Why Did The Celts Spread Their Culture
Ancient Celtic religion came from the mainland of Europe and then spread all throughout Europe. It is not clear when they settled, but historians think they might have come about 300 BC. From about 450 BC, the Celts were the most powerful group in the area of Europe and lived during Iron Age.
The Celts spread their culture orally, no written history or facts. This, as a result accounts for the limited knowledge about them prior to their contact with Greece and Rome. The Celts were generally well educated, specifically on topics such religion, philosophy, geography and astronomy. The Romans often employed Celtic tutors for their sons. They were also known for their bravery in battles. They often spurned body armour, going naked. The Celtic society was typically more equal in terms of gender …show more content…
roles. Women were on more or less equal footing as men, being accomplished warriors, merchants and rulers.
The reason for their settlement in Europe is unknown as they some lack of interest shown by gods. It might have been their discovery of Iron as they were the first people to use iron tools in that ancient time. As a result that has made them settle in the Europe region. Also, that might have enabled them to live in that region and be the powerful group in that time. This might have also contributed to how they believed they needed to sacrifice and fear their gods in order to please them. So, they might have thought God told them the way to find iron and so sacrifice other living things.
1.
Origins of the universe
The Celts were a group of ancient people that lived between 2000 and 50 BCE in the European regions. As mentioned, they never wrote anything about their culture, religion or anything related to them, all they used was their mouths. So, there is no actual written evidence about their religion and ancestry, there is only the archaeological evidence and historical accounts to provide information about them. Because of this, their religion only has interpretations based on materials and studies of other ancient religions that have been used to construct ideas and concepts about the Ancient Celts.
Within the Celtic religion there is no complete myth about the creation of their world. However, there are references in the Irish texts that suggest there was a common cosmogony myth of the earth, gradually evolving to its form today. For example, there are leftovers of how the sky is supported by trees, a mountain or pillars and stories that had a bridge that linked heaven and earth. The Celts believed that gods dwell in almost every part of nature; trees, mountains, rivers etc. This kind of myth is believed to have been conveyed through poems and
hymns.
There is another creation story that might actually explain what they believed in and links to how they sacrificed; through eternal time, there have been the four forces in the universe. These forces are personified as the Gods Fire and Wind, and the Goddesses Earth and Water. These forces are in constant conflict with each other. Since all are equal none can ever be victorious without the help of another. Finally the Earth decided it was time; she would try to force peace upon the others. She would combine something from all into one form, to show that peace could exist. From Water she created our bodies, from Wind she gave them breath, with Fire she gave them a soul, and of herself she gave a place to live and grow. When the other forces discovered what had happened they became even angrier and began fighting with renewed enthusiasm. Rather than creating peace, Earth had brought a new living dimension to the war. While the forces are in conflict there can never be true peace in the world. This legendary creation story retells the belief of that for one to be born another must pass the soul onto them. There is no difference between the soul of an animal, bird, insect or human and souls can pass from one to another. No "upward or downward movement" should be associated with the movement of the soul from one type of body to another. The type of body is not determined by the actions in this life or a past life; it is determined by the needs of the soul itself. Each soul will continue to pass through life until everything that can be experienced has been experienced, after which it will finally have the knowledge to pass on to the next level of existence.
Something that distinguishes Celtic belief from other religions is the lack of interest shown by the gods and goddesses. Once the Celtic belief was made there has been no directives issued by any deity, no commandments to follow and no details on how to worship. This is unique to the belief due in part to the nature of worship. Followers of the Celtic religion attempt to gain a balance of the forces within themselves. The accepted way to do this most attempt to bring all the forces together and meditate. Anyone can do this at any time; no structured religion is required, thus no one trying to maintain power over those not as close to God/Goddess.
2. Principal beliefs
The Celtic principal beliefs include; Calendarical beliefs, protective symbols, the beliefs in the spirits of nature, and beliefs connected to healing, kingship, and gods. First of all, Calendarical beliefs are those events associated with the Celtic/Coligny calendar. This is the most documented part of the Celtic belief system. The calendar was divided into two main parts, winter and summer; these were a strong influence on how the Celts structured their lives and based their beliefs upon. The Celtic calendar was one of the ways to reconcile lunation and the solar year. The oldest material found of the Celtic calendar was the Coligny calendar, which was discovered in Coligny, France in 1897. It used Roman numerals and dates back to 1st Century BC or AD. But the Coligny calendar is likely to be much older due to its astronomical format. Its inception date is unknown, but some research suggests that an early form of the calendar may date to the common Celtic times around roughly 800 BC. There is an engraved stone found in Ireland which is a graphical representation of a lunar calendar which functions on the same principle as the Coligny calendar. Moreover, the Celts believed in the power of protection from the evils. The frequent use of “amulets” found on the graves of children and adults indicate this belief. This has been discovered in the decoration of jewellery and weaponry, illustrations of animals and human faces. Furthermore, the belief in the spirits of nature is of an important one as it shows that the Celts feared the supernatural powers and believed that whatever happens was because of these spirits and also due the Celts’ behaviour. The spirits beliefs are based on their strong belief of mythological and transcendent forces. They believed in specific forces like protective qualities in plants, and that spirits dwelled in trees. For instance, they made sacred spots in many places of nature – the dark groves in trees, hanging offerings onto the tree. Trees were believed to be the home for the spirits, which then meant they had power over the vegetation. Also, the belief connected to the kinship is important. This was evident from archaeological resources. The king’s wellbeing reflected the land’s wellbeing. For example, a king who had lost his flawless appearance reflected this back onto the land. It was not only a matter of physical perfection but also mentally. If a king who was greedy and didn’t give gifts openly then nature wouldn’t produce a healthy crop. This belief might have been important due to how the Celtic society have had kings and queens. They might have had the bad ones that didn’t know what to do and that reflected on their society, and might have had the great ones that gave so much to their society that it was nourished with good harvest. Overall, they found meaning through these principal beliefs due to their belief in immanence. It is the idea that gods/spirits were present in this universe and everyday life. They believed the gods/ spirits were always there in everything they did, whether it was a ritual or anything else, and that these forces were there to complete the event. On the other hand, specific beliefs about the afterlife are unknown about them in the Celtic religion.
3. Supernatural powers and deities.
Beliefs about the Celtic Gods are not well known. However, what is known is that diverse gods had diverse functions. Some evidences show that in the Celtic society, some members had a closer connection to one god than other members. For instance, shoemakers would tend to worship the god Lugos because one of his iconographies was shoes. The Celts had a belief of gods living in the “otherworld” and were somehow connected the mythological ancestors of the people. There are over 300 names for the Celtic gods. Some of the known Gods are Arawn, Brigid, Cernunnos, Cerridwen, Lugh and Morgan. Celts also believed that the soul was immortal and was transported by the god known as Bile. Each different god had its own role in controlling what is going to happen next, and this can be concluded through Celts actions and needs and wants. Gods’ roles were to control how the Celts lived, worshiped or sacrificed in order to appease them. For example, the Arawn (Wales) god was the ruler of the underworld and therefore guarded the magical animals in the place. He was also the owner of a magical pot with not only the power of rejuvenation, but it could also choose between cowards and the brave. Only the brave one would receive cooked food. He was significant to this society as he distinguished between the coward and the brave in society and helped in keeping who’s strong. Also, the Celts believed and thought that everything was a person, meaning everything possessed a personality and they were then worshipped - earth, sun, moon, sea, wind and other elements of nature. This later led to more personification where the sun or earth spirit was separated from the sun and earth itself. But some Celtic spirits did evolve over time, and there still remains a great respect of the objects of nature themselves. In the end, Celts believe in immanence, particularly with their gods and spirits. This perhaps might have influenced how they pleased each god with different role in a different way as mentioned before with the shoemakers.
4. Rituals
The Celtic religion had an oral religious culture according to the reports from the Romans and Julius Caesar. They had a number of rituals for the festivals associated with seasons. Their rituals were divided into five parts; rituals performed at seasonal feasts, transmigration rituals such as initiation rites, divinatory rituals, curative processes, and magical rituals. Firstly, rituals performed at seasonal feasts occurred with the Irish’s feasts and were celebrated throughout the year. These feasts included: Samhain (1st of November), Imbolc (1st of February), Beltane (1st of May) and Lughnasadh (1st of August). For example, Lughnasadh is celebrated on the 1st of August, marking the beginning of the harvest season approximately halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. It matches other European harvest festivals such as the Welsh Calan Awst and the English Lammas. The festival is named after the god Lugh. It involves great gatherings that include religious ceremonies, ritual athletic contest like the Tailteann Games, feasting, matchmaking and trading. Evidence has shown that religious rites included the offering of the 1st, a feast of the new food, the sacrifice of a bull and a ritual dance-play. The majority of all these would’ve taken place on top of the mountains. Lughnasadh customs persevered until the 20th century, with the event being named various different things such as ‘Mountain Sunday’ as the event is now placed on the nearest Sunday to the original date. Secondly, transmigration rituals include initiation rites such as name giving, inauguration rites to kinship and death rites. There was a story about a mother that tricked her son into giving him a name and after three other initiations; he was finally considered a man. The initiation to kingship rituals varies from each place and time. For example the most common ritual you could relate this type of ritual with is the king being carried by his followers standing on his shield. Death rituals include a big feast in the graveyard area with pieces of meat and containers filled with drinks, mostly a beer or wine, especially for the richer dead. Thirdly, divinatory rituals were generally carried out by Druids who were able to predict the future from bird flight and from an examination of the intestines and innards of dead birds, or from observation of the death throes of a sacrificial human. Fourthly, curative processes are those related to healing and restoration. These rituals are associated with the belief in the restoration powers of water or rebirth. Rituals such as immersion in sacred water and the offering of equivalent models of injured parts were used in the curative rituals. Lastly, magical rituals include the collection of curative plants. It is depicted through stories of the Druids. Blessings and curses were appealed by calling a god to do something to somebody else. Evidence of these was found on such things as lead plates. The magical rituals also include sacrifice. Human sacrifice such as that of the Lindow man from Lindow moss in England was ritualistically killed. He died of a ‘threefold’ death which included a hit on the head, strangulation and drowning. Other stories like these support the idea that the ancient Celtic people practiced a ritualistic killing where humans were sacrificed. The Celts have found their search of meaning through these rituals. These rituals have structured their everyday life and their calendar. They have explained the natural forces that Celts couldn’t have control over. These rituals have made them transcend their nature of humanity and become associated with these forces that controlled their world.
5. Rituals and society
It was considered that the ancestors of the Celts lived near the Black Sea about 6000 years ago. They lived in a society where there was three groups of people; Bards who were specialised in arts and maintaining traditions of the tribe, Ovates who were the prophets and native healers, and Druids were the teachers, judges and leaders. Through Druids, the religious power was exercised. The oral traditions used by the Ovates were maintained by the Bards and determinations were made by the Druids to keep society united.
6. Search for meaning
Celtic religion attempted to satisfy their search for meaning by providing a unique response, which was combining the lives of humans with the lives of gods. The rituals and sacrifices of animals, humans, food and plants, hunting and agriculture, magical spells, wellbeing of the king, and, the reliance on the supernatural forces to control their earthly life expressed the idea of the world they lived in. They needed to make a connection with their gods and spirits in order to survive this life - to be immortal. When they associated themselves with the supernatural powers, when they pleased their gods, when they ritualised everything in their life, they found that their souls can be immortal.
The Celts spread their culture orally, no written history or facts. This, as a result accounts for the limited knowledge about them prior to their contact with Greece and Rome. The Celts were generally well educated, specifically on topics such religion, philosophy, geography and astronomy. The Romans often employed Celtic tutors for their sons. They were also known for their bravery in battles. They often spurned body armour, going naked. The Celtic society was typically more equal in terms of gender …show more content…
roles. Women were on more or less equal footing as men, being accomplished warriors, merchants and rulers.
The reason for their settlement in Europe is unknown as they some lack of interest shown by gods. It might have been their discovery of Iron as they were the first people to use iron tools in that ancient time. As a result that has made them settle in the Europe region. Also, that might have enabled them to live in that region and be the powerful group in that time. This might have also contributed to how they believed they needed to sacrifice and fear their gods in order to please them. So, they might have thought God told them the way to find iron and so sacrifice other living things.
1.
Origins of the universe
The Celts were a group of ancient people that lived between 2000 and 50 BCE in the European regions. As mentioned, they never wrote anything about their culture, religion or anything related to them, all they used was their mouths. So, there is no actual written evidence about their religion and ancestry, there is only the archaeological evidence and historical accounts to provide information about them. Because of this, their religion only has interpretations based on materials and studies of other ancient religions that have been used to construct ideas and concepts about the Ancient Celts.
Within the Celtic religion there is no complete myth about the creation of their world. However, there are references in the Irish texts that suggest there was a common cosmogony myth of the earth, gradually evolving to its form today. For example, there are leftovers of how the sky is supported by trees, a mountain or pillars and stories that had a bridge that linked heaven and earth. The Celts believed that gods dwell in almost every part of nature; trees, mountains, rivers etc. This kind of myth is believed to have been conveyed through poems and
hymns.
There is another creation story that might actually explain what they believed in and links to how they sacrificed; through eternal time, there have been the four forces in the universe. These forces are personified as the Gods Fire and Wind, and the Goddesses Earth and Water. These forces are in constant conflict with each other. Since all are equal none can ever be victorious without the help of another. Finally the Earth decided it was time; she would try to force peace upon the others. She would combine something from all into one form, to show that peace could exist. From Water she created our bodies, from Wind she gave them breath, with Fire she gave them a soul, and of herself she gave a place to live and grow. When the other forces discovered what had happened they became even angrier and began fighting with renewed enthusiasm. Rather than creating peace, Earth had brought a new living dimension to the war. While the forces are in conflict there can never be true peace in the world. This legendary creation story retells the belief of that for one to be born another must pass the soul onto them. There is no difference between the soul of an animal, bird, insect or human and souls can pass from one to another. No "upward or downward movement" should be associated with the movement of the soul from one type of body to another. The type of body is not determined by the actions in this life or a past life; it is determined by the needs of the soul itself. Each soul will continue to pass through life until everything that can be experienced has been experienced, after which it will finally have the knowledge to pass on to the next level of existence.
Something that distinguishes Celtic belief from other religions is the lack of interest shown by the gods and goddesses. Once the Celtic belief was made there has been no directives issued by any deity, no commandments to follow and no details on how to worship. This is unique to the belief due in part to the nature of worship. Followers of the Celtic religion attempt to gain a balance of the forces within themselves. The accepted way to do this most attempt to bring all the forces together and meditate. Anyone can do this at any time; no structured religion is required, thus no one trying to maintain power over those not as close to God/Goddess.
2. Principal beliefs
The Celtic principal beliefs include; Calendarical beliefs, protective symbols, the beliefs in the spirits of nature, and beliefs connected to healing, kingship, and gods. First of all, Calendarical beliefs are those events associated with the Celtic/Coligny calendar. This is the most documented part of the Celtic belief system. The calendar was divided into two main parts, winter and summer; these were a strong influence on how the Celts structured their lives and based their beliefs upon. The Celtic calendar was one of the ways to reconcile lunation and the solar year. The oldest material found of the Celtic calendar was the Coligny calendar, which was discovered in Coligny, France in 1897. It used Roman numerals and dates back to 1st Century BC or AD. But the Coligny calendar is likely to be much older due to its astronomical format. Its inception date is unknown, but some research suggests that an early form of the calendar may date to the common Celtic times around roughly 800 BC. There is an engraved stone found in Ireland which is a graphical representation of a lunar calendar which functions on the same principle as the Coligny calendar. Moreover, the Celts believed in the power of protection from the evils. The frequent use of “amulets” found on the graves of children and adults indicate this belief. This has been discovered in the decoration of jewellery and weaponry, illustrations of animals and human faces. Furthermore, the belief in the spirits of nature is of an important one as it shows that the Celts feared the supernatural powers and believed that whatever happens was because of these spirits and also due the Celts’ behaviour. The spirits beliefs are based on their strong belief of mythological and transcendent forces. They believed in specific forces like protective qualities in plants, and that spirits dwelled in trees. For instance, they made sacred spots in many places of nature – the dark groves in trees, hanging offerings onto the tree. Trees were believed to be the home for the spirits, which then meant they had power over the vegetation. Also, the belief connected to the kinship is important. This was evident from archaeological resources. The king’s wellbeing reflected the land’s wellbeing. For example, a king who had lost his flawless appearance reflected this back onto the land. It was not only a matter of physical perfection but also mentally. If a king who was greedy and didn’t give gifts openly then nature wouldn’t produce a healthy crop. This belief might have been important due to how the Celtic society have had kings and queens. They might have had the bad ones that didn’t know what to do and that reflected on their society, and might have had the great ones that gave so much to their society that it was nourished with good harvest. Overall, they found meaning through these principal beliefs due to their belief in immanence. It is the idea that gods/spirits were present in this universe and everyday life. They believed the gods/ spirits were always there in everything they did, whether it was a ritual or anything else, and that these forces were there to complete the event. On the other hand, specific beliefs about the afterlife are unknown about them in the Celtic religion.
3. Supernatural powers and deities.
Beliefs about the Celtic Gods are not well known. However, what is known is that diverse gods had diverse functions. Some evidences show that in the Celtic society, some members had a closer connection to one god than other members. For instance, shoemakers would tend to worship the god Lugos because one of his iconographies was shoes. The Celts had a belief of gods living in the “otherworld” and were somehow connected the mythological ancestors of the people. There are over 300 names for the Celtic gods. Some of the known Gods are Arawn, Brigid, Cernunnos, Cerridwen, Lugh and Morgan. Celts also believed that the soul was immortal and was transported by the god known as Bile. Each different god had its own role in controlling what is going to happen next, and this can be concluded through Celts actions and needs and wants. Gods’ roles were to control how the Celts lived, worshiped or sacrificed in order to appease them. For example, the Arawn (Wales) god was the ruler of the underworld and therefore guarded the magical animals in the place. He was also the owner of a magical pot with not only the power of rejuvenation, but it could also choose between cowards and the brave. Only the brave one would receive cooked food. He was significant to this society as he distinguished between the coward and the brave in society and helped in keeping who’s strong. Also, the Celts believed and thought that everything was a person, meaning everything possessed a personality and they were then worshipped - earth, sun, moon, sea, wind and other elements of nature. This later led to more personification where the sun or earth spirit was separated from the sun and earth itself. But some Celtic spirits did evolve over time, and there still remains a great respect of the objects of nature themselves. In the end, Celts believe in immanence, particularly with their gods and spirits. This perhaps might have influenced how they pleased each god with different role in a different way as mentioned before with the shoemakers.
4. Rituals
The Celtic religion had an oral religious culture according to the reports from the Romans and Julius Caesar. They had a number of rituals for the festivals associated with seasons. Their rituals were divided into five parts; rituals performed at seasonal feasts, transmigration rituals such as initiation rites, divinatory rituals, curative processes, and magical rituals. Firstly, rituals performed at seasonal feasts occurred with the Irish’s feasts and were celebrated throughout the year. These feasts included: Samhain (1st of November), Imbolc (1st of February), Beltane (1st of May) and Lughnasadh (1st of August). For example, Lughnasadh is celebrated on the 1st of August, marking the beginning of the harvest season approximately halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. It matches other European harvest festivals such as the Welsh Calan Awst and the English Lammas. The festival is named after the god Lugh. It involves great gatherings that include religious ceremonies, ritual athletic contest like the Tailteann Games, feasting, matchmaking and trading. Evidence has shown that religious rites included the offering of the 1st, a feast of the new food, the sacrifice of a bull and a ritual dance-play. The majority of all these would’ve taken place on top of the mountains. Lughnasadh customs persevered until the 20th century, with the event being named various different things such as ‘Mountain Sunday’ as the event is now placed on the nearest Sunday to the original date. Secondly, transmigration rituals include initiation rites such as name giving, inauguration rites to kinship and death rites. There was a story about a mother that tricked her son into giving him a name and after three other initiations; he was finally considered a man. The initiation to kingship rituals varies from each place and time. For example the most common ritual you could relate this type of ritual with is the king being carried by his followers standing on his shield. Death rituals include a big feast in the graveyard area with pieces of meat and containers filled with drinks, mostly a beer or wine, especially for the richer dead. Thirdly, divinatory rituals were generally carried out by Druids who were able to predict the future from bird flight and from an examination of the intestines and innards of dead birds, or from observation of the death throes of a sacrificial human. Fourthly, curative processes are those related to healing and restoration. These rituals are associated with the belief in the restoration powers of water or rebirth. Rituals such as immersion in sacred water and the offering of equivalent models of injured parts were used in the curative rituals. Lastly, magical rituals include the collection of curative plants. It is depicted through stories of the Druids. Blessings and curses were appealed by calling a god to do something to somebody else. Evidence of these was found on such things as lead plates. The magical rituals also include sacrifice. Human sacrifice such as that of the Lindow man from Lindow moss in England was ritualistically killed. He died of a ‘threefold’ death which included a hit on the head, strangulation and drowning. Other stories like these support the idea that the ancient Celtic people practiced a ritualistic killing where humans were sacrificed. The Celts have found their search of meaning through these rituals. These rituals have structured their everyday life and their calendar. They have explained the natural forces that Celts couldn’t have control over. These rituals have made them transcend their nature of humanity and become associated with these forces that controlled their world.
5. Rituals and society
It was considered that the ancestors of the Celts lived near the Black Sea about 6000 years ago. They lived in a society where there was three groups of people; Bards who were specialised in arts and maintaining traditions of the tribe, Ovates who were the prophets and native healers, and Druids were the teachers, judges and leaders. Through Druids, the religious power was exercised. The oral traditions used by the Ovates were maintained by the Bards and determinations were made by the Druids to keep society united.
6. Search for meaning
Celtic religion attempted to satisfy their search for meaning by providing a unique response, which was combining the lives of humans with the lives of gods. The rituals and sacrifices of animals, humans, food and plants, hunting and agriculture, magical spells, wellbeing of the king, and, the reliance on the supernatural forces to control their earthly life expressed the idea of the world they lived in. They needed to make a connection with their gods and spirits in order to survive this life - to be immortal. When they associated themselves with the supernatural powers, when they pleased their gods, when they ritualised everything in their life, they found that their souls can be immortal.