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Celtic History / Celtic Religion / Celtic Dress and Ornamentation
The Celts are commonly thought of as the ancient Irish. In fact, their civilization covered a much larger area than Ireland. The Celts first appeared in history as they came out of the east in waves of migrants in the 9th century BC. They spread into Gaul, the Iberian Peninsula, North Italy, the Balkans, Asia Minor, Britain, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. By the 5th century BC, they were sacking towns in Italy, France, Germany and Switzerland, areas where they settled for a time. At their height of power, their territory stretched from the British Isles to Turkey, but they finally fell to the Romans and Germanic Tribes.
Although they were not all of the same ethnic stock, they spoke dialects of the same language. They were among the greatest technologists of the ancient world; skilled metal workers, builders of roads and chariots, experts in agriculture and animal husbandry. They were also warriors of unparalleled courage and ferocity, feared even by the tough Roman legions. They laid the foundation of western European civilization.
The Celts were brilliant, flamboyant, fearless and dynamic people, but also given to drunkenness and boasting. Although they were poorly organized as tribes, they were first and foremost warriors, often hiring themselves out as mercenaries to any who could afford their high price.
The women who were held in high regard, were as good warriors as their men. Any Celtic woman with her temper aroused was a dangerous force to be reckoned with. In early Celtic history, it was not unusual for women to fight along side their men.
By the 1st century BC, the Romans began encroaching on Celtic territory, finally conquering most of their land, with the exception of Scotland and Ireland. Even after this, there were sporadic uprisings; the one led by Queen Boadicia in Britain around 61AD nearly wiped out the Roman legions in that country. The Celtic beliefs were not destroyed until the Christians began to make inroads.
From about 600 BC the Celtic peoples had an alphabet, called the Ogham (pronounced "Owam"). The Ogham alphabet was sacred and probably used only for special recordings. The Druids knew and used the Greek alphabet for ordinary messages, although the later Bards of Wales continued to use Ogham to write down what they remembered of Druidic tradition. Eventually the Christian church forcibly replaced Ogham with the Latin alphabet. With the knowledge of three alphabets it is likely at some point, at least in Ireland, the Celts began to record their history and legions.
Although it is said that the Celts kept no written records, St. Patrick personally burned almost 180 Irish books written in the Celtic language. This set an example for Christian Zealots who destroyed every piece of Druidic literature they could find. Christian monk-scribes, for some unknown reason, felt compelled to record the Celtic myths, even while the missionaries determinedly stamped out belief in the ancient Gods and Goddesses.
The Celts were religious to a high degree. The ethical teachings of the Druids can be summed up as; worship the Gods, do no evil, be strong and courageous. They believed in reincarnation and transmigration (the transfer of a human soul into an animal or plant form). Their pantheon held a great number of female deities of primary importance - Mother Goddesses, War Goddesses, Tutelary Goddesses. They also had the concept of the triune god, three aspects of a single deity. They did not believe in punishment of the gods after death.
The Druids were the Celtic priesthood. In the beginning, until the Romans and other patrilineal religions forced change, the Celts had similar organizations of women. There are some clues in historical writings to suggest that these women were called "Dryads" and lived in sacred groves. It is very probable that they were in existence before the Druids, being part of the very old Goddess religions.
The Druids and priestesses were the healers, judges, astronomers, teachers, oracles and religious leaders of the Celtic clans.
The head Druid was the Arch Druid, and his female counterpart likely called the "High Priestess" of the grove. Special schools were available for would be initiates of either sex. It was no easy matter to become part of this elite religious community.
The Druids had three divisions within their order; the Bards (poets), who wore blue robes; the Ovates (prophets, philosophers), who wore green; and the Druid Priest who wore white. Their tonsure was later copied by Christian monks.
In Ireland, the Ovates and Bards were known collectively as the "Filid". The Druids were the philosophers, judges and advisors to the tribal leaders. The Ovates compiled knowledge of all kinds. The Bards praised, ridiculed, and taught through the use of music and poetry.
This entire teaching survived in Ireland as the "Brehon Law". They sang beta-like hymns, sacrificed with special plants and occasionally animals or humans, and used sacred fires. However, the practice of human sacrifice does not appear to have been very common in Ireland and Britain.
The higher priest sometimes wore masks or crowns with horns during certain fertility ceremonies. The horns were in honor of the Celtic God "Cernunnos" (in Britain) or the Horned One, and symbolized the male virility needed for fertility. The Horned God was the opener of the gates of life and death, the masculine, active side of nature, god of the underworld. This is the oldest form of the god that this world has.
The female counterpart of Cernunnos was the naked White Moon Goddess. This oldest Earth Goddess is the "Primal Mother", who creates everything; the passive, feminine side of nature.
The Druids as a whole were extremely powerful. They could easily pass from one warring tribe to another, or go into any region they chose. In fact, they were so powerful and well trained that in later periods, they were prohibited from carrying or using any physical weapons. It is said that by words alone, they could conquer enemies and cause all kinds of hardship. They taught a very special relationship with nature.
In Celtic belief, the areas of being or existence were represented by three concentric circles. Abred, the innermost, is where life springs from Annwn; it is the arena where the human soul must perfect itself. The next circle out is called Gwynedd (purity) where the life spark finally triumphs over evil and can rest forever from reincarnation. The outermost is called Ceugant (infinity); it is the dwelling place of the ultimate power of creation. This idea of a triune universe is represented by the three-pointed knot in Celtic artwork.
Druidic lore taught that a human soul had to pass through many incarnations in Abred, the circle of necessity, before it could reach Gwynedd, the circle of blessedness. Abred is earthly life; once the lessons are learned, the soul does not return. The Druids taught that three things could hinder progress: ego or pride, lies, and unnecessary cruelty.
The Priestesses or Druidesses, were highly revered among the Celts, as they knew the power of words, stones and herbs. Priestesses sang the dying to sleep, did enchantments, prophecies, charms, birthing and healing. A cauldron, bowl, spring or pool was one of the central features of a grove and was probably used for scrying. Red-haired women were sacred to the War Goddesses, as red was the color of life-blood and menstrual blood.
Blacksmiths ranked high in the social order, because they were trained in special magic. They trained for a year and a day on Scath's Island (possibly Skye), learning metal magic and the martial arts. They could also heal, prophecy and make weapons filled with magical powers. Blacksmiths were dedicated to the goddess "Scathach" or "Scota". Most pagan cultures held blacksmiths in awe because of their ability to create using the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water.
Certain hills, lakes, caves, springs, wells, monoliths, clearings within groves, and ancient stone circle were sacred worship places because of their connection with the ley lines and significant happenings in the past. Wells, springs, fountains and ponds were considered female symbols, water-passages to the underground womb of the Great Mother. But the Druids preferred oak groves and forests. They even built some large rectangular or horseshoe-shaped wooden buildings as temples. The horseshoe shaped symbolized the womb of the Great Mother, the great gate of the goddess, or knowledge gained through ritualistic rebirth. Roughly carved tree trunks, images or stones ornamented with metal plates represented devotion to the deity. Each Celtic temple had its sacred cauldron, a symbol of the Great Mothers cosmic womb of reincarnation.
Most celebrations were held at night as the Celtic day began at midnight; they reckoned time by nights rather than days. Their calendar was based on the moon and had thirteen months. The bright half of each month was made up of 15 days of the waxing moon, while the dark half was the 15 days of the waning moon. During the waxing moon, the Priest-Priestesses did positive magic; during the waning moon, binding or dark magic.
The months of a Celtic year were named after trees, which corresponded to letters of the Ogham alphabet. They also knew and used the solar year, based on the time it takes the sun to circle the earth and return to the same place. They adjusted their lunar year to the solar year by inserting an extra 30 day month alternately at two-and-a-half and three year intervals.
The Druids understood and used Greek meton cycle. This consists of 235 lunar months, the time it takes the sun and moon to travel back to the same positions of a previous 19 year cycle.
A Druidic cycle was completed in 6 lustres or 30 years, based on a solar year. Lustre was a cycle of 15 years. A period of 630 years was called a Druidic era. All eras were dated from the second battle of Mag Truireadh in Ireland, when the Tuatha De Danann defeated the Fomorians.
In the Celtic areas of Britain and Ireland, a new year began after Samhain (Halloween) each year was divided into a dark and a light half, with Samhain beginning the dark half and Beltane (May Day) beginning the light.
The Celts always performed certain movements in the direction of the sun (clockwise) during rituals. They considered it very unlucky to go Widdershins (counterclockwise), except for specific rituals. This moving in the suns direction extended to the passing around of drinking horns at feast.
Religious holidays centered on the solstices, equinoxes and moon phases. Four Fire Festivals (the solstices and equinoxes) were the highlights of a Celtic farming year. They represented plowing, sowing, growing and harvest.
There is also evidence that they observed Imbolc (February), Beltane (May), Lughnassadh (August), and Samhain (November). Special ceremonies were held at Samhain (Halloween) when they believed the veil between the worlds was thinnest and the dead could be contacted for help and knowledge.
Mai or Maj (May) was a month of sexual freedom in honor of the great mother and horned god of the woodlands. Trial marriages of a year and a day could be contracted at this time; if this proved unworkable, partners simply went their separate ways at the end of that time. Virginity was not prized among the Celts since family was important to them. Sexual activity was encouraged, especially at Beltane; children conceived at this time were considered very lucky. Green, worn at this time to honor the earth mother, was later called unlucky by the Christians in hopes that people especially women, would discontinue following the old sexuality promiscuous ways.
The terrifying Celtic gods were only personifications of the destroying natural forces in this world. It is known to all psychics that certain Nature spirits haunt lonely places; these are neither good nor evil, simply different. The Celtic peoples knew this and took an open attitude towards the fairies or little people, calling them the Good Neighbors or the People of Peace, with the idea that it is better to be on friendly terms with unpredictable elements than to court trouble.
Avalon is often identified with the present Glastonbury. the name Avalon means "Place of Apples". Apples have been grown in Britain for a very long time. The tree itself was sacred to the Celts because of its fruit. When an apple is cut crosswise, a pentagram or 5-point star is visible. The pentagram was a symbol of the Welsh Sow Goddess Cerridwen, otherwise known as the Morrigu, the underworld goddess of death and regeneration. The star was a reminder that everyone journeyed to the land of death. In view of this, it is thought that the custom of bobbing for apples at Halloween may have begun as a symbolic cheating of the Death Goddess. In an attempt to attract new pagan converts however, the Christians adopted both the pentagram, as a symbol of Christ's five wounds, and Cerridwen's sacred cauldron, as the Holy Grail.
Feasting and games, particularly warrior skills, were part of the four seasonal holiday: Imbolc, Beltane, Lughnassadh, and Samhain. Pork, because it was the chief food of the Tuatha De Danann, was served at these festivals, especially at Samhain. Mead, special breads and other foods were also served.
Oak and mistletoe were two of the most sacred plants. Sexual rites were part of the ancient ceremonies of the oak and mistletoe gods. Although no details have been preserved, we can assume, by comparison to similar ancient rites, that a priest and priestess physically and symbolically copulated. This sexual combining represented the power of the Sky God (lightning which strikes the oak) fertilizing the Mother Goddess. Such a sexual religious act is known as sympathetic magic. The same sexual sympathetic magic was practiced in the newly plowed fields to entice crop fertility.
Holly was sacred to the Morrigu. Its red berries were symbolic of menstrual blood, while the white berries of the mistletoe signified semen.
The Celts actually were very clean people, using soap long before the Romans did. The Celtic men and women of Britain sometimes wore swirling blue tattoos or paintings on their bodies. All Celts played Lyres and harps, loved song, music and recitation of legends and epic adventures. They used metal or ornamented natural horns for drinking.
Children took the mothers name, and daughters inherited her possessions. Virginity was not valued; twice the dowry was given for a woman previously married or with children. Abortion and choice or change of mate was a woman's right. Both sexes loved jewelry; brooches decorated with gold filigree, cuttlefish shell, garnets, lapis, and other stones; buckles of gold filigree and stones; pens and linked pens with animal-style decorated; necklaces of amber, granulation and chipped carving. They wore torques, pendants, bracelets, pens and necklaces. The women sometimes sewed little bells on the fringed ends of their tunics. The elaborate innertwinings of their artwork was a guard against the evil eye or curses.
Celtic women painted their fingernails, reddened their cheeks with roan, darkened their eyebrows with berry juice. They wore their hair long and braided or piled high upon their head. Their usual dress was a sleeve tunic tucked into a large, gathered, belted skirt or simply an ankle length tunic with a belt.
Celtic men on the continental mainland wore trousers with a tunic, but in Britain and Ireland, the men wore a thigh length tunic and a cloak, the ever present dagger or sword, and leather or fur footgear tied around the legs. Mustaches were common, and the hair shoulder length. A horned helmet indicated a powerful warrior.
Clothing was usually wool dyed in bright colors of clear red, green, blue or yellow. Some of the natural plant dyes used were woad (old Irish, glastum; Welsh, lliwur glas) for blue; acorns for brown shades; Queen Ann's lace for a yellow green. Various parts of the alder produced many shades; red from the bark, green from the flowers, brown from the twigs.
In the early cultures, both men and women had huge rectangular cloaks pinned at the right shoulder. The cloaks were generally woven in bright plaids, checks or stripes. Later they wore large hooded capes reaching to the knees.
The Celts were an energetic people with a zest for life. They were strong psychics, in tune with the forces of nature and the power of the human mind. Ordinary objects were directed with highly spiritual, symbolic designs, a visual reminder that their beliefs went beyond lip-service. What we now call magic was an integral part of their belief system. And the basics of that system are still as usable today as they were then.
Please note that all the above information came from the book "Celtic Magic" by D.J. Conway.