A preview of one of the projects I'm working on.
As I get deeper into Gaulish thought, I find myself being drawn to the Etruscan culture. I feel that it's imperative to know about the ancestral neighbors of the Gauls. I find that we can learn a lot about ourselves by looking to the Etruscans, as they are rich in devotion. I can't help but think that a lot of what the Druides and Uatia were about are very, very similar to Etruscan diviners. Now, of course, the Senogalatis and the Etruscans got into it from time to time, such as when Brennus of the Senones invaded parts of Etruria and besieged Clusium. Still, many manipulative things were going on in the background. We also won wars together against a common enemy, which obviously was Rome.
Now I am not a Rasenna polytheist (Etruscan polytheist), and I'm not here to add to Rasenna Polythisem or lay its foundations, as that would be very disrespectful to try to create or add to something that I am not I will leave that to the Rasenna polytheist, which I hope to see. I see too many folks today making traditions/religious groups that just started in all this and presenting stuff they just learned to the people. Traditions, customs, and religions are not legos or pokemon that you can build or collect because you read a book or find something interesting. It takes much time and devotion years of understanding, in my opinion.
What is presented below is to deepen one's understanding of a close neighbor of Gaul to maybe shine some light in our direction for the understanding of the Senogalatis and the Senodruides.
MenervaA goddess of war, art, wisdom, and medicine and a child of Uni and Tinia.
Martianus Minneus Felix Capella mentions her as one of nine Etruscan lightning-throwing gods. She is seen depicted with a lightning bolt. The greeks inspired later Etruscan art often showed her with Gorgoneion giving her a helmet, spear, and shield. She is also seen being the protector or accompanying Hercle. Many temples are dedicated to her, especially the Portonaccio Temple at Veii and the Pratica di Mare at Lavinium. From the different offerings found, we know that she was an educator and loved by the people. Her name's origin is heavily debated. Some claim that it is Etruscan such as Tiziano Cinaglia in the In Dialogues D'histoire Ancienne Volume 452, Issue 2, 2019, pages 197 to 236. They say her name stems from an Italic moon goddess, Meneswā 'She who measures. It is thought that the Etruscans adopted the inherited Old Latin name, Menerwā, thereby calling her Menrva. Carl Becker, in his Modern Theory of Language Evolution 2004, p. 190 claims the name has the PIE root *men-, which he notes was linked in Greek primarily to memory words (cf. Greek "mnestis"/μνῆστις' memory, remembrance, recollection').
She seems to have had a significant Cult following in the Etruscan lands.
Apulu
He is depicted with a wolf's cap, bow, and lyre like the Greek Apollo. He has two brothers, Aritimi and Fufluns, and a sister Aritimi. Some also associate him with Suri. We have found a life-size terra-cotta figure of Aplu at Portonaccio Temple at Veii. He also had a sanctuary dedicated to him in Gravisca.
Catha (Cavtha)
There is a debate among scholars if she is a Solar or Lunar goddess. Nevertheless, she is called the Daughter of the Sun. Thought to be connected with childbirth and the Underworld. Catha (suggested) is seen with two horses that take the dead to the afterworld. She is worshiped alongside Suri, and they seem to share a cult of worship. Some scholars, such as Giovanni Colonna, link her with Persephone. In Pyrgi, Catha is seen with Aplu. During the Orientalising, it suggested that the elites appealed to her to guide the spirits of the dead into the afterlife and to protect young mothers and infants, who would ensure the hereditary succession of their class.
