“A shepherd am I, a youthful mist born
My mother fresh earth and father the storm
To me the fold gazes on first morning’s bright
Blinking in darkness but glowing in light.”

Further Reading on Maponos
Prayer
Depictions
Offerings

Maponos is one of my patron Gods. He has followed me for years, treading close to my veneration of Mabon ap Modron and Pryderi. He came to me through a dream in October 2021, and I have been devoted since. In May 2022 I made vows to Him when I was initiated into Galatîs Litauiâs, and in October 2022 I marked our year together by dedicating a lunar month to His worship.

Maponos means ‘Great Son’ or ‘Great Young Man’, from the Gaulish and Brittonic word mapos. Most of the inscriptions to Maponos are found in Northern Britain, around Hadrian’s Wall. However, a curse tablet found in central France suggests He was widely worshipped. The Romans syncretized Him with Apollo, where He became Apollo Maponus.

His influence survives in the medieval Welsh figures Pryderi fab Pwyll and Mabon ap Modron, the latter of whom shares His name. Pryderi and Mabon are both sons of mothers with divine attributes: Rhiannon, the Queen of Dyfed who shares attributes with Epona, and Modron, whose name is derived from Matrona, the Goddess of the River Marne. In both cases, the son is stolen from the mother shortly after birth and reappears later in the story as an adult.

I believe that Maponos is primordial and older than His name, rooted deep in the hydrothermal vents. He is the first child to emerge from within the torrential waters, bringing with Him hope for life on Earth. I do not have a hard belief on who the mother of Maponos is in myth, and so I entertain all possibilities.

In my practice, Maponos plays an important role as the spiritual brother to Cunomaglos. Whereas Cunomaglos reigns over the end of the cycle, Maponos reigns over the beginning. His harp is a divine instrument that plays the song of Being. Maponos is the flicker of existence which peeks through a mass extinction or environmental crisis. He is a guiding light to souls who lose their way in the underworld.

Maponos, after Cerridwen and Her Awen, is probably the most influential on my creative work. He helps me envision colours my human eye cannot see and textures my human mind can’t comprehend. I also spend time in the underworld with Him, reaching deep into the memories of the Earth. We meditate on life on other planets, societal collapse, and climate change, but also the sublime. Creation from destruction. Truly, He is a God with much hidden depths.

I refer to Him as He Who Walks Between Worlds, Welcomer of Souls, and Great Son of Song in many of my prayers and devotional poems.

Depictions

In depictions, he is portrayed as a young man with a short beard. In one he carries a harp. One carving of his head contains an area for depositing libations.

Source:
Pagan Celtic Britain, Ann Ross
Manuel Cohen photography
https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/2063
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maponos#/media/File:Roman_altar,North_Nave_Aisle,_Hexham_Abbey–geograph.org.uk-_749305.jpg

Prayers

“I praise Maponos, Bestower of Life, Welcomer of Souls. He Who Walks Between Worlds, return what has been taken to Bitus once more, by the magic of your infernal spirits! Great Deuos of Transition and Rebirth, with your eternal youth beget us blessings and health! Patron of the Oldest Animals, regale us with inspiration from the cauldron of Awen, and may our voices roar with your fortitude! By oath, I praise Maponos!”

“Nouiolugrī sindī, molami Maponon, mapos magios. Ison dergon nox, ison scâtos Dumnos, canti brixtia anderon, tû uocanet cantla Bituiton, eti cateiât anation at Bitus.”
On this New Moon, I praise Maponos, the great son. In the dark night, in the shadows of Dumnos, with the magic of the underworld spirits, You play the song of Life, and return souls to Bitus.“