A Gaulish coin with a lyre

A very interesting Gaulish coin indeed...

Obverse: Unidentified diademed head, but I can bet this is Apollo (as Maponos, his Gaulish clone), as this is exactly how Apollo was depicted on Macedonian (solar horse) coins which were originally copied by the Celts...

That this is indeed Apollo/Maponos is confirmed by what is depicted on the reverse of the coin: a (solar) horse with the sun above its back, and a (solar) lyre, favorite instrument of Apollo/Maponos, under its belly...

Here is English equivalent:

A Celtic coin from Sussex, minted by the Atrebates and Regini tribes, 55-45 BC.   

Obverse: Unidentified diademed head, but I can bet this is Apollo...

Reverse: A (solar) horse with the (solar) wheel above its back, and a (solar) lyre under its belly...

Horse (equid) is one of the most common solar symbols found all over Eurasia since Bronze Age...This is because horse (equid) fertility and their mating season, which is marked by wild stallion fights, is governed by the sunlight. It starts in Apr/May, peaks on summer solstice, and ends in Sep/Oct...

This is why horse (actually equid in general) was the preffered ride of the sun gods (and kings who worshiped them) from Mesopotamia onwards...

I talked about Horse (Equid) as a solar symbol in many of my posts: 

Iran "Water carrier equid", "Dioscuri plate from Iran"

Mesopotamia "Shamash playing with the solar horse", "Sun god from Tell Brak", "7 heads"

India "Hayagriva"

China "Longma", "Three legged crow", "Mythical beast from Xian"

Levant "Alexamenos graffito", "Goddess on a horse", "Unicorn", "Sun god from the first temple"

Europe "Archaic rider", "Beotian solar pyxis", "Pegasus and chimera", "King John", "White stag" "The horseman", "Artemis Orthia", "Curlew", "Poseidon pursuing Demeter"...

Anatolia "Cilician Nergal"

Another celtic coin, from Eastern Europe, Hungary, this time with the sun depicted as solar rider. With the sun god Apollo depicted on the other side...

Now on the Gaulish coin, the (solar) horse is depicted prancing above the waves...

This scene is actually a complex calendar marker for the sailing season in Gaul, Apr/May - Sep/Oct...

In Roman times, the official and safe sailing season (mare apertum) along the French coast ran from Apr/May to Sep/Oct...I talk about Roman sailing season in my post "Swallow tattoo"...

Which overlaps with the horse mating season...

This is also the reason why horse was the sacred animal of Poseidon (Greek) and Yamm (Phoenician) sea gods. 

Horse mating season overlaps with the sailing season in Eastern Mediterranean too. I talked about this in my posts "Trojan horse", "Three sacrifices"...

BTW, the lyre of Apollo is also a calendar marker. 

The lyre was made by Apollo's younger brother Hermes, who later swapped it with Apollo of caduceus...  

And interestingly, every single plant and animal that features prominently in Hermes's mythology is a calendar marker for Apr/May...Beginning of the sailing season...  

I talk about Hermes in these articles... 

Oh yeah, did I mention that Hermes was patron of commerce, and because most commerce was conducted by boat, by extension seafaring...

Hermes features prominently in Celtic mythology together with Apollo...Sometimes two are actually merged into a single Celtic equivalent...

I talk about this in my post "Pillar of the boatmen" in which I give symbolic analysis of the second row of the 1st c. AD Roman monument known as the "Pillar of the Boatmen" found in Paris, France...

Diodorus Siculus, citing Timaeus of Tauromenium, who lived in 4th-3rd century BC says: "The Celts dwelling along the Ocean have a particular veneration for the Dioscuri; according to one of their ancient traditions, these gods arrived by way of the Ocean"...

The sailing season in Gaul started when horses started mating, in Apr/May and peaked when horses mating season peaked, on Summer Solstice...

I think this is why Dioskuri mark Summer Solstice, and that this is why they were venerated by maritime Celts...

I talked about the (horse) twins marking Summer Solstice in different cultures in my post "Little horses"...

I also think this specific type of gold stater, made in 2nd-1st c. BC by Celtic tribes in Gaul, actually depicts "Sailing season" through depiction of Poseidon (as one of his Celtic clones), in a chariot pulled by a solar horse, depicted above a seahorse...

BTW, I find it really neat that horses and sea horses, which are both linked with sea gods in the Eastern Mediterranean, have the same breeding season, Apr/May - Sep/Oct, which is also the sailing season in the Eastern Mediterranean. Where all these animal calendar markers originate...I talk about seahorses in my post "Seahorse ring"...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, which are at the root of all our mythologies, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

Dancing sun god

😂😂😂 Wow!!! Animation made by overlying two Celtic Silver Quinarius coins from Central Europe (Rhineland), minted between 65 BC - 1 AD, both featuring slightly different version of the same scenes:

Obv: dancing mannikin right, head turned left, holding snake in right hand [me: which is biting his nose], torque in left hand. 

Rev: horse standing right, head turned left [me: wandering WTF is going on on the other side of the coin]; around, zig zag border. 

Animation and data from this great page...

What I think is that the "dancing mannikin" is actually The Sun God. His spiky hair symbolising the sun rays. Just like here, on this coin of Alexander the Great depicting the face of Helios. 350-331 BC - British Museum, London...

That this is indeed The Sun God is indicated by the fact that he is holding a snake. Snake is a pure solar animal. It is in our world when sun is here (day, hot half of the year) and it is in the underworld when sun is there (night, cold half of the year)...  

I talked about snake as the solar symbol from around the world in many of my posts...

BTW, because snake also spends half of the time in the underworld, snake is also a chthonic animal. So no contradiction here...

Just like the Sun God who also spends half of the time in the underworld, making the Sun God also a chthonic deity...

Think about this for now, will talk about this more soon...

Also, Apr/May, the beginning of summer, is when most common Eurasian snakes, vipers, start mating, and fighting...

I talked about this in many of my posts...

BTW, Hermes/Mercury, who features prominently in Celtic mythology, carries caduceus (staff with two intertwined snakes) because he himself was a deified calendar marker for Apr/May...Every single plant and animal that features prominently in his mythology is a calendar marker for Apr/May...I talk about Hermes/Mercury in these posts...

And remember the dual, solar/chthonic aspect of snakes? Which links them to both the land of living and the land of the dead, and makes them the messengers of the dead, the carriers of their will (prophecies)? This is why Apollo, who also features prominently in Celtic mythology, is associated with a (is basically a deified) snake...

I talk about the link between Apollo and Python (snake) in several posts: Apollo and Python, Marble throne of Apollo, Kassandra

Pic: Marble Throne of Apollo, Roman, late 1st c. AD. Currently in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Whoever made this, knew who Apollo really was and wanted to show Apollo in his true shape (serpent, dragon), sitting on his throne...

One last thing about snakes, solar animals number one, the symbols of sun's heat.

3rd millennium BC, Bactrian seal depicting the sun god (see heat rays emanating from his shoulders) holding snakes, symbols of sun's heat...

I talk about it in my post Nude winged hero dominating snakes...

Vipera Pythia, c. 1651, by Marco Aurelio Severino. Some people still knew what snakes were until recently. But for some reason this was a secret...

What about the horse? Horse (actually equid in general) is another animal calendar marker for summer. The fertility of equids is linked to sunlight. Which is why the mating of equids starts in Apr/May, lasts until Sep/Oct and peaks on Summer Solstice, and is characterised by wild stallion fights for mares...

I talked about this first in my post Trojan Horse...

This is why horse (actually equid in general) is together with snake one of the most widespread solar symbols. 

Here it is, sun above the midle of the horse (on summer solstice) depicted on a 

Roman coin

Celtic coin 

This is even better. Another Celtic coin, this time with the sun depicted as solar rider. See the spiky hair symbolising sun rays? With the sun god Apollo depicted on the other side...Eastern Europe. Hungary. 

BTW, this is another Celtic copy of a Macedonian coin...

This is why horse (actually equid in general) was the preferred ride of the sun gods (and kings who worshiped them) from Mesopotamia onwards...

Pic: Helios on a chariot pulled by 4 white horses. Apulian vase dated to 350BC

I talked about Horse (Equid) as a solar symbol in many of my posts. Here are just a few: 

Mesopotamia 

Shamash playing with solar horse

Sun god from Tell Brak 

Seven heads

Iran

Water carrier equid

Dioscuri plate from Iran

India 

Hayagriva

China 

Longma

Mythical beast from Xian

Europe 

Curlew

White stag

Archaic rider

Beotian solar Pyxis

Pegasus and Chimera

King John

Svetovid

Poseidon pursuing Demeter

Anatolia

Cilician Nergal

Levant 

Sun god from the first temple

Alexamenos graffito

Goddess on a horse

This is also why we find horse animal calendar marker disguised in our western Zodiac as Dioskuri, divine twin horsemen, marking the Summer Solstice. The guys who wanted to marry "the daughters of the white horse". 

I talked about the horse twins in my post Little horses

O yeah, almost forgot. Unicorn is also a solar symbol, symbol of summer. 

I talked about this in several of my posts:

Reem

Unicorn

Stag and unicorn

BTW, Unicorn horn is described as "being cubit and a half (28 inches) in length". Erect horse's penis length 🙂 is max 28 inches...

Oh and guess when the horse (equid) mating season ends? In Virgo...

The virgin, which calms the unicorn 🙂...

So, what is depicted on this funny coin is the dancing sun god with his pet snake and his pet horse...Is dancing here supposed to represent some king of celebration? Beltane (Apr/May), beginning of summer and the beginning of Celtic White Half of the year, celebration? Marked by the beginning of mating seasons of snakes and horses? 

Here is a post Horse and boar about the series of Celtic coins which depict horse as animal calendar marker for (the beginning of) the Celtic White Half of the year (Mating of horses starts in Apr/May)...And boar as animal calendar marker for (the beginning of) the Celtic Black Half of the year (Mating of boars starts in Oct/Nov)... 

That's it for today. If you are interested in reading more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, which are at the root of all our mythologies, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

Horse and boar

Today by pure fluke I came across this group of Celtic coins depicting on one side a boar and on the other side a horse. Together with pile of solar symbols. They were minted by Corieltauvi and Iceni tribes in Britain 1st c. BC and 1st c. AD... 

A Corieltauvi one:

Why boar and horse and solar symbols?

Well, because boar and horse are two opposite animal calendar markers...

Boar is an animal calendar marker for the (beginning  of) winter.

Horse is an animal calendar marker for the (beginning of) summer.

Another Corieltauvi one:

Boar is an animal calendar marker for for the (beginning  of) winter, because wild boar mating season starts in Oct/Nov and ends in Jan/Feb, spanning the whole of winter...I talked about this in many of my posts...

Hers is an Iceni one:

Horse is an animal calendar marker for the (beginning of) summer because wild horses mating season starts in Apr/May and ends in Aug/Sep, spanning the whole of summer...I talked about this in many of my posts...

Another Iceni one:

Basically these coins depict this: Celtic (solar) year divided into dark and light half, demarcated by boar and horse. With Winter solstice falling within the boar mating season and summer solstice falling within the horse mating season...

Now look at these three Corieltauvi coins. Look at the horse's tail. 

On this one it ends in a deciduous tree (most likely linden) leaf...

Symbol of summer...

Was that a mistletoe above the boar? Symbol of winer...

Look at this one. On it the horse's tail ends in grain...With a blazing sun right above it...

Another symbol of summer...

Another grain tail one...

I can't see any other reason why would these coins depict these two animals in this way, except to symbolically, with a summer and winter side of the coin, mark summer and winter half of the year...

For those interested in my other posts about Celts and Celtic culture go here...

To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...

Curlew

60BC-20BC, Celtic Atrebates/Regni gold coin, found in 1873 in Selsey, East Wittering, England, currently in the British Museum.  Official description:

Obv: Abstract design derived from head of Apollo.

Rev: Stylised horse, left; wheel above horse; bird, right below horse.

Basically what the description says is that this Celtic coin is an abstraction of a coin like this: Bronze drachm of the Philip II of Macedon. 359-336 BC. Alexander the Great's father. From this article...

Obv: Head of Apollo

Rev: Naked youth on a prancing horse

Celts are known to have made their own copies of well known Greek/Macedonian coins. More on this great site "Balkancelts"...

But what I find very interesting about this Celtic coin is how it has abstracted the Macedonian one.

The head of Apollo became two sun discs eyes...

The youth on a prancing horse (which was actually a depiction of the Young Sun God Apollo himself riding on a solar horse) became sun disc on a prancing solar horse...

BTW, Celts made another version of this Solar Rider coin, where the rider is still "a young man" but with a sun for a head...Like this Celtic coin from Hungary...

I talked about solar riders, and why was horse a solar animal in many of my posts...

Anyway, the reason why horse is a solar symbol found all over Eurasia, is because horse mating season, characterised by vicious stallion fights, is governed by the sunlight: it starts at the beginning of the summer and it peaks in midsummer, on summer solstice...

Hence these two lads, Castor and Polux, marking the summer solstice...

This is the horse sorted 🙂 But what bird is depicted on the original Celtic coin? 

I think to answer this "important" 🙂 question, we need to look at the reverse of this coin as an animal calendar marker...

Knowing what we know about horses mating season, and how horse was used as a calendar marker elsewhere, I would suggest that the prancing solar horse with the sun disc on the original Celtic coin depicts the hot, sunny half of the year in England, Apr/May-Oct/Nov.

Now usually, the birds associated with solar cult are migratory birds, like swans, which arrive to the areas with the continental climate from their wintering grounds in spring, with the "Young Sun"...

This link is already found in Late Neolithic Northern Europe. Among the Lake Onega petroglyphs, Russia, made c. 4000BC, the only two petroglyphs which were "Christianised" with a cross were "The Devil" and "The Swan"...

Why? Cause "The Devil" is actually the sun god. And (migratory) swans are his birds. These two images are actually part of a large solar year calendar which was encoded using local animal and plant calendar markers. I talk about these amazing petroglyphs in my post "Bes"...

I talk about migratory birds as animal calendar markers linked to the solar cults in many of my posts...

But looking at the bird depicted under the horse, you can see that it definitely isn't a swan. I was first reminded of a common crane, another bird associated with the solar cult

Another bird that looks like the bird standing under the horse, which is also associated with the sun cult is a stork.

But there is a problem here: the curved beak...Now this could be just a bad craftsmanship. But it could actually be an important clue that could help us identify the bird depicted standing under the solar horse...

There is a bird native to England, which (kind of 🙂) looks like this: curlew. This bird is a resident species in England, bit it is also locally migratory: During the warm part of the year, it is found inland, and during the cold part of the year it is found only on the coast...

The reason for this is that curlew "nests on the ground in rough pastures, meadows and heather"...

This is the horses country...

And: "Curlew arrive back at their breeding grounds in late March or early April, laying their eggs between mid-April and mid-May. Chicks hatch between May and June and have typically fledged by mid-July"...

Right during the time when horses are mating (and prancing 🙂).

And when the "Young Sun God" arrives riding on a prancing horse...

That's it. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...