a sacred white stallion. Similar rituals probably took place among Roman, Celtic and Norse peoples, but the descriptions are not so complete.

From earliest times white horses are mythologized with exceptional properties, transcending the normal world by having wings (Pegasus from Greek mythology) or having horns (the unicorn). As part of its legendary dimension, the white horse in myth may be depicted with seven heads, as the Hindu Uchaishravas, or eight feet, as in the Viking Sleipnir. There are also white horses who are divinatory, who prophesy or warn of danger.

White horses have a special significance in the mythologies of cultures around the world. They are often associated with the sun chariot, with warrior-heroes (and later saints), with fertility (in both mare and stallion manifestations) or with an end-of-time saviour, but other interpretations exist as well.

The Gaulish horse-goddess Epona was the protectress of the cavalry, chariot, transport and later even of the Roman-Gaulish legionaries. She is represented either sitting on a side saddle, holding a magical small bird or fruit, symbol of fertility, in her hand, or standing between two horses.

Added on Oct 22, 2009