Cernunnos as Kundalini Yoga Master: The Celtic Shiva

Cernunnos as Kundalini Yoga Master: The Celtic Shiva

In 1891, a great silver bowl or cauldron, elaborately crafted during the Iron Age, was found at Gundestrup in Denmark. The Gundestrup Cauldron contains a wealth of ancient spiritual motifs, a few of which will be briefly discussed in this article. 

The exterior of the cauldron depicts the busts of seven different deities, male and female, as well as symbols associated with them. In Hinduism as well as various syncretic mystical paths, the number seven is also associated with the 7 major chakras or energy vortices of the human body, each with their own symbolism and deity (or facet of the One God). 

The interior of the Gundestrup Cauldron features five scenes of religious or spiritual significance. One of these scenes depicts a horned god sitting in a typical yogic posture. Often identified as Cernunnos (the "Horned One"), he wears on his head a splendid crown of seven-tined stag antlers. One is reminded that in the shamanic Song of Amergin, an ancient Celtic poem, the bard sings: "I am a stag of seven tines."

The Master Yogi-Shaman or Horned God sits with a stag and bull at his right hand, and a horned serpent and hunting dog on his left. This image is similar to that of the Vedic god of animals, Pashupati (Lord of Beasts), who was also an early form of Lord Shiva. (The Pashupati seal, or Mahayogi seal, was found at the site of Mohenjo-daro in modern Pakistan).  Cernunnos, Pashupati, and Lord Shiva are all depicted in a similar yogic pose or asana while surrounded by animals. 

In the right corner of the horned god scene is a man riding on the back of a dolphin to meet the divine bull or Bull of Heaven. Lions appear to be guarding the waters or the path toward the bull; perhaps the scene is a reference to crossing the "ocean of Samsara" to reach spiritual liberation, or Moksha, the end of earthly reincarnation. 

The scene is further enhanced with decorative leaves from a sacred plant or tree, such as ivy, mistletoe, or oak. In ancient Greek religion, ivy was associated with Dionysus, a similar God of Ecstasy, as well as wine and vegetation. Mistletoe and oak were often associated with the heavenly Storm God in various Indo-European cultures. The Storm God was usually placed at the head of the pantheon, like Zeus at the head of the Olympians. Rudra, another early form of Shiva, was also conceptualized as a storm god. The thunderbolt itself may be understood as the ecstatic "lightning flash" of Kundalini and its inherent spiritual enlightenment and revelation.

At the bottom of the bowl the divine bull is seen again, this time hunted down by three dogs and a warrior with a sword in his hand. The cauldron has been damaged, but in its original state the bowl would have rested on the curved horns of the bull projecting outwards to form a crescent shape, like an image of the crescent Moon. 

On the bull's forehead rests a twisted rosette with an ancient Indo-European swastika in the center, symbolizing the solar Life Force, as well as universal diversity united into One at the mystical center or Axis Mundi; hence, unity in diversity, and diversity in Unity; God as One and All simultaneously. Looking more closely at the bull's head, one can see that this symbol is part of a larger decorative motif; the rosette is fastened to the top of a column, with it base situated upon a crescent moon. The column once again represents Axis Mundi or the World Tree, the mystical center of the universe. In this particular depiction, the column spans and unites the energetic poles of solar and lunar, one pole at each end - symbolism also relevant to Tantric Yoga and Inner Alchemy, where the internal Axis Mundi or World Tree is also the spinal column or its inner energetic channel, the Sushumna, through which the Kundalini ascends.

The Gundestrup Cauldron therefore becomes, in a symbolic context, the sacred cup of the moon or the chalice of alchemy, a pagan Holy Grail containing the mystical drink of immortality made from the Life-fluid or blood of the divine bull, resulting in ecstasy and psychic vision. It is the mystical cup of Ambrosia, Soma, or the Wine of the Gods; the sacred Blood of Christ slain and risen.

The hunter of the bull appears androgynous; he wears the spurs of a man on his boots and has the breasts of a woman. Perhaps he has completed the inner alchemical operation of uniting masculine and feminine, of solar and lunar, of ida and pingala. With his weapon drawn and arm raised, he is depicted in a posture of jumping or floating through the air, with his hunting dog running or leaping beside him.

Like Shiva, Cernunnos is the God of Ecstasy. In his left hand, he holds a snake adorned with the spiraling horns of a ram. This horned serpent is Kundalini ascending - the serpent of Light and bliss which rises through the sushumna or spinal channel. This serpent of ecstasy is also a representation of Devi Shakti, the Divine Feminine, Life Energy, or Holy Spirit. Starting from the base of the spine - the internal Axis Mundi or sacred column - it rises up through the seven chakras and emerges through the top of the head at the Sahasrara or Crown Chakra, resulting in Unity with the Divine Oneness, as well as mystical perception of Divine Light and the Face or Presence of God.

The stag, the ram, and the bull are all common symbols of God Most High in ancient cultures. Thus, when Kundalini ascends to its highest position, the serpent receives the horns of God - horns of divine power. 

When St. Hubertus the hunter encountered the stag with the Crucifix of Christ between its antlers, he received a vision of the ultimate Reality. It was a vision also of God Most High as the suffering god of vegetation and sacrifice, the slain and rising God. This vision was given to St. Hubertus on Good Friday - the day of Jesus Christ's Crucifixion. The sacred hunt thus becomes a religious symbol for the holy spiritual quest - for the seeking of ultimate Reality and ecstasy. 

Originally posted on our Random Religion and Spirituality blog at:

https://random-religion-and-spirituality.blogspot.com/

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