Sequana, France / Gaulish Celtic, mosaic art nouveau portrait

France / Gaulish Celtic

Sequana

Lady of the Seine's Rising Spring

Gaul (France), Iron Age through Roman period, c. 300 BCE–400 CE

✦

Her story

Historical context

goddess · Gaul (France), Iron Age through Roman period, c. 300 BCE–400 CE

Sequana is the goddess of the Seine, worshipped at the river's source in Burgundy. Pilgrims travelled there with illnesses and left hundreds of votive offerings — small bronze and wooden models of the limbs, eyes and organs they wanted healed.

Mythology & traditions

Her sanctuary is one of the richest healing sites in Gaul: whole families came, camped, bathed in the spring and gave a likeness of the hurt to the water. Her bronze shows her standing in a boat shaped like a duck — the river carries what you hand it, and she asks that you actually let go of the model.

Domains

  • Rivers and springs
  • Healing
  • Pilgrimage
  • River trade
  • Release

Symbols

  • Duck-prow boat
  • Spring source
  • Votive limbs in bronze
  • Reeds
  • Torc

In the oracle

Her guidance

Maiden

What you need to sow

Follow the water downstream. Begin where the current is already going.

Mother

What you need to grow

Nurture the sore place openly. Name the ailment and bring it to be tended.

Crone

What you need to know

Know that healing requires release. You have to put the thing in the water.

Draw a readingReturn to all goddesses