Celtic Worship (priests, rituals, tradition, elder, attend)

[Fish and Bread]

What do we know about the nature of Celtic worship in ancient times? Are there particular services or rituals that have been uncovered by historians? What would an authentic pagan Celtic priest or priestess do for his/her people? Do we know whether priests were male, female, or both?

[Feathers in Hair]

I think it depends on which tradition or area one is wishing to discuss. Are you looking for a specific area, or more just what we know right now?

[Fish and Bread]

Originally Posted by FeathersinHair

I think it depends on which tradition or area one is wishing to discuss. Are you looking for a specific area, or more just what we know right now?

I suppose I'm looking for a general overview: What was it like to be a Celt in the time before the Romans arrived? What was the spirituality of the average person? What did they hold sacred? Did they attend a daily or weekly service? Were there prescribed liturgies or rituals? Did they have temples? Priests? How did they interact with their gods -- Prayers? Sacrifices?

As someone with a distinguished red beard, I obviously have my share of Celtic ancestory. I'm interested in what we know about the religious practices of my forebearers.

[Mike182]

hmmm, an educated guess (that being a guess made by me, without looking in a history book, but phrased so that it looks educated) would be after the Stone Henge era, and before the Roman empire, was a lot of mead..... i suppose that because they were tribal people, there are no "universal" gods/goddesses worshiped by all the celts, individual tribes would hold different practices and different Gods.

i would also guess that because Celtic framers reformed the methods of farming, they may have offered sacrifices at certain times of the year for the gods/goddesses of harvest/summer.

but, i must stress, i am just guessing

[Feathers in Hair]

Lemmie go up and get and get some of my books on the subject! *runs upstairs* (I'll edit this when I return! I love this topic!)

Okies! Here's a bit from one of my favorite books, "Scottish Witchcraft: The History and Magick of the Picts", by Raymond Buckland. This is only referring to the Scottish druidic traditions so far. The 'McNeill' he's quoting from is F. Marian McNeill's "The Silver Bough".

"Before the coming of Christianity," says McNeill:

...the religion of Scotland was Druidism, a form of sun- worship peculiar to the Celtic peoples. Like all sun- cults, it was based upon a universal doctrine regarding the two states of existence- the one in the visible world where the Sun-god reigns by day, and the other in the invisible or lower world into which he disappears at night, the relation between light and darkness symbolizing life and death. This concept is the basis of all the mysteries.
"Although the Order of Druids was probably a Celtic institution, Druidism itself appears to have been the aboriginal faith of Britain, its basic principles being adopted by the Celtic invaders, who grafted it upon their own mythology."

Although we know very little of the details of the Druids of Scotland, McNeill goes on to say that she feels it certain they held a position of great authority:

The names of many of them survive- Cathbadh, for instance, the Druid of Conchobar MacNessa and the instructor of Cuchulain; Abaris, a hyperborean Arch- Druid, who visited Athens in or about 350 A.D. on a diplomatic mission; ... and Broichan, Chief Druid of the Court of King Brude, whom St. Columbia encountered at Inverness in 565."

Ack, I'd forgotten how hard it is to try to hold open a book while you're typing! I'm sorry- I wanted to type out the next few pages, but my fingers are lazy. I'll just summarize stuff in my next post!

[Mike182]

Originally Posted by FeathersinHair

Lemmie go up and get and get some of my books on the subject! *runs upstairs* (I'll edit this when I return! I love this topic!)

*ducks behind sofa, and waits to be told "he's wrong!"*

[Feathers in Hair]

Originally Posted by Mike182

*ducks behind sofa, and waits to be told "he's wrong!"*

Believe me, I don't think I'll ever prove you wrong, especially on this subject!

"Encyclopedia of Celtic Wisdom: A Celtic Shaman's Sourcebook" (by Caitllin and John Matthews) suggests that most early Celtic worship was based upon shamanic practices. In this sense, learning would have been passed from person to person, with the elder taking on two or so apprentices and then, when they'd been 'trained', sending one into the world to spread healing, while the other one stayed at home with the clan or tribe.

"Celtic Women's Spirituality" (by Edain McCoy) notes that the culture and religion of the Celts remained 'behind' the rest of the world until about 1500 B.C.E. Because of this, patriarchal societies were probably few and far between, and women and men were probably viewed with the same position of inherant power. (This is if one does not wish to suggest that these societies might have been matriarchal.) As such, with the gods not having an organized heirarchy, there was probably not much of a priestly heirarchy, either, and one imagines that priestesses and priests were both able to serve as 'helpers between the worlds'.

[Luke Wolf]

Well, there was a few divisions of Druidism, and thier are some records left of Druidism, but it was against thier laws to write down thier secrets. It was passed down by word of mouth for generations until someone decided to write them down.

[gnostic]

You can visit my website at Timeless Myths; it has a section on Celtic Mythology.

In the page About Celtic Myths, I give an overview of who they are and where they come from. In Celtic World, I give another brief view of some of their customs and traditions. Mainly, I retell Celtic myths in my own way, and spend less time with the historical or religious aspects on Celticism.