“Nantosuelta” by YvonneVetjens

“Nantosuelta’s themes are health, miracles, providence and abundance.  Her symbols are spring water and cornucopia.  This Gaulisch Goddess’s name literally translates as ‘of the winding stream’. We can go to Nantosuelta’s cool, clean waters when our body, mind or soul requires refreshment and healing. Additionally, artists often depict Nantosuelta carrying a cornucopia, giving her the symbolism of providence and abundance.

What do you need in your life right now? If it’s love, drink a warm glass of spring water to draw Nantosuelta’s energy and emotional warmth to you. If you need a cooler head, on the other hand, drink the water cold.

On this  day in 1858, a young girl had a vision of Mary (a Goddess type) near a grotto in Lourdes, France. According to magical tradition, this is an area where the Goddess was worshiped in ancient times. After the vision, the water became renowned for its miraculous  healing qualities, reinforcing the fact that the Goddess is alive and well.

While most of us can’t travel to Lourdes, we can enjoy a healing bath at home. Fill the tub with warm water (Nantosuelta exist in the streaming water), a few bay leaves, a handful of mint and a pinch of thyme (three healthful herbs). Soak in the water  and visualize any sickness or disease leaving your body. When you let out the water, the negative energy neatly goes down the drain!”

(Patricia Telesco, “365 Goddess: a daily guide to the magic and inspiration of the goddess”.)

In Celtic mythology, Nantosuelta was a Goddess of nature, the earth, fire, and fertility. The Mediomatrici (Alsace, Lorraine) depicted Her in art as holding a model house or dovecote, on a pole (a bee hive). Nantosuelta is attested by statues, and by inscriptions. She was sometimes paired with Sucellus. Nantosuelta was also the Goddess of Nature in Lusitanian mythology. In addition, Her symbol the raven symbolized Her connection as a Goddess of the dead and fertility – which thus linked Her with the Irish Goddess Morrígan and Her two companions.

Relief of Nantosuelta and Sucellus from Sarrebourg

In one relief, Nantosuelta holds a patera, or a broad ritual dish that was used for drinking during a ritual, and tips the contents of the patera onto an altar.  In an English relief, Nantosuelta is shown with apples instead of a patera.  Other attributes include a pot or a beehive. [1]

A depiction of Nantosuelta from Speyer, showing her distinctive sceptre and birds. The head of Sol can be seen in the tympanum.

Nantosuelta’s name was reconstructed by linguists and cannot be definitely translated, yet two accepted approximations of its meaning in Proto-Celtic are “She of the Winding River” and “She of the Sun-drenched Valley”, though Her attributes do not show Her as a water-deity (actually, the watery attributes seem more likely to describe the Goddess Icovellauna, ‘Divine Pourer of the Waters’, a Gallic Goddess who was also worshipped in Metz, France).

“Cathedral of Illumination” by Jonathon Earl Bowser

“For a long time the name Nantosuelta was assumed to mean ‘winding river’, being derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic from *Nanto-swelt- with the feminine ending ā which can be rendered as ‘river-turning [spirit]’. However, in common with the Brythonic languages it is possible that the Gaulish nanto could mean both river/stream and valley (the Cymric cognate being nant that is usually taken to mean ‘stream’ but which, in its older form, also meant ‘valley’. The swel component of the came could be derived from the proto-Celtic *sƒwol-/*s3li- (sun, which yields the Cymric form of haul). The final particle, ta is contained in the proto-Celtic word tတ-je/o (thaw) and bears the connotation of ‘to warm’. Thus, an alternative interpretation for Nantosuelta would be ‘She of the Sun-warmed Valley’. Potentially this could be used in the context of ‘plenty’ but it might also bear the context of the sun-drenched realms of the netherworld. Thus Nantosuelta’s association with the raven might indicate that She had a function as a psychopomp.” [2]

Chief amongst Her associations is Her little house, usually depicted on a long pole like a scepter of some kind.  Other associated objects, as previously mentioned, include a bird, a bee-hive and honeycombs.  The latter certainly have homely connotations and She therefore appears to have been a Goddess of hearth and home, well-being and prosperity.  Like Her husband, She also had nourishment and fertility aspects and sometimes carried a cornucorpia.  In Britain, She is probably to be found depicted on a small stone from East Stoke in Nottinghamshire…shown [with] bushy hair and carries a bowlful of apples.[3]  More on Nantosuelta’s epigraphy and iconography can be found here.

Variants: (Continental Celtic) Nantsovelta; (Breton Celtic) Nataseuelta

Sources:

Celtnet.org.uk, “Nantosuelta: A Gaulish Goddess (She of the Winding River; She of the Sun-warmed Valley)“.

Earlybritishkingdoms.com, “Nantosuelta, Goddess of the Home“.

Sita. Awitchylife.wordpress.com, “Weekly Deity Nantosuelta“.

Suggested Links:

http://theses.univ-lyon2.fr/documents/getpart.php?id=lyon2.2009.beck_n&part=159118