Gods
Year
1 Lesson 3.
Before
I start you can write notes at anytime through out the lesson except
for the final result of our own Gods. And a reminder that you can
come and read any of the full lessons yourself any time and as many
times.
As
said before trying to find
the 'religion' & practices of the Celts & trying to umbrella
it under this concept of 'Celtic Spirituality' or 'Norse/Heathen
spirituality' is just plain stupid. Its like lumping all the tribes
of native Americans together and say you follow “Native
Spirituality”. Each tribe is distinctly unique from any other, so
quit bickering with each other and get to what is important, your own
tribe, not what others are doing. To be a M.K. Tribe, you must only
have the main beliefs in common, agreed to pre-tribe. All the rest
of the mumbo gumgo out there are only differences in perception and
choices of the individual. One of these major disagreements are over
what is a God and what is not in the tales, including with the new
'heathen', Odinists or Asatru groups. We've been groomed over that
last few hundred years to think of religious writings as literal &
therefore for some the mythologies seem too far fetched to be real,
others say this is a god but this is a hero, and this is a mythical
giant etc. It is the same with the bible, yet people seem to have no
problem believing that. Celtic mythology, especially the Arthurian
mythos, had become confusing & inconsistent as these stories are
told and retold.
I
decided to based our tribe on the mythologies contained in the
Mabinogi, mostly The red book of Hergest text containing references
to Arthur or writings by the Talieson of the 6th
century. However they are very loosely based and from there became
our own with the first members contributing. We are not here to
debate what is and what isn't Celtic practice because although we use
the word Celtic, again I must stress we use it to mean not a race ,
thus M.K.is open to all persons regardless of race, colour or sexual
preference. We are not a religion but a tribe with its own
spiritualty. We believe we are still honouring our roots no matter
who we are and we made an updated version and our own unique modern
day tribe. So for the ancient mythologies they to have an updated
view of how we look at them. The characters of Arthurian traditions
have been overlooked as medieval stoies and sometimes not included as
the research of other nature Gods. In my own research I found that
Arthur and his Knights are the only stories that have kept going
through time but he and his knights, underneath alll their shining
armour of modern day, are giant effigies in the earth Een the
cauldron and Arthurs other symbols are all bodies of nature.
Most
people tend to have an inability to put themselves into a pagan
mindset, even though some claim to be pagan, and view things with
Christian overtones, although its unknowingly done in innocence. One
major one Christian overtone is how they the Gods. Although they can
speak and read the words written even in the Wiccan books, that the
ancient Gods were tangible and terrifyingly close, they still seem to
think they are somewhere out there. They call to them like they are
far away and 'might' listen to us little people. The other problem
is that they are reading literary as said above. I even had students
who said I just can't see myself using Arthur or any other character
as a God because they are thinking of the Hollywood versions. Being
from the Scandinavian areas doesn't make a difference as their were
Arthurian cults all through that area as well as up in Scotland.
This immediately tells me they think of the Gods as somewhere out
there and that they are somehow invisible beings that we cannot
touch. It is very and have very obvious that they've never read any
of the Celtic mythologies and that they have done very little, if
any, research on the Gods, other than the romantic blurbs on the net.
Again misguided book witches reading pagan author garbage. Some so
called mentors might have even taught them as told them to read the
Eddas or a mythology story or poems, and this mentor innocently
repeating the same nonsense.
One
of the first things to put our of your mind is to
remember
not to compare them to Classical Greco-Roman Gods as Celtic
/ Norse Gods are darker in nature. You
cannot understand ANY of these mythologies without understanding the
people of the time, their laws, and doing a comparison study of the
cultures around the world during this same period. Romans
were always attempting to relate Celtic Goddesses to their own and
many pagans have followed suit. Don't buy in to this practice or you
will read something into the God that is not there. In the beginning
before Roman influence, I've read that they were very reluctant to
put up fixed images of their gods and believed so much in the power
of a name that they kept the real names of their gods secret. In
fact, a very common oath was “I swear by the Gods of my people”.
By not naming them aloud they left them wild and untamed like the
mysterious nature they were. Also keep in mind that it is only
during Romano-Celtic times that they began to write down inscriptions
to them.
I
read somewhere that you can never truly understand the mythologies
until you've totally embraced an initiatory or ordeal like tribal
tradition. When I decided 10 years ago that I wanted to create a
tribe, & in writing out the beliefs & traditions I can say I
really understand now what that statement means. I have learned
more in this process than any pagan research prior in my life. I
apologize for not giving dues to the author who said this line but
I've read so much I really don't remember. If anyone knows, I would
be happy to give them credit here.
Eventually
you too will get your own insights into the why and when, if you
begin to read our mythologies & compare them with the others.
You'll bring these spiritual intuitions and different perspectives to
add to our tribe's knowledge or possibly change a belief as we grow.
Follow the procedure for changing the traditions shown in the law
books of the Speera.
Now
I am going to attempt to sum up my 3 year study exclusively on the
Gods into this brief lesson. Whether new information shall come
later is irrelevant as this is how is shall be until our traditions &
beliefs are challenged to a vote by a member, but I will explain how
I came to these choices for the tradition. We will start with the
History of Gods & changes in the peoples perception;
GOD
PHASES
From
all the Northern European mythology stories, most of the characters
are matched with a totem, or a few. How did these totems get in the
stories? Totems
are animals, later trees, plants & places that each tribe adopted
as their own.
These are not the same as a power animal. These are virtues used to
describe a geis or clan style. But how did this tradition start?
Waaaaay back, in nomadic times, animals were thought to be Gods &
were worshipped for the things they gave to the humans. Animal
spottings & behavioural attributes were considered sacred &
people were in awe of this Mother Goddess. Mother was anything that
gave food, clothing and nourishment, as a human mother would, but
might also leave them in awe or she could be terrifying too. The
more common the animal in their area, thus the animal was considered
their original Mother, & they the descendants. Rivers and lakes
also provided nourishment and water as well as sacrificial lessons
(an accidental drowning might have happened) therefore is considered
a Goddess. Mothers were first before any male God. Did you all
know that originally, it was the female who was sacrificed every year
and that males were most likely NOT allowed at any spiritual ritual.
The
Gods also had a tool or weapon totem attached to themselves. This
could have been the instrument used to identify the way in which the
animals were hunted, the way they fished, the instruments used in
that area & later the or tool became connected to it.
This first phase above is called the totemic era.
The second phase
of Gods; As
new ways of life and knowledge came, these stories changed and start
to become a little confusing. The
Gods were adapted as people changed and grew in knowledge. As
each new Bardic generation received the passed down information, each
adapted the tale to match the sense of beliefs their own era. This
is the time the tribes were focused on
learning to read the sky for information. The way the stars twinkled
and got our attention, humans believed they were watching over us.
Then we found shapes and movement of certain star patterns and they
became the animals and symbols in the sky. They developed symbols
to match their legends. They could see 5 planets with the naked eye
and many constellations, some would move and some spiralled round
what is called a pole star. The first tower to the heavens knowledge
was a pole that shamans would climb. They developed rituals to match
these happenings and the pole was very much a part of that.
This
way of life eventually led into the agricultural / husbandry era or
third
phase
of
Gods. Their were animal shapes in the sky, eventually female Goddess
shapes which slowly changed into the pantheons, zodiac and
constellations we have today. We know that as males had more
responsibilities then protection & hunting, they began getting
involved with the new agricultural rituals & it became the male
that was sacrificed each year instead of the female. Here we also
see where the confusion of male and female deities come in the sun
and planet phase. It really depended on the tribe as to which was
female and male and in some instances the sun could be both. In one
season the sun could be female and in another male. Another
confusing aspect of the mythologies is the fact of where the 3 came
from. So the stories of the two males who fight over one female
reflects the old belief of 3 seasons, winter summer fighting over
spring maiden. Earth spirits or gods were so important that Children
would often be conceived on a special piece of earth or earthen
mound. Offerings would be made at standing stones and sacred areas.
The
fourth
phase;
In the early stages of Northern European Christianity, before it
became oppressive from Rome, the Gods changed into the Hero era,
their ancestors whose stories were handed down forever became linked
with these Gods. For us it hid the fact that these stories were
Gods. The Great Goddesses were reduced to mere fairies and other
Gods were beings from the Otherworld, or heroes with special powers.
The
Celts had a way of keeping their traditions alive with every new era
and belief they embraced. These
stories in the hero phase, were then also slightly altered to adjust
to Christianity in the dark goddesses become sorceresses and that is
the short of it. To read these stories, you will find that the
original totemic phase was kept in these oral stories finally written
down but the other phases were added as times changed and the stories
revamped to suit these times so reading these stories becomes very
confusing.
(Mentor
say to seekers
- "QUESTIONS, SHARING OR THOUGHTS??"). Now
lets study these types of Gods in a little more detail from the
mythologies themselves;
ANIMALS GODS
When we dig through the romanticized
mythologies, we can still find the traces of Celtic Gods from more
primitive times, because they were simply animals, some retained in
the stars. Both The Irish Cuchulain, and later tales of Arthur and
the knights, are romanticized versions. You can see the British and
Welsh Arthurian tales, are a little better but still hold a Christian
gloss. The Animal names held by these romanticized deities show up
frequently in many cultures as well. To me, it doesn't take genius
to figure out that the Celts would have done the same. As the tribes
settled into one area or 'kingdom', Tribal Gods became tied to the
terrain where that particular tribe lived. Tribes chose totems that
matched what the mother would give as sustenance to survive. So if
it was acorns on an oak tree, their main God might be in the tree
that gave that sacred item. If they were by a river and provided
with drinking water, fish and this also helped their plants to grow,
this would become their mother. One day the water might have drowned
a victim, spawning the idea that the mother was angry that she gave
so much but nothing was given in return. Therefore the annual
sacrifice was done, to appease her. They noticed the water froze
every year, symbolic of her dying. She died and was reborn every
year. Yes, I am speaking of female sacrifices. It was originally
women that were killed every year. In the Golden bough, it states
there is much evidence to show that Men were excluded from these
rites. As more men began getting more involved in agriculture and
staying put, rather than out hunting, these rites then switched to
the man having to be sacrificed.
Proof of the Mothers being all
important is the water totems are so abundant. The totem of many
areas was usually a fish. Up to the 17th century
Highlanders held fish to be so sacred that no one dared catch them.
The totem was two fish at Nant Peris. Ireland's sacred fish were
believed to have the ability to change size, become invisible and
take the form of beautiful women. Brittany had an eel totem, as well
as Wales at the St. Cybi's well. There were also sacred Salmon, a
sacred frog (which was turned into the fairytale of the frog groom),
a horse, and serpents or dragons are some others. A fly was at the
well of St. Michael's in Banffshire.
Horses were another very sacred
creature. Epona, most likely was originally a Spring or river
Goddess & we know that horses were sacrificed to river
divinities. There are also many Christianized legends of horse like
beings coming out of the water to terrorize people. I see this most
likely stemming from the new religions fear of these old gods wrath
having been ignored. These divinities slowly diminished to being
called, fairies, giants, leprechauns & so on. In these tales,
reviling tribes became fantasy goblins & faeries like the Tuatha
De Denaan and the Fomorians. There was even a branch of the
Fomorians called the Goborchinn, which means 'horse-headed'. Most
likely an ancient tribe whose totem was horse, or wore horse masks,
or that carried out rituals involving the wild horse. Traces of these
rituals survived into the high point of the tribes as both Celts and
Teutons sacrificed a horse at Midsummer and Samhuinn. If you read
the Teutonic accounts, you shall produce more light on this subject.
We do have fragments of horse rituals from ancient sources, like
their Kingship ritual. The Teutonics placed the sacrificed horses
head in the fire, instead of the river, it now represented the corn
spirit at end of season. Funny how Romans balked at this ritual when
there is evidence that Romans did the same.
We also know there was widespread Bear
cults in these ancient tribes. You can see this also in the 13th
warrior. Plenty of both bear Goddesses and Bear Gods everywhere,
even Berne, a Celtic place name, means 'bear'. Dea Artio means “bear
Goddess”. Snake and Bird Goddesses were more popular with the
astronomer tribes. Enlacing snakes were believed to produce a magick
egg, the Druids egg, yet this serpent worship was not connected to
the egg. Most serpents were horned, as in the dragon, or
constellation Draco. The snake also symbolic of shedding of the old
skin to begin a new life. Birds molting to begin anew as well as the
dramatic change in their feathers from baby to maturity. Stag cults
some say grew from the embodiment of the corn spirit, but I think
because of the same idea continued of appeasing the dark and scary
forest God, and the concept of what you take you must return. It was
a give and take relationship with nature. It was the Elk in Ireland
that was more popular. The Goddess Damona was a sheep. Bran and
Branwen were most likely originally from a bird cult, and Rhiannon
yet she became associated with the horse as well some say yet only
rides a white horse in the tale of Pwyll.
Sometimes the animal totem would be
put on the individual person or entire tribe, with a geis attached.
For example, some Galatian Celts were forbidden to eat swine, some
Highlanders had a prejudice against eating its flesh as well. The
Irish, however, loved eating swine and was a staple at many of their
feasts. Whether this was because of the bible religion or not I do
not know. The Welsh include a story about the swine being the
immortal food of the Gods who brought it to earth. This could be an
attempt to explain the origin of its domestication. Once animals
became domesticated, these restrictions died away. In Welsh
mythology, Twrch Trwyth is hunted by Arthur which is reminiscent of
Bear and Boar divinity battle or the battle two tribes. Bones of
boars have been found both alone or in graves with people, which may
have been a sacrifice given to the God of the Underworld, which was
across the sea, not the pit of the earth. Celtic underworld was not
hell as the Christians believed, nor was it evil so there was a lot
of misunderstanding when translating the stories to paper. You also
must remember that the Underworld was not the only Otherworld, but we
will discuss this in another lesson.
There
is another reoccurring theme, throughout the Celtic tales, & that
is the birth of the Divine Twins. According to Alexei
Kondratiev, who says
“The only literary survival of these important Indo-European
divinities consists of Nisien & Efnisien” but this is simply
not true, neither is the insinuation that Celts were from
Indo-European descent. Divine twins were also born to Cerridwen, &
Arianrhod just to name a few. They are seen throughout Celtic
mythology & thus evidently important as Sky Gods. One twin was
is heavenly Beautiful & the other is flawed in appearance &
of the Underworld (sea), both retaining the link to animals.
Another interesting point is that
although in the stories the Fomorians have been demonized from
Christian Scribes, they and the other tribe give the twin aspect but
of instead with two races. The mothers of these two tribes are
sisters in the Irish myths, and could be viewed as divine female
twins, one is mother Danu of the Tuatha De Danaan from the heavens
and her sister of the Formorians of the sea or Underworld.
Its important to note the twins connect sea and heavens which there
is an original meaning for Gemini in there somewhere. We can see
that because the Celts write their history and practices in poetic or
mythological form that these two families, at one time, were actual
tribes claiming to be the descendants of these two leaders turned
Goddesses. These two families, the Christian monks scribed into
mythological demons and fairies instead of Tribal Gods that needed to
be erased in order for their new belief to be welcomed and their mass
of oral history to be maintained. This point of view can be backed
up regardless, because we see from their very names, both personal
and clan, that Northern European tribes believed they were had direct
lineage from the Gods. Clan names clearly show being descendant from
bear, bull, pig, horse and so on. We will talk more on this in
Chieftain and Royalty Gods. We do know that among Celtic tribes, and
in many cultures, a hostile tribe would insult the other by killing
the sacred animal they kept. Before animals were domesticated,
abstinence led to a greater food supply so the animals remained
sacred.
Other cultures also had families that
claim direct descent from animals or plant Gods. Not only do we see
Bull cults in Pyrenees, Scotland and Ireland, they are also in
Northern Italy, a bull God named Medros they worshipped at Haguenau
and else where. Vague echoes are heard in the Irish sagas, with
magick cows and bulls. As time went on all
Celtic peoples, especially the Elite families, kept the use of animal
symbolism on their Coats of Arms to represent their totem. At one
time clans thought they were actual descendants of the animal itself.
Old memory of evolution....who knows. Celtic Pubs often took their
names from animals renowned for their strength. Today, Irish coins
are minted with animal symbols such as peacocks, salmon, and stags on
their faces. Groundhog Day first arose from Imbolc -- the ancient
Celtic celebration of the world awakening from its winter slumber.
The Celtic animal symbols, having lost
their God status, took a myriad of forms and meaning. The graceful
curves of the crane. The stalwart might of the bull. The slow,
coiled menace of the snake. The early Celts believed the animals
arose from the Otherworld. With
their feats of flying, swimming, phenomenal speed, keen sight and
smell, and great strength, they soon became messengers of the gods
instead and still seemed beyond the power of man.
Water Gods
There is tons of evidence that the
Celts Gods were the Rivers, fountains, sacred springs, waterfalls and
wells themselves. In Gaul alone, the water Gods can be counted by
the hundreds. Water deities before Roman Catholic influence were
friends of mankind. Later, as said prior, these Gods were changed to
fairies, mermaids and nymphs, with the coming of Christianity, and
sometimes a Saint was put in their place along with this a
mythological being instead of an animal or fish. Some of these
creatures include the Niskas, later called Nixies, the Peisgi, which
might be the Piskies. We even find water dwarfs called the
Luchorpain, which are descended from the Fomorians and Goborchinn.
Christianity even kept the rituals at the healing wells intact so we
can be grateful for that.
Sanctuaries were erected at springs,
rivers & at many wells they held the festival of Midsummer day &
sacrificed to them. Water Gods seem mostly about healing. Treasures
troves have been found at these places along with, food, wax, votive
offerings, inscriptions. Animals were sacrificed there, as bones
have been found & there are many contemporary witnesses. At the
definite healing springs, money, ingot, silver or gold, & models
of limbs were found. These models were a form of sympathetic magick
to heal the part of the body that ailed them. At the shrine of Dea
Sequana, there was over a hundred of these items & another
contained over 800. These Gods, mostly Goddesses, were yearly
appeased for 3 days & on the 4th day, it is said that
there came rain, thunder & lightning, without fail.
Travelling to Europe, you just have to
look at the river or lakes name & you will find a Goddess name
from one of the stories. Bormanus, Bormo, Borvo, Boyne (meaning
white ox), Danuvous (now the Danube), & Luxovius – all Gods.
Male Gods seemed to preside over healing springs more than any other
body of water. They are usually depicted as consorts, husbands or
sons of the water Goddesses. The Romans, because the Celtic Gods
were fewer in number, equated all of the water Gods with Apollo, but
they did not do this to the Goddesses as theirs was a male dominated
society. Acionna, Aventia, Bormana, Brixia, Carpundia, Clutoida,
Divona, Deuona, Dyonne, Sirona are found in Gaul, Ura, Icauna,
Matrona, the Moder, the Madder, Maronna, Modron in Wales and Sequana.
These were Mother Goddesses of the tribes who had built their clan
home by the river. Many personal names included the God or Goddess
in it such as (son of Dubron etc) ap, or Mac. The three Goddesses
that start with a 'D' above, their name means divine. The names
beginning with 'M' mean mother. Rivers mothers are bestowers of
life, health, and plenty and must be taken care of in return for Her
gifts. There are many more, but too many to list. My original list
for this lesson was 472, & that was just the names of a few
legends, that could have been Gods or not.
To take water from a sacred well for
some women was or became taboo, because certain branches of
knowledge, were taken over by men. Prior to Christianity, it was
women who claimed the lore, then the wells were put under the
protection of Saints. Besides healing, these places also gave
fertility to women & had the power of ejecting demons from the
person. Whether this practice was done prior to Christianity is
unknown, but there wells found used for cursing. Victim names were
thrown in, by the Priestess in a ritualistic way. Lastly, these
wells were used for Oracle divination, whom saw answers in the
bubbles once an offering was given, or in the floating or length of
time the object took to sink.
Earth
Gods -Tribal, Tree, Agricultural Gods & the Sacrificial King
As we spoke about earlier, water was
no longer the main source of food anymore and men became more
interested in agriculture so the knowledge and rites transferred to a
male sacrifice. Now no one else has spoke of it that I read but I
believe that is why in the hero stories, the hero still needs to pass
the ordeals of the female Goddess / fairy to carry this Divine power.
My theory is that is because plants, crops and trees could not live
nor grow on their own without water. The Royalty of the tribes are
thought of as Gods themselves. They are the descendants of a certain
line & though of as Earth Gods. Divine Royalty were thought to
be immortal, & there great sacrifice would live on forever.
Ancient tribes killed this King yearly. Having said that, there are
just as many who seem to die in the stories, but the symbolism here
is that they are connected to the spirit of vegetation who is reborn
every year in spring season. So they would be born again to someone
in their tribe. The Queen on the other hand represented the land and
thus was not sacrificed, but could choose many consorts who would
protect her & fight in her name always.
Planting a tree for someone who has
passed away is not a new concept. An ancestor or god can live in
such trees. The Celts had a ritual which linked a Royal to a tree,
or part of a tree like a branch or a fruit on it. To me, this might
explain the origin & the importance of naming the Druid's wand or
tools such as a staff or sword & so on. The names of their tools
are all through the stories but we will also speak more on this
subject in a later lesson. This tree, or tree part, carried his soul
& vitality, thus the tree became protected at all times, as to
save the people from starvation. As the King & the part of the
plant remained vital, so did the tribe and the land fertile, hence
the King was always married to the land as many rituals known reflect
this.
In more primitive times, when an
ancient King became to old, became blemished in anyway, or could no
longer have sex, it was though he could no longer defend against all
corners, he was then sacrificed. In later Celtic life, when the King
became blemished or old, a new one was elected from the noble
families. It was not handed down in the same family as the English,
with Norse influence did. Thus there was no fighting among the clan
families as everyone had equal chance. Sometimes, a slave or
criminal would be given the title and play a mock king for a time,
probably around a 9 day period or longer and then he was sacrificed.
The King and the tree would die together, most likely a ritual
concerning the removal of the sacred branch or sacred plant growing
on the tree that was thought to contain his soul, would be done or
the tree was to be cut down. Could this be similar to the Druid rite
for mistletoe? This ritual may have come about, once human sacrifice
became against the law and the sacrifice became symbolized by the
killing of the tree, that the King was tied to, and some oxen. No
hand was to touch the tree in the meantime other than the person
assigned to guard it. Their belief was so strong that if a King was
not slain, it would bring misfortune to the land so their deaths
would benefit the people. We can see this in the movie 'The
Wickerman', which was quite scary to a modern Christianized society
in its time.
Trees
also had other types of Gods associated with them besides Royalty.
Some trees like bear these names like the Fagus Deus, which means
divine beech, & some Gods represented whole forests like Dea
Abnoba of the Black forest. Daur,
which means oak, was an early name for 'god' which became 'dea' or
'dia'. The
Celts gathered in these forest's dark sacred groves. On the trees
they hung heads, on altars performed human sacrifices. The tribe's
who came from the oak, lived on its acorns and its foliage provided
protection from the elements as well as camouflage. Its wood was
used as fuel and warmth. According to Pliny, mistletoe was the most
sacred, then came the oak woods. He said they believed everything
that grew on the oak was sent from heaven. There is evidence that
the oak was honoured at the Midsummer rites. Others had apple trees
which turned into many apples legends we know today including Avalon.
There are some that argue that the original sacred centre for
Stonehenge was a tree. Other trees sacred trees include yew, rowan,
ash, alder, hazel and cypress. Each had their own specific ritual,
I'm sure, and if your tribe has these you will learn them next year.
Fians
– are, in origin, an example of Celtic gods from ancestral lore or
actual people who were warriors or another one of my theories again
is that the mythology stories reflected their way of life such as
boys coming of age trials. The clue - Fiann are massive height like
giants. As said, most heroes have magickal power and God like
abilities beyond human capacity.
Bile
means tree in Irish. In a poem it clearly described the tree as a
'good, strong, God'. Others stories also contain references to
tribe's being descendants of Gods in tree form. The Fir Bile = “men
of the tree.” The Eburones (yew tree tribe). The Bituriges are
thought to be of the mistletoe. Bile is also mentioned in Celtic
mythology & says that Bile was an ancestor of the Milesians. The
Milesians could either be the race of man or a tribe. We see
literature that still reflected this horror, of burning down another
tribe's tree, like the Maeloehlen act. In Arthurian myths, Gawain
tries to get a holly bough guarded by Gramoplanz.
Trees
held the persons spirit in death as they were planted on grave sites.
They were also brought into houses for protection. The Christians
fought hard to get rid of the cult of the tree but failed miserably.
We still see its evidence today in clan badges. Christian take over
even even tried to lay heavy fines but the practices continued.
Eventually, the virgin Mary was hanged in the trees, instead of
animal heads. They might have tore down pagan temples but were
stopped from cutting down the tribal tree. Amator, a Bishop of
Auxerre, tried to stop the worship of a pear tree in the centre of
the town with no luck. St. Germanus came along and destroyed this
same tree but it cost him his life.
There
are plenty of legends of beautiful women living in the trees, as
female images hung from the branches, prior to the Madonna. Forest
Gods could appear in the forests at midday or at midnight,
unexpectedly. We know the Celts had orgiastic rites, in both wooded
areas & in fields, as did most earth religions that centred
around agriculture & fertility Gods. The Vedic religion or Hindu
model can be very useful in helping us understand the Celtic view of
goddesses, because it was quite similar. Virtually all the Celtic
goddesses can be said to be sovereignty goddesses, Land-goddesses,
etc, but they take on different names and attributes when required by
specific circumstances.
Sometimes
Chieftains, were considered to be God-like, if they succeeded in
doing any acts of heroism. They to would be considered descendant
from a God & a mortal mother. For Celts, if a personal name had
genos
or
gnatos
following, it meant “born of” or “son of”. If it had ap or
Mc or Mac preceding the descendants name it also meant the same
thing. If could also have meant the their personal guardian, some
scholars say so but I still believe it was linked to a God
originally. My fellow scholars sometimes reach a consensus &
other times will differ in opinion greatly. There are many
references to son of Gods that is shown when we became Christianized,
but only the new myth of Jesus was allowed to maintain God status
using the words 'son of' God afterwards. Personal names used in both
Welsh & Irish of the descendants were Arthmael, Arthbiu &
Arthur – from the bear people. Welsh – Arthgen. Irish Artigan
or Artigenos or Matugenos = “son of bear,” MacMahon comes from
Mac-math-ghamhain -”son of the bears son.” or “of the bear.”.
Gaul – Matu. More evidence to back up my beliefs are in the first
names of Guidgen ( from Viduo-genos, meaning “son of tree”),
Dergen (Dervo-genos, “son of the oak”), and Guerngen
(Verno-genos, “son of the alder”), Ebur (yew), Derua or Deruacus
(oak). Genos was used to relate to the male gender & venos the
female in one area. Thus Cwmevos
would means daughter of the glen, as Brahva Cwmevos was born in
Glendale, LA County.
More on our naming will be in a later lesson.
Tree,
landmark or animal, these leaders were believed to be representatives
or incarnations of Gods & continued to be revered after their
deaths. Irish Kings used the name Nuada or Bran a lot, where as
Welsh Kings used Nudd (Nodons) or Bran. This is found in both
inscriptions & documents galore. King Conchobar was considered a
terrestrial God. There is no reason to believe otherwise as this is
found in many cultures around the world.
In the Welsh areas,
these gods possess both God and
human attributes so were the tales are most likely tribal gods or
they were once ancestors and their status now God. Hero gods are
spotted because
usually
they are of earthly mother & a Divine Father. They have existing
rites to match this belief, like the theme of linking marriage of the
sky to the earth goddess was incorporated into the rite of marrying
the King (considered Divine) to the land (in some cases, a Horse
Goddess). Thus more evidence that Royalty were considered Divine.
The
male both human and Divine is equally as important as the females,
for he was the hunter, had more physical strength, and he was the
caregiver and keeper of animals, and over all others, he protected
all the tribe from harm. Let’s not forget that he also provides
vital semen, the spark for new life.
If one is not willing to give a
Chieftain or King in a tribalist path this respect, this path is
definitely not for them. If the Northern European tribalist path is
still something someone wishes to follow, you'd be best make your
potential member first explore the Celtic Reconstructionist path to
make sure, as there are a lot of similarities but some major
differences as well.
Sky Gods and the
Seasons
The
Sky Gods were right there where you could see them, not elsewhere
like in the case of Greek Olympus. The Celts once laughed at the
Greeks for having human images as their Gods, according to Diordorus
Siculus who wrote the Celtic leader ‘Brennus the Younger’ laughed
when he saw the Gods in statue form at the Greek temple. The Tuatha
De Danaan coming from 'heaven' is another Christian bastardization of
the more ancient tale. In fact, a
conception of the sun & the moon as Gods is found worldwide so we
can speculate the same philosophy as it's seemingly strewn throughout
the Celtic stories, but honestly its all perception. All scholars
take an educated guess. We do know that the Celts did know much
about the movement of Stars, Planets & Comets and there is many
references about their uncanny abilities to read the skies and the
Coligney calendar found, also reflects that knowledge. It is more
accurate than ours is today.
Some
of these sky gods stem from what was once called the Watchers.
The legend states that these watchers are Guardians of an old race
who have gone past the need for physical bodies. Watchers I found in
many cultures and religions, including Christianity. They are said
to be made of light and watch from the 'heavens' - in other words,
constellations. These
are constellations were thought to be ancestors, the
most ancient of all who've taken their place as Gods and as such,
they are associated with serpents and birds, like the vulture, whom
were the Bridges to the Otherworlds and scavengers of all floating
knowledge is the cosmos. There is said to be a royal bloodline of
descendants from the 'watchers........maybe, just maybe it is our
tribe who has been called..........ponder.....................
So The watchers are single stars. Watchers would
adorn themselves with feather capes & in my opinion was the
origin of 'angels' bearing wings. Druids were well-known to dress in
these feathered robes to mimic these ancestors. They
awaken sleeping parts of you to help remember your purpose.
There are four major
watchers that actually reside in four directions. These were the
origins of the watchers but versions of the watchtowers that Wiccans
& ceremonial magicians use today are not the same. See list of
Gods used prior to the the rebuilt M.K. Tribal choices, for their
description. The greatest example of Celts having
the four directions is medieval illuminated manuscripts. The Book of
Kells, has the four Evangelists frequently depicted along with their
Celtic animal symbols: Matthew the man, Mark the lion,
Luke the calf, and John as the eagle. These four
would be the leading tribe in Ireland's watcher's.
So
from this knowledge we ask “Is
there physical Watchtowers then?”
Yes, there were actual towers, called
Ziggurats, which means 'cosmic mountains'. – Sorry, couldn't find
any other cultures words for them thus far) but these were man made
and built as a form of worship to these stars. Each tower bore the
symbols of that Watcher. I
did find however, that during ritual celebrations of the Europeans –
Roman, Greek and most likely the Celts the symbols were traced in the
air with torch flames or wands. Did
you know that the name **"Magdalene" is said to mean,
‘watchtower’ or ‘tower of the flock.’ Makes you really
wonder if any of the people spoken about in the bible were real
people.
So
to recap, the Watchers were the original first race (enlightened,
light beings) who created (or birthed, if you will) our human
ancestors and thus became gods who guarded the heavens and watched
earth. Lunar and eventually the Solar cults replaced the Star cults
and then the Gods became the Sun, Moon and planets.
I believe the
First Christians actually kept the pagan watchers & towers and
changed them to guardian angels. We see that the Hebrews taught that
all angels, were known to them as Watchers, were ruled by four
"higher" angels. They became the "Archangels" to
the Cabalists. It is the later oppressive and abuse of
Christianity, which turns the watchers into Fallen Angels, Sons of
God and Demons.
In
the Skyworld, the Sun & Moon were seen as cosmic expressions or
physical models of the same forces that empowered the Goddess &
God, for they followed the same cycles as man & woman. Depending
on which area you lived in, or era, some had a Sun Goddess & some
had a Moon Goddess. Today, some of the modern pagans like to have the
Sun representing the male for it reflects more male qualities but not
all tribes. The Sun in particular is connected to dramatic changes in
light the sky therefore became connected to the seasons & its
return.
Very
little is known according to most pagan authors but when you read the
mytholgies there is ample evidence in repeating themes as to their
beliefs, rituals and secrets, if one quit reading ancient writings
literally and finds the symbolism in it. For exampleit is very
obvious to me, that these Kings (Gods in disguise) had to die &
be reborn with the new sun. It is in all the mythologies. Lleu Llaw
Gyffes – welsh sun god = dies and is revived and kills his rival
Gronwy Pebr, the dark lord of the hunt. They both fight for the hand
of the Flower bride or Spring maiden. Also in oak and holly king
story. Some totems were trees. Another versions is an ageing
contender, and a new young one – same with a stag deer they fight
to lead the tribe and if the older beast is no longer strong enough
he is killed or subservient to younger buck – in nature. Irish –
Diarmuid, Grainne and Finn King of Fianna band of warriors. Deidre,
King Conchobar and Naoise. Arthur, Lancelot and Gwenessffar. We
know she is of the flower because she is abducted by the King of the
Summer lands. And of course the most obvious is Blodeuwedd, in Welsh
tales. This is all 3 persons if you notice.
Horned Gods and the Number Three
There are
many Gods depicted with three horns found in the Celtic regions and
we can only speculate that this meant that it was a divine animal, a
God or a God symbol lasting from the ancient totemic faith. There is
the three antlered stag in the Fionn saga. There is horned bulls,
horned swine, and horned Ram's heads on serpents. The horned serpent
usually today tied to Cernunnos and Loeg who sees a two-headed
serpent.
Mother Gods
The
Mother goddesses are the embodiment of the forces of the land and/or
water in a specific territory of a tribe. They are always linked to
a sacrifice or death. Always the mother grieves (even Virgin Mary).
Therefore Mothers always play a role in an Initiatory theme of their
sons. These mothers, who challenge their sons, are a metaphor of
kicking a boy out of the nest by slowly giving them challenges so
they can stand on their own two feet as a grown man with maturity,
and receive the wisdom of adulthood. In other tales it is their
husbands or mates. It is women who give men something to fight for
or achieve or could be symbolic of the Goddess ordeals for the male.
The Mother Goddess was most respected as she was considered the
mother of the tribe and thus well looked after by Her people. Tuatha
de Denann WRITE THIS NAME ON THE BOARD AND ASK CLASS IF THEY HEARD
OF IT, AND ASK THEM TO SAY IT). This alone makes up a great part of
the Irish mythology and is a great example of how they named
themselves in honour of their mother Goddess. Tuath means tribe and
is pronounced “TOO ‘ha dA Dah n’n” - th is always d sound.
Translated means Tribe of Danu.
The attributes of the ancient
feminine powers reveal deep insight into their reality, not merely
reality of nature with human life relating to the land, but to the
reality relating to the human mind, imagination & spirit. The
Goddesses are linked to the human psyche, the collective imagination
& the vital relationship between the people & the land. One
of the major differences is the female Goddesses. Celtic women were
both feminine & warriors. No Celtic man had a problem with women
leading a battle or council. Because our Goddesses are considered
much more powerful than the Gods, perhaps this is why the Christians
feared a woman's power. They even disallowed their own God to keep
His original wife, Lillath.
In
Celtic legends, women also had a major role around the tribal base &
sometimes as leaders in battle as well. Her husband was equal to her
but each person had their own responsibilities according to their
strengths. Without women there would be no birth, calming or passive
thinking before jumping to action. There would be no softness or
natural milk & it is a fact that women can stand more pain &
endure trouble better, therefore the Celtic Goddesses are considered
more powerful than the Gods. But, lets not sell the men short. See
Tribal Gods. Females, especially among queens and princesses, had a
special sanctity because they were thought to be the descendants of
the Goddess, just like the Pharaohs in Egypt.
The attributes of the ancient feminine powers reveal deep insight
into reality, not merely reality of nature and human life relating to
the land, but to the reality relating to the human mind, imagination
and spirit. The Goddesses relate to the human psyche, the collective
imagination and the vital relationship between people and the land.
Celts did not have Goddesses of Love and so on like the Greeks or
Romans, just nature ones. The mistake people make is trying to
compare them. Their culture did not focus on the same things at all
and therefore it cannot be compared and does not make sense to try.
One of the major differences is the female Goddesses were both
feminine and warriors. No Celtic man had a problem with women
leading a battle or council. Celtic Goddesses are considered much
more powerful than the Gods, perhaps this is why outsiders feared
their women’s power. Christians even disallowed their own God's
original wife, Lilath.
Virgin Maidens
These
figures are always guarding something. A mystery to penetrate if you
will excuse the pun but the hymen is exactly what they are symbolic
of and therefore used in ritual to protect as well – sympathetic
magick or like produces like.
Sometimes
there were 3 maidens and sometimes there were 9 living on sacred
lands. Its important to understand that in ancient times, virgin to
the Celts was a women that had no chosen husband and so was free to
exercise her sexual choices. A Virgin Queen or huntress, meant
self-ownership, not sexual-purity. Notice that Christians spoke of
Brigid in her virgin aspect, playing down her darker side when she
was made into a saint. Brighid was no virgin, and her children are
mentioned in Celtic mythology, she was a triple goddess. There are
many virgin goddesses with children. Now think again on the
Christian 'Virgin' Mary story, the style of writing & word
meanings during the time it was written.
Horse Goddesses
Epona
– worshipped across Europe and surprisingly go adopted in Rome.
Horses are thought to be threshold guardians and these goddesses
protect them. Shrines of her were found in stables. There are quite
a few horse Goddesses or stories connected to horse. For some tribes
they were used as their honour-price, for others they were so
important in battle, and were believed to be connected to the warrior
himself. They were powerfully strong, graceful and swift creatures
and a honour to ride one. Horse is used as a representative of the
land and coming from the sea - most likely brought over and became
myth. Thus Kingship rituals are related to 'marrying' the horse.
One Eyed Gods
One
eyed Gods are hard to tell of their nature and the same tale is told
in the bible only it changes to David and Goliath. From my studies,
as far as I can tell, it must have somehow made it into the myths by
watching the stance of the magicians of the time. Druids or wizard
like characters who stand on one lake like the crane, heron or stork
and cover or close one eye. Only then can magick work.
Tribal Gods
Tribal
Gods are the Gods of your own tribe, not anothers. They cannot be
because they are ancestral in nature, and the others are confined to
the tribal or home area and cannot move. You cannot choose someone
elses Mother and father to be your own nor can you 'worship' Goddess
Cerridwen in Canada, because she is not there. That is a Wiccan
concept, not a Celtic belief. Tribal Gods reflect the tribe's main
occupations. Gods of nature are usually fertility divinities, often
chaotic and independent of the concept of tribal order. They were
nevertheless necessary to the tribe's survival and needed to be
appeased for the continuance of the agricultural cycle.
Norse
Norse
Gods follow the same as above in the 3 worlds, which in turn are also
sometimes divided by 9. The 3 Norse God groups are - The Aesir and
the Vanir. The Vanir are the oldest family of Gods. The Aesir lived
in Asgard their stronghold. They were younger & stronger. And
the third though misunderstood by those who are not well read, are
the giants. Here you see Sky, Hel or bottom of the world tree, and
earth world.
Himinbjorg
is the Hall of Heimdallr, the watching God, sometimes called the
"White God." Scholars often say that it is his duty to
watch the "gates" to make sure that that evil giants or
trolls do not enter into either Midgard or the sky realm. Again we
see the original stars or 'watchers' and the four directions coming
in to play among these Northern tribes. Where this hall is located
was very interesting to me. It is said to be at the point where the
three realms come together which could mean that its the same bridge
as Bifröst. Spiritual thought might have been that the rainbow, as
is also considered by some others was used as both the Asbrü, and
the Brig o' Dread. This is just another example of the same beliefs
with different names as the Celts and they all came from the 7
mothers, talked about in the DNA strands of ages past, and were at
one time one people.
Children
of Light and Dark or Divine Twins
Lineage used to come through the
female's name, for sure in what is now Northern Scotland, and no man
would know if He fathered the child, at the sacred rites, as the
females were masked, and in Goddess form, and if he did, he could not
claim it aloud. Children born of sacred rites were thought to be the
son of a God. This is also another theory of mine, and a good
possibility, that Gods became half mortal and half divine, heroes in
the stories, because of these rites. Men Kings had to marry the
‘Goddess’ in sacred great rite before he could claim rulership of
the land he had to protect at all costs. In some tribes, no child
was claimed by either of the birth parents, for all children were the
Gods children. The whole tribe reared the child. This is what I
believe the first followers of Christ meant. They wrote their God
had NEVER claimed to be the 'only' child of God, nor did he claim to
be King or any other title, someone else gave him those titles in
order to condemn him.
The Ruling Primal Goddesses, often
dark & terrible, bore sons or daughters of light. These sons of
light bear a remarkable similarity to the story of Christ, yet
honoured way before Christianity. Hmmm? No coincidence, just
another story that somehow became literal truth. Lets name some of
these sons; Esus, Mabon, Lleu, Lugh, & the most famous and most
similar is a God whose more famous name is now Merlyn. Keep in mind
that most of these sons of light, also had a dark twin.
Weeding through the Christian
Adaptation of the Celtic legends
As the old Gods moved into the
Christian era, the Celts still loved their traditions that had been
maintained for hundreds of years, so in keeping with the times, the
stories needed to be changed and updated. So instead of blaming
Rome, as is the sob story being passed down with all the newbies in
paganism, we have to really evaluate why something was changed. What
most seem to be forgetting, or most likely don't know, is that the
Celts, in many areas, embraced Christianity and it was quite popular.
Celtic Christianity was very different in its development &
practice as was each sect developing elsewhere. We never lost what
the Celts might have practised, there is a wealth of information out
there. One only needs to travel to Europe to find much of the
traditions, especially in remote areas still being practised. Celtic
Christianity kept many pagan traditions in its practice. If you have
the patience to read and compare mythologies, read history books of
each section of Celtic and Scandinavian Europe, and even read books
with pictures of the landscapes you can be sure to find tidbits of
information and when they are put together you can unmask the many
disguised Gods, that were reduced to Heroes or fairy and the like.
There is absolutely no evidence that fairies existed within the
ancient Celtic world. Because of laws and Christian values of the
times, it makes total sense that they were a proud people and wanted
to keep their own oral traditions & history so they simply
changed the characters to people and creatures that were current in
the times of their new religion. Once you understand the meaning of
the names and symbolism in these stories, you will discover they are
really Gods, and some can even be matched to a place name still in
existence today.
Our tradition is based off of the
Arthurian tales because its tales are still told today and therefore
still inspire each generation, as it did our founder, thus will
include many cultures into that belief. Arthurian cults were found
all through the Celtic lands, from Scotland, England, Wales and in
Germanic, Scandinavian & Norse areas, each claiming that Arthur
was tied to their own lands, therefore they are the 'true'
descendants. Having said this, Arthurian legends are one of the
hardest mythologies to find the Gods in, because of the period it was
written down in, so is not a recommended place to start your study
but I shall help with correcting some of the misinformation circling.
The first & most important thing
to know is that just because Geoffrey & Chretien were the first
published authors with a collective of Arthurian tales together does
not mean they made up the tale, nor were they the first to include
him & his knights in a Celtic mythos. There is mention of Arthur
from back in the 500's but more so in the 800's with Nennius. Most
scholars agree that he & his knights are not mere mortals as of
each had unworldly power. We also see that these tales share exactly
the same themes as all the rest. They include the battle between
Summer & Winter Gods for the Spring Goddess. They connect to
vegetation & the sacrificial King, & even state the God will
come again, like King Arthur. This statement refers to the Pendragon
line. To understand this, we must look to how they viewed our soul &
death. Celts believed in ancestral-incarnation, meaning you could be
reborn in your tribal family or children's children some day, just as
everything in nature dies but lives again. Many knights are
definitely Gods, modernized & written in a time when there was
knights galore around royalty. People could relate to the
mythologies again. Arthurian tales can be rewritten every era. In
fact, a very modern novel about Arthur that most have not read about
has been written by Deepach Choprah, & in this tale Arthur is a
policemen. Maybe one day a Bard in our tribe will be inspired to
rewrite the tales to match our own times.
Although it is hard to find out which
were Gods and which persons were not, once you find the formula, you
can usually spot the God. I say God because in the time they were
written down, it was the male warrior Heroes that were most popular
to read about as to be a Knight was a glamourous position. Also,
keep in mind that because their was only one male God in Christian
times, the power of the Goddesses had to be reduced to sorcery or
witchcraft. So even though the role of the Goddesses was changed,
she was still needed by the hero in order to accomplish his ordeals
or tasks. Now back to finding the Gods; He or she will be the owner
of a magickal item or it will be given to the rightful owner.
Manannan's swine, Arthur's sword, Goibniu's feast of age, immortal
ale or brew, apples of Elysium, the cauldron of plenty, are all clues
to their divinity. Another clue to find the Gods is their great
stature. This is because some were the shape of the landscape. They
don't fit in houses, some of them had skulls that could hold several
men, some wore rings as thick as three ox goads. In some tales these
Gods are blatantly reduced to being called giants, faerie, selkies,
and so on. In fact the Great Irish Hero God Lugh was reduced to a
leprechaun status. The reason being that they were afraid that by
not honouring these Gods, they would take revenge and so over the
years, they became stories of fear and hence the stories like the
Tuatha De Denaan race going went underground reflects the dropped
beliefs.
Most
of the Celtic stories follow a matriarchal lineage but the latter
stories have the other way round. In the Irish mythologies, St.
Patrick was added to them. Don't get confused when historical
figures come in to play, Saints also replaced Gods in the stories and
were given God-like powers. Not many female Gods were able to become
Saint Status, I haven't studied too many Saints to date and so at
this time can only speak of the Irish Goddess Brighid who story
changed to St. Brighid and she was given a abbey under her name and
the story that she was the foster mother of Jesus and who baptized
him with three drops on his forehead. Note the three drops is in all
the tales of inspiration brew, also called awen, which could have
been a mead or a brew that produced a hallucinogenic state.
It's
extremely clear just how large a role the Church actually played in
any of the Celtic collection’s when you read them. It's quite
clear, the church changed the sexual desires to sins and the terrible
consequences for them. So it is very hard to look beneath the surface
and find what might have been told. So I've taken the stories and
changed them to suit our times, as those have done before us, and
give the women back equal power. But what were the original Gods,
lets take a look at their change throughout history.
SUMMARY
When
we read the sagas, we have to be able to find the Pre-Christian
concepts by comparing the stories to other ancient tribal societies.
What I've found is quite different than meets the eyes. Just like
the bible, which we will speak of in a later chapter, you must
compare it to historical evidence around it and the beliefs,
concerns, laws and views of societies of that particular time, other
than the scriptures or stories, to truly understand and decide for
yourself why it could have been made and what they did. Each author
who wrote the stories, changed it to his own time, added his own
heroes religious or otherwise and it became a mix of actual
historical figures mixed in with their stories to explain creation,
their history, family history and their existence. Arthurian stories
have been used the most and they are great because as the story has
changed and evolved over time, so can a religion thus evolve.
Paganism did not become stagnant by remaining the same, there is
evidence of its growth over the years, especially as they gained more
knowledge or adopted a new perception. Since I have 29 years of
study on Occult, and European culture, and a few other religions, I
urge you to always note that each scholar can only speculate and give
you our opinion, not one of us has been 'proven' correct but there
are many who have had pretty close guesses. And remember, there will
always be those who think their knowledge, better and have nothing
better to do than to pick on scholars or pioneers. These are called
bullies, so whether cyber or not, hold your head up high and instead
of participating in destructive and abusive behaviour, just weighing
what each person has to say & decide your own opinion without
dissing others.
Always
look at the colours and descriptions used, as these are key to
figuring out what might have been, what might have been added, and
where that God or tribe resided. The more you read the more aha
moments you'll discover. I have learned over the years, to read the
published scholars work, and although I and everybody owe a great
deal to these authors, we also need to feel confident in our own
abilities to see things they might have missed and thus add to the
knowledge. In doing so, make sure you've learned enough to have
material to support your own ideas. There are too many people, and
most are those led around by the nose, who dispute and make fun of
certain authors ideas instead of really researching themselves and
seeing how it could be possible, or even how they might have come to
that conclusion. Just because you are not a published author doesn't
mean you are not wise, and just because you are a published author
doesn't mean they are right.
Too
many famous people get knocked down once society builds them up,
because they are not like they are. Really, in the end, it doesn't
matter how your tribe is, because every single tribe was different
then so why are the new 'Celtic' pagans so concerned with what is or
isn't the way they were. As long as it isn't blatantly theft from an
entirely different culture or religion, its okay. M.K. Tribes will
be the same way, each tribe having the main beliefs that bind us
together but each having their own uniqueness as well. That is why
we are all different, and our world instead of scoffing at the ways
of others, should spend more time admiring the ways we are the same,
and using the differences as a way to open up your mind to new
possibilities, learning and understanding. Then you will know what
true hospitality is.
13
MINUTE STRETCH BREAK
by Brahva Cwmevos
2010
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