Who Are The Celts?
 
 

The Celts are the people of Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Brittany. Very few blood-Celts practice
the old religion - much of this land was destroyed by the Roman Empire and converted to Catholicism.

What we do know of Celtic beliefs is seldom from their own writing - very little writing has been found.
Most of what we know is derived from Irish and Welsh myths recorded by monks. Much of what has been
adopted into Wicca is taken from these same studies.

We know that the Celts did not have a set pantheon, but that the names varied from town to town. Lugh
was a deity of light and crafts, while Brigh was a healing deity.

The Celts were very much a warrior race. They believed the soul was in the head, and would keep trophies
of those they killed. They believed in the transmigration of souls, a type of reincarnation, and consequently
had no fear of death.

The Druids were the high priests of the Celts. Twenty years of training was required before one was a Druid.
They were diviners, scholars, bards, and many other things in Celtic society.

The old Celts did practice human sacrifice. Mostly it was used as a convenient way to dispose of prisoners
of war. It was considered much less abhorrant to be killed quickly as a sacrafice (so you could be reincarnated
and get on with life) than to spend the rest of your years as a prisoner or slave. For an important problem,
someone would volunteer to be sacrificed to be the messanger to the gods. It was a way of showing the
gods that they were serious about the problem, and insuring that the message got to the gods intact.

Of course, human sacrafice is absent from the modern reconstruction of Celtic beliefs. Modern Druids
contend that as humanity progresses, so should the religion, and human sacrafice is no longer needed. Much
of the modern revival was started by Stuckley, and the idea that the Druids built Stonehenge. This idea
was quickly discarded (the Druids were priests, not masons) but the interest lived on. Stuckley started
the Druidistic Philosphy, which was rather eclectic in nature. At Carlton College, a student group started
the serious study of Druidism, to try to live the religion as the Celts had known it.

Bonowitz started the ADF, based on scholarship, research, and practice. The group covers a wide range
of Celtic-type religions. Each person uses a single pantheon (no Egyptian-Voodoo-Hindu- Wiccan-Celts
allowed) and tries to understand the society that bore the religion. A similar group is The Sacred Cauldron,
which does its best to recreate the entire Celtic tradition, society and religion. Only a few members of each
of these groups are considered clergy, in contrast to Wicca where everyone can be clergy. Scholarship is
emphasized - again a push against an eclectic belief system.

Women held a high position in Celtic traditions. In fact, it was Queen Boudica who almost kicked the Romans
out of England. Women could hold property, marry, divorce, etc. at their own will. They were also warriors,
and some of the best Celtic warriors were said to be trained by women.

The Celts seemed to hold no concept of karma or sin as we know it. Cowardice was looked down upon.
Choice of sexual orientation was liberal. Druids, Bards, and Kings were revered. A Druid could stop a battle
in progress. Veits, which may have been priests under the druids or druids-in-training, would perform the
sacrafices and prophesise. Bards were lawmakers, priests, artisans, poets, and singers - and ranked just
under kings and druids. There was punishment for killing outside of battle, but except in the case of kings,
bards, and priests it was usually monetary. The family of the victim could also exact whatever revenge they
chose on the killer, making murder an unprofitable business.

Tribes fought among themselves frequently. There was never any religious warfare, though, as the Celts
believed that any religion was just as valid as the next and the names of the deities would change from town
to town. The Celts were fearsome warriors - since they had no fear of death, they would keep fighting until
they dropped. In 300 B.C. the Celts sacked Rome, and the Romans could not fight them off and had to
bribe them to leave. The Celts invaded Delphi and formed a nation in Turkey which lasted 400 years, but
was eventually re-absorbed into the local culture. It is generally believed that if the Celts could have united,
they would have beaten off the Roman invasion. There was a social class among the warriors who were
chosen by a rigorous obstacle course - run with a horde of fellow warriors behind the candidate!

Children were respected in Celtic culture. They were often traded between families so as not to be spoiled
by their own parents. All surplus food was given to the poor of the city, and everyone was taken care of.
Children were allowed to choose their trade - though those who showed special skill in an area were exposed
more to that trade.

The king represented the city and the god, and so was allowed to have no imperfections. The king was elected,
and if he failed in his duties he could be dismissed, ether as a simple dethroning or by being killed. Each tribe
had its own king. An imperfection could be something simple: such as if the king started to go bald, or if the
crops didn't grow that year it was considered the king's fault. The only exception to this was in Gaul, where
a council was elected and the Celts came close to actually unifing.

The Celts loved natural beauty, and places of natural beauty were thought to be the habitat of the gods. Many
waterfalls or stone formation would have treasures buried in them as offerings to the gods. When travelling in
another tribe's land, a Celt would make offerings to his gods and the local ones, just in case.
 

Recommended books on the subject include: The Druid Tradition and The Celtic Tradition, both by Alex Matthews.