#faeric?

Cosmological:

❖ Albios: gaulish for "light-world" or "world above", cognate with welsh elfydd for "world". Celestial realm or Heavenly realms, of Light Beings (Alfheim / Ljósálfheimr / Elphame). ❖ Bitus: gaulish the here and now, the middle world. ❖ Cantos Râti: gaulish for "the gifting cycle" or the belief in a reciprocal cycle of gifts, from our offerings to receiving blessings. ❖ Dumnos or Dubnos: gaulish for "underworld", "deep, below, dark". Related to the the Welsh compound Annwfn for "Other World". ❖ Giamos: gaulish for forces of night, wilderness, chaos. ❖ Samos: gaulish for forces of light and day, domesticity and order. ❖ Toutâ: gaulish for tribe. Cognate with Old Irish tuath, Middle Welsh tut, "tribe", "people", Welsh tûd, "country" Breton tud, "the people". ❖ Wyrd / Urd: the tapestry of creation, loom of fate. Cognate of Old Norse Urðr or Örlög, Old English Wyrd, Old Saxon Wurd, Old High German Wurt, Proto-Germanic *Wurðiz.

Theological:

❖ Dêwoi (plural), Dêwos (masc.), Dêwâs (fem.): gaulish for "Gods" ❖ Delwas: gaulish for enshrined miniatures or figures of Gods. ❖ Fanum (singular), Fana (plural): temple of Gaulish tradition, usually composed of two square or rectangular rooms fitted into each other. The inner room, called cella, was open to the east and generally contained a cult image or statue representing the particular deity venerated in the temple and an altar where the votive offerings were deposited. The outer wall of the second room formed a gallery around the cella, where pilgrims would ritually walk around. ❖ Matres or Matronae: gaulish-latin for "the mothers". Venerated & Divine Mothers of the Land, with specific Mothers to a province, state, locality, tribe, etc. The ‘Matronae’ of the Rhineland are distinctive in that their iconography almost invariably shows a pattern of two mature goddesses wearing huge linen bonnets, flanking a younger girl with long, flowing hair. According to the etymology of the epithets, some Mothers are definitely Celtic, while others are Germanic. Divine names ending in -henae, -ehae, -nehae, -eihae, -ahae, -ehiae, -anehae, -inehae, -ahenae are Germanic. ❖ Matres Ollotoutes: This name meaning “Mothers of All Peoples, appears to be a general term, invoking the Matres of all nations, giving us good evidence as to how the Matres were conceived {2} ❖ Morrígna: Irish. The Queens. {Badhbh, Macha ocus Mórrígain na téora Mórrígnae. Badb "Crow", Macha "field" and Mórrígain "The Queen" are the three Mórrígna}. Macha is sometimes replaced with Nemhain, "panic", who seems to be related with the gaulish Nemetonâ, protectress of the Nemeton. ❖ Nemeton (singular), Nemeta (plural): gaulish for sacred places, sanctuaries and shrines, outside, associated with groves or clearings. ❖ Ōs / ēsa / ēse: anglo-saxon forms of "old gods".

Spiritual:

❖ Ælfe / Álfar / Elves: "the pale ones". ❖ Anderoi: gaulish for "those below". Land Spirits and retinue, féerique beings. These spirits could be petitioned, particularly in baneful workings, and They often needed to be propitiated or appeased. We also know that They could be led by a chief figure, generally a more broadly known god under whose authority They rallied. Among them are the Dusioi, spirits of the wilderness, often described as destructive satyrs or incubus [mera], Morâs, night-mares [perhaps cognate with anglo-saxon mære / mær? as both refer to "succubus", for ex. wudumær, succubus-like mares of the woodlands], Bâdities, "water-lilies" water spirits and mer-maids. Notably, similar concepts can be found in the irish Sí / Sid / Sidhe for "mound" and "mound dwellers". ❖ Dökkálfar: old norse, "dark elves" living deep underground, much different from the light elves. Might or might not be the same as the svartálfar or myrkálfar, often referred to as "dwarves" hailing from Svartálfheim. ❖ Geis (singular) geasa (plural): irish for prohibition or obligation. If someone under a geis violates the associated "taboo", they may suffer a range of misfortunes beginning with dishonour, ill health, and even death. Observing of one's geasa is believed to bring power or strengthen the spirit. ❖ Hægtes (singular), alt form hægtesse, hægtessan (plural). Old English, otherworldly or supernatural women, uncanny, powerful and fearsome, "hags".

Practical:

❖ Seiðr / Seidr: old norse for “cord, string, snare”. Symbolically, weaving the wyrd, it is magical practice. Often described as practice with ritual distaff, entering trance states to enact change on the tapestry of spirit that sustains the world. It is cognate with the anglo-saxon ælfsīden, linking ælfe with the sīden as source of both blessings and disease that roam the Land. ❖ Galðr / Galdr: old norse for "yell, cry, chant, song, incantation". ❖ Galdrastafur (singular), galdrastafir (plural): Icelandic magic staves, often rendered by carving or painting upon a surface, accompanied by incantations, chants or song. ❖ Gescot: anglo-saxon for "shot" or "great pain", predecessor of ælfscot (word first atested in Scots) that then became elf-shot. In germanic lore, Wodan cut the snake into nine pieces that then became the nine venoms upon the Land.

SOURCES AND FURTHER READING

Goddesses in Celtic Religion (2009) by Beck Noemie. Université Lumière Lyon. Consulted online.

Dêwâs Matres by Segomâros Widugeni. Consulted at Polytheist.com.

Talamonodêwoi by Segomâros Widugeni. Consulted at Polytheist.com

A Primer on Gallo-Irish Polytheism - Part 3 : “The Gods My People Swear By” by Briar. Consulted at The Greene Chapel.