Matres
The Matres are ancient guardian goddesses. The Dominæ watched over the home. They may have become the Dames of mediæval folk-lore.
↻ synthesized from 11 sources
When
- First attested
- 0 CE
- Attested period
- 0 – 2020
- Historical notes
- Linked to medieval folklore.
Relationships
- parent of
- Dames Blanches
- co occurs with
- Śākinī, Bhūtas, Pramathas, Guhyakas, Kūṣmāṇḍas, Parpaṭas, Caṭakas, Bhairavas, Kṣetrapālas, Vīrabhadra, Yātudhānīs, Piśācas, Yakṣas, Rakṣasas, Vināyakas, Kotarī, Revatī, Jyeṣṭhā, Pūtanā, Unmāda, Apasmāra, Vishnu, Banba, Macha, Brigit, Matronae, Sequana, Epona, Matribus Gallaicis, Mórrígan, Charites, Parcae, Horae, Tridevi, Fates, Nutrices of Poetovio, Norns, Junones, Nutrices Augustae, dísir, Tamfana, Krishna, kali, Brahmarakshasa, Dakini, Śiva, Brigid, Ériu, Fódla, Taranis, Cernunnos, Erinyes, Moirai
- aspect of
- Nemausus
- syncretized with
- Nutrices Augustae, Suleviae, Matronae, Witte Wieven, Weiße Frauen
- has aspect
- Matribus Gallaicis
Mentioned by
Sources
Source passages
“MacCulloch believes Dames Blanches are one of the recharacterizations of pre-Christian female goddesses, and suggested their name Dame may have derived from the ancient guardian goddesses known as the Matres, by looking at old inscriptions to guardian goddesses, specifically inscriptions to "the Dominæ, who watched over the home, perhaps became the Dames of mediæval folk-lore."”
#6045 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“A Gallo-Greek dedication matrebo namausikabo, "to the Nemausican mothers", would have been a local expression of the widespread Celtic cult of the Mothers (Matres).”
#10242 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Information about the religious practices surrounding the Matres is limited to the stones on which their depictions and inscriptions are found, of which more than 1,100 exist.”
#12859 · extracted by anthropic/claude-sonnet-4.5
“The Matres and Matronae are usually represented as a group of three but sometimes with as many as 27 (3 × 3 × 3) inscriptions. They were associated with motherhood and fertility. Inscriptions to these deities have been found in Gaul, Spain, Italy, the Rhineland and Britain, as their worship was carried by Roman soldiery dating from the mid-first to third century AD”
#20776 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001
“Among the divinities transcending tribal boundaries were the Matres, Cernunnos, the sky-god Taranis, and Epona. Epona, the horse-goddess, was invoked by devotees living as far apart as Britain, Rome, and Bulgaria. A distinctive feature of the Matres, or mother-goddesses, was their frequent depiction as a triad”
#26068 · extracted by google/gemini-2.0-flash-001