Damona is a Celtic goddess worshipped in Gaul; she was often honored at thermal springs and healing waters and is thus a healer. In addition, parts of a surviving image of the goddess include a head wearing a crown of grain, implying an aspect of fertility or abundance, and a hand with a snake wrapped around it, a common motif for healing gods.

Damona is often accompanied by a consort, in many cases Borvo, and in others Moritasgus; both are healers associated with thermal springs. (Borvo, in turn, also appears elsewhere with a different consort, Bormana.) She appears once as well (at Aignay-le-Duc) with the otherwise-unknown god Albius as consort.

Myth
Unknown.

Cult
Damona received votive and dedicatory offerings from her worshippers; apart from this, little is known of the specifics of her cult. An inscription to the goddess at Bourbonne-Lancy indicates that her worship included the custom of “incubation,” sleeping within a temple in hopes of having healing dreams.

Etymology
Damona’s name very likely derives from the Proto-Celtic *damo- or “cow,” and her name has been translated as “divine cow”; this may indicate that she was once worshipped in that form.

Region
Damona was honored in Gaul, particularly in the modern region of Burgundy.

Literary evidence
None.

Archaeological evidence

Aigney-le-Duc, France; Alise-Sainte-Reine, France (consort Moritasgus); Bourbonne-les-Bains, France (consort Borvo); Bourbon-Lancy, France; Saintes, France