|
The Celts (pronounced Kelts)
were a culture that developed in mainland Europe near France, which
around the first century ACE, was called Gaul. During the peak of
the Roman civilization, Julius Caesar took over Gaul; the Celts migrated
to the nearby islands, the isles of Britain. The Celts settled all
over Britain, but were mostly pushed into three areas: what is today
Ireland, Wales, and Scotland. The Celts spoke a language called Gaelic.
Gaelic is a form of communication using grunts and hauks. The Celts
usually went to war naked, and unlike most cultures, women were allowed
to fight. The Celts developed the bagpipe, an instrument that was
used in war to inspire the soldiers. They practiced a religion that
is now called Druidism. This paganistic religion had spiritual leaders
called Druids. These Druids practiced not only spiritually, but were
very learned in astronomy, mathematics, divination, magic, philosophy,
and law. Druidism was a diverse religion that affected many people
in different lands. It has changed over time, yet there is still a
strong influence of the original Druidistic Religion.
Druids were very well trained
in all of their learning's. They went through an incredibly vigorous
training. Not only were they taught magic, and the Celtic religion
itself, but they were taught how to be doctors and judges. It has
been said that they were able to control the weather, prophesize,
heal people, levitate various objects including themselves, and were
even able to change their shape into something else such as an oak
tree, an owl, or most commonly a crow. One could almost call them
priests, but that word doesn't completely fit them because unlike
priests, they had clientele much like a lawyer would have today. They
were also never referred to as priests during Roman times or any other.
The main difference between a priest and a Druid is that priests had
more of an emphasis on being teachers and judges rather than diviners
or prophesizers whereas the Druids seemed to show equal importance
in both legal issues. and magical ways.
<Back
to top
Classes in Celtic
Society
The Druids were one important
class in the Celtic way of life, yet there were many other classes
as well. They include the Fianna warriors, Bards, land-holders, freeborn
laborers, and non-freeborn laborers. There was however one major difference
between this and other feudal systems, and that is that one could
move up in society. There were also laws about criminals, the higher
the class that one was in, the more of a penalty that person would
have. In other words, more was expected from those who had more. The
Bards and the Fianna are particularly interesting because they received
much of the same training as the Druids. They were the ones that kept
the histories, genealogies, poetry, music, laws, and stories of the
Celts. Both of these classes were well learned and were held in respect.
<Back
to top
Unlike most religions and cultures,
women were allowed to become Druids. The female Druids were held in
the same regard as male Druids. Actually, in the Celtic society, women
had many rights such as ruling, owning land, and tracing the ancestry
matralineraly. They were even allowed to divorce their husbands. These
rights are apparent with Celtic women such as Boudicca who was one
of the first people to lead a revolt against the Romans in Britain.
Although she was defeated, it shows that women were just as respected
as men.
<Back
to top
It is truly amazing that we
know so much about Druids given a few major challenges. The Druidic
ways were almost strictly oral. They did have a way of writing
called
Ogham (an example of this writing is above ) but it was not used
often because to write something down was to weaken the power
of edidic
memory. Another reason that there is little information on the
Druids is that Druidism was persecuted not only by other religions,
but by
people and cultures who disliked the Celts and who tried to take
them over. Religions such as Christianity tried to suppress these "barbaric
pagans" and tried to convert Celts left and right. Julius
Caesar tried to take over the Celts, he tried to make them look
as bad as
possible to justify his taking them over. There is one major reason
that people and cultures didn't want Celts to survive...GREED.
This
greed was the want of money, land, and workers.
<Back
to top
Druidism, Culdee, Faerie Faith,
Hinduism, and Wiccanism are very closely-related religions. Druidism
and Hinduism both sprung up around the same time (around the
first
century ACE). They are thought to have come from an Indo-European
culture, and many things are similar, like rebirth (although
the Celts
did not believe in karma), and achieving a oneness with one's self.
Both of these religions went their own route, and developed into
other
things. Druidism developed into Culdee, the Faerie Faith, and Wiccanism.
Culdee is a Celtic Christianity that happened when the Christians
tried to convert the Celts. The Christians were somewhat successful,
but not completely. The Celtic cross was made popular around
this
time symbolizing both the Christians and the Druids.
Faerie Faith
is a religion that worships faeries. Faeries were important
to the
Druids because they lived in trees, and were the people of the
trees. This religion also came about when Christianity was
declared the official
religion. There were not any priests or Druids, but there were "wise
women" who knew the ways of the faeries and could identify
the faeries' handiwork. There were also faerie doctors who could
cure
illnesses in humans and in animals. Wiccanism is most commonly
known as the "Witch Religion." It is like Druidism
in its paganistic ways. The Wiccan's practice magic, as did/do
the Druids.
<Back
to top
Some of the gods that the Celts
worshipped were The Tuatha de Danann or Tribe of the Goddess
Danu,
who was basically the creator of all of the other gods, but ironically
is very seldomly mentioned in myths. Even though she is hardly
mentioned
in myths she has a few rivers named after her such as the Danube
River, the Dneiper River, and the Don River in Canada. Lugh Lamh-fada
or
Long Handed, was the son of the sun. He is said to have nimble
fingers, and that is why he is know by the epithet of Lugh Lamh-fada,
master
of crafts. Lugh is often associated with the Roman god Mercury
because of their similar traits and characteristics. Dagda is
another god
that had much power. He was the father of most of the gods. He
was said to have a club that could heal the dead and dying, and
kill the
living. Nuada Argat-lamh or Silver Hand lost his hand in a battle,
and replaced it with a mechanical hand, hence the silver hand.
He
shows some similarity to the Norse god Tyr who was also missing
a hand.
Morrigu, Babd, and Macha were the
triple goddess of war. She
is the one responsible for choosing who will die in a battle.
In one myth, she is seen washing the blood-stained clothes of
a
hero that
was destined to die in battle that day. Brigid is the Celtic
god of fire and poetry. When the Celts were reformed by the Christians,
Brigid
was turned into St. Bridget. She has an eternal flame that is
always
burning for her. She is also represented by a cross made out
of reeds
that has three or even four arms. She is often associated with
the Roman God Minerva. Diancecht was the god of healing. He
made a magical
well that could resurrect anyone who was put into it. These are
just a few of the Celtic Gods… there are many more.
<Back
to top
There are eight main festivals
throughout the Celtic year. They include the four major holidays Shamain
(SOW-win), Imbolc (IM-volk), Beltain (BEL-tain-yuh), and Lughnasad
(LOO-na-shav). Along with these four, they celebrated the equinoxes
and the solstices, thus, putting a festival about every six weeks.
Samhain was held on November first, and was the beginning of the new
year, and also the night when the boundaries between this world and
the other were closest; so it was a night of the dead. Imbolc was
celebrated on the first of February. It celebrated the coming of spring,
and a number of preparations started to be made for the coming planting
season. Beltain, celebrated on May first, was a day of life, and was
a choice day for marriages. It showed the importance of the coming
of spring, and is perhaps the origin of May Day. Lughnasad was celebrated
on the first of August. This celebration was held in thanks of the
Earth's bounties of the year; and was a time of harvesting and feasting.
What Happened at
These Rituals
During these festivals, two
fires would be lit on top of a hill, and depending on the day, people
would herd sheep and cattle between them, or, couples would even jump
over them for purification. These rituals would last for three days,
starting at sunset the first day and ending at sunset of the third.
During the day, at these rituals there were carnival-like games and
amusement. At night, serious rituals were performed.
<Back
to top
Because Druidism was so widespread,
there was not just one universal symbol that signified it. However,
there are many different symbols of Druidism, these symbols include:
the triskele, represented here, , said to represent the triad of sea,
sky, and land. Another symbols include the awen, /|\, which stands
for truth, knowledge, and justice. The circle, the egg, a god with
horns, and the crescent moon are also major symbols. The final two
are opposites; the god with horns is a male god, and, depending on
the kind of horns, can stand for fertility or power--both of which
were important to the Celts. On the other hand, the crescent moon
stands for the feminine side of fertility.
Another important symbol is
the Celtic knot that was used to express the Celts' religious beliefs
and to bring their manuscripts to life. An example of a manuscript
illuminated with knots would be The Book Of Kells which is housed
in Trinity College, in Dublin, Ireland. Not only were knots used to
illuminate manuscripts but they were used to decorate almost anything.
They can be found on things like gravestones, paintings, and carved
in logs. The knot represents the Celtic beliefs that the soul has
no beginning and no end, that the soul takes many paths (the paths
represent the many lives that the soul goes through). When they tried
to represent these paths they founded the idea of the knot.
Trees were incredibly important
to the Celts. The word "Druid" is even thought by some to
come from the Gaelic word "DUIR" meaning oak. People
speculate this today for two reasons: first, duir and druid look
fairly alike,
and also, the oak tree is a very important tree to the Celts because
it is strong, tall, and very long-lived. Trees as a whole were
important
to the Celts because they held the three realms in them, or at
least connected them. They connected the ground and the sky, and
transported
water through them. When the three realms came together, it was
thought to be very powerful place, and was a preferred place to
cast spells,
practice divination, and to write poetry. Other trees important
to the Celts were the Yew, whose offspring grow from the stump
of the
parent which to them meant perpetually regenerating life. The Birch,
the Rowan, Ash, Alder, Willow, Hawthorn, Holly, Hazel, Apple, Vines,
Ivy, Reed, Blackthorn, Elder, Silver Fir, Furze, Heather, and Poplar
were also important trees, and were so important that the Celts
used
them in the Ogham written language. Each tree stood for a different
letter.
<Back
to top
This demoralizing of the Celts
has lead to many misconceptions about them that scientists and practicing
Druids now know are not true. For example, for centuries people believed
that Stonehenge (pictured above ) was built by Druids and used as
a place to hold rituals. Thanks to the development of radioactive
dating of Carbon-14, archaeologists have dated Stonehenge centuries
before the start of Druidism ; but evidence does show that the Druids
used it as a place to perform rituals. Another reason that we have
come to this misconception is that the Celts built many other circular
temples made out of stone that, in looks, are similar to Stonehenge,
an example of this is the Hebrides of Scotland. There are many major
misconceptions that people have about Druidism because of the editing
of ancient scripts. Some of them include the belief that Druids practiced
human sacrifice, but the Druids only performed human sacrifice as
a punishment to criminals such as done throughout Europe, and not
just for the sake of sacrificing. Some even believe that the Druids
were monotheistic. They were not. In fact, each tribe had about one
hundred different gods, only some overlapped with other tribes. Thus
there could be hundreds of ancient Celtic gods. Other misconceptions
include that Samhain (pronounced SOW-win) was a god when in fact Samhain
was a holy day that the Celts celebrated November 1st. This day is
where the idea of Halloween began.
Druidism in the
20th Century
There are many reasons that
someone now would want to practice Druidism. Some people see it as
a way to get in touch with their history (if they are Celtic). Some
like the religion because of how connected Druidism is to the natural
world, art, or poetry. There are people who choose Druidism over other
forms of neo-paganism because Druidism is not only a religion, but
it is a way of life. And then there are also people who just do not
want to have any part in other accepted western religions such as
Christianity.
<Back
to top
Despite the growing interest in Druidism,
people don't seem to realize the depth of Druidism. The Druids were
a very intriguing religion, perhaps that is why there are neo-Druids
today. The Druids were not only well learned in law and math, but
were very well learned in divination and the magical side of things.
The Celts had a very advanced social structure. They had many classes,
such as other countries, yet the Celts were unique because of the
fact that punishments were worse the higher rank you were, and because
one could move up or down the social ladder. Not only were they
advanced with their social system, but the Celts had a form of writing
that was hardly used because of the highly oral traditions. The
women, unlike in many cultures had a high status. These women even
went to battle which is something that was something socially unacceptable
to other countries and cultures around them. Because of the many
activities that the Druids were highly proficient in, they were
very well rounded. This well roundness is why, throughout all of
the turmoil and misconceptions that people such as Julius Caesar
and religions such as Christianity put the Druids through, that
there are still Druids today.
<Back to
top
<Back
to Wiccan/Pagan History
<Back to The Craft
|