Apart from the semi-mythological people of Tartessos, the two main indigenous groups of the Iberian Peninsula on which much of the country’s mythology is based were the Iberians and the Celts. In this page we will focus on the Celts.

Celtic Spain shared a lot of aspects with the Celts from the rest of Europe at the time. Their customs were similar to those of the Celts of Gaul. They were known for their great ability with metallurgy and were responsible for the spread of the plow in the peninsula. They were also great warriors and were highly valued as mercenaries.

As for every pre-roman period, all the information we have on the mythology of this time in the Iberian Peninsula is based on archeological sites, literary sources, and especially, inscriptions written in Latin language (so all of them dating back to the Roman era). However, one of the best-known areas of these people was their divinities. They were polytheistic, so their pantheon was made up of different types of deities.

In the first place are the sacred entities of pan-Celtic essence, meaning those whose cult was shared by all the Celtic communities around Europe. The three most relevant were Lugh, the Matres or Matronae, and Epona.

• Lugh was the most cited and important of all the gods, and for the Celts of Spain, he was a solar deity. It is considered to be the equivalent of the Greek god Hermes.
• Matres or Matronae, which are Latin words for mothers and matrons respectively, were female deities. They were worshiped as goddesses of fertility and maternity and were usually represented as three women sitting together next to symbols of fertility such as baskets or horns of loads of fruit and bread, or just babies.
• Epona was the goddess of horses and fertility. She was associated with water, healing, and death. Her association with death is due to the ancient belief that horses were guides for souls from the terrestrial world to the afterlife. Furthermore, she was a charitable goddess and the only Celtic deity who was honored in Rome by having her festival, the Eponae.

Also in this group would be other divinities that were less frequently mentioned in epigraphy and iconography, like Cernunnos, Sucellus, and Airon.

• Cernunnos was a deity identified as a horned man and related to fertility, regeneration, and abundance. He was also believed to be the god of all wild animals and symbolized strength and power.
• Sucellus was the god of Agriculture, forests and medicine. He was depicted as a bearded, strong, middle-aged man with a long hammer and a beer barrel.
• Airon was the god of the underworld. He had both negative and positive characteristics. In his positive aspect, Airon was the god of life. He was identified with water and vegetation, both sources of life coming from the underworld. On the negative side, we appeared as the god of death since the underworld was the place where, in these pre-Chrstian religions, the souls of the dead were considered to go.

In second place, it can be found a set of local gods associated with natural and astral elements. It is worthy to highlight the importance of the moon, especially in the northern regions of Spain. Strabo mentioned important cults related to a nameless goddess related to the moon. It is also known that for the Celts in Spain, sacrifices were very important, or as the ancient Greeks called them, hekatombe (ἑκατόμβη), referring to a religious sacrifice of one hundred oxen. It is also known that in this time they used the art of divination and, for which they resorted to dreams, birds, guts, fire, water, and sometimes the sacrifice of prisoners.

 

Sources:

Blazquez, J., 2001. LA RELIGION CELTA EN HISPANIA, J.M.BLAZQUEZ – Biblioteca Gonzalo de Berceo. [online] Vallenajerilla.com. Available at: <http://www.vallenajerilla.com/berceo/blazquez/religionceltaenhispania.htm> [Accessed 30 May 2022].

G.M, A., 2021. Cuando la península Ibérica pertenecía a los celtas. [online] historia.nationalgeographic.com.es. Available at: <https://historia.nationalgeographic.com.es/a/iberia-celtas_16812> [Accessed 30 May 2022].