Beten (mythology)

When three prayers (also Bethen, Beden or written according to similar ) refers to the Christian triad of the Holy Einbeth, Warbeth and Wilbeth. From this has been variously deduced the existence of the same name Celtic goddesses, which are also called prayer.

Name Variants

The prayers are used in esoteric since H.C. Schoell referred because of all three common names end so. More recently, this term is more often applied to the Christian figures. In the Middle Ages and the early modern period, these three most holy virgins were called or the like. Their names occur in very different versions. The most common forms are Einbeth, Warbeth, Wilbeth, regionally but there are additional variants:

• Embedding ( h), Ainbeth, Ainpeta, Einbede, Ambet, Ambede, embede, among others Aubet
• Warbet ( h), Gwerbeth, Worbeth, Warbede, Barbeth, Borbede, among others Wolbeth
• Wilbet ( h), Willebede, Vilbeth, Wilbede, Fürbeth, Firpet, among others Cubet

Ancient inscriptions with the names of the three prayers are not known, nor do they occur in the Celtic literature of the British Isles. Maybe, but the number three has in Celtic and Germanic goddesses groups such as the matrons the emergence of Christian groups of three holy women affected - in contrast to the Slavic and Scandinavian region, are preferably used in the quadruplets.

Today's distribution

The three holy virgins who are in churches and chapels va the southern German-speaking worshiped. Heaped they find themselves in South Tyrol and Upper Bavaria (also referred to as the Saligen ), and the Upper Rhine. The two northern villages are located east and west of Cologne. In between, there are only a few places of worship, are not outside the German language area known. Embedding is frequently found alone on, almost twice as often, however, in the group of three. In Upper Bavaria once is also Wilbet alone ..

The three saints are not included in the official church saints list.

History of Research

The hl. Einbeth has been recorded from the second half of the 12th century in Strasbourg. In the second half of the 14th century and their Wilbet Worbet stepped aside. Her cult got boost when they were queued in the 15th century in the companions of St. Ursula, and further in the 17th century by the work of Hermann Crombach to this circle.

The origin of the three names is unknown. At the time of Romanticism in the 19th century came to the assumption that the three holy virgins had arisen from an older Germanic goddesses group as the Norns or from the Celtic matrons. The Heidelberg local historian Hans Christoph Scholl developed in 1936 in the essay The Three Eternal - A study of Germanic peasant faith a comprehensive theory that the three hl. Young women on a Germanic or Indo-European already trinity returns that have been preserved in the Germanic peasant faith. However, the work does not rise by his own admission Schölls the claim of scientific evidence. A second volume of announced with scientifically valid evidence for his thesis was never published. Therefore, and because the theory only based on ( sometimes even demonstrably false ) phonetic similarities without linguistic methodology, it was immediately rejected from a scientific perspective and totally rejected today by the sciences. Nevertheless, it has in esoteric circles and z.T. also in popular scientific literature in German-speaking become widespread. Outside the German-speaking countries, however, it is virtually unknown.

Interpretations in modern esotericism

Scholl was assumed that the three hl. Young women could be attributed directly to a (otherwise unknown ) pagan Germanic gods Triassic. He led the name back to the original forms his opinion Ambet, Borbet and Wilbet and compared the name due to phonetic similarities with Celtic word roots. In this way he interpreted Ambet as virginal - maternal earth goddess, Borbet as maternal solar deity and Wilbet brings luck and moon woman. So you were originally peasant goddesses of fertility and harvest and helpers against disease, cattle plague and child needs.

As a result, the call to prayers but were also regarded as fate women modeled after the Germanic Norns or dead goddesses. Today, however, they are attributed prefer Celtic mythology. Especially popular in recent years, the notion that they were the principal deities of a more gynozentrisch oriented religion.

Places of Worship

After celandine are everywhere in Central Europe and the UK cult places of prayer have left their trace in place and field names ( sometimes vaguely ) have similarity to the names of the three components of prayer. He has almost always based on the current form of the name of the place and ignores older, more primitive forms of the name, as well as existing derivations of the name. Linguistic methods such as the consideration of sound shifts and regional dialects were also not applied. An example is Besancon, but the Vesontio was in ancient times. The presumed by celandine and later proponents of his theory in German and European place names " places of worship praying " are therefore not scientifically acknowledged.

Evidence of the cult

The list includes a non-exhaustive collection of places where the three young women were revered. It also contains descriptions of still existing representations, name documents with the respective spellings and other information about the cult.