Jan 14 2009
Pagan Deities: Epona
One of my very favorite goddesses is from the Celtic pantheon. Her name is Epona, which comes from a Gaulish word meaning “horse.” Much of what we know of Epona has actually trickled through Roman writings and histories. Technically speaking, various groups of ancient people actually worshiped or recognized Epona, but in present use and cultural acceptance, she remains associated with a Celtic tradition and its culture.
Always a protector in the eyes of her people, Epona was eventually embraced by the Romans as overseer of the Roman cavalry. In various ancient cultures, fertility was associated with horses, so this is a somewhat organic role for Epona. Epona is usually depicted with fair skin and dark hair, often presenting the harvest. She is usually somewhat voluptuous, further representing fertility. Like many female deities, she was at some point in history associated with devil or demon-like creatures, and worship of her was frowned upon.
In modern Ireland and the neo-pagan world, Epona is frequently represented in the below Celtic design, incorporating three horses in a female trinity fertility symbol.
I’m so glad that you mentioned Epona. One of my favorite studies when I have time to study.
I only recently stumbled upon Epona - in a fantasy book called The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe. Until now, though, I thought he’d just made her up. nice to know she’s for real.
I’ve read a lot of articles on Epona. Many of these articles use broad generalizations, confuse one deity with another, and repeat incorrect information found in poorly researched sources. This article just happened to catch me in a mood to point out some of the common problems I’ve found in articles(1).
How is it that material from one mythology, like Rhiannon’s story in the Welsh Mabinogion(2), is confused and intermingled with Epona? Parallels between stories(6) do not mean deities are the same. This intermingling occurs with other deities with similar sets — Macha is often confused with Rhiannon(3).
In this article, “Epona: Pagan goddess,” the author makes generalizations without supporting evidence or citations. Here are some questions I would like to see answered:
* Where did the information that Epona was associated with a Celtic pantheon come from? Was there even a Celtic pantheon?
* If Epona is Gaulish (or Gallo-Roman or Germanic-Gallo-Roman) as her name implies, then how is she related to Irish culture?
* What evidence is there that Epona was a “protector in the eyes of her people”? A protector of horses(4), yes, but of her “people”? Which people? The Celts mentioned earlier, the Romans, anyone who honored her?
* How was Epona “embraced by the Romans as overseer of the Roman cavalry”? She was honored by several auxiiliary units and the Equites Singulares Augusti(4), but this doesn’t mean that every cavalry unit honored her.
* Which ancient cultures associated the horse with fertility?
The article states: “Technically speaking, various groups of ancient people actually worshiped or recognized Epona, but in present use and cultural acceptance, she remains associated with a Celtic tradition and its culture.” Which groups of ancient peoples? What is meant by Celtic tradition and its culture?
The article states that Epona was depicted with “fair skin and dark hair.” Again, where does this information come from? As far as I’m aware, none of the 350+ artifacts related to Epona show any color. One stone statue of Epona from Alise-Sainte-Reine has traces of paint(5) but nothing definite — and no information about where the traces of paint appear. If the description of dark hair and fair skin comes form personal gnosis, that is fine — but it should be stated as such.
I’m not trying to rag on the author. I think it’s great that people are writing about Epona. What disappoints me is when authors repeat information and do not cite sources. How can a reader learn more when no additional sources are given?
Why are authors not doing the research? Or if the research is being done, then why isn’t it being presented? Reliable, scholarly material is available online at sites like Epona.net (even the Wikipedia article on Epona(6) is better than most of the Pagan sites).
I spent many years finding mostly misinformation about Epona (Edain McCoy’s “Epona” entry in Celtic Myth and Magick comes to mind). Much of the information was available information was in pagan publications due to the interest in ancient deities amongst pagans. I do not remember one pagan author in the popular publishing houses like Llewellyn using a citation when discussing Epona. Authors including references would have made my life a lot easier because I could have had additional resources.
~Ceffyl
1. Ceffyl, “Language Barriers,” Y Ceffyl Du, posted 7 June 2004 (http://ceffyl.net/wordpress/eponanet/language-barr …
2. “An Introduction to the Four Branches,” Through the Ancestors’ Eyes: Enlivening Y Mabinogi (http://www.mabinogistudy.co.uk/introduction.html;
http://www.mabinogistudy.co.uk/introduction.html;
no author for this article listed nor copyright year listed)
3. Ceffyl Aedui, “Relationship between Rhiannon and Macha,” 2004 (http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Journals/Journal/1 …
4. Nantonos and Ceffyl, “Who Worshipped Epona?” Epona.net, a Scholarly Source, 2004-2007. (http://epona.net/worship.html#who)
5. Magnen, René; Thévenot, Emile (1953) Épona : déesse Gauloise des chevaux, protectrice des cavaliers.. Delmas, Bordeaux. Catalog #169.
6. Wikipedia, “Epona” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epona