RISE WITH THE SUN:
GODS AND GODDESSES OF
HEALING AND HELPING ©
by Dillon Carlyon

It would be difficult for one who studies Celtic traditions to avoid the sun and its plentiful imagery for long. Indeed, solar deities abound in the Celtic lands and writings. When the Romans took over Gaul and Britain, they equated many of the new gods they encountered with their resident Sun God, Apollo. What they may not have realized is that the Celts did not have one Apollo, or even really an Apollo at all. It is my opinion that the Celts saw the brilliant, blinding light of the sun in many, if not all, of their deities. The sun was the light that shined on the bravest warrior's forehead, the light that gives and takes life, the honey that poured from the mouth of the Bard as he delivered his most skillfully recited poem, the thorns that Druids hurled from their lungs as they uttered their most withering satires. The sun was great. The sun was the panacea and the great leveler. The sun was and is divine.

For me, the sun, solar deities, and myths filled with solar imagery become a preoccupation during Beltaine and Midsummer. The etymology of Beltaine, the modern Irish word for the month of May and the name of the Celtic fire festival that brings in the summer, is a bit touchy. Most seem to agree that the word means something like “Bright Fire” (bel = bright, shining, white; taine / tine = fire), which certainly fits a fire festival as well as the coming of summer. Some writers equate the “Bel” fragment of Beltaine with the name of the Welsh God Beli, the Gaulish theonym Belenus, and with the Old Irish word “bilé,” which means something like “sacred tree”—the modern Manx word for tree is “billey.”1 “Bilé” is used in the Táin Bó Cúailgne to describe Queen Medb's sacred tree in Connacht, Bilé Meidbe.2 The word “bilé” is also used in Bardic poetry to describe venerated warriors.3 Some authors, such as Celtic scholar Peter Berresford Ellis, have gone so far as to suggest that “Bilé” may have been the name of the Goddess Danu's consort.4 The Bilé who appears by name in Irish myth is, like Danu, an ancestor figure—he is none other than the father of Míl, who gave his name to the Milesians or sons of Míl who defeated the Tuatha De Danann and became the new rulers of Ireland. Whether intended or not, and despite the lack of a linguistic link, there is some syncretism here between Bilé and the Welsh Beli, also an ancestor God whose name appears not only in the genealogies of many a British King, but also as the father of Arianhrod, which theoretically could also make him the father of her brothers Gwydion, Govannan, and Amaethon, since all of these deities are the children of the Goddess Don. At this point, it is important to emphasize that we know little of the symbolism that may have surrounded Bilé and Beli, and their names are not likely to be linguistically linked to the word Beltaine.5

We have no surviving myths of Belenos, the British and Gaulish God who is often assumed, correctly or incorrectly, to be the one in the same as the Welsh Beli. Significantly, “Belenos” can be translated as either “Shining One” or “Henbane God.”6 This was one of the Gods that the Romans equated with Apollo; an inscription in northern Britain reads “Apollinus Belenus.”7 It is possible that the “Belenos” we find on so many Continental inscriptions could have been a divine epithet for male solar deities. Teutates is another name that is frequently found on such inscriptions, and it has been hypothesized that this may have been a title given to the central or highest God of several Celtic tribes.8 It is worth noting that the Goddess Brighid's name is also a title and may have been an epithet given to a number of different goddesses; Brighid also shows solar associations in some of her myths, particularly in her role as Saint Brighid when she hangs her cloak on a sunbeam.9

Belenos also had a consort, Belisama, “summer bright.” Like many Celtic Goddesses, she was a river Goddess—in her case, the Ribble River in Britain.10 Whereas Belenos was associated with Apollo, Belisama was associated with Minerva one at least one inscription. It is hard to imagine that this divine couple did not preside over some summertime celebration, if not Beltaine or May 1st, in their places of worship in Gaul and Britain.

Yet another very important Goddess who became identified with Minerva is Sulis or Sulis Minerva, the Goddess of the hot springs of the British city of Bath, known in Roman times as Aquae Sulis, or the Waters of Sulis. I have personally been to Bath, and it is a treasure trove of archaeological material from both Roman and pre-Roman Britain. “Sulis” means “eye,” “gap,” or “sun,” and indeed, the hot springs of Bath were the healing waters of this Goddess.11 Sulis, however, had a dual nature. The tablets that have been recovered from the waters at this sacred site reveal that Sulis was petitioned for both healing and harming, and supplicants also appealed to her for vengeance against those who they perceived as having wronged them. One tablet reads, “May he who has stolen Vilbia from me become as liquid as water.”12 Sulis may have originally been a cauldron Goddess like the Irish Badb or the Welsh Cerridwen, bearing powers of transformation that balance life and death themselves.

Healing springs and wells are ubiquitous throughout the Celtic lands, and we can see further associations between solar imagery and healing springs in Gaul with the curative spring sanctuaries of Apollo Vindonnus, Apollo Moritasgus, and Apollo Borvo. Glancing back to Ireland again, a fascinating parallel can be seen in the story of Lugh and Balor. In the second battle of Moytura, Lugh drives out his grandfather Balor's accursed and mighty eye, which can wither whole armies of men. This myth is sometimes interpreted to be part of a lost creation myth involving the sun. The story goes on to reveal that the fallen eye burned a hole into the earth, which became Loch na Suil, the Lake of the Eye, in County Sligo. This loch has the curious, Otherworldly property of completely disappearing and reappearing every twenty to thirty years.13

Lugh, of course, is often cited as a Sun God. His name, however, is again one of challenging etymology. In addition to “shining,” it may mean “flashing,” like a lightning bolt, or it may instead be related to the Celtic root “lugios,” which means something like “oath.”14 These interpretations of Lugh's name reveal other dimensions to his Godly profile. His divine epithets provide yet more clues. He is Find, the Fair One.15 He is Macnia, the Boy-Hero. He is Samildanach, the Equally and Many Skilled. He is Lonnbeimnech, “fierce striker” or “sword-shouter.”16 So Lugh may also, or instead, be a storm God, or a guardian of the power of the spoken word. He is also a healing deity, which is not surprising when one considers that his father is Cian, son of Diancecht, the physician of the Tuatha De Danann. He appears to Cú Chulain and heals him over the course of three days in the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Like Sulis Minerva, however, and like many other Irish deities and heroes, Lugh has a dark side. Though he defeated Balor in the Second Battle of Moytura, Balor is also his grandfather on his mother Ethniu's side. Lugh has both Tuatha and Fomor blood. He ruthlessly revenges himself upon the sons of Tuireann, his father's murderers, and acts the part of the trickster in this story. As we approach Lughnasadh, the sacred day of Lugh and his foster mother Tailtiu, we approach the time of balance, the Autumn Equinox. Lugh is a mediator between the forces of light and dark, a natural role for him as a descendant of two races and as Samildanach, the One Equally Skilled in Many Arts.

Beltaine is a time to honor the solar deities, male and female, and to invoke their powers of healing, illumination, and protection. It is an auspicious time for beginnings, bondings, and blessings—to draw down the power of the sun, that it might visibly come to fruition by the time of the harvest later in the year. The myths and archaeological items discussed above reveal a combination of sun and water, of sky and earth, that brings balance to extremes and peace to opposing forces. And balance, in turn, leads to healing, both physical and spiritual, for it is not one element, but the careful and wise combination of the many elements, that the skilled healer seeks. Shamans the world over battle spirits of disease in the Otherworld; they bring order to chaos. The reflection of the sun on the water reveals its purity, and, when contemplated, opens the eye that allows us to see within. There is an Irish proverb that reads, “Is trom an t-ualach an t-aineaolas” - ignorance is a heavy burden. Knowledge, on the other hand, is highly therapeutic for troubled souls. To heal, we must know ourselves well, and help others to do the same.
Currently living in Houston, Texas, Dillon Carlyon is an Oak Grove Ogham Master and is currently in Year 1 of the Faery Shaman's Apprenticeship. A graduate of Loyola University New Orleans where he earned a B.A. in English, he has been studying history, religion, spirituality, the Celts, the Oghams, and shamanism for over ten years and hopes to move on to graduate work in the field of Old and Middle Irish. In his spare time he studies the Gaelic languages, Shotokan Karate, the Tibetan art of Boabom, and squeezes in reading, writing, making music, and DJing where he can. Contact Dillon at carlyond@gmail.com.

ENDNOTES:

  1. Kondratiev, Alexei. “Danu and Bile: The Primordial Parents?” from Mythical Ireland. Online, Internet, 1998. http://www.mythicalireland.com/mythology/tuathade/danubile.html [Return to Article]

  2. Ellis, Peter Berresford, The Druids, p. 122. London: Constable and Company Limited, 1994. [Return to Article]

  3. Ellis, p. 122. [Return to Article]

  4. Ellis, p. 122. [Return to Article]

  5. Kondratiev. [Return to Article]

  6. “Belenos.” Wikipedia. Last accessed 04/15/08. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belenos [Return to Article]

  7. Collingwood, R.G., and Wright, R.P. The Roman Inscriptions of Britain. Online, Internet. Last accessed 4/22/08. http://www.roman-britain.org/epigraphy/rib_north_england.htm#overborough [Return to Article]

  8. Ellis, p. 127. [Return to Article]

  9. Gregory, Lady Augusta (1906). A Book of Saints and Wonders Book I. Brigit, The Mary of the Gael. Online, internet, last accessed 4/22/08. http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/saw/saw01.htm [Return to Article]

  10. “Belisama.” Wikipedia, last accessed 4/22/08. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belisama [Return to Article]

  11. “Sulis.” Wikipedia, last accessed 4/22/08. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sulis [Return to Article]

  12. Goodison, Lucy, and Morris, Christine, ed. Ancient Goddesses, p. 193. London: British Museum Press, 1998. [Return to Article]

  13. Sligo Heritage. Online, Internet. Last accessed 4/22/08. http://www.sligoheritage.com/archnewsround6.htm [Return to Article]

  14. “Lugh.” Wikipedia, last accessed 4/22/08. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugh [Return to Article]

  15. Ellis, p.125. [Return to Article]

  16. “Lugh.” Wikipedia.

Rise with the Sun: Gods and Goddesses of Healing and Helping copyright © 2008 by Dillon Carlyon, all rights reserved. Used with permission. Top of Page

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