Some Cornish deities
For you Celtic Pagans out there, if you're interested in this little Celtic nation.
Kerid Kerid is the original native mother goddess to Cornwall. She is a moon goddess who is specifically associated with spring tides. There was an old tradition of collecting croggans (limpet shells) on the beach on either Shrove Tuesday or Good Friday, which is connected to an earlier Pagan ritual associated with her. There have been coins found in Carn Brea depicting her face.
Modron Mother goddess associated with the creation of the world. She lives in a river and is connected to rivers generally. She is a Welsh import but has a history of being worshipped in Cornwall too (there's a lot of cultural overlap between Cornwall and Wales)
Tan Tan (or Tanit) may be derived from Tanat, the Phoenician moon goddess, who was worshipped in the Lizard Peninsula specifically (the Phoenicians travelled to Cornwall long ago to trade saffron and pepper in exchange for tin)
Sun Gods There are a number of sun gods in Cornwall and several place names that suggest that sun (and tree) worship was particularly prevalent in the past. Hu, Cury, Col and Perra are just a few of them. Some gods are revered as gods of the sunrise or sunset specifically (e.g. the British sun god Sul was the god of the setting sun), and many ancient stone circles and quoits have astronomical significance.
Nant Another water goddess. She's associated with the holy wells in Cornwall and she is traditionally honoured by throwing offerings into them. There are a lot of holy wells (sometimes called 'cloutie wells', which are sacred wells/springs believed to have healing or magical powers) in Cornwall, many of them named after saints who are thought to actually be Pagan spirits and gods who predate Christianity. The waters of different wells are believed to have different abilities, e.g. the well of St. Credan is said to cure rickets, while the well at St. Keyne is traditionally raced to by newlywed couples. Whoever drinks from it first will 'wear the trousers' in the relationship, so to speak.
Endellion God of the sea. Although the village and church is named for St. Endellion, a 5-6th Century saint and a daughter of King Brychan, there is evidence that a god with a similar name was worshipped in Cornwall. Some texts report his name as Dylan, and others link him to Dylan ail Don, who was the son of Arianhrod. As with a lot of these deities, there is some muddying of the water with various saints and other figures with pre-Christian deities.
Ith or Etha This is another Mediterranean import. In parts of Cornwall she was worshipped as a goddess of agriculture and prayed to for good harvests.
Gwennap or Wenap Horse worship and fertility. The word 'wenep' in Cornish means 'white horse', and white horses feature prominently in Celtic lore. They are seen as messengers from one realm to the next and so have an association with the underworld. There has been a Church at Gwennap dedicated to St Weneppa for 1,500 years. There is little evidence that such a saint ever existed, and as is the case for many Cornish saints he was likely a Christianised form of an earlier Pagan deity.
Domnu There is debate on the historical evidence for this Goddess, whose name means 'deep'. The Dumnonii were the ancient people of Cornwall, Devon and parts of Somerset. Dumnonii means 'deep valley dwellers'. She's believed to be the root of where their name comes from and is considered to be a goddess of caves and underground places.
Other spirits/entities
Bucca Sea spirits. They haunt coastlines during storms and are sometimes found in caves. You get 'bucca dhu' (bad bucca) and 'bucca widn' (good bucca). They're rather like hobgoblins but are said to have the skin of a conger eel and hair of seaweed. In modern Cornish Paganism, these are considered to be elemental spirits that are often invoked during rituals.
Tinners and Knockers One race of 'pobol vean' (little folk). These creatures haunt mines and traditionally miners would throw the crust of their pasties to them as an offering.
Spriggans Another of the pobol vean. These are more like fairy sentinels; they guard treasure and haunt ruins.
Piskies Cornish pixies. Piskies are often thought to haunt sacred wells, and some are full of pins thrown in by people over the ages to gain the favour of the piskie that haunted it.
Giants There are a lot of giant stories from Cornwall. Cormoran and Bolster are two of the most prominent ones. Cormoran is said to have met his end at the hands of Jack the Giant Slayer. But there is also Dan Dynas and his wife An Vanna. Dan Dynas was 'deaf and dumb' and used to sink invading ships around Porthcurno by lugging huge rocks at them.
