Ancient Celts by Katherine Pym

 

Click here for details and purchase links

~*~*~*~

Aligned Stones for worship?

So, I was surfing about the net the other day and found this article: Sacred Sites & Rituals in the Ancient Celtic Religion and began reading. You can’t find a lot on the Celts, so actually, if you think about it, how would scholars know the depth of the Celtic life?

They had an oral language where their priests memorized history and whatnots, but very little written has been found. Everyone speculates on the stones that are about the countryside, but no one really knows for certain why they are there, or if the Celts put them there. People are found in bogs, and scholars think they were used as human sacrifices when bad tidings knocked on their door.

The Norsemen preferred sleeping in the open. Celtics worshiped in the open. Under starry skies. I wouldn’t have lasted more than a day, maybe two in those sort of conditions.

Scholars say springs, river sources, and groves were sacred. Druids would stand in a grove and pray to their gods. They performed rituals and sacrifices. I’ve read people were sacrificed when great trials came upon them, such as war and invasion.

 The Celts were once a great people, and immigrated from the south before spreading across Europe & Great Britain. Burial sites were found somewhere in the mid-East, the bodies tall and slim with red hair and lots of jewelry. Were those Celts too? Where did they come from?

Their religion was the interpretation of nature’s events. The Druids, or priests, were very knowledgeable and considered filled with wisdom. What did they say during these rituals? What did they do? Who rolled the big megalithic stones across country and up-ended them? What did they mean to the Druids, the Celts? It must have been important considering the time and effort expended.  

A Druid Priest

The World History Encyclopedia states temples and sanctuaries cleared spaces on flat ground, “surrounded by earthworks”. They had a “rampart, outer ditch, and a single gate most often on the east side”.  Were there ever buildings on those sites? The pictures I saw did not seem to have had any.

Pottery and some statues of human beings seem to be the only artifacts that remain, except for the standing stones which may or may not be astronomically profound. Some say the head is where the soul is found. They say on the summer solstice some of these stones shine with moonshine or sunshine, depending on when you gather.

There’s a myth that the stones in Brittany come alive and dance the night away on certain celebratory times. If people get caught in the dancing, they are stone the following day.

 Julius Caesar found the Celts complexing. The tribe he ran into was the Carnutes, which is not dissimilar to the original tribes of Greenland and the territories of Canada, the Inuits. Did they travel the high seas to scatter with the winds on Greenland, Iceland and North America? We don’t know, but the idea would be fascinating.

 Were the Carnutes Druids or Celts? Did they explore the land and find something truly amazing, ethereal to worship? Is that why they worshiped in groves and near the crux of streams? How did they develop? It’s hard to read the articles I found because almost right at the first they state no one knows how the Celts were since nothing is written down. We can only surmise.

 ~*~*~*~*~

Many thanks to : Ancient Celtic Society by Mark Cartwright and World History Encyclopedia, and another article by Mark Cartwight – Sacred Sites & Rituals in the Ancient Celtic Religion

 

BOUDICA, WARRIOR QUEEN by Shirley Martin

Throughout  past centuries, the island of Britain has endured successive waves of invaders.  First came the Celts, then the Romans, the Anglo-Saxons, the Vikings, and finally the Normans.  All of these groups settled in Britain and permanently altered life on the island.  (Here we will use Celt  and Briton interchangeably.)

Around  3,500 B.C. it was the Celts who first  cultivated land and raised crops.  They spoke a Celtic language.  Their chariots were made of wicker, light and springy. Theirs was an Iron Age civilization, considered  backward  by the Romans who landed  on the island in 43 A.D.  At the time of the Roman invasion, Britain was  populated  by Celtic tribes.  One tribe was the Iceni who lived in what is now Norfolk.  The Iceni were Boudica’s tribe, relatively isolated and culturally backward.

Into this Celtic-speaking, backward country, the Romans came with their legions in 43 A.D.  Many tribes, especially those with strong trading contacts, welcomed the Romans or at least submitted without a fight.  Other tribes fought and were  defeated.  The Iceni of Norfolk submitted.  In due time, the British kings placed themselves under the protection of the Roman Empire.  Among these kings was Prasutagus of the Iceni.  In the circumstances of his deal with the Romans lies the origin of the great revolt of 60 A.D.  Prasutagus’s wife was Boudica.  (Her name means Victoria.)  The Iceni were relatively isolated, cut off behind the forests of Suffolk and Norfolk.

The Romans let the Iceni  retain some privileges  and a token independence in return for a payment of tribute and disbursements.

In time, many tribes came to resent Roman rule, especially when the Romans forbade them to carry arms except for hunting weapons.  In 50 A.D. the Iceni were the first people to rebel, and they immediately sought help from their neighbors.  The revolt was a minor affair but was symptomatic of Celtic resentment against Roman rule.

What is known today as Colchester was a site chosen by the Romans as a model town.  However, this meant that the Romans took land away from the Celts who needed that land to grow crops.  Towns were an innovation in British life in the 50s and were unknown before the Roman conquest.  High Street in Colchester was the main shopping center, then as now.

Most of what we know as Boudica’s rebellion we learn from Tacitus, a Roman historian.

Amazon

Prasutagus died in 60 A.D.  After he died, Roman agents moved into Iceni  country and plundered the royal  household.  Boudica was flogged and her daughters given to Roman slaves to be raped.   This  prompted  the Iceni  revolt, and other tribes joined them.  Colchester was the first object of this revolt, and isolated Roman  settlers on their farms were the first to be murdered.  The Iceni began a reign of terror.

The Roman governor, Suetonius, could not come to help the Roman settlers, for he was far away, attacking the druidic stronghold on the island of Anglesey.

Boudica surrounded Colchester and  burned the town.  With their great supply of fine horses, the Iceni and their allies moved quickly.  They destroyed other towns and settlements.  They moved south and attacked London, a Roman creation.

After the Roman governor, Suetonius, destroyed the druidic stronghold, he rushed to aid his fellow Romans.  He realized that London could not be saved.  The Iceni  continued with their terror tactics, cutting throats, hanging, burning and crucifying.

With London destroyed,  Boudica had reached a moment of decision.  What should she do now?  She decided to follow Suetonius and attempt to deal a decisive blow.

After the fall of London, Suetonius fell back on a base, where he would find the reinforcements he’d already ordered.

At the final  battle, the Roman numbers may have been around 7,000 to 8,000 legionaries, with 4,000 auxiliary and cavalry.  In front of them, the British on foot and on horses spread over a wide area and kept up a terrific racket to frighten the Romans.  They were so confident of victory that they stationed their wives and families to watch the slaughter.

We don’t know for sure the numbers of the British army; it has been estimated at 100,000.  Some say they numbered 1,000,000.  We can say with confidence that the Romans were heavily outnumbered.

Both leaders gave pep talks to their followers, Boudica to the British and Suetonius to the Romans.  We don’t know for sure what Boudica said to her warriors, but most likely Boudica taunted  the men with these words: “Win the battle or perish.  That’s what I, a woman, will do.  You men can live on in slavery if that’s what you want.”

We are more certain of Suetonius’s words to the Romans, for most likely his talk was recorded by Agricola, the father-in-law of Tacitus.  “Ignore the racket made by these savages.  There are more women than men in their ranks.  They’re not soldiers; they’re not even properly equipped.  We’ve beaten them before, and when they see our weapons  and feel  our spirit they’ll  crack.  Stick together.  Throw the javelins, then push forward.  Knock them  down with your shields and finish them off with your swords.  Forget about booty.  Just win, and you’ll have the lot. “

A brave and gallant woman, Boudica was no strategist, nor were the other Britons.  Here, the Britons had no chance, in spite of their superior numbers.  In fact, their numbers made the situation worse.  Also, they had no  body armor, no  protection against the javelins thrown at them.   Driven against their carts, the Britons were slaughtered, even when they tried to surrender.  The Romans were mad with blood lust, driven by revenge.  With no means of escape, men, women, children and pack animals were killed.  Tacitus gives the number at 80,000.  The Romans lost 400.

Realizing defeat, Boudica poisoned herself and was buried secretly with great honor.  Famine, devastation and slavery was the lot of the remaining Iceni.

The Romans remained in Britain for another four-hundred years.

My comment:  It’s ironic that the Romans considered the Celts as culturally backward.  It was they (the Romans) who held their bloody shows in the arena, when gladiators fought each other to the death, or battled wild animals.  Think of Nero’s persecution of the early Christians, when even young children were burned to death.

For that matter, it was the Celts who invented soap (sopa.) while the Romans applied oil and scraped it off their skin.)

Please check out my website.  www.shirleymartinauthor.com

Here are other links I’d be happy for you to check.

https://twitter.com/mshirley1496

https://www.facebook.com/shirley.martin716970

http://bookswelove.net/authors.martin-shirley

Books We Love titles are available at Amazon, Smashwords, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, the Apple istore and at other sites where ebooks are available online.  Four of my titles are in print and available at your local bookstore.

Shirley Martin on Celtic Celebrations

AVADOR BOXED SET ONLY $5.00 FOR ALL FIVE BOOKS

Before writing my fantasy romance, "Night Secrets," (Book 1 of the Avador series), I knew I needed to give my novel its own culture, its own civilization. The ancient Celts have long fascinated me, so I gave my fantasy a Celtic flavor, with my own variations. To describe the Celtic culture would take a book in itself, so here I've centered only on their festivals.

Celtic festivals weren't connected to equinoxes or solstices but were related to the fertility of the land. The four seasonal festivals reflect the pastoral and agricultural cycles of the year. Another way these festivals differed from more modern celebrations was that they began on the eve of the specific day of celebration. The Celts measured time by the moon.  In all of their calculations, night preceded day. In their festivals, we find traces not only of religious beliefs but also of a magical belief in things.

Samhain marked the beginning of the Celtic year and began on the night of October 31. (Guess what holiday we've derived from Samhain.)  On Samhain, the veil between the real world and the Otherworld was torn aside.  The sidhe--fairy mounds where the people of the Otherworld lived--opened, and spirits walked the land. The sidhe released phantoms and goblins to ride the night winds. The warrior dead came back to life, and bonfires were lit to guide the returning warriors. Gods and demons walked the night places, and humans knew to stay inside. A harvest festival, Samhain is the best-known Celtic celebration of all. (Although it's not part of the Avador series, my fantasy romance, "The Sacrifice, is based on this holy eve.)

Imgolg (or Imbolc) was a fertility festival celebrated on the first of February. It marked the beginning of spring. As believers of magic, the Celts brought divination and watching omens to this celebration. They lit candles and bonfires if the weather permitted.  Fire and purification played a prominent part in this festival. The Celts visited holy wells on this day where they prayed for health.

In more recent times, Imgolc has become a holy day honoring St. Brigid. Before going to bed, people left clothing and bits of cloth outside for Brigid to bless. In the morning, they brought the strips of cloth inside, now believed to have powers of healing and protection.

The Celts also believed that on Imbolg the Cailleach--divine hag--gathers her firewood for the rest of winter.

Beltane is the Celtic May Day festival and marked the beginning of summer, a time when cattle were driven out to pasture. As with Samhain, the people lit bonfires at night and walked around the fire; some even leaped over the fire.  People doused  household fires and relit them at the Beltane bonfire. A great feast that featured lamb accompanied these gatherings.  As a festival of life,decorations of yellow flowers--symbolizing sunlight--abounded, even on cattle. 

Some people say the bonfire was an attempt to mimic the sun and to ensure a plentiful supply of sunshine for the people, animals, and plants. In some places people took oatmeal cakes, a bit of which was offered to the spirits to protect their livestorck.

If tales are to believed, Beltane often became a riotous affair, where not only fire but romances were kindled.

Lughnasad was celebrated on August 1. Some say the god Lugh started the festival in honor of his mother. It marked the beginning of the harvest season. Often animals were sacrificed, the victims placed in baskets and thrown into the bonfire. The Celts held the concept of the vegetation or tree spirit that had the power over rain, sunshine and every means of fruitfulness. A tree held a prominent place in this festival, where tree branches were attached to houses to impart fertility.

This festival, too, involved great gatherings that included religious ceremonies, ritual athletic contests, feasting, and as with Beltane, matchmaking.