Triplism Unquestionably, numbers played a very important role in both the ancient Roman and Celtic worlds and there is no doubt that the most sacred or magical of all was the number ‘three’. The idea of ‘the triple’ had its roots in Indo-European belief. Earlier civilisations had been structured in ‘threes’ - artisans, agriculturists and warriors or else as warriors, priests and farmers.     Knowledge was passed down in ‘concept clusters’, each concept containing three truths. In vernacular literature there were many references to triplication – the Irish goddess of war and death, had three distinctive aspects: Macha, Badhbh and Morrigu, all unified in one supernatural being. There were three sons of Uisneach, although only one had any real identity; four Children of Lir, of which three were male; three sons of Tuireen who all combined into the Three Great Sorrows of Irish Story-telling. In other tales, there are three tasks, three wishes, three parts to a quest. In Irish mythology, the Ulster hero Cú Chulainn had his hair tied in triple braids while in the Welsh Mabinogi, Branwen appeared as one of three matriarchs. In early Gaulish and British folklore the mysterious Genius Cucullatus – Hooded Spirit – appeared as a triadic entity concerned with fertility, well being and abundance.     Throughout the Celtic world, triplefaced images of gods and goddesses appear with astonishing frequency. Many were simply representations of the all-seeing mothergoddess who was said to look out upon past, present and future ages. In some instances, they are taken to mean the three ages of human existence – youth, maturity and old age.     Although triplication can certainly be found in the Celtic religious iconography of Ireland and Wales, it was in Germany, Gaul and Britain, during the period of Roman rule, that it was most evident. While there were undoubtedly triple-entities prior to Roman occupation, they seemed to have taken on a Classical ‘flowering’ during the high point of the Empire. The triplication came in two main forms: multiplying the entire body or just a part of the body, usually the head or face. Triple-headed deities appear on stonework in such places as Corleck, County Cavan and on Boa Island, County Fermanagh as well as in the southern reaches of Scotland. Other, more Romanised, examples are to be found in Belgium and in the Czech Republic. There, certain Romano-Celtic fertility deities are given the addition of a triple phallus or a triple vagina, no doubt to emphasise their inherent potency and virility. The idea of a triple deity seems to have been wide spread across Western Europe.     Although triplism among humanoid deities usually took the form of three heads or faces, animal gods took on an additional appendage, usually a horn or tusk. Within many of the bull-worshipping cults, a third horn was added to the animal's forehead, and probably gave it greater supernatural significance. It might also have symbolised the phallus to combine strength, aggression and sexual prowess. Figurines of bulls and boars have been found at several grave-sites, possibly there to ensure the buried chieftain’s continued status in the next world. Most of the triple-horned bull bronzes and clay figures have been found in Gaul although a number have also appeared in Britain. A figurine found at Maiden Castle in Dorset shows the heads of three female deities on its back. It might have been a representation of two Romano-Celtic sculptures, from Paris and Trier, dedicated to the god Mercury, known as Tarvustrigarnus – The Bull with Three Cranes, a stylised bull with three wading birds. Horse cults – particularly those depicted at the shrines dedicated to the goddess Epona – displayed some triplism. On some representations, a three-faced goddess was shown astride a rampaging stallion, in others, a human-looking female figure straddled three horses. The latter may simply be a Roman addition to the cult of the horse.     A Celtic Pantheon? While there is no real evidence of a ‘godly family’ among the early Celts, prolonged contact with Greece and Rome had a pronounced effect on Celtic belief, especially in areas of Roman occupation. Here a succession of hybrid deities was created. In places like Gaul, a godly pantheon quite unlike that of the Classical world might have evolved. In Irish mythology the Daghdha approximated to a tribal father-god and was chieftain of the magical Tuatha Dé Danann. The Daghdha was their ‘all-father’ and leader and was venerated as a Supreme Being by some of the early Irish. He was a frustratingly complex character: on the one hand extremely wise and learned, while on the other, an uncouth, lecherous, drunken glutton. The word ‘Daghdha’ means ‘good god’ and he was regarded as being beneficent to his worshippers in a drunken, loutish sort of way. He was associated with magic and abundance and was considered lavish in his largesse and terrifying in his anger.     Daghdha wielded a large club, which he pulled around on wheels behind him, one end of which could kill and the other could raise the dead. In representations he wears an incredibly short tunic that did nothing to hide his modesty, probably deliberately stressing his attribute of fertility, and displays a gross paunch from which abundance was supposed to flow. Most tales concerning him concentrated upon his capacity to overeat. His primary consort is the goddess Bóinn - a river-goddess from which the Boyne takes its name. She was considered incredibly fertile, bearing children with amazing rapidity. The union of the two deities was symbolic of the union between the tribe and Nature in the cosmic scheme of things.     Daghdha also mates with the fearsome war-goddess Morrigan, thus ensuring her protection for his people. The goddess Brigit (Saint Brigid – see Legends of Saints and Holy Men) was the daughter of the Daghdha and was believed to command supernatural powers. Associated with this family of deities were a number of other gods, such as Lúgh the god of light, who made up a minor pantheon but whose addition seem to have been made much later and under Roman influence. It could very well be argued that in this, the Celts were trying to ape the great Classical mythological structures of Greece and Rome. Many of the gods that made up the pantheons were little more than local spirits which were later Hellenised – most of the stories concerning them can also be traced back to both Roman and Greek sources. Essentially, the gods of the Celts remained what they had always been – the fundamental and elemental forces of Nature that the ancient peoples held in awe. Such forces were contained in, and sometimes restrained by, the landscape and the animal world all around them. In the Celtic mind they demanded, and were deserving of, worship and offering.     This uneasy partnership between deity and votary was the only way that man and spirit could co-exist in the developing world of ancient times.                 From Complete Guide to Celtic Mythology by Bob Curran

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