Celtic religion

The religion of the people who lived in France and Britain at the time of the Roman conquest. The Romans called the Celts Galli, in English, Gauls. The Celts spoke a language related to German, Latin, Greek, Persian, and even Sanskrit, the classical language of India. Many people have noticed intriguing similarities between Celtic and ancient Indian culture. These include similarities in religion and mythology. At fi rst the Celts lived east of the Rhine River. About 1000 B.C.E. they crossed the Rhine into the area of modern France. By 300 B.C.E. they also lived across the English Channel. Their descendants include the Scots, Irish, and Welsh. In 279 B.C.E. some Celts sacked the Greek oracle at Delphi. Then they crossed into modern Turkey and founded a state called Galatia (cf. the NEW TESTAMENT book of Galatians). Celtic religion is diffi cult to reconstruct. Ancient writers, especially Julius Caesar, described it, but they described it in terms of their own religions. They also emphasized Celtic brutality. That emphasis is often not reliable. Later Christians, especially in Ireland, preserved Celtic stories and other elements of Celtic culture. But it is often diffi - cult to tell what is ancient Celtic and what is more recent and Christian. Archaeology and ancient inscriptions provide some help. According to Julius Caesar the Celts worshipped several gods that the more savage Germanic peoples did not; these corresponded to the Roman Mercury (the most important Celtic god), APOLLO, MARS, JUPITER, and Minerva. It is not clear what were the Celtic names of the gods Caesar had in mind. The most important Celtic god seems to have been Lugh, also spelled Lugus, a god of technology and invention. The names of several European cities preserve his memory: Lyon and Laon in France and Leiden in the Netherlands. A fascinating image of the Celtic god Cernunnos resembles the Hindu god SIVA. It also resembles a seated fi gure from a seal of the Indus Valley Civilization (see INDUS VALLEY RELIGION). An important Celtic GODDESS was Epona. She was associated with horses. Other Celtic goddesses gave their names to rivers in Europe. One example is the Rhine. Much Celtic religious activity centered on places in nature, such as groves of trees, high places, and bodies of water. Later folklore recalls these sacred places in stories of fairies. Archaeologists have recovered Celtic offerings from bodies of water. Caesar stressed that the Celts practiced SACRIFICE, especially human sacrifi ce. Indeed, he described a RITUAL in which the Celts built a human fi gure out of wicker, fi lled it with people, and set it on fi re, burning the occupants. Many scholars have doubts about his account. It is worth noting that some famous prehistoric monuments in Britain, such as the passage tomb at Newgrange, Ireland, and the megaliths at Stonehenge, England, were not built and used by the Celts. They were built and used by earlier peoples. The Celts had priests called DRUIDS. The Druids preserved the oral traditions of the people, served as judges, conducted religious rituals, and divined. According to Irish traditions, the Celts divided the year into two equal parts. The most important festival, Samain, took place on October 31/November 1. (Like the Jewish day, the Celtic day began at sundown.) The festival of Beltine occurred on April 30/May 1. These festivals are the ancestors of Halloween and May Day, respectively.