Gods And Goddesses: Artio

Artio is an obscure Celtic/Gaulish bear goddess whom can take on the form of a bear. Other names for her are Dea Artio and Andarta. Her name comes from the Gaulish word for bear. Some think that Artio may be a more general goddess of the wilderness and wild creatures.

A sculpture found near Bern in Switzerland is thought to be depicting Artio, featuring a large bear facing a seated woman. The bear has a small tree behind it and the woman seeming to be holding a fruit. It is often thought that the woman thought to be Artio may be feeding the bear. The sculpture holds an inscription which reads “Deae Artioni Licinia Sabinilla”, translating to “To the Goddess Artio from Licinia Sabinilla”.

Cucurbita ficifolia

Cucurbita ficifolia is a plant notable for its edible fruit, seeds and leaves. It has a large variety of common names that includes chilacayote, Asian pumpkin, Thai marrow, Siam pumpkin, pie melon, Malabar gourd, shark fin melon, golden string melon, alcayota, sambo and cayote.

It is a plant that is easy to grow and in the right conditions can grow up to 15m tall. It is best to sow the seeds of the plant during autumn and spring and parts of the plant can be harvested all year round. Interestingly, this plant can live indefinitely in warm climates but as an annual in temperate climates. It typically needs full sun, but in warmer areas it will require an afternoon shade. It has a poor resistance to frost, but once established it can tolerate short overnight frosts that may occur. 

Gods And Goddesses: Sirona

Sirona is a Gual fertility goddess whose name means “star” and is associated with the sky. She is the goddess of hot springs and healing and also associated with the healing god known as Grannus. Other spellings and names of this goddess include, Serona, Sarona, Dirona and Sthirona. What is known about her is from inscriptions found across Europe in several countries including Germna, France, Austria, Romania, Switzerland and Italy.

 She is depicted wearing a diadem on her head, a dog on her head and a snake writhing around an arm reaching for a bowl containing three eggs. Sirona is also the mother of Borvo.

Bethel Sage

Salvia involucrata ‘Bethellii’ is a bushy, upright shrub that grows 1.5m in both height and width. Its common name is Bethel Sage and is alike many other sages, it is a perennial, easy to grow and it grows flowers in clusters. The flowers, pink in colour, grow from summer to early winter.

It requires full sun and it helps to have soil constantly moist. The plant dies down during the winter, making it best to cut back the plant during the winter and allow it to regrow back to size in spring. This particular sage can tolerate a light frost and the pH level should be mildly acidic to mildly alkaline.

Gods And Goddesses: Belenus

Belenus is the Celtic sun god known under several names including Bile, Bel, Belenos and Beli. During the time of the Romans, he was identified with the god Apollo. Belenus also has his own festival on May 1st known as Beltaine.
Worship of Belenus in the ancient past occurred across Europe, likely including Britain.

Belenus is described as someone with a thick moustache, large eyes and a heavy brow. Belenus himself is associated with fire, light and healing springs, but notabily has lakes and rivers under his domain.

A Return

After disappearing for several months, I am back. I shall be blogging once again, despite giving no notice earlier for stopping.