The Religion of the Early Celts
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- SpeakerThe speaker starts his lecture by telling anecdotes about himself.
- SpeakerThe speaker tells that Julius Caesar and other classical writers saw the Celts as being uncommonly interested in religion. This interest carried on into the modern day Celts with both positive and negative aspects for the Irish. The speaker sees that the early Celts had a sense of mystery about their world as well as a sense of unity with nature.
- SpeakerUsing maps, the speaker shows the Celts originated in about 800 BC in the Upper Danube region. The Celts spread all over Europe and later centered in France and the British Isles due to the presence of the Romans.
- SpeakerThe speaker explains that during the Stone Age certain monuments associated with Celts were constructed. During this time the representation of gods was mostly female since women were seen as powerful being the creators of new life. By the beginning of the Bronze Age the Indo European culture was more prominent and gods became more male centered.
- SpeakerThe speaker relates that the Celtic religion inherited many aspects of European religion. But the Celtic society retained the importance of women which allowed them to own property and become military leaders. The speaker suggests that since the Celts were on the edges of European civilization they were able to keep more elements of their early religion.
- SpeakerThe speaker notes that archaeological finds have given us knowledge of the early Celts. A second source is the written observations of Greeks and Romans. It has been suggested that the Celts did not have a written language as they did not want others to have access to their knowledge. Later the Celts wrote in Greek and Latin and even later wrote in Irish.
- SpeakerThe speaker points out that the Greeks and Romans presented a biased view of the Celts as they were afraid of the Celts sacking their land. But the Greeks and Romans also had a romantic or childlike view of the Celts. Similar biases showed up in the Irish writings about the Celts.
- SpeakerThe speaker tells that the Celts were close to nature since they were farmers and hunters. However, they did not understand nature and seasonal events were a mystery to them. Gradually the Celts began to beg for what they needed from nature which developed into the Celts personifying nature and idolizing animals.
- SpeakerThe speaker details the importance of the wild boar to the Celts and its presence in Celtic art. The Irish hero Diarmuid was killed by a wild boar and the French cartoon character Asterix loved to eat wild boar. The speaker outlines his travels and searches throughout Europe for the depiction of the wild boar including in France the boar god “moccus”.
- SpeakerIn general, the Celtic religion was very localized resulting in about 450 gods and goddesses. Only about 12 show up more than once so it is hard to generalize about Celtic gods. This reflects that the Celts were not a unified society. However, Epona the horse goddess is one goddess that is frequently seen in Celtic depictions. For the Celts, like the early Irish, the horse was an important animal.
- SpeakerThe speaker introduces Cernunnos or the horned god. The Christian depiction of Cernunnos is evil unlike the Celtic depiction which is more about strength. A depiction of Cernunnos was found under Notre Dame in Paris reflecting the practice of the Romans and later the Christians co-opting early Celtic sacred sites and gods such as St Brigid.
- SpeakerThe speaker gives an overview of the Druids who were considered specialists in communicating with the gods. The speaker also cautions that there is lots of misinformation about Druids due to the 19th century pseudo Celtic and pseudo Druid rituals becoming popular.
- SpeakerThe speaker says that the Druids were very learned people who took about 20 years to commit to memory the many stories, lore, poetry, rituals and medical aspects of the Celtic religion. The Druids were the one unifying element of Celtic society. Caesar and other leaders saw the Druids as very powerful within the Celtic society and so despised them.
- SpeakerTape break
- SpeakerThe speaker details the Celtic religion being practised in nature particularly in Oak groves rather than in structures. The speaker then quotes the Roman writer Lucan’s description of Celts practising their religion. He also notes that dru is the Celtic for oak and nenetton is Celtic for place of worship. The speaker continues by explaining the importance of mistletoe to the Celtic religion.
- SpeakerShowing photos, the speaker illustrates that the Celts’ offerings to the gods were given by immersing them in water. The Romans noted human sacrifice was sometimes practised by the Druids. Caesar referred to the “wicker man” which was a mannequin made of sticks inside which a person was burnt. Thus the Romans referred to the Celts as barbarians and used this as a reason they needed to get rid of the Celts.
- SpeakerThe speaker finds the Celts obsession for cutting off human heads in battle as unattractive. He does note that the Celts thought the head contained the soul of a person and thus preserving human heads could be a tribute to the person they killed. The speaker shows photos where skulls were part of Celtic religious sites.
- SpeakerThe speaker shows a series of slides that focus on the more brutal side of the Celtic religion such as man-eating monsters depicted in their statues.
- SpeakerThe speaker notes the Celts saw the worlds for the living and dead as being very close. The speaker expands this idea by describing Celtic graves, Celtic art, the “samhain” festival and the importance of the sources of rivers. The speaker also explains how these contributed to our knowledge of the early Celts.
- SpeakerThe lecture ends with questions from the audience which the speaker answers.