Celtic Interactions with Other Cultures by Steve Myles

Home

Celtic Interactions with
Other Cultures
by Steve Myles

The Celts were an ancient people of northwestern Europe. They lived
primarily in the British Isles and Gaul (ancient France) from about 900 B.C.
to the time of the Roman occupation of that area. At this time their culture
and beliefs were dominant in that part of the world. Many Celts died during
rule by those like Caesar. The survivors soon faced a new threat to the
Celtic way of life: Christianity. Though many Celts died during the
Christian invasion, their religion and traditions have lived on in many
Christian holidays which are actually celebrated at the time and very
similarly to Celtic festivals of long ago. Almost all we know of the ancient
Celts comes from accounts of others, particularly Julius Caesar, because the
record-keeping Druids prided themselves on their memories and kept very few
written records. This leads to speculation as to the validity of Caesar's
description of the Celts because the reports are extremely biased. The
ancient Celtic society, especially the priestly class, known as Druids, did a
great deal to influence many aspects of modern popular culture and deserves to
be studied to be better understood.
I will not claim to entirely understand Druidism, because I do not.
However, I have learned a few things about what they believed. First of all,
the religion itself is called Druidism, and those who teach others of the ways
of it are called Druids. The word "Druidic" refers to only the religion,
whereas the word "Celtic" refers to the culture as a whole and includes the
religion, so they are somewhat interchangeable. Druidism was centered around
nature. The Celts were a polytheistic people with a god or goddess for almost
everything. They often sacrificed animals to their deities, and they possibly
also sacrificed humans, though probably only convicted criminals or prisoners
of war. Many of their deities names can still be found in town and area names
in parts of England and Ireland. They believed that the elements of nature
were fire, air, water, and earth. Though the Celts did not believe in the
Christian God, they did not worship Satan. After all, one must believe in the
prior to worship the latter. Those who taught the Celts about their religion
and performed religious ceremonies were called Druids.
Any society obviously needs judges and law makers, and any religion
obviously needs leaders and teachers; the Druids did all of these things and
more. Those who became Druids were usually wise and physically fit. To
become a Druid, one had to go through many years of training in all aspects of
their religion and society. Once anointed, a Druid had to live a life devoted
to the gods and teaching others about their religion, very similar to
Christian ministers. Druids paid no taxes, and when one Celtic tribe
conquered another, they paid no tribute. They were exempt from military
service, but there are stories of Druids walking between two opposing armies
with their arms outstretched and ending the battle. The leader of a group of
Druids was known as an Arch-Druid. A new Arch-Druid was elected by the Druids
when the current Arch-Druid died. The popular image of a Druid is a man in a
white robe with a white beard and a golden sickle. There is little evidence
supporting the beard or sickle, but the robe is widely believed to be what
Druids generally wore. They generally lived in forest groves, among the oak
trees and mistletoe, which were sacred to them. Druids are believed to be the
Celtic equivalent to the Hindu Brahman, and both are believed to possibly be
religious leaders from two off-shoots of the same ancient Indo-European
religion. The Druids practiced what they called magick (the Welsh spelling of
the word), but is now believed to be their method of communicating with their
gods, somewhat like Christian prayer. One of a Druid's tasks was to lead the
Celts in their many festivals.
The Celts had festivals at different times throughout their year, and
several of these have lent some of their traditions to modern holidays.
Incense was often burned at Celtic festivals. Their year began on November 1,
and the Samhain festival was held the night before. This festival was held on
a night when the barrier between worlds was believed to be the thinnest and
the dead could mingle between worlds. Samhain, honoring the god of the dead,
was the Celtic equivalent of a modern New Year's Eve party. In late December,
at the time of the winter solstice, the Celts held Mean Geimredh, also called
Alban Arthan, to celebrate midwinter and the lengthening of the days. A
modern holiday similar to this festival in practices is Christmas. Customs
associated with this holiday are decorating trees and kissing under the
mistletoe. In February, the Celts had Imbolc, also known as Oimelc, which was
their celebration of actual midwinter. The modern equivalent of this is
Candlemas, as it is also called the Candle Festival. In March, there was Mean
Earrach, or Alban Eiler, which was their celebration of the vernal equinox.
The Celts often celebrated this holiday by hunting for hidden eggs. In May,
Beltane was celebrated. Our culture's rough equivalent of this festival is
May Day. This holiday marked the beginning of summer. Mean Samradh, or Alban
Heffyn, was the Celtic festival of the summer solstice, meaning the beginning
of the lengthening of nights. Lugnassadh, the August festival is known for
the sports competitions that occured on that day. Half-mass is this
festival's modern counterpart. Mean Foghammer, also known as Alban Elved, was
basically the Celtic Thanksgiving. Taking place in September, it is most
notable for the large feast that took place the night before the festival.
This holiday takes place at the time of the autumnal equinox. These were the
major holidays of the Celtic year, until their way of life was changed
abruptly by the Romans and later the Christians.
The entering of the British Isles by the Roman Empire caused much uproar
among the Celts. Many Celts were executed for refusing to convert to the
Roman religion. When Julius Caesar ordered his men to slaughter the Druids
in 61 A.D., many of the survivors fled to the Isle of Anglesey, off the coast
of Wales. The Celtic culture and religion were suppressed for the entire
period of Roman occupation of the area. Because of complex internal problems
of their Empire, the Romans withdrew their forces from Great Britain and
Ireland in 425 A.D. The surviving Druids returned to the mainland, and found
that the Romans had left everything in chaos. They realized that they had to
restore their former way of life and religious ideals in the Celts, because
they were the only ones at that time who could do it. However, about one
century later, Christians began to flock to the British Isles to again
threaten the Celts.
With the arrival of Christians to that part of Europe, the Celtic way of
life was altered severely and irreparably. Glastonbury Tor was an important
religious site, consisting of a ring of stones, from about 2000 B.C. until the
Battle of the Trees in about 400 B.C. During this battle, the ring was
destroyed by persons unknown, leaving a solitary stone which was called the
"Tor-Stone" by inhabitants of the vicinity, which included Avalon. When St.
Columba's forces attacked Avalon in 563 A.D., the remaaining "Tor-Stone" was
broken up and taken to the site of the new Abby and put into its foundation to
glorify and make known the superiority of the Christian God. Many Celts were
tortured and killed at the hands of Christians for refusing to convert in an
inquisition of sorts, while others claimed to convert and continued to
practice their religion in secrecy. Druids suffered much at the hands of the
Christian invaders, although they valiantly tried to help their people.
Though many Celts were virtually massacred by the Christians, many of their
traditions and legends live on in modern practices and stories.
Many of our most popular traditions were actually distinctly Celtic before
the Christians borrowed them. Many of our holiday traditions, such as kissing
under the mistletoe and decorating trees at Christmas, actually come from the
Celts' festivals. The placing of many of our holidays on the calendar comes
from the Celts' placing of similar holidays and festivals. Christmas is very
near the winter solstice, and with good reason. Early Christians wishing to
celebrate the birth of Christ placed Christmas close to this time, when
Christ was probably born sometime in the summer, to draw more pagans, which
include Celts, into the Christian fold. The modern holiday Easter is similar
to the Celtic vernal equinox celebration in its time of year and in its
practices, like hunting for eggs. Halloween's placing on the calendar
reflects its Celtic origins. Taking place on October 31, it is on the night
in which the Celts would have held the Samhain festival. Some popular stories
are Celtic in origin as well.
Celtic stories are still told today, though they have usually been altered
somewhat. For instance, the legends of England's King Arthur, a brave man of
the Middle Ages are based on Celtic stories, though they are distorted. The
original Arthurian stories would have been written long before the Middle
Ages, and Arthur would have practiced Druidism instead of Christianity, as he is
usually portrayed. Also, most of the original Arthurian legends were about
him as a boy, before he became king. Merlin (also spelled Merlyn) the
magician, who should have been a Druid and not a magician, was not a part of
the original stories, but of entirely different legends. The two were put
together by a French monk during the Middle Ages. Though the Celtic culture
was repressed by the Christians, they continued to tell their old stories, and
even told new ones, sometimes about King Arthur and his knights. Evidence of
this is found in the collection of tales called "Four Branches of the
Mabinogi". One of its stories tells of the knights' search for the Holy
Grail, the cup that Christ supposedly used at the Last Supper. This story is
probably largely responsible for all of the Grail legends that currently
exist, as there was little mention of it prior to this work. There are
currently a number of Neopagan Druidic groups active in the world.
Groups of Neopagan Druids are active in our society today. As early as
the sixteenth century, people began to research their Celtic backgrounds and
became what they considered to be Druids. Many of these Druids began to form
groups, or orders. In the United States today, there are many groups of this
kind. Their members are usually either descendants of ancient Celts who are
rediscovering their heritage, or members of other religious groups who are not
happy with their religious path. In these organizations, there are usually
people who have undergone difficult training like the Druids of long ago.
These individuals are in charge of the groups, and are called Druids by the
other members. Just as all Celts were not Druids, all members of a Neopagan
Druidic order are not Druids. One of these modern Druidic orders, the
Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA), has been an active group on this
continent for many years. Another group called ADF (Ar nDraiocht Fein, a
Gaelic word for Our Own Druidism) is an extremely fundamentalist movement.
All of these groups believe that they have a direct link to their
predescessors, which does not always put the many different groups on friendly
terms. Modern Druids are often environmentalists because of their beliefs.
Membership in Neopagan Druidic orders is growing quickly, and they are fast
becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Druidism has contributed much to modern popular culture. Much of this is
because of their faith in their gods and their excellence in story telling.
Their numerous festivals and religious celebrations are often the basis for
holidays that we consider to be modern. Many popular stories were Celtic
legends for many years when we incorporated them into our society. Many
Neopagan Druidic groups exist in the modern world, and their organizations are
becoming more evident as time passes. The Celts did not gain very much from
their interactions with other cultures. Most of these cultural exchanges
entailed persecution of the Celts on many levels. Though most of the
interactions between the Celtic culture and other cultures, including the
Roman Empire and Christianity, have proven harsh for the majority of the
Celts, our culture has benefitted in many ways from its dealings with the
Celts. Since not much is known about Celtic life, efforts to discover more
about these people from whom we borrowed so much and gave so little should be
made.

References
Bonewits, P. E. I. (1984). A New Tradition of Neopagan Druidism. The Druids'
Progress, 1. 2-5.
Celtic calendar. (1990). Text file.
England. (1993). World Book Information Finder.
Halloween. (1993). World Book Information Finder.
Kanamanah, Covi. (1989). The First Book of Druwydds. Text file.
McIntosh, Christopher. (1993). Druids. World Book Information Finder.
Monroe, Douglas. (1992). The 21 Lessons of Merlyn. St. Paul: Llewellyn
Publications.
Morse, Keith A. (1990). A Christian Perspective on Witchcraft. Text file
interview. Questions & Answers on Wicca.
Mythology. (1993). World Book Information Finder.
Petras, Druwydd ap. (1994). Druid. Personal interview.

<>
7 H
EOF