#rosmerta

[lynxindisguise]

trans woman rosmerta who used to be the sassy gay bartender and is now the hot bar wench. sirius loves to brag about getting with her (…back when she went by ross)

[valkyries-things]

ROSMERTA // CELTIC GODDESS OF FERTILITY & ABUNDANCE

“She was a goddess of fertility and abundance, her attributes being those of plenty such as the cornucopia. Rosmerta is attested by statues and by inscriptions. In Gaul she was often depicted with the Roman god Mercury as her consort, but is sometimes found independently.”

[coupderosmerta]

Praise Rosmerta, waterbearer who provides for the fields. May you always keep us warm and fed, great goddess.

[birdsofrhiannon]

[mask131]

The gods of Gaul: Rosmerta

After a god of abundance, a goddess of abundance !

Rosmerta is a purely Gallo-Roman goddess. Not that she did not start as a Gallic goddess, mind you! For sure she was originally a goddess of Gaul – her very name is Gallic in origin. But the fact is that all we know about her, be it her role, her functions, her attributes, come from her incarnation as a Gallo-Roman goddess, part of the syncretized pantheon of Roman and Gallic gods. As such, we can only conjecture and guess who she was before the Romans arrived, based on the way the Romans handled and incorporated her.

One thing that is certain of is that Rosmerta always was a goddess of abundance. As I said, her name is Gallic, and commonly identified as being formed of three parts, “Ro”, “Smert” and “A”. The -a suffix merely denotes a female name. The prefix “Ro-“ is for amplification (like “very” ; a “robili” is someone who is very kind ; a “rocabalus” is a great horse). As for “smert”, it is found in many Gallic names and means either “who takes care of” or “who offers”. As such, Rosmerta could be translated as “The Great Giver”, “The Very Generous”, “She who takes care of very well”, “The Great Gifter”… In Gallo-Roman iconography, Rosmerta is often depicted holding a cornucopia, highlighting her role as a goddess of abundance and maybe fecundity (sometimes it is even stressed further by her holding the cornucopia in one hand, a basket of fruits on the other).

In the Gallo-Roman religion, Rosmerta is the eternal companion, the paredra, the female equivalent of the god Mercury. On all the visual depictions we have of Rosmerta, very few depict her alone – she is usually always with Mercury by her side. This makes sense when you recall who Mercury was in Roman religion. Too many people consider that the Roman gods are just the Greek ones with a new name printed on them. Mercury might have been the equivalent of the Greek Hermes, but in terms of functions and symbolism he differed from him in many ways. Most notably, while the Greek Hermes was mainly a god of talent, cunning, cleverness and intelligence (which manifested in his various attributes as god of messengers and eloquence, science and athletics, merchants and thieves), the Romans focused much more on the idea of a god of travel and commerce: as such, Mercury is the god of merchants, markets, business travels and lucrative journeys first and foremost. He was an economic god, a money-deity, who embodied prosperity and riches in a material and financial form. As such, it makes sense for him, in the Gallo-Roman syncretism, to be paired with a goddess who herself seems to have embodied abundance and fertility.

Interestingly, we can see how Rosmerta got more and more “fused” with Mercury over time. For example, in many depictions of the duo, Rosmerta is not holding her usual cornucopia, but a pouch full of coins or a bag of money – which was THE defining attribute of Mercury. The “Mercurification” of Rosmerta reached its paroxysm in a bronze depiction from Annecy, where the goddess appears alone… But with Mercury’s wings on both sides of her head, while holding a purse of coins. The transformation is complete: Rosmerta became simply the female version of Mercury, and lost her own identity. We have a lot of votive offerings and various prayer-inscriptions for Rosmerta, but they do not give us much information about her, and always made her one half of a duo with Mercury.

There is also this four-sided pillar which depicts Rosmerta holding Mercury's caduceus. You will notice with these pictures the very Roman aspect Rosmerta sports - with the Roman dress and veil and diadem.

If you are curious, the other sides of this pillar found behind Paris' Sainte-Chapelle in 1748, depict Mercury, Apollo and a "winged Genie".

Interestingly, the lack of romantic or sensual scenes between Mercury and Rosmerta have led many to theorize their couple was not a romantic or marital one. Many believe that Rosmerta was probably identified with Mercury's mother, Maia, who had her own cult by Roman times. For example, there is the fact we have votive inscriptions acting in parallels - some invoking "Mercury and Maia" together, others invoking "Mercury and Rosmerta", but the two goddesses never appearing side by side in the same inscription. Their cult-areas do not overlap geographically speaking (here is a map below from the Belgian website deomercurio) - and when you consider that Maia was a goddess of the season of spring associated with the rebirth/birth of nature ; that she was often seen holding a caduceus ; and that she had been before associated with various mother-goddesses of fertility (Ops, Fauna, Bona Dea)... Well it all points to a very possible connection. In fact, the Mercurified statue of Rosmerta with wings on her head has been debated: because while many consider it is a Rosmerta statue, some rather see it as a Maia statue... The confusion is clear.

Some theorized Rosmerta might have been a goddess of the fertile earth and the natural abundance (hence the cornucopia, the basket of fruits), which would have made the “natural” reflection of Mercury’s man-made, artificial riches (coins, commerce, merchants and markets) – after all, Gaul was one of the food-providers of the Roman Empire, the place where the Romans got a lot of their cereals and grapes. To have a goddess of fruits coupled with a god of commerce would have been the perfect representation of the Roman conquest of Gaul… Some even push the idea further by saying maybe Rosmerta was an equivalent of Proserpina, or a female Pluto, as a goddess of the riches of underworld – but I found no conclusive evidence or solid theory for this, so I’ll mention it, but I give this no credit. Let us stick simply to how she is an abundance and fertility goddess, more likely a Maia equivalent.

There are other theories linking her to other Roman deities. For example some see in Rosmerta a Gallic equivalent of the Roman goddess Felicitas, due to a Roman inscription (listing all the important gods of Gaul) having Felicitas following immediately the name of Mercury, as if closely associated with him, despite Felicitas not being typically seen as Mercury-adjacent in Roman religion. Another theory mentions how the Roman goddess Abundantia, the personification of abundance, had a strong worship in some parts of Gaul (for example by the Eduens), and was depicted in a similar way to Rosmerta as a goddess with a cornucopia and a patera in her hands. However the theory falls quite short, because on one side Abundantia was always depicted alone, without a male companion, and on the other, almost all of the goddesses of Gaul were depicted with a patera (or in a lesser way a cornucopia) in their hands. The patera was one of the recurring, typical attributes of the Gallic goddesses ; and given many of them had something to do with abundance or fertility, the cornucopia went from hand to hand... But there is no denying that Rosmerta definitively echoed the Roman Abundantia, and that in turn Abundantia found her place in Gaul, filling a shared religious archetype of a goddes of abundance, a spirit of prosperity. Maia, Abundantia, Rosmerta - they all formed a web around a central core partially missing today, and testify to Gaul's strong attachment to the idea of a fertility goddess, of a personification of a nature filled with riches.

Another interesting clue when it comes to Rosmerta is how, in an engraving found in Reims, she has by her side not Mercury, but rather Toutatis/Teutatès... Is it a clue that maybe Toutatis was her original companion before Mercury arrived? There is also a fascinating Gallo-Roman depiction, a stone statue currently at the Saint-Germain-en-Laye museum, of Mercury with an unnamed goddess by his side:

This statue is very, very important for several reasons. One: the goddess by Mercury's side is left unnamed, but if she is Rosmerta, then this statue might indicate not a mother-son relationship (as the Maia theory allowed to think) but a sexual one. Indeed, it would be one of the rare Rosmerta depictions with an accent on her body and a form of nudity - coupled with the suggestive gesture of touching Mercury's head. Two: Despite us knowing this was meant to be a Mercury, this Mercury is very unusual. He is not a youthful ephebe, but a mature, bearded man. No wings, no caduceus - only the pouch of coins typical of his charge... and a snake laying on his lap. Not just any snake: a ram-headed snake. If you read my previous post about the gods of Gaul you know what this means... This "Mercury" clearly sports the symbolism of Cernunnos. The bag of grains/food coins turned into a little purse, the antlers removed, but the beard and the ram-headed snake are still here, and the goddess still holds the god's head.

It had already been established that Mercury's popularity in Gaul was part due to replacing some aspects of Cernunnos - but if this goddess is Rosmerta (and indeed, some Cernunnos depictions did have a cornucopia-holding goddess near the god, usually identified as an unnamed mother-goddess), does this imply Rosmerta was initially a companion of Cernunnos?

As usual we are left with more questions than answers, and vague relationships we ultimately can never confirm...

[squibstress]

HP Rec Fest - December 1

@hprecfest

Day 1 Theme: A Favorite Fic Under 5000 words

To open the fest, I give you 2 favorites by the inimitable eldritcher:

All the Wild Summer Was in Her Gaze

Characters: Garrick Ollivander, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape

Pairings: Garrick/Minerva

Creator: eldritcher

Rating: M/R

Word Count: 1,500

Summary: Ollivander finds himself in the crosshairs of an inept cupid.

Why You Should Check It Out:

In this fic, the author's evocative language and poetry allusions add layers to the story that enriches the short form immeasurably.

The often hard-to-pull-off second-person POV works so well because of the story's overall tone of surprise and the POV character's journey of learning about himself. Since we, the readers, don't know Ollivander very well, it's a wonderful way to introduce him.

The unexpected friendship between Ollivander and Snape is perfect, showing us two introspective, secretive men with inquisitive minds. And the backstory the author gives is heartbreaking.

The Strange Heart Beating Where It Lies

Pairing: Rosmerta/Severus

Creator: eldritcher

Rating: M/R

Word Count: 1,300

Summary: In which Rosmerta contemplates the nature of swans.

Why You Should Check It Out:

This gorgeous fic slides between the pages of canon and tells us so much about these two characters, one about whom we don't know much and one (we think) we do.

Rosmerta here is very observant, and her musing on her place in the world and Severus's are both heartbreaking and real.

Eldritcher's prose is poetry, and their use of classical and literary allusions add depth to this short fic.

[oespiritocelta]

Mitologia - França

Arduinna: Arduinna é a deusa da floresta e da caça. Ela é a deusa tutelar da região das Ardenas (Bélgica, Luxemburgo e França), representada como uma caçadora montada em um javali.

Artio: Artio é a deusa da abundância e da vida selvagem, especialmente ursos. Seu nome é derivado da palavra gaulesa para "urso", artos.

Belenus: Belenus (Bélenus) é o deus da cura também associado ao fogo. Imagens de Belenus às vezes mostram ele acompanhado de uma mulher, a divindade Belisama.

Belisama: Belisama (Belissama) é a deusa ligada a lagos e rios, fogo e artesanato. Isso faz com que ela seja comparada com a deusa irlandesa Brigid. Belisama também é a companheira de Belenos, cujo nome contém a mesma raiz (Bel = brilhante).

Cathubodua: Cathubodua (Catuboduá) é a Deusa da guerra. Na língua gaulesa, acredita-se que o nome Cathubodua significa "corvo de batalha".

Cernunnos: Cernunnos (Quernunos) é o deus da vida selvagem, da natureza intocada. Ele é retratado com chifres, sentado de pernas cruzadas e usando um torc no pescoço. Uma das representações mais famosas de Cernunnos é o Caldeirão de Gundestrup.  

Epona: Epona é a protetora dos equinos e acredita-se que ela também seja uma guia das almas (criaturas cuja responsabilidade é escoltar as almas recém-falecidas da Terra para a vida após a morte). O culto a Epona como padroeira da cavalaria foi difundido inclusive no Império Romano.

Ogmios: Ogmios é o deus da eloquência. Ele é algumas vezes retratado como um homem sorridente com longas correntes ligando sua língua às orelhas de um grupo de homens que voluntariamente e alegremente o seguem. Os celtas acreditavam que a eloquência é o poder supremo porque pode encantar os homens e controlá-los mais do que a força.

Nantosuelta: Nantosuelta (Nantossuelta) é a deusa da domesticidade, frequentemente associada à água. Seu nome pode significar "rio sinuoso" ou "vale iluminado pelo sol". Ela é companheira do deus Sucellos.

Sucellus: Sucellus é o deus da agricultura e do vinho. Ele é geralmente representado como um homem barbudo carregando um grande martelo. Sua companheira Nantosuelta às vezes é retratada ao seu lado. Quando juntos, são acompanhados por símbolos associados à prosperidade e à domesticidade.

Rosmerta: Rosmerta é a deusa da abundância e da riqueza. O nome Rosmerta significa "a Grande Provedora".

Sequana: Sequana é a deusa do rio Sena e da tribo celta Sequani.

Sirona: Sirona é a deusa da cura associada a fontes, cobras e ovos (símbolos da vida no mundo antigo). Ela também pode ser associada à astronomia, já que seu nome significa "estelar" ou "astral".

Taranis: Taranis (Táranis) é o deus do clima, associado ao céu. Seu nome significa "trovão". Ele é representado por um homem barbudo com um raio em uma mão e uma roda na outra. A roda de Taranis pode significar a compreensão dos celtas sobre o mundo natural e seus fenômenos por causa da agilidade com que a natureza se transforma.

[lechampdecitrouilles]

I am back for the Gaulish gods and goddesses - part 2 🤍🌿 !