Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Icauna

Icauna: Another of my occasional god/goddess entries,displayed in the hope of helping people understand that religion is neitherexclusive nor especially mystical.
Icauna is a Romano-Celtic (Gallic) goddess who is knownonly from a single inscription, which was discovered at Auxerre, Yonne, France.She appears to be the patroness or guardian of the Yonne River, named after her.The name may well be derived from Celtic root iskā- forwater and may be intended to describe the 'flowing' action of a river. The Celts were very keen onwater goddesses and made offerings to them, often in the form of discardedweapons, coins and other items with some value, which were tossed into thewaters in the hope of favours from the deities thus petitioned.Call me an old cynic, but Ican't quite cleanse my mind's eye of the picture of some old scoundrel hidingby the banks of such streams, pools and marshes, waiting for the supplicants togo back to their normal activities, leaving the way clear for the scoundrel toretrieve the objects of value so he/she can sell them.
Pic: Trout stream in Driffield.