I realize, friends, that many of you might want to know a bit more about the Celts so as to better bask in the proverbial glow of their excellence. No? Well it's here just the same. I did my homework on this one, children - I even cited sources! I think you'll like it if you read it, but be fore-warned: if length were a contest, and prose were more concretely masculine and procreative, no one but Shiva could scoff at this post. Get it? It's convoluted for a joke, but such is truth. Read on.
The Celts are an Indo-European people who became culturally and genetically distinct from other Caucasian ethnic groups around 1200BC. [Littleton] The first Celtic culture in the archeological record is that of the Hallstatt people – a group of Celtic tribes that lived in Germany from around 1000 to 600BC (conveniently called the Hallstatt period of Celtic history). The Hallstatt Celts were characterized by their brightly colored clothing, skillfully crafted weapons, and iron-wrought vessels and utensils, all of which would be hallmarks of later Celtic cultures. [Ellis] The Hallstatt people were also remarkable for burying their dead in ornate tombs, thereby distinguishing themselves from their Germanic neighbors who preferred cremation. [Ellis] The Hallsatt period lasted for some four centuries, during which time the Celtic population increased rapidly. This population boom provided an impetus for the Celts to venture beyond their central German homeland to seek out new farmland, and engage in trade with neighboring peoples to fuel their growing economy. The first foreigners with whom the Celts engaged in regular trade were Greek merchants, who were highly impressed not only by the quality of Celtic textiles and metal working, but by the size and strength of its purveyors. [Ellis] At an average of between five-and-a-half and six feet in height, the Celts dwarfed their diminutive Mediterranean trading partners, who at that time rarely grew taller than five feet. Of particular interest to the Greeks was the pale complexion and fair hair of the Celts, which seemed strange to the bronze-skinned merchants who had never seen blondes or red-heads. [Ellis] Some scholars claim that it was because of their relative pallor that the Greeks called the Celts Galatae or “milk-white”, the name by which they would be known throughout the ancient world. [Ellis] Others maintain that Galatae is a corruption of the name by which the Celts called themselves (thought to be pronounced something like Goladel, or Galadel, although no one knows for sure). [Ellis] Keltoi, the Greek word from which “Celt” is derived, is thought to come from an ancient Celtic word meaning “hidden”, referring to the centuries the Celts spent in relative isolation from other peoples before participating in trade. The same word is thought to be the ancestor of the word “kilt”, the function of which, then as now, was to hide certain parts of the wearer from the weather and the viewing public. At the close of the Hallstatt period in around 600BC, [Littleton] the Celts occupied much of the land that now belongs to Germany and France, and were known throughout Europe for the skill of their craftsmen.
The next cultural epoch in Celtic history, from 500BC to 100AD, [Brittanica] is called the La Tène period, wherein the Celts perfected the distinctive curvilinear design techniques that they would later apply to the arts of metal working, weaving, and painting; these were the basis for the classic Celtic “vines”, “knots”, and “mandala” with which Celtic art is associated to the present day. [Cheers] It was during this period that the Celts used their advanced iron weapons to effectively conquer and dominate Europe, forming a “Celtic Empire” that stretched East and West from Asia Minor to Portugal, and North and South from the British Isles to the Po Valley of Italy. Celtic dominance in politics, religion, and trade lasted until the Roman conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar in the 1st Century BC, after which Celtic influence remained strong, albeit without the former accompaniment of sovereign power [Ellis].
The early Celts of the La Tène period were divided into various kingdoms (each comprising a particular tribe or group of tribes) that were united not by a strong administrative hierarchy, but by loose political coalitions - likened by some historians to America under the Articles of Confederation. [Ellis] The Celtic communities shared a common language and religion, and an infrastructure of timber-paved roads that connected the various settlements. Three such highway systems are known to have existed: one for Ireland, one for Britain and lowland Scotland, and a third for Continental Europe. (It is speculated that the Celts of the Po Valley used existing roads paved by the conquered Etruscans) [Ellis]
As time progressed, the Celtic population underwent significant cultural shift due to its size and geographical diversity; the Celtic language, once universal to the entire Celtic race, became divided into three parts (each of which eventually subdivided into other regional dialects), and was no longer mutually intelligible among all the tribal groups. Continental Celtic, spoken in mainland Europe, became extinct with the Roman invasions, but Goidelic - spoken in Ireland - would become Manx, Irish and Scottish Gaelic (only the latter two of which survive at present), and the third branch, Brethonic - spoken in Britain - would sire Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. [Ellis]
Aside from the differences in language, Celtic culture remained largely constant throughout Europe until the 2nd Century AD. Celtic society was divided into four classes that functioned very similarly to those in Hindu Society, demonstrating the shared Indo-European routes of the two cultures. At the bottom of the social pyramid (analogous to the Hindu sudra and vaishya) were the farmers, laborers, and craftsmen, or Ceile. [Ellis] In the La Tène period, this caste often included members of the subject peoples conquered as the Celts acquired new territory. Although they occupied the lowest rung of the social ladder, the Ceile were well respected by the other castes. The Celts were essentially an agrarian society, and recognized their dependence on the land and the farmers who tilled it. Similarly valuable were the smiths who crafted the weapons necessary for the conquest and defense of new lands.
The next caste, the flaith or aire were warrior-nobles, and could be compared to the kshatriya. [Ellis] They were responsible for waging the frequent wars that occurred between Celtic principalities and their neighbors (which were often other Celtic principalities). The Celtic fondness for battle, and the skill with which they expressed that fondness, was legendary among their contemporaries, and engendered fear in even the bravest enemy soldiers.
The Senones (the celtic tribe mentioned in the earlier blog post) conquered most of Italy and Greece, eventually razing the temple of the sacred oracle of Apollo at Delphi. [Ellis] The religious implications of this particular act were especially disheartening to the Greeks and Romans, to whom it seemed that the gods had abandoned them. This unfortunate encounter with the Celts left an indelible mark on the ethnic memory of the Mediterranean peoples, who would henceforth remember the Celts as a horde of barbarous warlords, a stereotype that would provide Julius Caesar’s justification for the invasion of Gaul in 52 BC, and one that persists in some academic circles to this day. [Cheers] Quite contrary to this popular image, the Celtic people at large were largely peaceable. Though the members of the flaith enjoyed battle and were highly distinguished warriors, they were not the most respected caste in Celtic society. Outranking them were the members of a third caste, the gutuatri, or “speakers to the gods”.
The gutuatri were intellectuals who acted as doctors, lawyers, teachers and priests. There were three classes within the gutuatri – the bards, the fili (also called vates), and the druids (a word used in modern times to refer to the entire gutuatri caste). [Ellis] The bards were the lowest rank of the gutuatri. As Celtic historians, they were expected to memorize vast quantities of data in the form of stories, songs, and poems and prayers so that they could recite them to the people at festivals and religious ceremonies. When they weren’t needed for religious or social rites, they often wondered between communities, where they were given food and lodging in exchange for performances of their songs and tales. [Ellis] The Second class, the filli, were scientists, mathematicians, doctors, and lawyers. Depending on their individual specialty, they were responsible for calculating the time for planting and harvest, healing the sick, caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth, and/or resolving legal disputes. The final class, the druids, acted as religious leaders, and were the most elite gutuatri caste. Druidism wasn’t a birth right; a druidic apprentice had to study for at least twenty years before he or she could attain the honored title. [Ellis] There were schools of druidism in Gaul, Britain, and Ireland where apprentices studied under other druids to learn the many skills the position required. Because druids had to be educated in all of the arts and sciences, they usually spent time in their apprenticeship working as bards or vates. In fact, many bards or fillis were not perusing their vocations as careers, but merely training for the time when they would become druids. [Ellis] The gutuatri caste on whole is often compared to the Hindu Brahmin caste, although to represent the Celtic system as completely analogous to its Indian counterpart is misleading.
Even though the Celtic caste system was in many ways similar to that of the Hindus, it differed in three significant ways. In the first place, it combined all laborers, whether skilled or unskilled, into one caste, as earlier mentioned. Secondly, and importantly, it provided that there was potential for mobility between classes based on personal merit. Social interactions and even marriages between castes were perfectly auspicious if the participating member of the lower caste had shown exceptional valor or skill. [Ellis] (The Celtic commitment to class and gender equality was centuries ahead of its time, as will be later discussed.)
Finally, and most interestingly, the Celtic system created a separate caste, called the Rix or Rige, (meaning “king”) that existed exclusively for the provision of monarchs. [Ellis] The Rige were expected to have the battle prowess of flaith and the wisdom of the gutuatri, but in exchange enjoyed the exalted status of being the most privileged class in Celtic society and the central figures in Celtic politics. The existence of the rige class is controversial among some scholars, who claim that it was merely the elite of the flaith class. [Littleton] Truly, the latter scenario seems more likely, as the existence of a fourth caste would violate the Celtic rule of threes (whereby most aspects of politics, religion and cosmology were divided into three parts out of reverence for the sanctity of the number three). [Littleton]
As to the political structure over which the rige reigned - whether as their own caste or not - the Celts lived in kingdoms which consisted of one or more related or politically allied tribes, each of which was further divided into clans. Kingdoms could be of various population sizes and geographical areas, but tended to be relatively large (usually comprising no less than 20,000 people), and grew larger as the La Tène period progressed. [Ellis] By the time of the Roman conquest, for instance, all the people of Gaul (France) were united as one Celtic kingdom. Each kingdom was governed by a king, and each tribe was governed by king or chieftain. The nomenclature of Celtic kingship versus Celtic chieftainship can be confusing as there is no technical distinction between a chieftain and a king, so oftentimes the leader of any tribe is referred to as a king, and the leaders of kingdoms comprising multiple tribes are called “high kings”. [Ellis] Whatever their titles as described by modern historians, tribal leaders could be male or female, and were elected from the ruling family by vote of its members (and in some tribes the members of the flaith or gutuatri). Often times, members of the warrior or intellectual castes - if they were related to the monarch by marriage or exceptionally well respected in the community - could be voted into the kingship without the normally prerequisite membership in the rige caste.
It wasn’t only the policy of elected leadership that ranked the Celts among the most socially enlightened peoples of the ancient world; they pioneered the "green" and feminist movements before the issues underpinning them were even thought to exist, as is evidenced by the way in which they practiced religion.
The most basic tenet of Celtic religion is reverence for nature. As stated in the last post, the Celts often worshipped in sacred forests. The groves the Celts most prized were those with high concentrations of oak trees, which they believed to be especially sacred. Druids, the elite priestly class within the gutuatri, derive their name from the Old Celtic words "dar" or "dru" meaning “oak” and "uid" meaning knowledge. Thus, although druids were extensively trained in matters of theology, geography, astronomy, law, history, and medicine, their title means simply “the ones who know about oak trees”. [Ellis] Why oak trees in particular were so revered is a mystery, although it is possible that they were celebrated for the strength of their wood and the unique and easily recognizable shape of their leaves and acorns. They are also a favorite tree for the parasitic mistletoe vine, which the Celts admired for its ability to grow in all seasons without touching the ground, and, according to some, for its powers as an aphrodisiac and fertility aid. (The purported origin of the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe was a druidic ritual performed to ensure pregnancy in a newlywed couple.) [Littleton]
The Celts also believed that all wild plants and animals including the oak were sacred to the god Cernunnos, or “the horned one” (so called because of his antlers), who personified the natural world. Cernunnos was one of the most important gods in the Celtic pantheon, and was considered a god of life, death, wealth, hunting, and male sexuality. He was always pictured as either naked or covered in vines (possibly mistletoe), and surrounded by predators such as wolves and lions, and game animals like boar and elk, which were celebrated for their strength and sexual stamina. [Littleton] Another animal with which Cernunnos was associated is the horned serpent – usually pictured as a snake with the curved horns of a goat – which was a phallic symbol roughly equivalent to the lingam of Hindu god Shiva (does this illuminate the reference in the first paragraph at all? I'm practically spelling it out at this point. I'd be more blunt I'm not sure that Sherry would approve). [Ellis] Like Shiva, a favorite title of Cernunnos was “Lord of Animals”, further illustrating his power and importance in the natural world.
While Cernunnos personified nature at large, individual species of animals were often represented by their own deities, who were usually goddesses. A prominent example of this phenomenon is Epona, goddess of horses. [Littleton] Worshipped in Ireland as Macha and in Britain as Rhiannon, Epona was deeply loved by the Celts because of their agricultural and military dependence the horse. She also had the interesting epithets “Lady of secrets” and “Keeper of Keys”, acting as both a receptor for prayers of confession, and an advisor to the faithful in times of important decision making. [Littleton] Among the most widely worshipped of the Celtic goddesses, Epona has the distinction of being the only Celtic deity to enter the Greco-Roman pantheon, where she was honored as the patron goddess of cavalry and charioteers. [Ellis] Other prominent Celtic nature goddesses include Artio, the bear goddess; Damona, the goddess of cattle (which were prized above all animals except horses and hunting dogs as measures of prosperity and high rank in Celtic society); and Cerridwen, (called Henwen in Wales) the goddess of pigs and wild boars. [Ellis]
Celtic nature gods were generally portrayed as being in close proximity to, or having the characteristics of, the animals they represented. [Littleton] Epona, for instance, could be depicted either as a horse (usually a mare with a young foal, to showcase her power to bring fertility) or as a woman mounted on horseback. Cernunnos, for his part, was usually represented as a bearded man with a horned or antlered head, but could also be represented with the complete head or tail of deer, or as a buck, bull, bull-elk, wolf, or any other sacred, forest-dwelling animal with which his cult was associated. [Littleton]
Celtic adoration of nature was not confined to the fields and forests; the Druids also recognized the sanctity of bodies of water throughout the Celtic world. All fresh water was considered sacred to the mother goddess (the female aspect of nature), and was personified by various water goddesses who could bestow blessings of life and health on the Celtic faithful if they were treated with the proper respect. [Cheers] In addition to having their own spirits, all rivers and streams fell within the purview of Sequana (also called Succona or Susquehana), the goddess of rivers, springs and wells. Not only was she the patron goddess of the boatmen, fishermen, and farmers who relied on her waters for survival, she was also thought to be a powerful healer, and it was therefore a common practice for the Celtic infirmed to carve votive offerings of their afflicted body parts (a wooden head for migraine head ache, a wooden leg for a broken femur, etc.) and cast them into a river in hopes that Sequana would be reminded of their suffering and heal them more quickly. [Cheers] Such prayers and supplications were not a replacement for medical treatment, but did serve as an important means by which it was enhanced. The offerings were often accompanied by gold coins to express piety and ensure complete healing, and it is from this ritual that modern Europeans and Americans derive the practice of throwing pennies in fountains for good luck.
As a healer and water goddess, Sequana did not work alone. Many rivers were presided over by the local fertility goddess of the region through which they flowed, or the tribe which relied on their waters. An example would be the goddess Brigantia (also called Brie or Brigid) - a powerful and extensively worshipped earth goddess associated with agriculture, child birth, and the coming of spring - who was honored at sacred springs and rivers throughout Britain and Ireland. [Ellis] In other cases, a river’s individual spirit would be elevated to divine status, and be worshipped as a goddess in its own right. [Ellis] In their capacity as healing places, rivers and springs – especially hot springs – were also the province of Sulis, a popular god of healing who was worshipped in much the same way as Sequana. [Ellis] Many of his shrines – including the famous hot springs of Bath, England – are still in recreational and medicinal use today, albeit without regard to their sacred past.
The Celts were not only remarkable for their love of nature, but their high regard for women. In an age when almost all other Indo-European peoples restricted women’s rights to the spheres of the home and, to a limited extent, the temple; Celtic women were encouraged to become spiritual and political leaders, artisans, merchants and even warriors, and were permitted to buy, sell and inherit property. The Celtic devotion to gender equality was even reflected in their pantheon, where all gods and goddesses were seen as manifestations of the supreme God and Goddess, whose relationship was thought of as roughly equal. [Missgien] In the Greco-Roman pantheon, by contrast, philandering Zeus reigned supreme, and the most revered goddesses were neither the intellectual Athena nor the self-asserting Artemis, but the voluptuous Venus, and Hestia (a goddess of hearth and home whose acolytes were sworn to virginity on pain of death). [Cheers]
The Supreme God and Goddess were called by various names, and it is often difficult to distinguish them from the other gods and goddesses who are regarded as their children or less powerful manifestations. [Littleton] Further complicating the identification of gods in the Celtic pantheon is the Celtic love of the number three. [Littleton] Although it seems odd that this would have anything to do with divinity, this tendency caused the druids to worship of many of the gods and goddesses in triune, or trinitarian, form - dividing each deity into tree different gods or goddesses and giving each a different name and set of attributes, even though they were all aspects of the same god or goddess. This system made perfect sense to the druids, but is considerably less intuitive to modern scholars, who are almost never entirely sure if a group of deities with similar attributes are unique individuals, or variants of the same one god. (Although the concept isn’t entirely alien to moderns - it was the Celtic mode of triune thinking, when applied to early Christianity by the Irish monk, Saint Columba, that produced the Holy Trinity.) Things become especially difficult to sort out when different trinities share gods (as they sometimes do), or contain gods with different names and functions in different parts of the Celtic world (as they almost always do). An example is the Morrigan, or “Great Queen”, the triple goddess of war in the Irish pantheon. Her three goddesses are Nemain, who presided over battle fields In the form of a raven, or as the infamous “washer at the ford” who washed the blood from the clothes of men doomed to die in battle; Badb (pronounced Bav or Bava) another raven goddess who could foretell the death of a warrior and announce it in the form of a banshee; and Macha, the vengeful goddess of mounted warfare – the same Macha who as Epona was worshipped as a fertility goddess in continental Europe without any reference to either Badb or Nemain. [Ellis]
In the end, despite the multiplicity of names and traditions, there are some certainties about the Celtic gods, and one of them is that the supreme goddess – named “Danu” or “Anu” in Ireland, Scotland, and Continental Europe, and “Donn” in Britain – was usually called simply Matrona, or “mother”, and was thought to be the loving female progenitor of all living things, including the gods. [Cheers] It was for this reason that the Celtic gods were referred to as Tuatha de Danann or “The Children of Danu”. Danu is comparable to the Gaia of Greek myth; she was Mother Earth, the land the Celts depended on for survival. [Ellis] The fresh water in rivers, lakes and streams was thought of as part of Danu, coming from the Earth to sustain the life just as milk flowed from a mother to sustain her children. It is for this reason that the spirits of bodies of fresh water were thought of as female. [Ellis]
The waters of the ocean were not potable, and thus could not be the milk of Danu. [Ellis] They belonged to her brother, Lyr (also called LLyr and Lir), the sea god, and his lover the sorceress Domnu (also called Penarddum or Aoife) who could change shape at will. [Littleton] Lyr was feared and respected throughout the Celtic world because of his propensity to use his fierce storm winds to claim the lives of Celtic sailors, and because the formorii (his children by Domnu) were thought to be evil spirits who could cause misfortune to sea travelers. Celts wishing for a safe voyage didn’t pray to Lyr, but to his son Mananan; like the mother goddess, Lyr did not usually intervene directly in earthly affairs, acting vicariously through his children.
This principle of non intervention held true for the supreme god as well. The masculine aspect of the universe was represented not by the Father god, but by the Dagda, or “Good God”. Although he is sometimes called the good father, most scholars believe Dagda is the son of Danu, and not her lover. [Ellis] As the father god, or acting substitute, Dagda was the patriarch of the Tuatha de Danann in Irish myth, and was renowned for his many kingly attributes. He had voracious gastronomical and sexual appetites, an incredible tolerance for alcohol, and astounding size and brawn. [Cheers] Among his most prized possessions were a club that could kill with one stroke and revive the dead with two, a sword as long as a rainbow, and a cauldron of delicious stew that could never go empty regardless of how much was eaten. [Ellis]
In Wales, the father god is represented not by the Dagda, but by the Sun god Beli (called Belenus). [Littleton] As the god of warmth, light, and fire, Belenus was wildly worshipped in the ancient Celtic world, although not usually in so esteemed a position as was accorded him by the Welsh. [Ellis] In Continental Europe, that place was held by Tiranis, a thunder god who, like the Dagda, had a magic weapon that could both kill and restore life (although in this case it was the hammer with which he caused thunder). [Cheers] Some Scholars have suggested that the three gods form a trinity that represents all aspects of the father god, while others claim that they are different entities worshipped separately from the father god, but called by his title because they are his children. Still other scholars claim that Cernunnos, the earlier mentioned god of nature, is the purest expression of the father god. [Ellis] Whichever theory is right, the many-faceted nature of the all-father reflects his tendency to live through his children. Ultimately, he is meant to be a distant god, embodying the powers of the sky. By serving as the sky god, he completes - along with Anu and Lyr - the trinity of Earth, Sea, and Heaven which the Celts viewed as the perfect representation of reality. [Cheers]
The Celts thought reality was pervaded by sacred plane of existence as well. Called the “Otherworld”, it was the magical place where the gods and the spirits of the dead were believed to dwell. Although it was usually thought to exist in places inaccessible to living humans – far to the west, beyond the horizon, beneath the sea, or deep underground – the Celts thought it could be entered at certain holy sites (like sacred groves, springs, or ancient burial mounds called sidhe) or by special invitation from the gods. The otherworld opened its borders completely at Samhain - the harvest festival of Cernunnos on November 1st - when all the spirits, gods and ghosts alike, were thought to walk the earth. The Celts would build massive bonfires and make burnt offerings to appease the gods and righteous dead, and don frightening costumes to ward off the evil spirits. This festival was the forerunner of modern day Halloween. [Cheers]
Samhain, which also acted as Celtic New Years Day, was one of the eight most important holidays of the Celtic year. [Littleton] In addition to celebrating the two equinoxes and solstices that marked the four quarters of the solar year, the Celts also had three festivals in addition to Samhain that honored the gods and helped regulate the agricultural calendar. Imbolc (also called Bigid) was a spring festival that occurred on February 1st to honor the earlier-mentioned agricultural goddess, Brigantia, and signal the time of planting. Next was Beltane, which came on the 1st of May and was dedicated to the god Belenus, honoring the sun god for his beneficence in growing the crops. Finally, on the first of August, came Lugnasa (also called Lughnassad or Lammas) which inaugurated the beginning of the harvest and was set aside for the veneration of Lugh, the god of spiritual light who served as the patron of art, sport, and medicine. [Ellis]
In many ways, the Celts have suffered diaspora and cultural decline since their heyday in the La Téne period. Driven from their heartland in central Europe to the westernmost fringes of the continent, and subjected to terrible abuse at the hands of the Romans, Vikings, and English, the Celts lost much of their cultural heritage. That so little is known about them in comparison to their contemporaries is a tragedy, but all is not lost. Every year, new archeological discoveries bring scientists and historians ever closer to a complete, unclouded understanding of what the Celtic world was like. Even without the revelations to come, the aspects of Celtic culture that are known to us – that are indeed part of us, be it in lineage, tradition, or inspiration - are truly vast. That enough remains of the Celts after the ravages of time and conquest to shape the world in their image, albeit indistinctly, is a testament to the glories of their civilization. I am a modern Celt, and rightfully proud.
You're still reading? Bravo! I had no idea any of the viewers were so devoted.It's like the end of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Leave your name in the comments and I'll write you a complimentary message. Or not. I'm grateful, but also absent-minded. And for appearances' sake I might just pretend I have something better to do. It is what it is, but know that I heart you and go about your life in felicity.
Works Cited (as earlier promised)
Cheers, Gordon et al. Mythology: Myths legends and Fantasies. Global Book Publishing: Willoughby, Australia, 2003
Ellis, Peter. The Ancient World of the Celts. Barnes and Noble Books: New York, 1998
Forty, Jo. Mythology: A Visual Encyclopedia. Barnes and Noble Books: New York, 1999
Littleton, C. Scott et al. Mythology: The illustrated Anthology of Myths and Storytelling. Duncan Baird Publishers: London, 2002
The Celts are an Indo-European people who became culturally and genetically distinct from other Caucasian ethnic groups around 1200BC. [Littleton] The first Celtic culture in the archeological record is that of the Hallstatt people – a group of Celtic tribes that lived in Germany from around 1000 to 600BC (conveniently called the Hallstatt period of Celtic history). The Hallstatt Celts were characterized by their brightly colored clothing, skillfully crafted weapons, and iron-wrought vessels and utensils, all of which would be hallmarks of later Celtic cultures. [Ellis] The Hallstatt people were also remarkable for burying their dead in ornate tombs, thereby distinguishing themselves from their Germanic neighbors who preferred cremation. [Ellis] The Hallsatt period lasted for some four centuries, during which time the Celtic population increased rapidly. This population boom provided an impetus for the Celts to venture beyond their central German homeland to seek out new farmland, and engage in trade with neighboring peoples to fuel their growing economy. The first foreigners with whom the Celts engaged in regular trade were Greek merchants, who were highly impressed not only by the quality of Celtic textiles and metal working, but by the size and strength of its purveyors. [Ellis] At an average of between five-and-a-half and six feet in height, the Celts dwarfed their diminutive Mediterranean trading partners, who at that time rarely grew taller than five feet. Of particular interest to the Greeks was the pale complexion and fair hair of the Celts, which seemed strange to the bronze-skinned merchants who had never seen blondes or red-heads. [Ellis] Some scholars claim that it was because of their relative pallor that the Greeks called the Celts Galatae or “milk-white”, the name by which they would be known throughout the ancient world. [Ellis] Others maintain that Galatae is a corruption of the name by which the Celts called themselves (thought to be pronounced something like Goladel, or Galadel, although no one knows for sure). [Ellis] Keltoi, the Greek word from which “Celt” is derived, is thought to come from an ancient Celtic word meaning “hidden”, referring to the centuries the Celts spent in relative isolation from other peoples before participating in trade. The same word is thought to be the ancestor of the word “kilt”, the function of which, then as now, was to hide certain parts of the wearer from the weather and the viewing public. At the close of the Hallstatt period in around 600BC, [Littleton] the Celts occupied much of the land that now belongs to Germany and France, and were known throughout Europe for the skill of their craftsmen.
The next cultural epoch in Celtic history, from 500BC to 100AD, [Brittanica] is called the La Tène period, wherein the Celts perfected the distinctive curvilinear design techniques that they would later apply to the arts of metal working, weaving, and painting; these were the basis for the classic Celtic “vines”, “knots”, and “mandala” with which Celtic art is associated to the present day. [Cheers] It was during this period that the Celts used their advanced iron weapons to effectively conquer and dominate Europe, forming a “Celtic Empire” that stretched East and West from Asia Minor to Portugal, and North and South from the British Isles to the Po Valley of Italy. Celtic dominance in politics, religion, and trade lasted until the Roman conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar in the 1st Century BC, after which Celtic influence remained strong, albeit without the former accompaniment of sovereign power [Ellis].
The early Celts of the La Tène period were divided into various kingdoms (each comprising a particular tribe or group of tribes) that were united not by a strong administrative hierarchy, but by loose political coalitions - likened by some historians to America under the Articles of Confederation. [Ellis] The Celtic communities shared a common language and religion, and an infrastructure of timber-paved roads that connected the various settlements. Three such highway systems are known to have existed: one for Ireland, one for Britain and lowland Scotland, and a third for Continental Europe. (It is speculated that the Celts of the Po Valley used existing roads paved by the conquered Etruscans) [Ellis]
As time progressed, the Celtic population underwent significant cultural shift due to its size and geographical diversity; the Celtic language, once universal to the entire Celtic race, became divided into three parts (each of which eventually subdivided into other regional dialects), and was no longer mutually intelligible among all the tribal groups. Continental Celtic, spoken in mainland Europe, became extinct with the Roman invasions, but Goidelic - spoken in Ireland - would become Manx, Irish and Scottish Gaelic (only the latter two of which survive at present), and the third branch, Brethonic - spoken in Britain - would sire Welsh, Cornish, and Breton. [Ellis]
Aside from the differences in language, Celtic culture remained largely constant throughout Europe until the 2nd Century AD. Celtic society was divided into four classes that functioned very similarly to those in Hindu Society, demonstrating the shared Indo-European routes of the two cultures. At the bottom of the social pyramid (analogous to the Hindu sudra and vaishya) were the farmers, laborers, and craftsmen, or Ceile. [Ellis] In the La Tène period, this caste often included members of the subject peoples conquered as the Celts acquired new territory. Although they occupied the lowest rung of the social ladder, the Ceile were well respected by the other castes. The Celts were essentially an agrarian society, and recognized their dependence on the land and the farmers who tilled it. Similarly valuable were the smiths who crafted the weapons necessary for the conquest and defense of new lands.
The next caste, the flaith or aire were warrior-nobles, and could be compared to the kshatriya. [Ellis] They were responsible for waging the frequent wars that occurred between Celtic principalities and their neighbors (which were often other Celtic principalities). The Celtic fondness for battle, and the skill with which they expressed that fondness, was legendary among their contemporaries, and engendered fear in even the bravest enemy soldiers.
The Senones (the celtic tribe mentioned in the earlier blog post) conquered most of Italy and Greece, eventually razing the temple of the sacred oracle of Apollo at Delphi. [Ellis] The religious implications of this particular act were especially disheartening to the Greeks and Romans, to whom it seemed that the gods had abandoned them. This unfortunate encounter with the Celts left an indelible mark on the ethnic memory of the Mediterranean peoples, who would henceforth remember the Celts as a horde of barbarous warlords, a stereotype that would provide Julius Caesar’s justification for the invasion of Gaul in 52 BC, and one that persists in some academic circles to this day. [Cheers] Quite contrary to this popular image, the Celtic people at large were largely peaceable. Though the members of the flaith enjoyed battle and were highly distinguished warriors, they were not the most respected caste in Celtic society. Outranking them were the members of a third caste, the gutuatri, or “speakers to the gods”.
The gutuatri were intellectuals who acted as doctors, lawyers, teachers and priests. There were three classes within the gutuatri – the bards, the fili (also called vates), and the druids (a word used in modern times to refer to the entire gutuatri caste). [Ellis] The bards were the lowest rank of the gutuatri. As Celtic historians, they were expected to memorize vast quantities of data in the form of stories, songs, and poems and prayers so that they could recite them to the people at festivals and religious ceremonies. When they weren’t needed for religious or social rites, they often wondered between communities, where they were given food and lodging in exchange for performances of their songs and tales. [Ellis] The Second class, the filli, were scientists, mathematicians, doctors, and lawyers. Depending on their individual specialty, they were responsible for calculating the time for planting and harvest, healing the sick, caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth, and/or resolving legal disputes. The final class, the druids, acted as religious leaders, and were the most elite gutuatri caste. Druidism wasn’t a birth right; a druidic apprentice had to study for at least twenty years before he or she could attain the honored title. [Ellis] There were schools of druidism in Gaul, Britain, and Ireland where apprentices studied under other druids to learn the many skills the position required. Because druids had to be educated in all of the arts and sciences, they usually spent time in their apprenticeship working as bards or vates. In fact, many bards or fillis were not perusing their vocations as careers, but merely training for the time when they would become druids. [Ellis] The gutuatri caste on whole is often compared to the Hindu Brahmin caste, although to represent the Celtic system as completely analogous to its Indian counterpart is misleading.
Even though the Celtic caste system was in many ways similar to that of the Hindus, it differed in three significant ways. In the first place, it combined all laborers, whether skilled or unskilled, into one caste, as earlier mentioned. Secondly, and importantly, it provided that there was potential for mobility between classes based on personal merit. Social interactions and even marriages between castes were perfectly auspicious if the participating member of the lower caste had shown exceptional valor or skill. [Ellis] (The Celtic commitment to class and gender equality was centuries ahead of its time, as will be later discussed.)
Finally, and most interestingly, the Celtic system created a separate caste, called the Rix or Rige, (meaning “king”) that existed exclusively for the provision of monarchs. [Ellis] The Rige were expected to have the battle prowess of flaith and the wisdom of the gutuatri, but in exchange enjoyed the exalted status of being the most privileged class in Celtic society and the central figures in Celtic politics. The existence of the rige class is controversial among some scholars, who claim that it was merely the elite of the flaith class. [Littleton] Truly, the latter scenario seems more likely, as the existence of a fourth caste would violate the Celtic rule of threes (whereby most aspects of politics, religion and cosmology were divided into three parts out of reverence for the sanctity of the number three). [Littleton]
As to the political structure over which the rige reigned - whether as their own caste or not - the Celts lived in kingdoms which consisted of one or more related or politically allied tribes, each of which was further divided into clans. Kingdoms could be of various population sizes and geographical areas, but tended to be relatively large (usually comprising no less than 20,000 people), and grew larger as the La Tène period progressed. [Ellis] By the time of the Roman conquest, for instance, all the people of Gaul (France) were united as one Celtic kingdom. Each kingdom was governed by a king, and each tribe was governed by king or chieftain. The nomenclature of Celtic kingship versus Celtic chieftainship can be confusing as there is no technical distinction between a chieftain and a king, so oftentimes the leader of any tribe is referred to as a king, and the leaders of kingdoms comprising multiple tribes are called “high kings”. [Ellis] Whatever their titles as described by modern historians, tribal leaders could be male or female, and were elected from the ruling family by vote of its members (and in some tribes the members of the flaith or gutuatri). Often times, members of the warrior or intellectual castes - if they were related to the monarch by marriage or exceptionally well respected in the community - could be voted into the kingship without the normally prerequisite membership in the rige caste.
It wasn’t only the policy of elected leadership that ranked the Celts among the most socially enlightened peoples of the ancient world; they pioneered the "green" and feminist movements before the issues underpinning them were even thought to exist, as is evidenced by the way in which they practiced religion.
The most basic tenet of Celtic religion is reverence for nature. As stated in the last post, the Celts often worshipped in sacred forests. The groves the Celts most prized were those with high concentrations of oak trees, which they believed to be especially sacred. Druids, the elite priestly class within the gutuatri, derive their name from the Old Celtic words "dar" or "dru" meaning “oak” and "uid" meaning knowledge. Thus, although druids were extensively trained in matters of theology, geography, astronomy, law, history, and medicine, their title means simply “the ones who know about oak trees”. [Ellis] Why oak trees in particular were so revered is a mystery, although it is possible that they were celebrated for the strength of their wood and the unique and easily recognizable shape of their leaves and acorns. They are also a favorite tree for the parasitic mistletoe vine, which the Celts admired for its ability to grow in all seasons without touching the ground, and, according to some, for its powers as an aphrodisiac and fertility aid. (The purported origin of the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe was a druidic ritual performed to ensure pregnancy in a newlywed couple.) [Littleton]
The Celts also believed that all wild plants and animals including the oak were sacred to the god Cernunnos, or “the horned one” (so called because of his antlers), who personified the natural world. Cernunnos was one of the most important gods in the Celtic pantheon, and was considered a god of life, death, wealth, hunting, and male sexuality. He was always pictured as either naked or covered in vines (possibly mistletoe), and surrounded by predators such as wolves and lions, and game animals like boar and elk, which were celebrated for their strength and sexual stamina. [Littleton] Another animal with which Cernunnos was associated is the horned serpent – usually pictured as a snake with the curved horns of a goat – which was a phallic symbol roughly equivalent to the lingam of Hindu god Shiva (does this illuminate the reference in the first paragraph at all? I'm practically spelling it out at this point. I'd be more blunt I'm not sure that Sherry would approve). [Ellis] Like Shiva, a favorite title of Cernunnos was “Lord of Animals”, further illustrating his power and importance in the natural world.
While Cernunnos personified nature at large, individual species of animals were often represented by their own deities, who were usually goddesses. A prominent example of this phenomenon is Epona, goddess of horses. [Littleton] Worshipped in Ireland as Macha and in Britain as Rhiannon, Epona was deeply loved by the Celts because of their agricultural and military dependence the horse. She also had the interesting epithets “Lady of secrets” and “Keeper of Keys”, acting as both a receptor for prayers of confession, and an advisor to the faithful in times of important decision making. [Littleton] Among the most widely worshipped of the Celtic goddesses, Epona has the distinction of being the only Celtic deity to enter the Greco-Roman pantheon, where she was honored as the patron goddess of cavalry and charioteers. [Ellis] Other prominent Celtic nature goddesses include Artio, the bear goddess; Damona, the goddess of cattle (which were prized above all animals except horses and hunting dogs as measures of prosperity and high rank in Celtic society); and Cerridwen, (called Henwen in Wales) the goddess of pigs and wild boars. [Ellis]
Celtic nature gods were generally portrayed as being in close proximity to, or having the characteristics of, the animals they represented. [Littleton] Epona, for instance, could be depicted either as a horse (usually a mare with a young foal, to showcase her power to bring fertility) or as a woman mounted on horseback. Cernunnos, for his part, was usually represented as a bearded man with a horned or antlered head, but could also be represented with the complete head or tail of deer, or as a buck, bull, bull-elk, wolf, or any other sacred, forest-dwelling animal with which his cult was associated. [Littleton]
Celtic adoration of nature was not confined to the fields and forests; the Druids also recognized the sanctity of bodies of water throughout the Celtic world. All fresh water was considered sacred to the mother goddess (the female aspect of nature), and was personified by various water goddesses who could bestow blessings of life and health on the Celtic faithful if they were treated with the proper respect. [Cheers] In addition to having their own spirits, all rivers and streams fell within the purview of Sequana (also called Succona or Susquehana), the goddess of rivers, springs and wells. Not only was she the patron goddess of the boatmen, fishermen, and farmers who relied on her waters for survival, she was also thought to be a powerful healer, and it was therefore a common practice for the Celtic infirmed to carve votive offerings of their afflicted body parts (a wooden head for migraine head ache, a wooden leg for a broken femur, etc.) and cast them into a river in hopes that Sequana would be reminded of their suffering and heal them more quickly. [Cheers] Such prayers and supplications were not a replacement for medical treatment, but did serve as an important means by which it was enhanced. The offerings were often accompanied by gold coins to express piety and ensure complete healing, and it is from this ritual that modern Europeans and Americans derive the practice of throwing pennies in fountains for good luck.
As a healer and water goddess, Sequana did not work alone. Many rivers were presided over by the local fertility goddess of the region through which they flowed, or the tribe which relied on their waters. An example would be the goddess Brigantia (also called Brie or Brigid) - a powerful and extensively worshipped earth goddess associated with agriculture, child birth, and the coming of spring - who was honored at sacred springs and rivers throughout Britain and Ireland. [Ellis] In other cases, a river’s individual spirit would be elevated to divine status, and be worshipped as a goddess in its own right. [Ellis] In their capacity as healing places, rivers and springs – especially hot springs – were also the province of Sulis, a popular god of healing who was worshipped in much the same way as Sequana. [Ellis] Many of his shrines – including the famous hot springs of Bath, England – are still in recreational and medicinal use today, albeit without regard to their sacred past.
The Celts were not only remarkable for their love of nature, but their high regard for women. In an age when almost all other Indo-European peoples restricted women’s rights to the spheres of the home and, to a limited extent, the temple; Celtic women were encouraged to become spiritual and political leaders, artisans, merchants and even warriors, and were permitted to buy, sell and inherit property. The Celtic devotion to gender equality was even reflected in their pantheon, where all gods and goddesses were seen as manifestations of the supreme God and Goddess, whose relationship was thought of as roughly equal. [Missgien] In the Greco-Roman pantheon, by contrast, philandering Zeus reigned supreme, and the most revered goddesses were neither the intellectual Athena nor the self-asserting Artemis, but the voluptuous Venus, and Hestia (a goddess of hearth and home whose acolytes were sworn to virginity on pain of death). [Cheers]
The Supreme God and Goddess were called by various names, and it is often difficult to distinguish them from the other gods and goddesses who are regarded as their children or less powerful manifestations. [Littleton] Further complicating the identification of gods in the Celtic pantheon is the Celtic love of the number three. [Littleton] Although it seems odd that this would have anything to do with divinity, this tendency caused the druids to worship of many of the gods and goddesses in triune, or trinitarian, form - dividing each deity into tree different gods or goddesses and giving each a different name and set of attributes, even though they were all aspects of the same god or goddess. This system made perfect sense to the druids, but is considerably less intuitive to modern scholars, who are almost never entirely sure if a group of deities with similar attributes are unique individuals, or variants of the same one god. (Although the concept isn’t entirely alien to moderns - it was the Celtic mode of triune thinking, when applied to early Christianity by the Irish monk, Saint Columba, that produced the Holy Trinity.) Things become especially difficult to sort out when different trinities share gods (as they sometimes do), or contain gods with different names and functions in different parts of the Celtic world (as they almost always do). An example is the Morrigan, or “Great Queen”, the triple goddess of war in the Irish pantheon. Her three goddesses are Nemain, who presided over battle fields In the form of a raven, or as the infamous “washer at the ford” who washed the blood from the clothes of men doomed to die in battle; Badb (pronounced Bav or Bava) another raven goddess who could foretell the death of a warrior and announce it in the form of a banshee; and Macha, the vengeful goddess of mounted warfare – the same Macha who as Epona was worshipped as a fertility goddess in continental Europe without any reference to either Badb or Nemain. [Ellis]
In the end, despite the multiplicity of names and traditions, there are some certainties about the Celtic gods, and one of them is that the supreme goddess – named “Danu” or “Anu” in Ireland, Scotland, and Continental Europe, and “Donn” in Britain – was usually called simply Matrona, or “mother”, and was thought to be the loving female progenitor of all living things, including the gods. [Cheers] It was for this reason that the Celtic gods were referred to as Tuatha de Danann or “The Children of Danu”. Danu is comparable to the Gaia of Greek myth; she was Mother Earth, the land the Celts depended on for survival. [Ellis] The fresh water in rivers, lakes and streams was thought of as part of Danu, coming from the Earth to sustain the life just as milk flowed from a mother to sustain her children. It is for this reason that the spirits of bodies of fresh water were thought of as female. [Ellis]
The waters of the ocean were not potable, and thus could not be the milk of Danu. [Ellis] They belonged to her brother, Lyr (also called LLyr and Lir), the sea god, and his lover the sorceress Domnu (also called Penarddum or Aoife) who could change shape at will. [Littleton] Lyr was feared and respected throughout the Celtic world because of his propensity to use his fierce storm winds to claim the lives of Celtic sailors, and because the formorii (his children by Domnu) were thought to be evil spirits who could cause misfortune to sea travelers. Celts wishing for a safe voyage didn’t pray to Lyr, but to his son Mananan; like the mother goddess, Lyr did not usually intervene directly in earthly affairs, acting vicariously through his children.
This principle of non intervention held true for the supreme god as well. The masculine aspect of the universe was represented not by the Father god, but by the Dagda, or “Good God”. Although he is sometimes called the good father, most scholars believe Dagda is the son of Danu, and not her lover. [Ellis] As the father god, or acting substitute, Dagda was the patriarch of the Tuatha de Danann in Irish myth, and was renowned for his many kingly attributes. He had voracious gastronomical and sexual appetites, an incredible tolerance for alcohol, and astounding size and brawn. [Cheers] Among his most prized possessions were a club that could kill with one stroke and revive the dead with two, a sword as long as a rainbow, and a cauldron of delicious stew that could never go empty regardless of how much was eaten. [Ellis]
In Wales, the father god is represented not by the Dagda, but by the Sun god Beli (called Belenus). [Littleton] As the god of warmth, light, and fire, Belenus was wildly worshipped in the ancient Celtic world, although not usually in so esteemed a position as was accorded him by the Welsh. [Ellis] In Continental Europe, that place was held by Tiranis, a thunder god who, like the Dagda, had a magic weapon that could both kill and restore life (although in this case it was the hammer with which he caused thunder). [Cheers] Some Scholars have suggested that the three gods form a trinity that represents all aspects of the father god, while others claim that they are different entities worshipped separately from the father god, but called by his title because they are his children. Still other scholars claim that Cernunnos, the earlier mentioned god of nature, is the purest expression of the father god. [Ellis] Whichever theory is right, the many-faceted nature of the all-father reflects his tendency to live through his children. Ultimately, he is meant to be a distant god, embodying the powers of the sky. By serving as the sky god, he completes - along with Anu and Lyr - the trinity of Earth, Sea, and Heaven which the Celts viewed as the perfect representation of reality. [Cheers]
The Celts thought reality was pervaded by sacred plane of existence as well. Called the “Otherworld”, it was the magical place where the gods and the spirits of the dead were believed to dwell. Although it was usually thought to exist in places inaccessible to living humans – far to the west, beyond the horizon, beneath the sea, or deep underground – the Celts thought it could be entered at certain holy sites (like sacred groves, springs, or ancient burial mounds called sidhe) or by special invitation from the gods. The otherworld opened its borders completely at Samhain - the harvest festival of Cernunnos on November 1st - when all the spirits, gods and ghosts alike, were thought to walk the earth. The Celts would build massive bonfires and make burnt offerings to appease the gods and righteous dead, and don frightening costumes to ward off the evil spirits. This festival was the forerunner of modern day Halloween. [Cheers]
Samhain, which also acted as Celtic New Years Day, was one of the eight most important holidays of the Celtic year. [Littleton] In addition to celebrating the two equinoxes and solstices that marked the four quarters of the solar year, the Celts also had three festivals in addition to Samhain that honored the gods and helped regulate the agricultural calendar. Imbolc (also called Bigid) was a spring festival that occurred on February 1st to honor the earlier-mentioned agricultural goddess, Brigantia, and signal the time of planting. Next was Beltane, which came on the 1st of May and was dedicated to the god Belenus, honoring the sun god for his beneficence in growing the crops. Finally, on the first of August, came Lugnasa (also called Lughnassad or Lammas) which inaugurated the beginning of the harvest and was set aside for the veneration of Lugh, the god of spiritual light who served as the patron of art, sport, and medicine. [Ellis]
In many ways, the Celts have suffered diaspora and cultural decline since their heyday in the La Téne period. Driven from their heartland in central Europe to the westernmost fringes of the continent, and subjected to terrible abuse at the hands of the Romans, Vikings, and English, the Celts lost much of their cultural heritage. That so little is known about them in comparison to their contemporaries is a tragedy, but all is not lost. Every year, new archeological discoveries bring scientists and historians ever closer to a complete, unclouded understanding of what the Celtic world was like. Even without the revelations to come, the aspects of Celtic culture that are known to us – that are indeed part of us, be it in lineage, tradition, or inspiration - are truly vast. That enough remains of the Celts after the ravages of time and conquest to shape the world in their image, albeit indistinctly, is a testament to the glories of their civilization. I am a modern Celt, and rightfully proud.
You're still reading? Bravo! I had no idea any of the viewers were so devoted.It's like the end of Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Leave your name in the comments and I'll write you a complimentary message. Or not. I'm grateful, but also absent-minded. And for appearances' sake I might just pretend I have something better to do. It is what it is, but know that I heart you and go about your life in felicity.
Works Cited (as earlier promised)
Cheers, Gordon et al. Mythology: Myths legends and Fantasies. Global Book Publishing: Willoughby, Australia, 2003
Ellis, Peter. The Ancient World of the Celts. Barnes and Noble Books: New York, 1998
Forty, Jo. Mythology: A Visual Encyclopedia. Barnes and Noble Books: New York, 1999
Littleton, C. Scott et al. Mythology: The illustrated Anthology of Myths and Storytelling. Duncan Baird Publishers: London, 2002