Introduction
Understanding Ancient Celtic Polytheisms
The term "Celtic religion" covers a wide range of peoples and centuries. Deities were often linked to a source, river, territory, social function or group.
The same name could hide several local cults.
To be retained
Four essential principles
- The expression "Celtic religion" covers a wide range of peoples and centuries.
- Celtic societies have left few direct religious texts.
- Open-air or built shrines, weapons depots, jewelry, coins and water offerings testify to a relationship with the powers of the place.
- ancient Celtic spiritualitys were deeply local, linked to landscapes, communities and seasonal cycles.
Small timeline
A tradition shaped by history
Origins and training
Celtic societies have left few direct religious texts.
Historical developments
Under Rome, local gods and Roman gods were brought together, for example Lugus with Mercury.
Ritual life and teachings
Open-air or built shrines, weapons depots, jewelry, coins and water offerings testify to a relationship with the powers of the place.
Seed and rediscovery
In the Christianized islands, mythological accounts were written in the Middle Ages; they preserve ancient motives, but in a new context.
History and development
Celtic societies left few direct religious texts. Under Rome, there were rapprochements between local gods and Roman gods, for example Lugus with Mercury.
In the Christianized islands, mythological accounts were written in the Middle Ages; they preserve ancient motives, but in a new context.
Worldview, beliefs and practices
Open-air or built shrines, weapons depots, jewelry, coins and water offerings testify to a relationship with the powers of the place. Seasonal festivals, sovereignty, healing, war and fertility structured the cults.
Druids are described as specialists in rite, law, teaching and memory, but external sources combine observation and stereotype. Human sacrifices have existed in certain contexts, without the possibility of generalizing their frequency.
Texts, symbols and transmission
Gundestrup's Chaudron, votive inscriptions, calendars like Coligny's, Irish and Welsh stories. Symbols: solar wheel, torch, cauldron, tree, spring, horse of Epona.
The triskele is ancient, but its precise meaning varied.
What research can and cannot say
Archaeologists and linguists cross distant sources in time. Romantic reconstructions of the eighteenth-nineteenth centuries should not be confused with ancient religion.
References