One of the frustrations of studying the distant past is knowing that the lenses of earlier times are ultimately inaccessible. We can take the religion of the Celts as a case in point. For centuries, these peoples left very little in the way of written sources, and so we must rely on the statues, inscriptions, and small items from ancient sanctuaries for any knowledge about their deities. The God Sucellus shown here in this first- or second- century bronze statue has identifying markers — he wears a lion-skin, has a small pot (called an olla), and around his head radiates several mallets – the hammer from his elevated arm is now missing. What are we to make of this deity? No mythology is recorded. There exist inscriptions testifing to his popularity throughout the Celtic world, and his statues from other places frequently are accompanied with a dog, a female consort deity, and more Celtic-looking attire. Perhaps the mallet refers to his role as a protector deity, and maybe the jar – one that could have held wine – represents his role in fertility. Maybe he is the same God as Dis Pater, a sort of Celtic father-God who appears on other sources. As ambiguous as these suggestions are, even more lost to us is an understanding of what he meant to those who worshipped him. Was he a personal God? Did the Celts tell stories about him – and if so, were they fables, or morality tales, or origin myths? The tantalizing bits of evidence of Celtic religion remind us of past lives consumed with mental experiences we can never inhabit.
Source(s): Statue from the Walters Art Gallery.
