Cel was the Etruscan goddess of the

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

. On the Etruscan calendar, the month of ''Celi'' (September) is likely named for her. Her Greek counterpart is

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; , a poetic form of ('), meaning 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea (), is the personification of Earth. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parthenogenic—of all life. She is the mother of Uranus (S ...

and her Roman is Tellus. In

Etruscan mythology Etruscan religion comprises a set of stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization, heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Greece, and sharing similarities with concurrent Roman mythology and religion. As the ...

, Cel was the mother of the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) * Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'g ...

. A

bronze mirror Bronze mirrors preceded the glass mirrors of today. This type of mirror, sometimes termed a copper mirror, has been found by archaeologists among elite assemblages from various cultures, from Etruscan Italy to Japan. Typically they are round a ...

from the 5th century BC depicts a theomachy in which Celsclan, "son of Cel," is a Giant attacked by Laran, the god of war. In Greek, "giant" comes from a word meaning "born from Gaia". Another mirror depicts anguiped Giants in the company of a goddess, possibly Cel, whose lower body is formed of

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

. In a sanctuary near Lake Trasimeno were found five

votive A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

bronze statuettes, some male and some female, dedicated to her as ''Cel Ati'', "Mother Cel". The inscription on each reads "I elong to, have been givento Cel the mother, here n this sanctuary"Giuliano Bonfante and Larissa Bonfante, ''The Etruscan Language: An Introduction'' (New York University Press, 2002, revised edition), p. 166. Cel appears on the Liver of Piacenza, a bronze model of a liver marked for the Etruscan practice of

haruspicy In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy, the inspection of the entrails of sacrificed animals, especially the livers of sacrificed sheep and poultry. Various ancient ...

. She is placed in House 13.

References

{{Authority control Etruscan goddesses Earth goddesses