If a deity calls, you answer.
Cernunnos had been named, without prior knowledge of her interest in him, by someone across the globe as a deity trying to get in touch with her. How could she refuse his call? Gaia and The Morrigan were important links and resonated well, but nothing to the definitive and clear tone of Cernunnos. Once again, the deep dive into mythology, history, and paganism continued, this time with a clear focus on gaining as much information on Cernunnos as possible.
Cernunnos was also known as The Horned God in Wiccan culture. In the very first line of the very first article she read; something stopped her dead in her tracks.
“In ancient Celtic and Gallo-Roman religion, Cernunnos or Carnonos is a god depicted with antlers, seated cross-legged, and is associated with stags, horned serpents, dogs and bulls.”
This deity that she had been drawn to, heard the call from, and kept popping up in her life was almost always depicted as being “seated cross-legged”. This was a masculine deity…sitting cross-legged…she thought back to the very confused and at the time assumed wrong Turkish coffee reading. The guide stated over and over that Buddha, or who the guide believed was Buddha, was coming through. It was a man, sitting cross-legged. The guide only knew of one deity that fit that image, but now it was clear who was really trying to come through. Cernunnos.
She was all in. It was time to answer the call and see what Cernunnos had to say to her. She found multiple books to read to indulge her sponge-like need for knowledge, but something was gnawing at her. She needed to figure out how best to approach this newfound spirituality. How does one converse with a deity? Prayer? That didn’t suit her. She wasn’t one to grovel, but always felt that if gods and goddesses or higher powers existed, they would have a more casual relationship with her. She used to joke that if she died and went to Heaven she would sit down with God and have a cup of coffee, asking him why diet mattered in the end…Christians generally weren’t fond of her lackadaisical view of a relationship with the Almighty. This felt different than what others had told her finding God was like, she wasn’t asking for anything from this deity, she just wanted to know him, and see what it was he wanted to tell her. She did not come upon him in a time of crisis and beg for his help, they met on the path like a stream converging into a powerful river. Respect, that is what she felt for this being, not idolization, not worship, but unwavering respect. That was out of character for her, as anyone in her life previously had to earn her respect. Cernunnos though…he commanded it with his presence in her life. She could not, would not, deny him.
She came across a tome that claimed to help the followers on their path to discovering their deity, and all through meditation. So, the next chapter of her story unfolded – guided meditation was the communication pathway she chose, it felt right. How would this go? She had never meditated with purpose before, just general sleep meditations and relaxing music. Little did she know that this single step would change her life forevermore. She would never be the same woman as she was when she closed her eyes.