Today's Oracle 18th March 2020

Taranis (God of Lightning and Thunder)

Taranis, the god of lightning and thunder, announces the swift and action-packed authority of the sky world. His actions can be benevolent or destructive. His presence signifies a need to be vigilant and to be ready to act swiftly.

Invoking Action and Vigilance.

Taranis is the Celtic thunderer, his name derived from the Celtic word for thunder, taran. A sky god associated with the heavens and storm clouds, Taranis presides over the weather and conditions of men and women below. The flash of lightning and the roar of thunder signify the capricious nature of the elements and the fortunes of human life. Often allied with the sky god Jupiter, Taranis brings a thunderous, mercurial temperament and destructive character to the company of sky deities.

Little is known about Taranis, the god of lightning and thunder. The archaeological evidence is scarce, with merely seven altar dedications to Taranis among the Roman-Celtic areas of Britain, Gaul, the Rhineland, and Dalmatia (former Yugoslavia ). It is possible that dedications on statuary of Taranis may have been rough-hewn and, like Taranis himself, exposed to the elements, perhaps placed in locations adjoining mountaintops where lightning and thunder were likely. He is closely associated with Jupiter, the most prominent of the sky deities.

Infrequent allusions to Taranis by Roman writers, such as the poet Lucan, are so unflattering that it is improbable that they are impartial, but rather made by a citified outsider commenting about the customs of the rural and agrarian Celts. Lucan, in his Pharsalia, avers that the Gauls encountered by Caesar's army witnessed the making of offerings, blood sacrifices, and even human sacrifices to the shadowy gods Taranis, Teutates, and Esus, though little else is said of them.

As the god of thunder and lightning, Taranis can convey destruction and chaos among his wary supplicants.

IF YOU ARE DRAWN TO THIS ORACLE, your life probably feels beset with unforeseen changes. The swift pace of events can be unnerving and confusing. This oracle suggests that events are set into motion by natural forces outside your control. You are cautioned to be careful about your speech and actions and yet to be ready to act swiftly, especially if you or others are in danger.

Taranis is associated with the forces of nature. As it is prudent to take precautions and go indoors in inclement weather, it is wise to act in a restrained manner and to maintain a low profile when the circumstances of your life are shifting rapidly. Planning is often useless, even unwise, not only because of changing circumstances, but also because your mental clarity may be impaired. Like changes in the weather, the fast pace now occurring in your life will change soon. This oracle cautions against undue anxiety and suggests combining restraint and readiness in your present actions.