Celtic polytheism 2112366 225463534 2008-07-13T20:47:45Z Balin42632003 561154 /* External links */ {{Celtic mythology}} The terms '''Celtic polytheism''', '''Celtic paganism''' and '''Druidism''' refer to the [[religion|religious]] beliefs and practices of ancient [[Celts]], until the [[Christianization]] of Celtic-speaking lands. At various times those lands included [[Ireland]], [[Great Britain|Britain]], [[Celtiberia]], [[Gaul]], areas along the [[Danube]] river, and [[Galatia]]. Currently, the areas of Europe that retain Celtic culture are limited to the six [[Celtic nations]]. Celtic religious practices bear the marks of [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanization]] following the [[Roman Empire]]'s conquest of Gaul (58–51 BCE) and Britain (43 CE), although the depth and significance of Romanization is a subject of scholarly disagreement. ==The nature of Celtic polytheism== The Celts were [[animism|animist]]s: they believed that all aspects of the natural world contained spirits, divine entities with which humans could establish a rapport.<ref name="GreenAnimals">[[Miranda Green|Miranda Green]]. (1992:196) ''Animals in Celtic life and myth''. London: Routledge. ISBN:0415050308</ref> According to [[classical era]] sources, the [[Celts]] worshipped the forces of nature and did not envisage deities in [[Anthropomorphism|anthropomorphic]] terms.<ref name="Wood">Juliette Wood. ‘Introduction.’ In Squire, C. (2000). ''The mythology of the British Islands: an introduction to Celtic myth, legend, poetry and romance''. London & Ware: UCL & Wordsworth Editions Ltd. ISBN 1-84022-500-9. Page 12-13</ref> Deities undoubtedly formed a background to everyday life. Both archaeology and the literary record indicate that ritual practice in Celtic societies lacked a clear distinction between the sacred and profane in which rituals, offerings and correct behaviour maintained a balance between gods and man, and harnessed supernatural forces for the benefit of the group.<ref name="Wood"/> The pagan Celts perceived the presence of the supernatural as integral to their world. The sky, the sun, the dark places underground all had their [[spirits]], [[Energy (spirituality)|life-force]]s and [[personality|personalities]].<ref name="GreenExploring29">Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 29</ref> Every [[mountain]], [[river]], [[spring (hydrosphere)|spring]], [[marsh]], [[tree]] and [[crag|rocky outcrop]] was endowed with divinity.<ref name="GreenExploring29"/> While Greek and Roman culture revolved around urban life, Celtic society was predominantly rural. The close link enjoyed with the natural world is reflected in what we know of the religious systems of Celtic Europe during the late first millennium BC and early first millennium AD. As in many [[polytheistic]] systems, the spirits worshipped were those of both the wild and cultivated landscapes and their inhabitants. Cults focussed upon features of the landscape; [[mountain]]s, [[forest]]s and [[animal]]s. Divine powers associated with the [[fertility]] of humans, of [[livestock]] and of [[crops]] were objects of veneration. Tribal territories were themselves held sacred and the [[mortuary enclosure|ground and waters which received the dead]] were imbued with sanctity and revered by their living relatives.<ref name="GreenExploring24">Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 24</ref> Sanctuaries were sacred spaces separated from the ordinary world, often in natural locations such as springs, groves or lakes. Many [[topography|topographical]] features were deified as gods: many divine names refer to specific locations or geographical features, a clear indication of how closely Celtic societies identified with place. Small thank offerings were placed in domestic storage pits while more elaborate deposits were left in specially dug ritual shafts and in lakes. These offerings linked the donor to the place in a concrete way, since complex and varied rituals involved the individual in personal contact with the sacred sites devoted to their gods. An image very different from the idea of druids administering a pan-Celtic religion.<ref name="Wood"/> ===Animal worship=== The character and vitality of certain animal species seems to have been considered [[numinous]]. Certain [[spirit]]s were very close to the animals with which they were associated: the names of [[Artio]] the [[ursine]] [[goddess]] and [[Epona]] the [[equine]] [[goddess]] are based on [[Celtic languages|Celtic]] words for ‘bear’ and ‘horse’<ref name="GreenExploring24"/> Animals were perceived at the same time similar to and very different from humans.<ref name="GreenAnimals"/> Certain creatures were observed to have particular physical and mental qualities and characteristics, and distinctive patterns of behaviour. An animal like a [[stag]] or [[horse]] could be admired for its [[beauty]], [[speed]] or [[virility]]. [[Dog]]s were seen to be keen-scented, good at hunting, guarding and healing themselves. [[Snake]]s were seen to be destructive, fertile and have a curious habit of seeming regenerating themselves by sloughing their skin. [[Bird]]s were keen-sighted and able to fly and leave behind the confines of the earth. [[Beaver]]s were seen to be skilful workers in [[wood]]. Thus admiration and acknowledgment for a beast’s essential nature led easily to reverence of those qualities and abilities which humans did not possess at all or possessed only partially.<ref name="GreenAnimals"/> ===Sanctity of hunting=== [[Hunting]] deities whose role acknowledges the economic importance of animals and the ritual of the hunt highlight a different relationship to nature. The animal elements in half-human, antlered deities suggest that the forest and its denizens possessed a [[numinous]] quality as well as an economic value. For this reason they were deified as gods. Some scholars explain shape-shifting and magical motifs in terms of Celtic beliefs about rebirth and the afterlife, but it is more likely that such deities had a regenerative function. Attributes like [[fruit]] and [[grain]] imply fecundity, while animals such as [[snake]] and [[deer]] (who shed their skins and antlers) suggest cycles of growth..<ref name="Wood"/> Hunter-gods were venerated in Celtic [[Europe]] and they often seem to have had an ambivalent role as protector both of the hunter and the prey, not unlike the functions of [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] and [[Artemis]] in [[Religion in ancient Greece|classical mythology]].<ref name="GreenExploring29"/> From [[Gaul]], the armed deer-hunter depicted on an image from the temple of [[Le Donon]] in the [[Vosges]] lays his hands in [[benediction]] on the antlers of his stag companion. The hunter-god from [[Le Touget]] in [[Gers]] carries a hare tenderly in his arms. [[Arduinna]], the eponymous boar-goddess of the [[Ardennes]], rides her ferocious quarry , knife in hand, whilst the boar-god of [[Euffigneix]] in the [[Haute-Marne]] is portrayed with the motif of a [[boar]] with [[bristle]]s erect, striding along his torso, which implies conflation between the human animal perception of divinity.<ref name="GreenExploring29"/> [[Arawn]] of [[Welsh mythology]] may represent the remnants of a similar hunter-god of the forests of [[Dyfed]]. As with many traditional societies, the hunt was probably hedged about with prohibitions and rituals. The [[Greeks|Greek]] [[author]] [[Arrian]], writing in the second century AD, said that the Celts never went hunting without the gods’ blessing and that they made payment of domestic animals to the supernatural powers in reparation for their theft of wild creatures from the landscape. Hunting itself may have been perceived as a symbolic, as well as practical, activity in which the spilling of blood led not only to the death of the beast but also to the earth’s nourishment and replenishment.<ref name="GreenExploring30">Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 30</ref> ===Weather worship=== [[Meteorology|Meteorological]] patterns and phenomena, especially the [[sun]] and [[thunder]], were acknowledged as divine and propitiated. Inscribed dedications and iconography in the Roman period show that these spirits were personifications of natural forces. [[Taranis]]’s name indicates not that he was the god of thunder but that he actually was thunder.<ref name="GreenExploring24"/> Archaeological evidence suggests that the sun and thunder were perceived as especially potent. Inscriptions to [[Taranis]] the ‘Thunderer’ have been found in [[Great Britain|Britain]], [[Gaul]], [[Germany]] and the former [[Yugoslavia]] and the Roman poet [[Marcus Annaeus Lucanus|Lucan]] mentions him as a savage god who demanded [[human sacrifice]]. From the early [[Bronze Age]], people in much of temperate Europe used the [[spoke]]d [[wheel]] to represent the sun and, by the late [[Iron Age]] and Roman periods, solar deities were represented with wheel-symbols (see ''[[sun cross]]''). The Romans imported their own celestial god, [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], to Celtic lands and his imagery was merged with that of the native [[sun-god]] to produce a hybrid sky-deity who resembled the Roman god but who had the additional native solar attribute of the wheel.<ref name="GreenExploring25">Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 25</ref> This Celtic sky-god had variations in the way he was perceived and his cult expressed. Yet the link between the Celtic Jupiter and the solar wheel is maintained over a wide area: altars decorated with the wheels were set up by Roman soldiers stationed at [[Hadrian's Wall]], and also by supplicants in [[Cologne]] and [[Nîmes]].<ref name="GreenExploring29"/> ===Water worship=== The spirits of watery places were invoked as givers of life and as links between the earthly and the [[other world]]. [[Sequana]], for example, seems to have embodied the [[River Seine]] at its spring source and [[Sulis]] appears to have been one and the same as the [[hot spring]] at [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]], not simply its guardian or possessor.<ref name="GreenExploring24"/> There is abundant evidence for the veneration of water by the Celts and indeed by their Bronze Age forebears. In the [[Pre-Roman Iron Age]], [[lake]]s, [[river]]s, [[spring (hydrosphere)|springs]] and [[bog]]s received special offerings of metalwork, wooden objects, animals and, occasionally, of human beings. By the Roman period, the names of some water-deities were recorded on inscriptions or were included in contemporary texts. The ancient name for the [[River Marne]] was [[Matrona]] ‘Great Mother;’ the [[Seine]] was [[Sequana]]; the [[Severn]], [[Sabrina]]; the [[Wharfe]], [[Verbeia]]; the [[Saône]], [[Souconna]], and there are countless others. Natural springs were foci for healing cults: Sulis was invoked as a healer at [[Bath, Somerset|Aquae Sulis]] and the goddess [[Arnemetia]] was hailed as a healer at [[Buxton|Aquae Arnemetiae]].<ref name="GreenExploring25"/> [[Nemausus]], for example, was not only the [[Gaulish language|Gallic]] name for the town of [[Nîmes]] but also that of its presiding [[spring (hydrosphere)|spring]]-god. He had a set of three female counterparts, the [[Nemausicae]]. In the same region, the town of [[Glanum]] possessed a god called [[Glanis]]: an [[altar]] from a sacred spring is inscribed ‘to Glanis and the [[Glanicae]]’.<ref name="GreenExploring29"/> ==The hierarchy of the Celtic gods== Evidence from the Roman period presents a bewildering array of gods and goddesses who are represented by images or inscribed dedications.<ref name="GreenExploring26">Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 26</ref> Sorting these multifarious and divine beings into some kind of hierarchy is necessary, though not always easy, if one is to make any sense of the religious system in place in Celtic [[Europe]]. By examining the distribution of images and god-names, it is possible to make distinctions between deities who were venerated all over the Celtic world, those who were popular in more restricted regions - perhaps corresponding to tribal boundaries - and those who were linked to a specific locality, sometimes worshipped only at a single sanctuary.<ref name="GreenExploring26"/> The establishment of patterns of frequency and distribution may point to the relative popularity of certain gods, but not necessarily to any order of importance. For example, in east-central [[Gaul]], the local [[Burgundian]] healing goddess [[Sequana]] was probably more influential in the minds of her local devotees than the [[Matres]], who were worshipped all over Britain, Gaul and the [[Rhineland]].<ref name="GreenExploring27">Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 27</ref> Certain cults transcended tribal boundaries and were followed everywhere. Examples of universal divinities include the [[Matres]], the [[Taranis|sky-god]] and [[Epona]], the horse-goddess, who was invoked by devotees living as far apart as [[Great Britain|Britain]], [[Rome]] and [[Bulgaria]]. A distinctive feature of the mother-goddesses was their frequent appearance as a triad: they were perceived as a triple entity in many parts of Britain, in Gaul and on the [[Rhine]]. Although it is possible to identify strong regional differences between them.<ref>Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 27-28</ref> The Celtic sky-god too had variations in the way he was perceived and his cult expressed. Yet the link between the Celtic Jupiter and the [[solar wheel]] is maintained over wide areas, from [[Hadrian’s Wall]] to [[Cologne]] and [[Nîmes]].<ref name="GreenExploring28">Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 28</ref> ==The importance of local deities== Regional divinities can sometimes be identified, perhaps especially associated with tribal and sub-tribal territories. Specific to the [[Remi]] of northwest [[Gaul]] is a distinctive group of stone carvings depicting a triple-faced god with shared facial features and luxuriant beards. In the [[Iron Age]], this same tribe issued [[coin]]s with three faces, a motif found elsewhere is [[Gaul]].<ref name="GreenExploring28"/> The inference is that a specific Remic divinity is represented. Another tribal god was [[Lenus]], venerated by the [[Treveri]]. He was worshipped at a number of Treveran sanctuaries, the most splendid of which was at the tribal capital of [[Trier]] itself. Yet he was also exported to other areas: [[Lenus]] has altars set up to him in [[Chedworth]] in [[Gloucestershire]] and [[Caerwent]] in [[Wales]].<ref name="GreenExploring28"/> Many Celtic divinities were extremely localised, sometimes occurring in just one shrine, perhaps because the [[spirit]] concerned was a [[genius loci]] personifying the [[ecology|natural balance]] of a particular place.<ref name="GreenExploring28"/> In [[Gaul]], over four hundred different Celtic god-names are recorded, of which at least 300 occur just once. [[Sequana]] was confined to her [[spring (hydrosphere)|spring]] [[shrine]] near [[Dijon]], [[Sulis]] belonged to [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]]. The divine couple [[Ucuetis]] and [[Bergusia]] were worshipped solely at [[Alesia (city)|Alesia]] in [[Burgundy]]. The British god [[Nodens]] is associated above all with the great sanctuary at Lydney. Yet he appears at one other site, at [[Cockersand Moss]] in Cumbria. Two other British deities, [[Cocidius]] and [[Belatucadrus]] were both Martial gods and were each worshipped in a clearly defined territories in the area of [[Hadrian’s Wall]].<ref name="GreenExploring28"/> There are many other gods whose names betray their origins as [[genius loci|topographical spirits]]. [[Vosegus]] presided over the mountains of the [[Vosges]], [[Luxovius]] of the [[spa]]-settlement of [[Luxeuil]] and [[Vasio]] to whom belonged the town of [[Vaison]] in the Lower [[Rhône]] Valley.<ref name="GreenExploring29"/> ==The evidence for Celtic religion== The evidence for the nature of Celtic religion comes partly from ancient literature (from the Classical commentators on the Celts, and from the vernacular mythic sources of Ireland and Wales) and partly from archaeological evidence, especially in the Roman period when inscribed dedications and religious images contribute significantly to our knowledge. What we lack because of the virtual non-literacy of [[Iron Age]] Celts is written testimony from the Celts themselves.<ref name="GreenExploring24"/> It is important to exercise some care in using all three of these sources for Celtic religion. The classical historians were inevitably subject to bias, distortion, ignorance, misunderstanding, literary convention and barbarian stereotyping, all of which combine to present a picture of Celtic religion which is somewhat skewed and, to a certain extent, unreal.<ref name="GreenExploring24"/> Because of their chronological separation from the pre-Christian world, the early [[Welsh mythology|Welsh]] and [[Irish mythology|Irish vernacular sources]], written in the [[Welsh language|Welsh]] and [[Irish language]]s, must be scrutinized with even more rigour than the classical sources in assessing their validity as evidence for [[Celtic polytheism|pagan Celtic religion]].<ref name="GreenExploring24"/> While it is possible to single out specific texts which – because of their pagan content – can be strongly argued to encapsulate genuine echoes or resonances of the pre-Christian past, the [[Irish mythology|earliest mythic stories of Ireland]] and [[Welsh mythology|Wales]] were not compiled in written form until the [[Middle Ages|mediaeval period]]. Opinion is divided as to whether these texts contain substantive material derived from [[oral tradition]] as preserved by [[bard]]s or whether they were the creation of the mediaeval [[Christian monasticism|monastic tradition]].<ref name="GreenExploring24"/> The [[excavation|archaeological evidence]] does not contain the [[bias]] inherent in the [[literature|literary sources]]. Nonetheless, our interpretation of this evidence is inevitably coloured by the twenty-first-century mindset.<ref name="GreenExploring24"/> Four main types of source provide information on Celtic polytheism: the minted [[coin]]s of Gaul, Raetia, Noricum and Britain; the sculptures, monuments and inscriptions associated with the Celts of [[continental Europe]] and of [[Roman Britain]]; [[Greek literature|Greek]] and [[Latin literature|Roman literature]]; and the insular literatures of [[Celtic mythology]] that have survived in writing from medieval times. All pose problems of interpretation. The pre-Roman coins of the 1st century BC and early 1st century AD bear few relevant inscriptions, and their iconography derives partly from standardized Hellenistic numismatic prototypes and partly presents highly local emblems. Most of the monuments, and their accompanying inscriptions, belong to the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] period and reflect a considerable degree of [[syncretism]] between Celtic and [[Roman mythology|Roman gods]]; even where figures and motifs appear to derive from pre-Roman tradition, they are difficult to interpret in the absence of a preserved literature on mythology. Only after the lapse of many centuries &ndash; beginning in the 7th century in Ireland, even later in Wales &ndash; were Celtic mythological traditions consigned to writing, but by then Ireland and Wales had been Christianised and the scribes and redactors were monastic scholars. The resulting literature is abundant and varied, but it is much removed in both time and location from its epigraphic and iconographic correlatives on the Continent and inevitably reflects the redactors' selectivity and something of their Christian learning. There are nevertheless many points of agreement between the insular literatures and the continental evidence. This is particularly notable in the case of the [[classical antiquity|Classical]] commentators from [[Posidonius]] (c. 135–c. 51 BC) onward who recorded their own or others' observations on the Celts. ==Cosmology and eschatology== Though there are records of deity names, and archaeological remains including altars and temples, little is known about the specific [[Religion|religious beliefs]] of the Celts of Gaul. Their burial practices, which included burying food, weapons, and ornaments with the dead, suggest a belief in [[Afterlife|life after death]].<ref name="Cunliffe">Barry Cunliffe, ''The Ancient Celts''. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997, pp.208-210. ISBN 0-19-815010-5.</ref> The [[druids]], the early Celtic priesthood, were said by [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] to have taught the doctrine of [[transmigration of the soul]] along with astronomy and the nature and power of the gods.<ref>[[Julius Caesar]], ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' [http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Caes.+Gal.+5.14 5:14]</ref> The Irish believed in an [[Other World|Otherworld]], which they described sometimes as underground, such as in the ''[[Sídhe]]'' mounds, and sometimes located on islands in the Western Sea. The Otherworld was variously called ''Tír na mBeo'' ("the Land of the Living"), ''Mag Mell'' ("Delightful Plain"), and ''[[Tír na nÓg]]'' ("Land of the Young"), among other names. It was believed to be a country where there was no sickness, old age, or death, where happiness lasted forever, and a hundred years was as one day. It was probably similar to the [[Elysium]] of the [[Greek mythology]] and both may have a shared origin in ancient [[Proto-Indo-European religion]]. In Irish ''[[Immram]]a'' ("voyage") tales, a beautiful young woman often approaches the hero and sings to him of this happy land. Sometimes she offers him an apple, or the promise of her love in exchange for his assistance in battle. He follows her, and they journey over the sea together and are seen no more. Their journey may take place in a boat of glass, in a chariot or on horseback (usually upon a white horse, as in the case of the goddess [[Niamh]] of the Golden Hair). Sometimes the hero returns after what he believes is a short time, only to find that all his companions are dead and he has actually been away for hundreds of years. Sometimes the hero sets out on a quest, and a magic mist descends upon him. He may find himself before an unusual palace and enter to find a warrior or a beautiful woman who makes him welcome. The woman may be the goddess [[Fand]], the warrior may be [[Manannan mac Lir|Manannán mac Lir]] or [[Lugh]], and after strange adventures the hero may return successfully. However, even in cases where the mortal manages to return to his own time and place, he is forever changed by his contact with the Otherworld.<ref name="MacKillop1">James MacKillop, ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'', Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998, pp.21, 205, 270, 322-3, 346, 359-60. ISBN 0-19-280120-1.</ref> This conception of the Otherworld is also preserved in the Welsh story of ''[[Branwen]], daughter of [[Llyr]]'', which ends with the survivors of the great battle feasting in the presence of the severed head of [[Bran the Blessed]], having forgotten all their suffering and sorrow, and having become unaware of the passage of time.<ref name="Ford">Patrick K. Ford (ed/trans), ''The Mabinogi and other Medieval Welsh Tales'', University of California Press, Berkeley, 1977. ISBN 0-520-03414-7</ref> In Irish lore, [[Donn]], a god of the dead, reigned over ''Tech Duinn'' ('The House of Donn'), which was seen as existing on or under [[Bull Island]], located off the Beare Peninsula in the southwest of Ireland. It was believed that the newly-dead journeyed to ''Tech Duinn'', either to remain there forever, or perhaps as a starting-point on their journey to the [[Fortunate Isles|Blessed Isles]] across the Western Sea.<ref name="MacKillop2">MacKillop 1998, pp.147-9</ref> A [[Welsh mythology|Welsh]] corollary to ''Tech Duinn'' is ''[[Annwfn]]'', ruled by the Otherworld kings [[Arawn]] and [[Gwyn ap Nudd]].<ref name="MacKillop3">MacKillop 1998, pp.19-20</ref> Insular Celts swore their oaths by their personal or tribal gods, and the land, sea and sky; as in, "I swear by the gods by whom my people swear" and "If I break my oath, may the land open to swallow me, the sea rise to drown me, and the sky fall upon me."<ref name="Sjoestedt">Marie-Louise Sjoestedt, ''Gods and Heroes of the Celts'', translated by Myles Dillon, Berkeley, CA, Turtle Island Foundation, 1982, p.17. ISBN 0-913666-52-1.</ref> Or, in more detail, as sworn by the King of [[Ulster]], [[Conchobar mac Nessa]], in the [[Ulster Cycle]] tale, ''[[Táin Bó Cúailnge]]'' ("The Cattle Raid of Cooley"): {{cquote|The sky is above us and the earth below and the sea all about us. Unless the firmament with its showers of stars falls down upon the earth, or the earth bursts asunder in an earthquake or the blue-bordered furrowy sea flows over the hair of the earth, I shall bring back every cow to her byre and yard and every woman to her home and dwelling, after victory in the battle.<ref name="Dillon">Myles Dillon, ''Early Irish Literature'', Dublin, Four Courts Press, 1994, p. 11. ISBN 1-85182-117-5</ref>}} ==Worship== According to [[Poseidonius]] and later classical authors Gaulish religion and culture were the concern of three professional classes—the [[druid]]s, the [[bards]], and the ''[[vates]]''. This threefold hierarchy had its reflection among the two main branches of Celts in Ireland and Wales, but is best represented in early Irish tradition with its ''draoithe'' (druids), ''[[fili]]dh'' (visionary poets), and ''Faidh'' (seers). However these categories are not always fixed, and may be named or divided differently in different primary sources. Classical sources claimed that the Celts had no temples (before the Gallo-Roman period) and that their ceremonies took place in forest sanctuaries. However, archaeologist have discovered a large number of temple sites excavated throughout the Celtic world, primarily in Gaul. In the Gallo-Roman period, more permanent stone temples were erected, and many of them have been discovered by archaeologists in Britain as well as in Gaul. Indeed, a distinct type of Celto-Roman temple called a ''fanum'' also was developed. This was distinguished from a common [[Roman temple|Roman shrine]] by having an ambulatory on all four sides of the central [[cella]]. Celtic religious practice was probably [[sacrifice|sacrificial]] in its interactions with the gods. Roman writers stated that the [[Celts and human sacrifice|Celts practiced human sacrifice]] in Gaul: [[Cicero]], Julius Caesar, [[Suetonius]], and [[Lucan (poet)|Lucan]] all refer to it, and [[Pliny the Elder]] says that it occurred in Britain, too. It was forbidden under [[Tiberius]] and [[Claudius]]. However there is also the possibility that these claims may have been false, and used as a sort of propaganda to justify the Roman conquest of these territories. There are only very few recorded archaeological discoveries which preserve evidence of [[human sacrifice]] and thus most contemporary historians tend to regard human sacrifice as rare within Celtic cultures. There is some [[circumstantial evidence]] that human sacrifice was known in Ireland and was later forbidden by [[St. Patrick]], a claim which has also been disputed. The early Celts considered some trees to be sacred. The importance of trees in Celtic religion is shown by the fact that the very name of the [[Eburonian]] tribe contains a reference to the [[Yew|yew tree]], and that names like [[Mac Cuilinn]] (son of holly) and [[Mac Ibar]] (son of yew) appear in Irish myths. In Ireland, wisdom was symbolized by the salmon who feed on the hazelnuts from the trees that surround the well of wisdom (''Tobar Segais''). There was also a [[warrior]] cult that centered on the severed heads of their enemies. The Celts provided their dead with weapons and other accoutrements, which indicates that they most likely believed in some form of an afterlife. ===The [[ritual]] of the [[oak]] and the [[Viscum album|mistletoe]]=== [[Pliny the Elder]], writing in the [[first century AD]], describes a religious ceremony in [[Gaul]] in which white-clad [[druid]]s climbed a sacred [[oak]], cut down the [[Viscum album|mistletoe]] growing on it, sacrificed two [[White Galloway|white bull]]s and used the mistletoe to cure infertility:<ref name="GreenExploring18-19">Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 18-19</ref> {{cquote|The druids - that is what they call their magicians - hold nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and a tree on which it is growing, provided it is [[Quercus aegilips|Valonia Oak]]…. Mistletoe is rare and when found it is gathered with great ceremony, and particularly on the [[lunar phase|sixth day of the moon]]….Hailing the [[moon]] in a native word that means ‘[[panacea|healing all things]],’ they prepare a [[ritual]] [[sacrifice]] and [[banquet]] beneath a tree and bring up two [[White Galloway|white bull]]s, whose [[horn (anatomy)|horn]]s are bound for the first time on this occasion. A [[priest]] arrayed in white [[vestment]]s climbs the tree and, with a [[gold]]en [[sickle]], cuts down the mistletoe, which is caught in a white [[cloak]]. Then finally they kill the [[White Galloway|victim]]s, praying to a [[deity|god]] to render his gift propitious to those on whom he has bestowed it. They believe that mistletoe given in drink will impart fertility to any animal that is barren and that it is an antidote to all poisons<ref>[[Natural History (Pliny)]], XVI, 95</ref>}} Pliny was primarily interested in natural history and some scholars have dismissed the testimony in relation to the druids’ ceremony as largely fanciful, particularly as he is the only classical author to mention this ceremony. Yet Pliny specifically associates druids with oak trees. Oaks were held sacred by both druids and Celts alike. [[Drunemeton]], the ‘oak sanctuary,’ is described by [[Strabo]] as a place where the [[Galatian]] Council met and oak was used to construct the great [[Iron Age]] multi-ring timber structure at [[Navan Fort]] in [[County Armagh]].<ref>Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Pages 32, 56</ref> The [[Poole Logboat]] and the [[Corlea Trackway]] were both made of oak in the [[Iron Age]].<ref name="GreenExploring18-19"/> Central to Pliny’s statement is the sanctity of the [[Viscum album|mistletoe]], both as a healing agent and as an aid to [[fertility]]. Both these concerns are emphasised in Celtic religious expression. Interestingly, in modern [[pharmacopoeia]], mistletoe is reputed to be beneficial to sufferers of [[insomnia]], [[high blood pressure]] and certain [[malignant tumour]]s.<ref name="GreenExploring19">Miranda J. Green. (2005) ''Exploring the world of the druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-28571-3. Page 19</ref> Moreover, that mistletoe may have possessed important symbolism for the Celts is suggested by its presence as a motif in early Celtic art. Human heads bearing curious leaf-shaped [[wreath (attire)|crown]]s are common decorative themes on both [[jewellery]] and stone [[monument]]s.<ref name="GreenExploring19"/> The lobed shape of the leaves on these objects closely resembles the leaves of [[Viscum album|European mistletoe]] and, if such an identification be correct, it may be that the faces depicted in this pre-Roman art are those of [[priest]]s or [[deity|god]]s. In Pliny’s comments, three other points of significance concern [[banquet]]ing, the [[moon]] and [[British White|bull]]-[[sacrifice]]. All three are familiar to the repertoire of Celtic religion. Ritual [[banquet]]s are represented in some rich tombs of both the early and late [[La Tène culture|Iron Age of Celtic Europe]]: the [[Hallstatt culture|Hallstatt]] chieftain’s tomb at [[Hochdorf]] was furnished with a set of nine [[drinking horn]]s and a nine-piece dinner service, for the [[otherworld]] Banquet, as well as a huge [[cauldron]] of [[mead]]. certain shrines exibit abundant evidence of ceremonial banquets: excavators of the sanctuary at [[Mirebeau]], in northern [[France]], found a veritable carpet of bones from butchered animals and broken pots, which appear to be the remains of feasting.<ref name="GreenExploring19"/> Pliny makes allusions to the moon on its sixth day, a [[lunar phase|waxing crescent moon]], as an instrument of healing: here again there is corroborative evidence in that Celtic goddesses associated with healing and regeneration are sometimes depicted wearing lunar amulets; and the great temple of the healer-goddess [[Sulis|Sulis Minerva]] at [[Bath, Somerset]] bears a carving of the Roman moon-goddess [[Selene|Luna]]. Among the finds at [[Bath, Somerset]] was a lunar [[pendant]], possibly once part of a priest’s sceptre.<ref name="GreenExploring19"/> Lastly, bull-sacrifice is attested in other evidence. Cattle were commonly used as sacrificial animals: the shrine of [[Gournay]] in [[Picardy]] was the scene of repeated [[ox]]-sacrifice and cattle were ritually slaughtered in numerous Celtic sanctuaries.<ref name="GreenExploring19"/> Bull-sacrifice is twice depicted on the [[Gundestrup cauldron]] and was probably made in the [[first century BC]]. In [[Irish mythology]], the [[Tarbhfhess]], the ‘bull-sleep,’ was a ritual closely associated with [[druid]]s. : a selected individual was fed on bull flesh before being chanted to sleep by four druids; while he slept he dreamt of the next rightful [[High King of Ireland]] and when he awoke he gave this information to his druid attendants.<ref name="GreenExploring19"/> ==Religious vocations or castes== ===Druids=== {{main|Druid}} A [[Druid]] was a member of the learned class among the ancient Celts. They acted as priests, teachers, and judges. The earliest known records of the Druids come from the [[3rd century BC]]. Some scholars have suggested that the Druids were the Celtic counterparts of the Brahmans of India. ===Bards and ''filid''=== {{main|Fili|Bard}} In Ireland the ''filid'' were visionary poets, associated with lorekeeping, versecraft, and the memorization of vast numbers of poems. They were also magicians, as Irish magic is intrinsically connected to poetry, and the [[satire]] of a gifted poet was a serious [[curse]] upon the one being satirized. To run afoul of a poet was a dangerous thing indeed to a people who valued reputation and honor more than life itself. In Ireland a "bard" was considered a lesser grade of poet than a ''fili'' - more of a minstrel and rote reciter than an inspired artist with magical powers. However in [[Wales]] ''bardd'' was the word for their visionary poets, and used in the same manner ''fili'' was in Ireland and Scotland. The Celtic poets, of whatever grade, were composers of eulogy and satire, and a chief duty was that of composing and reciting verses on heroes and their deeds, and memorizing the genealogies of their patrons. It was essential to their livelihood that they increase the fame of their patrons, via tales, poems and songs. As early as the 1st century AD, the Latin author Lucan referred to "bards" as the national poets or minstrels of Gaul and Britain. In Gaul the institution gradually disappeared, whereas in Ireland and Wales it survived. The Irish bard through chanting preserved a tradition of poetic eulogy. In Wales, where the word ''bardd'' has always been used for poet, the bardic order was codified into distinct grades in the [[10th century]]. Despite a decline of the order toward the end of the European [[Middle Ages]], the Welsh tradition has persisted and is celebrated in the annual [[eisteddfod]], a national assembly of poets and musicians. ==Festivals== Insular sources provide important information about Celtic [[religious festival]]s. In Ireland the year was divided into two periods of six months by the feasts of [[Beltane]] ([[May 1]]) and [[Samhain]] (Samain; [[November 1]]), and each of these periods was equally divided by the feasts of [[Imbolc]] ([[February 1]]), and [[Lughnasadh]] ([[August 1]]). Samhain seems originally to have meant "summer," but by the early Irish period it had come to mark summer's end. Beltine is also called Cetsamain ("First Samhain"). Imbolc has been compared by the French scholar [[Joseph Vendryes]] to the Roman lustrations and apparently was a feast of purification for the farmers. Beltane ("Bright Fire") was the festival of the beginning of summer, and there is a tradition that on that day the people drove their cattle between two fires as a protection against disease. Lughnasadh was the feast of the god Lugh and a celebration of the [[First Fruits|first fruits]] or early harvest. The [[Coligny calendar]] has sometimes been looked to for information regarding the Gaulish year including [[Holiday|holy days]]. ===Beltane=== {{main|Beltane}} Beltane is a festival held on the first day of May in Ireland and Scotland, celebrating the beginning of summer and open pasturing. In early Irish lore a number of significant events took place on Beltane, which long remained the focus of folk traditions and tales in Ireland, Scotland, and [[Isle of Man|the Isle of Man]]. Like Samhain, Beltane was seen as a time when the spirit realm is especially close at hand. ===Samhain=== {{main|Samhain}} The beginning of the month of [[Samhain]] ([[Old Irish]] ''samain''), was one of the most important calendar festivals of the Celtic year. At "the three nights of Samhain", held around the beginning of November, the world of the gods and spirits was believed to be made visible to humans. The deities and spirits may play tricks on their mortal worshipers, and it was a time filled with supernatural episodes. Samhain was traditionally a time of sacrifice, whether in offering to the deities or due to the need to slaughter any livestock that it would be impossible to feed for the entire winter. Samhain was an important precursor to the later festival of [[Halloween]], as it was a time for the Celts to honour the dead, the spirits and deities, and to face the realities and fears of the coming winter. ==Syncretism with other polytheistic systems== The ''[[locus classicus]]'' for the [[List of Celtic deities|Celtic gods]] of [[Gaul]] is the passage in [[Julius Caesar]]'s ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' (''The Gallic War'', 52–51 BC) in which he names six of them, together with their functions. He says that [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] was the most honoured of all the gods and many images of him were to be found. Mercury was regarded as the inventor of all the arts, the patron of travellers and of merchants, and the most powerful god in matters of commerce and gain. After him the [[Gaul]]s honoured [[Apollo]], who drove away diseases, [[Mars (god)|Mars]], who controlled war, [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]], who ruled the heavens, and [[Minerva]], who promoted handicrafts. He adds that the Gauls regarded [[Dis Pater]] as their ancestor.<ref>[[Julius Caesar]], ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' [http://perseus.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Caes.+Gal.+6.17 6:17-18]</ref> In [[interpretatio Romana|characteristic Roman fashion]], Caesar does not refer to these figures by their native names but by the names of the Roman gods with which he equated them, a procedure that greatly complicates the task of identifying his Gaulish deities with their counterparts in the insular literatures. He also presents a neat schematic equation of god and function that is quite foreign to the vernacular literary testimony. Yet, given its limitations, his brief catalog is a valuable witness. The gods named by Caesar are well-attested in the later epigraphic record of Gaul and Britain. Not infrequently, their names are coupled with native Celtic theonyms and epithets, such as Mercury [[Visucius]], [[Lenus]] Mars, Jupiter [[Poeninus]], or [[Sulis]] Minerva. Unsyncretised theonyms are also widespread, particularly among goddesses such as [[Sulevia]], [[Sirona]], [[Rosmerta]], and [[Epona]]. In all, several hundred names containing a Celtic element are attested in Gaul. The majority occur only once, which has led some scholars to conclude that the Celtic gods and their cults were local and tribal rather than national. Supporters of this view cite [[Lucan (poet)|Lucan]]'s mention of a god called [[Teutates]], which they interpret as "god of the tribe" (it is thought that ''teuta-'' meant "tribe" in Celtic).<ref name="Duval">Paul-Marie Duval, ''Les dieux de la Gaule'', Éditions Payot, Paris, 1993. ISBN 2-228-88621-1</ref> The multiplicity of deity names may also be explained otherwise &ndash; many, for example, may be simply epithets applied to major deities by widely extended cults.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} ==Cults within Celtic polytheism== ===Antlered gods=== [[Image:Detail of antlered figure on the Gundestrup Cauldron.jpg|thumb|right|Detail of the antlered figure holding a torc and a ram-headed snake depicted on the 1st to 2nd century BCE [[Gundestrup cauldron]] discovered in [[Jutland]], [[Denmark]].]] {{main|Cernunnos}} A recurrent figure in Gaulish iconography is a cross-legged deity with antlers, sometimes surrounded by animals, often wearing or holding a [[torc]]. The name usually applied to him, Cernunnos, is attested only a few times, on a relief at [[Notre Dame de Paris]] (currently reading ERNUNNOS, but an early sketch shows it as having read CERNUNNOS in the 18th century), an inscription from [[Montagnac]] (αλλετ[ει]υος καρνονου αλ[ι]σο[ντ]εας, "Alleteinos [dedicated this] to Karnonos of Alisontia"<ref name="RIG">''Recueil des Inscriptions Gauloises'' I (1985), pp.318-325.</ref>), and a pair of identical inscriptions from [[Seinsel-Rëlent]] ("Deo Ceruninco"<ref>''L'Année Épigraphique'' 1987, no. 772.</ref>). Figured representations of this sort of deity, however, are widespread; the earliest known was found at [[Val Camonica]] in northern Italy,{{Fact|date=February 2007}} while the most famous is plate A of the [[Gundestrup Cauldron]], a 1st-century-BC vessel found in Denmark. On the Gundestrup Cauldron and sometimes elsewhere, Cernunnos, or similar figure, is accompanied by a ram-headed serpent. At Reims, the figure is depicted with a [[cornucopia]] overflowing with grains or coins.<ref name="Duval" p.151/> ===Healing deities=== {{main|Airmed|Belenus|Borvo|Brighid|Grannus|}} Healing deities are known from many parts of the Celtic world; they frequently have associations with [[Hot spring|thermal springs]], healing wells, [[herbalism]] and light. Brighid, the triple goddess of healing, poetry and smithcraft is perhaps the most well-known of the Insular Celtic deities of healing. She is associated with many healing springs and [[clootie well|wells]]. A lesser-known Irish healing goddess is [[Airmed]], also associated with a healing well and with the healing art of herbalism. In Romano-Celtic tradition [[Belenus]] (possibly from Celtic: ''*belen-'' ‘bright’{{Fact|date=February 2007}}, though other etymologies have been convincingly proposed<ref name="Schrijver">Peter Schrijver, "On Henbane and Early European Narcotics", ''Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie'' vol.51 (1999), pp.17-45</ref>) is found chiefly in [[southern France]] and [[northern Italy]]. [[Grannus|Apollo Grannus]], though concentrated in central and eastern Gaul, also “occurs associated with medicinal waters in Brittany [...] and far away in the Danube Basin”.<ref name="Green" p.161/> Grannus's companion is frequently the goddess [[Sirona]]. Another important Celtic deity of healing is [[Bormo]]/[[Borvo]], particularly associated with thermal springs such as [[Bourbonne-les-Bains]] and [[Bourbon-Lancy]]. Such hot springs were (and often still are) believed to have therapeutic value. Green interprets the name Borvo to mean “seething, bubbling or boiling spring water”.<ref name="Green" p.162/> ===Goddesses of sacred waters=== {{main|Sulis|Damona|Sequana}} In [[Ireland]], there are numerous holy wells dedicated to the goddess [[Brighid]]. There are dedications to ‘[[Minerva]]’ in Britain and throughout the Celtic areas of the Continent. At [[Bath, Somerset|Bath]] Minerva was identified with the goddess [[Sulis]], whose cult there centred on the thermal springs. Other goddesses were also associated with sacred springs, such as [[Icovellauna]] among the [[Treveri]] and [[Coventina]] at [[Carrawburgh]]. [[Damona]] and [[Bormana]] also serve this function in companionship with the spring-god Borvo (see above). A number of goddesses were deified rivers, notably [[Boann]] (of the [[River Boyne]]), [[Sinann]] (the [[River Shannon]]), [[Sequana]] (the deified [[Seine]]), [[Matrona]] (the [[Marne]]), [[Souconna]] (the deified [[Saône]]) and perhaps [[Belisama]] (the [[River Ribble|Ribble]]). While the most well-known deity of the sea is the god [[Manannán]], possible early Irish sea goddesses include [[Fand]], her sister [[Lí Ban]], and the mother-goddess of the [[Fomorians]], [[Domnu]]. ===Goddesses of horses=== {{main|Epona|Macha|Rhiannon}} The horse, an instrument of [[Indo-European people|Indo-European]] expansion, plays a part in all the mythologies of the various Celtic cultures. The cult of the Gaulish horse goddess [[Epona]] was widespread. Adopted by the Roman cavalry, it spread throughout much of Europe, even to Rome itself. She seems to be the embodiment of "horse power" or horsemanship, which was likely perceived as a power vital for the success and protection of the tribe. She has insular analogues in the Welsh [[Rhiannon]] and in the Irish [[Édaín]] Echraidhe (echraidhe, "horse riding") and [[Macha]], who outran the fastest steeds. The Welsh horse goddess Rhiannon is best known from The [[Mabinogion]], a collection of [[Middle Welsh language|medieval Welsh]] tales, in which she makes her first appearance on a pale, mysterious steed and meets King [[Pwyll]], whom she later marries. She was accused of killing and devouring her infant son, and in punishment she was forced to act as a horse and to carry visitors to the [[Noble court|royal court]]. According to another story, she was made to wear the collars of asses about her neck in the manner of a beast. The Irish horse goddess [[Macha]], perhaps a threefold goddess herself, is associated with battle and sovereignty. Though a goddess in her own right, she is also considered to be part of the triple goddess of battle and slaughter, the [[Morrígan]]. Other faces of the Morrígan were [[Badhbh Catha]] and [[Nemain]]. ===Mother goddesses=== {{main|Matronae}} [[Mother goddess]]es are a recurrent feature in Celtic religions. The epigraphic record reveals many dedications to the Matres or Matronae, which are particularly prolific around [[Cologne]] in the [[Rhineland]].<ref name="Jufer"/> Iconographically, Celtic mothers may appear singly or, quite often, [[triple goddess|triply]]; they usually hold fruit or ''cornucopiae'' or ''[[wikt:patera|paterae]]'';<ref name="Duval"/> they may also be full-breasted (or many-breasted) figures nursing infants. Welsh and Irish tradition preserve a number of mother figures such as the Welsh [[Dôn]], [[Rhiannon]] (‘great queen’) and [[Modron]] (from Matrona, ‘great mother’), and the Irish [[Danu]], [[Boand]], [[Macha]] and [[Ernmas]]. However, all of these goddesses fulfill many roles in the mythology and symbolism of the Celts, and cannot be limited only to motherhood. In many of their tales, their having children is only mentioned in passing, and is not a central facet of their identity. "Mother" Goddesses may also be Goddesses of warfare and slaughter, or of healing and smithcraft. Mother goddesses were at times symbols of sovereignty, creativity, birth, fertility, sexual union and nurturing. At other times they could be seen as punishers and destroyers: their offspring may be helpful or dangerous to the community, and the circumstances of their birth may lead to curses, ''[[geis|geasa]]'' or hardship, such as in the case of Macha's curse of the Ulstermen or Rhiannon's possible devouring of her child and subsequent punishment. ===Divine couples=== One notable feature of Gaulish and Romano-Celtic sculpture is the frequent appearance of male and female deities in pairs, such as [[Rosmerta]] and ‘Mercury’, [[Nantosuelta]] and [[Sucellos]], [[Sirona]] and [[Grannus|Apollo Grannus]], [[Borvo]] and [[Damona]], or [[Loucetios|Mars Loucetius]] and [[Nemetona]].<ref name="Jufer" p.14/> ===Cult of Lugh=== {{main|Lugus|Lugh|Lleu}} According to Caesar the god most honoured by the Gauls was ‘[[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]]’, and this is confirmed by numerous images and inscriptions. Mercury's name is often coupled with Celtic epithets, particularly in eastern and central Gaul; the commonest such names include [[Visucius]], [[Cissonius]], and [[Gebrinius]].<ref name="Jufer">Jufer, Nicole & Thierry Luginbühl (2001). ''Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie.'' Paris: Editions Errance. ISBN 2-87772-200-7.</ref> Another name, [[Lugus]], is inferred from the recurrent [[Toponymy|place-name]] ''Lugdunon'' ('the fort of Lugus') from which the modern [[Lyon]], [[Laon]], and [[Loudun]] in [[France]] and [[Leiden]] in [[Netherlands|The Netherlands]] derive their names; a similar element can be found in [[Carlisle]] (formerly Castra Luguvallium) and [[Legnica]] in Poland. The Irish and Welsh cognates of Lugus are [[Lugh]] and [[Lleu Llaw Gyffes|Lleu]], respectively, and certain traditions concerning these figures mesh neatly with those of the Gaulish god. Caesar's description of the latter as "the inventor of all the arts" might almost have been a paraphrase of Lugh's conventional epithet ''samildánach'' ("possessed of many talents"), while Lleu is addressed as "master of the twenty crafts" in the ''[[Mabinogi]]''.<ref name="Ford">Patrick K. Ford (ed/trans). 1977. ''The Mabinogi and other Medieval Welsh Tales.'' University of California Press, Berkeley. ISBN 0-520-03414-7</ref> An episode in the Irish tale of the [[Cath Maige Tuireadh|Battle of Magh Tuiredh]] is a dramatic exposition of Lugh's claim to be master of all the arts and crafts.<ref name="Gray">Elizabeth A. Gray (ed/trans). 1982. ''Cath Maige Tuired: The Second Battle of Mag Tuired.'' Irish Texts Society (Vol. LII), Naas, Co Kildare</ref> Inscriptions in Spain and Switzerland, one of them from a guild of shoemakers, are dedicated to [[Lugoves]], widely interpreted as a plural of Lugus perhaps referring to the god conceived in triple form.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} <!-- not a contentious point, but we should still find a citation --> The Gaulish Mercury often seems to function as a god of sovereignty. Gaulish depictions of Mercury sometimes show him bearded and/or with wings or horns emerging directly from his head, rather than from a winged hat. Both these characteristics are unusual for the classical god. More conventionally, the Gaulish Mercury is usually shown accompanied by a ram and/or a rooster, and carrying a [[caduceus]]; his depiction at times is very classical.<ref name="Duval" p.69/> Lugh is said to have instituted the festival of [[Lughnasadh]], celebrated on [[1 August]], in commemoration of his foster-mother [[Tailtiu]].<ref name="Macalister">R. A. Stewart Macalister (ed/trans). 1941. ''Lebor Gabála Érenn: The Book of the Taking of Ireland. Part IV.'' Irish Texts Society (Vol. XLI), Dublin.</ref> In Gaulish monuments and inscriptions, Mercury is very often accompanied by [[Rosmerta]], whom [[Miranda Green]] interprets to be a goddess of fertility and prosperity. Green also notices that the Celtic Mercury frequently accompanies the [[Deae Matres]] (see below).<ref name="Green">Miranda Green. 1986. ''The Gods of the Celts.'' Alan Sutton, Gloucs. ISBN 0-86299-292-3</ref> ===Cult of Taranis=== {{main|Taranis}} The Gaulish [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] is often depicted with a thunderbolt in one hand and a distinctive wheel in the other. Scholars frequently identify this wheel/sky god with [[Taranis]], who is mentioned by [[Lucan (poet)|Lucan]]. The name Taranis may be cognate with those of [[Taran]], a minor figure in [[Welsh mythology]], and [[Turenn]], the father of the '[[Brian (mythology)|three gods of Dana]]' in [[Irish mythology]]. ===Cult of Toutatis=== [[Teutates]], also spelled Toutatis (Celtic: "god of the tribe"), was one of three Celtic gods mentioned by the Roman poet [[Lucan (poet)|Lucan]] in the [[1st century]],<ref name="Lucan">[[Marcus Annaeus Lucanus]]. c.[[61]]-[[65]]. ''[[Pharsalia|Bellum civile]]'', Book I, ll.498-501. [http://omacl.org/Pharsalia/book1.html Online translation]</ref> the other two being [[Esus]] ("lord") and [[Taranis]] ("thunderer"). According to later commentators, victims sacrificed to Teutates were killed by being plunged headfirst into a vat filled with an unspecified liquid. Present-day scholars frequently speak of ‘the ''toutates''’ as plural, referring respectively to the patrons of the several tribes.<ref name="Duval" p.31/> Of two later commentators on Lucan's text, one identifies Teutates with [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]], the other with [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]]. He is also known from dedications in Britain, where his name was written Toutatis. Paul-Marie Duval, who considers the Gaulish Mars a syncretism with the Celtic ''toutates'', notes that: {{cquote|''Les représentations de Mars, beaucoup plus rares [que celles de Mercure] (une trentaine de bas-reliefs), plus monotones dans leur académisme classique, et ses surnoms plus de deux fois plus nombreux (une cinquantaine) s'équilibrent pour mettre son importance à peu près sur le même plan que celle de Mercure mais sa domination n'est pas de même nature.'' <br>(“Mars' representations, much rarer [than Mercury's] (thirty-odd bas reliefs) and more monotone in their studied classicism, and his epithets which are more than twice as numerous (about fifty), balance each other to place his importance roughly on the same level as Mercury, but his domination is not of the same kind.” Duval 1993:71)<ref name="Duval" p.71/>}} ===Cult of Esus=== {{main|Esus}} Esus appears in two monumental statues as an axeman cutting branches from [[tree]]s. ===Gods with hammers=== {{main|Sucellus}} Sucellos, the 'good striker' is usually portrayed as a [[Middle age|middle-aged]] bearded man, with a long-handled [[hammer]], or perhaps a beer [[barrel (storage)|barrel]] suspended from a pole. His companion, [[Nantosuelta]], is sometimes depicted alongside him. When together, they are accompanied by symbols associated with prosperity and domesticity. This figure is often identified with [[Silvanus]], worshipped in southern Gaul under similar attributes; [[Dis Pater]], from whom, according to Caesar, all the Gauls believed themselves to be descended; and the Irish [[Dagda]], the 'good god', who possessed a caldron that was never empty and a huge club. ===Gods of strength and eloquence=== {{main|Ogmios}} A club-wielding god identified as [[Ogmios]] is readily observed in Gaulish iconography. In Gaul, he was identified with the Roman Hercules. He was portrayed as an old man with swarthy skin and armed with a bow and club. He was also a god of eloquence, and in that aspect he was represented as drawing along a company of men whose ears were chained to his tongue. Ogmios' Irish equivalent was [[Ogma]], who was impressively portrayed as a swarthy man whose battle ardour was so great that he had to be controlled by chains held by other warriors until the right moment.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} [[Ogham]] script, an Irish [[writing system]] dating from the [[4th century|4th century AD]], was said to have been invented by him.{{Fact|date=February 2007}} ===The divine bull=== {{main|Tarvos Trigaranus}} Another prominent [[zoomorphic]] deity type is the divine bull. [[Tarvos Trigaranus]] ("bull with three cranes") is pictured on reliefs from the cathedral at [[Trier]], [[Germany]], and at [[Notre Dame de Paris|Notre-Dame]] de [[Paris]]. In [[Irish literature]], the [[Donn Cuailnge]] ("Brown Bull of Cooley") plays a central role in the epic ''[[Táin Bó Cuailnge]]'' ("The [[Cattle raiding|Cattle-Raid]] of Cooley"). ===The ram-headed snake=== A distinctive ram-headed snake accompanies Gaulish gods in a number of representations, including [[Horned God|the horned god]] from the [[Gundestrup cauldron]], Mercury, and Mars. ==Deities== This table shows some of the Celtic and Romano-Celtic [[god]]s and [[goddess]]es mentioned above, in Romanized form as well as ancient Gaulish or British names as well as those of the [[Tuatha Dé Danann]] and characters from the ''[[Mabinogion]]''. They are arranged so as to suggest some linguistic or functional associations among the ancient gods and literary figures; needless to say, all such associations are subject to continual scholarly revision and disagreement. In particular, it has been noted by scholars such as Sjoestedt that it is inappropriate to try to fit Insular Celtic deities into a Roman format as such attempts seriously distort the Insular deities. {| class="wikitable" ! ''Interpretatio''<br>''romana'' ! Gaulish/British ! Irish ! Welsh |- | &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || [[Arianrhod]] |- | [[Apollo]] || [[Belenus]]<br>[[Borvo]]<br>[[Grannus]] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; |- | [[Victoria (mythology)|Victoria]] || [[Bodua]] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; |- | &nbsp; || &nbsp; || Bran || [[Brân]] |- | [[Dionysus|Bacchus]] || [[Cernunnos]] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; |- | &nbsp; || [[Epona]] || [[Macha (Irish mythology)|Macha]] || [[Rhiannon]] |- | &nbsp; || [[Esus]] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; |- | [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]] || [[Gobannos]] || [[Goibniu]] || [[Gofannon]] |- | Mercury Uiducus|| &nbsp; || &nbsp; || [[Gwydion]] |- | [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] || [[Lugus]] || [[Lugh|Lug]] || [[Lleu]] |- | [[Neptune (mythology)|Neptune]] || &nbsp; || [[Manannán]] || [[Manawydan]] |- | [[Apollo]] || [[Maponos]] || [[Aengus|Maccan]] || [[Mabon ap Modron|Mabon]] |- | &nbsp; || [[Matronae]] || &nbsp; || [[Modron]] |- | [[Lamia (mythology)|Lamiae]] || &nbsp; || The [[Morrígan]] || &nbsp; |- | [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] || [[Nodens]] || [[Nuadu]] || [[Lludd]]/[[Nudd]] |- | [[Hercules]] || [[Ogmios]] || [[Ogma]] || &nbsp; |- | &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || [[Pryderi]] |- | &nbsp; || &nbsp; || &nbsp; || [[Pwyll]] |- | [[Maia (mythology)|Maia]] || [[Rosmerta]] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; |- | [[Hygieia]] || [[Sirona]] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; |- | [[Silvanus (mythology)|Silvanus]] || [[Sucellus]] || the [[Dagda]] || &nbsp; |- |valign="top"| [[Minerva]] || [[Sulis]]<br>[[Coventina]]<br>[[Icovellauna]]<br>[[Sequana]] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; |- | [[Junones]] || [[Suleviae]] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; |- | [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] || [[Taranis]] || [[Turenn]] || [[Taran]] |- | [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] || [[Toutatis]] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; |- | &nbsp; || [[Veteris]] || &nbsp; || &nbsp; |} ==The effect of Christianity== The conversion to [[Christianity]] inevitably had a profound effect on this socio-religious system from the [[5th century]] onward, though its character can only be extrapolated from documents of considerably later date. By the early 7th century the church had succeeded in relegating Irish druids to ignominious irrelevancy, while the ''[[filidh]],'' masters of traditional learning, operated in easy harmony with their clerical counterparts, contriving at the same time to retain a considerable part of their pre-Christian tradition, [[social status]], and privilege. But virtually all the vast corpus of early [[vernacular literature]] that has survived was written down in monastic [[scriptoria]], and it is part of the task of modern scholarship to identify the relative roles of traditional continuity and ecclesiastical innovation as reflected in the written texts. [[Cormac's Glossary]] (c. 900) recounts that St. Patrick banished those [[mantic]] rites of the ''filidh'' that involved offerings to "demons", and it seems probable that the church took particular pains to stamp out [[animal sacrifice]] and other rituals repugnant to Christian teaching. What survived of ancient ritual practice tended to be related to ''filidhecht'', the traditional repertoire of the ''filidh'', or to the central institution of sacral kingship. A good example is the pervasive and persistent concept of the [[hierogamy]] (sacred marriage) of the king with the goddess of sovereignty: the sexual union, or ''[[banais ríghi]]'' ("wedding of kingship"), which constituted the core of the royal inauguration seems to have been purged from the ritual at an early date through ecclesiastical influence, but it remains at least implicit, and often quite explicit, for many centuries in the literary tradition. Nagy has noted the Gaelic [[oral tradition]] has been remarkably conservative. The fact that we have tales in existence which were still being told in the 19th century in almost exactly the same form as they exist in ancient manuscripts leads to the strong probability that much of what the monks recorded was considerably older. Though the Christian interpolations in some of these tales are very obvious, many of them read like afterthoughts or footnotes to the main body of the tales, which most likely preserve traditions far older than the manuscripts themselves. [[Celtic mythology|Mythology]] based on (though, not identical to) the pre-Christian religion is still common place knowledge in Celtic-speaking cultures. Various rituals involving acts of pilgrimage to sites such as hills and [[clootie well|sacred wells]] which are believed to have curative or otherwise beneficial properties are still performed. Based on evidence from the European continent, various figures which are still known in folklore in the [[Celtic nations|Celtic countries]] up to today, or who take part in post-Christian mythology, are known to have also been worshipped in those areas that did not have records before Christianity. ==Revival== Various groups claim association with Celtic polytheism. These groups range from the [[Polytheistic reconstructionism|Reconstructionists]], who work to practice ancient Celtic religion with as much accuracy as possible; to [[new age]], eclectic groups who take some of their inspiration from Celtic mythology but place little significance on any sort of historical precedent. ===Celtic Reconstructionism=== {{main|Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism}} Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism is an effort to reconstruct, in a modern Celtic cultural context, Celtic polytheistic practices from surviving written, archaeological and cultural examples of Celtic polytheism. ===Neo-druidism and Wicca=== Modern eclectic religions such as [[Wicca]] and [[Neo-druidism]] place little emphasis on historical basis or reconstruction, instead blending many outside influences into a modern religion that draws little influence from, or resemblance to, historical Celtic polytheism outside of borrowed imagery or terminology. ==See also== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} *[[Animism]] *[[Celtic mythology]] *[[Celtic languages]] *[[Germanic paganism]] *[[Gundestrup cauldron]] *[[Irish mythology]] {{col-2}} *[[Horned helmet]] *[[Paganism]] *[[polytheism]] *[[Proto-Indo-European religion]] *[[Welsh mythology]] {{col-2}} {{col-end}} ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==Further reading== *de Vries, Jan (1961) ''Keltische Religion'', a comprehensive survey *Duval, Paul-Marie (1976) ''Les Dieux de la Gaule'', new ed. updated and enlarged. *Green, Miranda (1986, revised 2004) ''Gods of the Celts'', *Mac Cana, Proinsias (1970) ''Celtic Mythology'', copious illustrations. *Nagy, Joseph Falaky (1985) ''The Wisdom of the Outlaw: The Boyhood Deeds of Finn in Gaelic Narrative Tradition'', tales and analysis in Gaelic and English. *O'Rahilly, Thomas F. (1946, reissued 1971) ''Early Irish History and Mythology'' *Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise (1949, reissued 1982; originally published in French, 1940) ''Gods and Heroes of the Celts'' comparisons between deities of the various Celtic cultures vs Classical models. *Stercks, Claude (1986) ''Éléments de cosmogonie celtique'', contains an interpretive essay on the goddess Epona and related deities. *Vendryès, Joseph; Tonnelat, Ernest; Unbegaun, B.-O. (1948) ''Les Religions des Celtes, des Germains et des anciens Slaves''. ==External links== *[http://museums.ncl.ac.uk/reticulum/NORTHERNFRONTIER/TheWretchedBritons/SacredGrove.htm The Sacred Grove] {{Celts|state=collapsed}} {{Celtic mythology topics|state=collapsed}} {{Navbox |name = Neo-druidism |state = |title = [[Neo-druidism]] |image = [[Image:Awen symbol final.svg|30px]]<br><br>[[Image:Triskele-Symbol1.png|30px]] |above = |group1 = Basic Beliefs |list1 = [[Celtic polytheism]] {{·}} [[Druid]]ism {{·}} [[Nature worship]] |group2 = Orders |list2 = [[The Druid Order]] {{·}} [[Ancient Order of Druids]] {{·}} [[Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids]] {{·}} [[British Druid Order]] {{·}} [[Ár nDraíocht Féin]] {{·}} [[Reformed Druids of North America]] |group3 = Notable Neo-druids |list3 = [[Ross Nichols]] {{·}} [[François Jaffrennou]] {{·}} [[Erwan Berthou]] {{·}} [[Gwenc'hlan Le Scouëzec]] {{·}} [[Robert Larson]] {{·}} [[Isaac Bonewits]] |group4 = Related |list4 = [[Celtic Neopaganism]] {{·}} [[Celtic Reconstructionism]] {{·}} [[Celts]] {{·}} [[British Iron Age]] {{·}} [[Paganism]] {{·}} [[Neopaganism]] }}<noinclude> [[Category:Neopaganism templates|{{PAGENAME}}]] </noinclude> [[Category:Celtic mythology]] [[Category:Polytheism]] [[bar:Köitische Getta]] [[da:Keltisk religion]] [[de:Keltische Gottheiten]] [[ko:켈트 다신교]] [[la:Religio Gallica]]