Celtic Gods: The Gaulish Mother Goddesses, Matres Nemetiales (They of the Sacred Clearing)

Nemetiales
The Gaulish Mother Goddesses: They of the Sacred Clearing

Matres Nemetiales (Nemetialis) are Gaulish mother goddesses known from a single inscription found at Grenoble, France. The name is fairly easy to interpret and this triple-goddess (or aspect of the triple goddess) is the protectress of the druidic sacred grove.



Synonyms: Nemetialis
Gaul: They of the Sacred Clearing

The Matres Nemetiales are known from a single inscription (CIL XIII 2221) found at Grenoble, Isère, France where she is invoked as Matris Nemetial[is]. As one of the Matres or 'Great Mothers' Nemetialis probably represents an aspect of a triple mother goddess (in common with the other Matres) and in a similar manner to the other mother goddesses and may be associated with a fertility cult.

The goddess' name can be derived from the reconstructed proto-Celtic elements: *nemeto- (sacred place, sanctuary) and *jalo- (clearing). Thus Nemetialis is the 'Mother Goddess of the Sacred Clearing'.



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