The gate of the year

Bronze statue of the goddess Sequana, dating to the I century A.D., now in the Archaeological Museum, Dijon, France. Sequana was a goddess especially venerated in a sanctuary at the sources of the Seine river (Fontes Sequanae: the river took indeed its name from the goddess). The shape of duck assumed by the boat on which the goddess stands, recalls her principal domain: the aquatic and riverine realm. Several anatomic shapes in bronze and silver, representing limbs, eyes and other body parts, have been discovered in this place, as evidence of the healing and thaumaturgic powers of the river goddess. The popularity enjoyed by her is demonstrated also by the fact that the Romans renounced, in her case, to their common custom of identifying the Celtic gods with the names of Roman divinities, and adopted instead her original name, the only one which appears on the inscriptions found there.
In Ireland, an analogous figure can be seen in the goddess Bóand (or Boann), the “Woman of the white cows” or “Shining Cow”, who gave her name to the river Boyne, along which the most prominent ancient sites of Ireland stand. According to some traditions, the goddess was blinded during a river flood, and she was associated with the knowledge of seers and poets. If one drank water from her river in June, one could acquire the gift of poetic inspiration and knowledge. Furthermore, as all the river goddesses, she was above all associated with abundance and fertility (Monaghan 2004).

[Image: http://www.dijon.fr/les-musees!0-35/musee-archeologique!1-38/la-deesse-sequana!2-250/]




Female Symbols

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Bronze statue of the goddess Sequana, dating to the I century A.D., now in the Archaeological Museum, Dijon, France. Sequana was a goddess especially venerated in a sanctuary at the sources of the Seine river (Fontes Sequanae: the river took indeed its name from the goddess). The shape of duck assumed by the boat on which the goddess stands, recalls her principal domain: the aquatic and riverine realm. Several anatomic shapes in bronze and silver, representing limbs, eyes and other body parts, have been discovered in this place, as evidence of the healing and thaumaturgic powers of the river goddess. The popularity enjoyed by her is demonstrated also by the fact that the Romans renounced, in her case, to their common custom of identifying the Celtic gods with the names of Roman divinities, and adopted instead her original name, the only one which appears on the inscriptions found there. In Ireland, an analogous figure can be seen in the goddess Bóand (or Boann), the “Woman of the white cows” or “Shining Cow”, who gave her name to the river Boyne, along which the most prominent ancient sites of Ireland stand. According to some traditions, the goddess was blinded during a river flood, and she was associated with the knowledge of seers and poets. If one drank water from her river in June, one could acquire the gift of poetic inspiration and knowledge. Furthermore, as all the river goddesses, she was above all associated with abundance and fertility (Monaghan 2004). [Image: http://www.dijon.fr/les-musees!0-35/musee-archeologique!1-38/la-deesse-sequana!2-250/]