The Horned-God and Antlered Goddess Handle

This handle style represents the Horned God or Antlered Goddess, and is shaped to depict antlers reaching up from the head of a deer. 

I use this style in drums connected with or in honour two ancient gods of this land, the Horned God (known also as Cernunnos), and the Antlered Goddess (Elen). 

Depictions in Europe of a half-man, half-stag being date back to 13,000 B.C.E., and antlered headdresses have been found among the archaeological artifacts at Star Carr, in North Yorkshire, dating back to 9,000 B.C.E. This image continues into the Celtic period in Europe, in depictions of Cernunnos, the Horned God, in the Gundestrup Cauldron and the Pillar of the Boatmen. The Horned God, Cernunnos, is known as the Lord of Wild Animals, and to many looking to connect with him today, is a guide in connecting with nature, and our own inner wildness. 

The Antlered Goddess, Elen, is rooted in artifacts dating back to the 2nd Century, and native stories that may have their roots back to the last ice age, here in Britain. Elen is told to have used magic to create roads for the protection of Britain, in the Welsh tales of the Mabinogion, and is today part of a powerful revival of honouring our ancient native goddesses. Elen is associated with reindeer, as they are the only deer where the females also have antlers, and reindeer were more commonly found roaming Britain at the end of the last ice age, where it is likely that nomadic peoples followed the paths created by the reindeers’ hooves as they followed the herds. . 

When I was first asked to create the Goddess handle style, I knew there was another one coming that would represent the ancient Horned God of these lands, and it was later in 2014 when I created this style of drum handle for Stag drums, and later used the style to honour the antlered goddess, Elen, for Reindeer drums. 

This style, and its connection to an ancient God and Goddess of this land connect us with the ancestral magical traditions they are connected with, and great for those who are wanting to work with these deities in their spiritual path, and for connecting with the divine masculine and divine feminie.

Click here to order a Shamanic Drum birthed with a Horned God/Antlered Goddess Handle, or visit the online shop to see our available drums