Cantabrian mythology
Cantabrian mythology refers to the myths, teachings and legends of the Cantabri, a pre-Roman Celtic people of the north coastal region of Iberia (Spain).
Later, the ascendancy of Christendom absorbed or ended the pagan rites of Cantabrian, Celtic and Roman mythology leading to a syncretism.
Strabo, Horace and Silius Italicus write of a Cantabrian god of war, later identified with the Roman Mars.
The Cantabrian god of war was offered sacrifices of male goats, horses, or large numbers of prisoners.
In Germania X (98 AD), he wrote, se sacerdotes enim ministros deorum, illos equos conscios putant ("the horses themselves think of the priests as ministers of the gods").
[5] At Numantia, where there are ruins of an Iberian Celtic settlement, relics depicting the horse god are decorated with solar signs.
The fall of the victim and the condition of their entrails were used to predict the future while at the same time, the people sought redemption from the gods.
[7] The Cantabrians, being an agrarian society, worshipped fertility mother goddesses related to the Moon and influencing the phases of sowing and gathering of crops.
[8] Mythology that is connected to the worship of the Mother Earth, is derived from the divinization of animals, trees, mountains and waters as elementary spirits.
On the other hand, there is an altar dedicated to the god Erudinus, dated to 399 AD, demonstrating that in Cantabria, these rites persisted after the adoption of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.
The Convent of Saint Sebastian of Hano dates to the 14th century AD but a small chapel pre-existed the monastery on the same site.
[11] These offerings to the Waters of Stips included bronze coins of low value, as well as other pieces of higher value such as denari, aurei and solidi.
Silius, Florus, Pliny and Isidore of Seville wrote of Cantabrians committing suicide by taking the poison of the yew leaf.
The oak was used as a Maypole, a pole that presides over festivities, around which people danced to celebrate the rebirth of vegetation in Spring.
Oaks, beeches, hollyoaks and yews were used by Cantabrians as places of tribal meetings where religious and secular laws were taught.
Tradition says that Caballucos del Diablu (Damselflies, "Devil's little horses") and witches lose their power after dusk and the curanderos (folk healers) gain control over them.
At Christmas time, (winter solstice) the Cantabrians held ceremonies stemming from the ancient cults to trees, fire and water.
Other beings in Cantabrian mythology include the Ventolín, the Caballucos del Diablu, the Nuberu, the Musgosu, the Culebre, and the Ramidreju.
The Sirenuca ("Little Mermaid") is a beautiful but disobedient and spoiled young lady whose vice was climbing the most dangerous cliffs of Castro Urdiales to sing with the waves.
Another popular legend is the Fish-man, the story of a man from Liérganes who loved to swim and got lost in the Miera river.
