Magic in pre-Roman Hispania and Lusitania (I) Natural magic and divination.
The biggest problem when studying pre-Roman magic, whether in the Iberian Peninsula or other parts of the vast Roman Empire, is precisely that the assimilation and blending of Roman culture and religion with native customs and divinities sometimes makes it very difficult to distinguish whether parallel rites existed or whether they were truly Roman rites performed in an indigenous manner. Fortunately, in the specific case of Hispania, we have not only major studies such as those by J.M. Blázquez, M. Simón, or E. Luján, but also the variety of pre-existing peoples and geographical environments has allowed for the archaeological preservation of vestiges and testimonies that help clarify these differences. Let us remember that magic refers to any act that seeks to "alter the environment or a situation through an act," while religion refers to petitioning and worshipping a divinity.
A second added problem is the "generalization" to which we are subjected when speaking of the Celtic and Iberian peoples, when in reality the latter were divided into many distinct populations. However, since information about both is scarce, we too will be forced to generalize, although we will try to highlight the most relevant magical aspects found in each area. We preserve more information from the northwestern Iberian Peninsula because, despite Romanization, the influence of its civilization and culture was relatively minor. However, throughout the Mediterranean and southern regions, we have a great mix of cultures, which sometimes makes it difficult to determine which magic is indigenous and which is simply "Mediterranean."
From the pre-Roman Iberian peoples, we can deduce from the sources that some form of binding magic existed, both for people and for weapons, which they did not relinquish. The evidence we have from Caesar indicates that among the Celts, these ties had a magical character, insofar as breaking the bond carried consequences. For example, the solduri, or soldiers linked to their leader, believed that their deaths could save the life of the chief and therefore that of their people. Thus, they were willing to make personal sacrifices and even commit suicide in exchange for the salvation of another person. Conversely, if the leader or chief died, everyone was willing to commit suicide, as they were symbolically and magically united (Caes. BG III, 22).
This is known as the Iberian devotio, in which, instead of praying to a deity for protection, an exchange was offered to the deities of the afterlife, one life for another.
Furthermore, these devotions are joined by the widespread belief, especially in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, that contact with the enemy would defile the community. This can be deduced not only from the collective suicides, but also from the repeated refusal to surrender their weapons as a symbol of surrender: surrender is contemplated, but not parting with one's weapons, and this is something that even Scipio himself had to accept (Livy 28:34) in pursuit of a peaceful surrender. That the weapons and warrior culture of Hispania had magical connotations is known not only from these types of events, but also from the discovery of votive offerings and weapons inlaid with iron plates, silver, gold, or amulets, an indication of their importance. It is likely that in life, these same inlays were amulets with apotropaic or victory purposes for the warriors. A notable number of tiny axes have also been found, possibly amulets or votive offerings, since due to their size they would have been difficult to use.
The Roman Tabellae defixionum have already been discussed in detail in their own article. Likewise, in the articles on Celtic curses, we saw that curse tablets not written in Latin were very, very rare, and that almost all of them are calques, providing value exclusively on a linguistic level, but not so much on an ethnocultural level. The same is true in Hispania, with the small exception that some of these tablets or writings are more like those infernal devotions of binding magic we mentioned earlier. The lead, copper, or slate tablets found in Hispanic territory generally contain revenge spells.
Another type of magic would be natural magic, or at least its closest aspect. It would simply be the worship of mountains, caves, trees, stones, and plants, as well as animals.
The existence of solar and lunar worship is evident through the engravings and illustrations found on amulets, funerary vessels, and other everyday objects such as knife handles, doorposts, and tableware. On the one hand, we have radiated circles and solar wheels, some swastikas imported from oriental art... and on the other, lunar crescents, probably related to fertility and harvests, as well as certain astronomical and astrological events. Along with these symbols, we can see the animals associated with them: bulls and deer with the sun, cows with the moon, and horses, apparently also with the sun and the afterlife, or rather, as representations of the souls of warriors. We also see Phoenician and Egyptian influence in the amulets found throughout the area of present-day Andalusia: falcons and scarabs as solar symbols.
The moon, for its part, had a series of more discreet cults, generally associated with divinities. Ptolemy (II, 5, 3) wrote that the moon was venerated among the Galicians, and we have evidence that speaks of the continuity of rites from the northern region in which, on nights of the full moon, sacrifices were made at the doorsteps of houses "to an unnamed god" and dancing took place until dawn (Strabo, III, 4, 16). On the more magical side, we have the anecdote told by Appian (ib. 82. 357) in Pallantia (Palencia), where Aemilius Lepidus was saved from an attack by the Vaccaei because of an eclipse, which they interpreted as a divine prohibition.
Related to the lunar aspect are also phallic symbols linked to crescent moons, phallic-shaped rythones, etc. However, these, found in large numbers in areas such as Ampurias, seem to have a clear Etruscan and Greek influence, or are directly from the Roman period. Therefore, although the existence of the phallus as a magical element is not ruled out, it seems to be something completely assimilated into the imposed culture.
The cult of the bull had a character of fertility and masculine potency and was associated with the so-called indigenous Mars, the god Neto. Outside of their religious cult, the representation of bull heads on decorative objects such as brooches or fibulae, as well as breastplates (see the so-called Pyrenean Breastplate), would refer to a talismanic use, either for fertility or protection. Furthermore, the presence of this animal in rituals specifically seeking the fertility of the earth and women is a more magical than religious act: the presence of its blood at weddings, for example, would be indicative of its sexual potency to promote pregnancies. In this regard, the comparison made with primitive bullfights in village corrals for this purpose is very interesting.
The cult of the horse had similar connotations, but simply as a divine element, not of fertility, which was reserved for the bull, as we have seen. The horse was more closely associated with the gods and war, as well as with the afterlife, since, as a solar symbol, it "died and was resurrected." It seems that the horse was also linked to the Indo-European "solar chariot," although oriental-style solar boats have been found in the southern region. Furthermore, drinking the blood of sacrificed horses seemed common in certain rites among the Concanos (in Cantabria), for magical purposes of absorbing the solar energy it represented.
As for the deer, especially in Lusitanian territory, it enjoyed a splendid cult, both for its abundance and for its divine symbolism. Numerous deer figurines survive, and it is known that the animal also had an oracular character. Sertorius took advantage of this when, in Hispania, he was given a white fawn, which he immediately took a liking to and accompanied him everywhere. Seeing the veneration of the Lusitanians, and the admiration of his own soldiers, who considered it a gift from Diana, he began to spread the word that the fawn conveyed divine messages to him in various ways. This was consistent with the Lusitanian and Hispanic goddess, patron of deer, and she was able to move around these territories with relative ease. (Plutarch, Parallel Lives VI)
Festivals commonly called "Celtiberian ritual masquerades" were held in connection with all these animals. These festivals extended to very diverse areas of the Iberian Peninsula and basically consisted of specific fertility rites, where men mostly wore animal head masks or antlers and horns on their arms. Sometimes they walked around displaying strength, other times they went to meadows and forests, according to late Christian texts, to perform acts of a sexual nature.
Of course, Galician petroglyphs have been found for hunting magic purposes, but this, beyond implying a certain value of a cave or natural sanctuary in the Bronze Age, does not allow us to know whether its sacredness or functions continued in later times.
There were also beliefs about springs with healing and magical properties, especially in the southern region. Some were linked to Phoenician deities (such as the god Eshmun, in several sanctuaries in Murcia), as well as prophetic ones, especially those intermittent springs whose waters gushed forth during specific festivals due to the melting of the ice. We also find legends such as that of the Limia River in Galicia, about which it was said that whoever crossed it would lose their memory.
Divination
Continuing with the topic of springs, a specific case would be the Fontes Tamarici, located near the Carrión River in Palencia. Pliny says that if they were full of water, they were a good omen, while if they were dry, they prophesied death (Naturalis Historia XXXI).
For his part, Suetonius (Galb 8:3) tells us about a specific type of divination practiced by the pre-Roman peoples of Hispania, where he says that axes were thrown into the water—understood as a sacred place, not just any water—in order to interpret the ripples produced.
Currently, the existence of Druidism in the Iberian Peninsula is neither denied nor confirmed, but it is clear that there were priestly figures and others who performed magical rites, most notably divination. In the Iberian Peninsula, the art of divination did not seem to be restricted solely to men; there were also female fortune-tellers, such as the fateful puella, a young Hispanic woman who, according to Suetonius (Galba 9:2), had predicted Galba's uprising against Nero two hundred years earlier, and whose words were inscribed on the walls of the Temple of Jupiter in Clunia.
In the north, especially among the Galicians, and in the northeastern parts of the Iberian Peninsula, due to Etruscan influence, the basic divination systems were the observation of birds in flight, the observation of lightning, and the examination of the entrails of sacrificial victims, especially the liver. This must not have surprised the Romans much, not as much as other methods of divination, as Silius Italicus (III, 345-354) recounts, such as the observation of fire and the flames in the hearth.
Human sacrifices must have been common throughout Hispania and Lusitania, judging by archaeological remains. Thanks to Strabo (III, 3,6), we know that some of these sacrifices were intended to seal pacts with the deity, and that they were also divined by analyzing the manner in which the sacrificed person fell—something that seems common in the Celtic world—and by analyzing their entrails and the patterns of their veins. This person is called hieróskopos (sacred observer in Greek) by the Latin author, from which we deduce that it was a specific position and not the same as the officiant who served in other religious matters.
Pietro V. Carracedo Ahumada - pietrocarracedo@gmail.com
Bibliography:
-Blázquez, J.M. Diccionario de las religiones prerromanas. Ediciones Istmo, 1975.
-Salinas de Frías, Manuel. "La religión de los celtíberos (I)." (1984).
-Moneo, T. Religio iberica: santuarios, ritos y divinidades (siglos VII-I A.C.). Real Academia de la Historia, 2003
Related articles:
> The punishment of Magic in Rome
> Celtic Magic (I). Lexicon, Magic, and Operators
> Celtic Magic (II): Natural Magic and Divination
