Author: TheWiseHedgewitch » Sat Oct 02, 2010 6:19 am
By Merissa on Monday, October 4, 2004 - 08:02 pm:
Hi Erica, here's some information I've got on Epona, hope this helps:-
Horses were highly respected as valuable, noble animals by the ancient Gauls and Celts. Epona was the Goddess who protected horses, and she was never pictured without one. Shrines to her were often found in stables. She was very popular and her worship was widespread.
When the Romans overtook the Celtic regions, they adopted Epona without changing her nature. Shs is the only Goddess that the Romans so easily accepted. She became a favoured Deity by the men in the cavalry.
Even after Christianity had spread it's way across Rome, remnants of Epona's worship could still be seen in the simple rituals of the country folk, namely the 'hobby horse' dances.
The maiden goddess Epona is usually portrayed as riding a white mare side-saddle, sometimes with a foal, or standing surrounded by horses. Her symbol is the Cornucopia ("horn of plenty") which suggests that she may have been honoured as a fertility goddess, although she is most commonly known as a goddess of horses and travel. She fed her beloved horses from her cornucopia filled with corn and apples, symbolic of mother-love and abundance.
From the iron age, the Celtic goddess' faith spread across the whole of ancient Europe, eventually being embraced by the Romans and to a certain extent, Christianity. Epona had a shrine in almost every stable of the Roman empire - in fact, she was the only Celtic goddess to be honoured by the Romans with a temple in their capital city. Her annual festival in Roman times was around the 18th December (in Mantua/Italy), when her images in shrines and stables were draped in rose garlands.
Epona and her white mare accompanies the soul on its final journey to the other world, and in life she is associated with the white mare that brings dreams.
Associated With:
Horses
Fertility and abundance
Dreams and nightmares
Animal Symbols: Horse
Related essences: bayberry, cedar, pine, rose and rosemary
Related gemstones: cat's-eye, ruby and moonstone
Blessed Be
Merissa