Wicca Spirit Newsletter Column - Celtic Spirituality

Cuardai (meaning Seeker) started out as an eclectic wiccan sixteen years ago. She was a third degree eclectic Wiccan priestess, and now is a follower of the Celtic path. She is a forever student of Druidry, and has a Bardic Degree from the Grove of Dana and working towards her status as a Druidess. She currently lives in Kuwait in the Middle East.

Cuardai’s personal introduction:

"I have struggled all my life to find my spiritual place. It took me a long time to get where I am today, comfortable in my own spiritual skin. I learned to blend the spiritual knowledge of the two cultures I hail from (Arabic and Celtic) to form my own path. I walk a Celtic path, which is a mix of Celtic Shamanism, Celtic paganism, Witchcraft, Druidry and the herbal healing path of my Arabic ancestors."

An Introduction To the Celts:

The ancient Celts were a group of culturally similar peoples who once occupied most of central and western Europe, north of the Greco-Roman world. Perhaps the most common cultural characteristic of the ancient Celts were the Celtic languages, a branch of the Indo-European family of languages.

The Ancient Celts:

What surprises most readers today is just how widespread across Europe the Celts once were. The Celts have been called the "Fathers of Europe," that is north of the Greco-Roman Mediterranean. Long before the Germanic invasions of the 400s A.D., the Romans considered the Celts as the principal barbarians north of the Alps.

The Celts had no written language, so we must depend on archaeology, Greek and Roman writers from antiquity, and early Irish monks to tell us the story of the primeval Celts. But these ancient historians and figures from antiquity did write quite a lot about the Celts. However, we must not think that the Celts were ignorant; they just chose not to write anything down. Among those who helped chronicle the Celts were Herodotus (c. 440 B.C.), Xenophon, Aristotle, Strabo, Virgil, Tacitus, Livy, Polybius, Pliny the Elder, Plutarch, Julius Caesar, and many other classical writers.

The Greeks called the Celts by two names--the Keltoi and the Galatai. The Romans modified this a little, and called the Celts-- the Celtae and the Galli. We can easily see how history developed the modern words Celtic and Gaelic from these earlier roots.

One ancient Greek writer called the land of the Celts, "Celtica." Some modern writers have even called it an ancient "Celtic Empire" across Europe.

But, it was not an empire in the same sense as the Roman Empire. On the mainland of Europe, there was no Celtic capital city (in fact virtually no Celtic cities at all). There was no Celtic emperor or single common leader. There was no Celtic centralized administration, no sophisticated form of government, or written code of law. There was no unified army of all the Celts.

The archaeological evidence shows that the Celtic peoples came from a mix of the Bronze Age Tumulus culture (c. 1550-1250 BC) and the Urnfield culture (c. 1200 BC). The Hallstatt culture which is dated from 1200 BC to 475 BC is descendant of the Urnfield culture. The Hallstatt culture is considered to be a fully developed Celtic culture; it was named after on of the first sites to be distinguished as Celtic at the Lake Hallstatt in upper Austria. The Hallstatt culture knew about iron-smelting and the use of other metals. The period eventually ended and a new culture emerged, which was called La Téne from the discoveries made in the north-eastern end of Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland. This period was from the fifth century BC to the first century BC. The standard of living among the Celts at this time was very high as they were traders and farmers and smiths. It was also during this period that they had their greatest expansion reaching vast areas. They were already in the Iberian Peninsula; they had also reach Ireland and Britain. "They were settled from what is now modern Belgium (still bearing the name of the Belgae) south through modern France which is known as the land of Galli (Gaul)." (Ellis p. 13) They moved through the Danube valley to what is now the Czech and Slovak states, in fact they reached as far as the Black sea; they moved through the Greek states into Asia Minor. Celts also served as mercenaries to rulers of Syria, Israel, Egypt and Carthage. So that tells us a bit about whom and where the Celts came from.

The Celts Today:

In the seventeenth century and towards the nineteenth century, there was a revival of the Celtic culture; this was due to a few factors. One was the re-discovery of the classical texts and the other was the national movements of countries like Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany. These countries were struggling for an identity separate then the countries of England and France and re-discovered their Celtic culture. Of course during that time there was not a lot of archeological evidence to support their ideas but they still tried. As the archeological discoveries of the nineteenth and twentieth century happened we started to get a fuller picture of the Celts.

The Celts, and Celtic peoples, are alive and well today. Celtic culture is well documented and preserved, and there are millions of people on different continents who make it a point to identify with that culture.

Currently there are six nations that can claim this culture these are, Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, Cornwall, Wales and the Isle of Man. In some of these places the language is extinct while in others they have made a tremendous effort to keep it alive. The most successful of these are Wales.

...to be continued - watch for more articles from Cuardai in future issues of Wicca Spirit Newsletter.

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Bibliography

1. Ellis, Peter Berresford. The Celts: A History. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2004.

2. Green, Miranda J. The World Of The Druids. New York: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 1997.

3. Parle, John Patrick. Who are the Celts. www.realmagick.com. 1997.

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Celtic Tree Horoscope

Inspired by The White Goddess and other works by Robert Graves.

According to ancient Celtic lore, there is a magical tree associated with each month of the year.

Find out which one is your helper and learn valuable information about your personality from the wisdom of the trees- including the planet and gemstone associated with your Celtic tree horoscope.

December 24 - January 20: BIRCH

Planet: The Sun

Gemstone: Rock Crystal

Birch people tend to be hard-working and ambitious, with strong leadership qualities. You are generally loyal and faithful, although you may tend to hide your feelings.

January 21 - February 17: ROWAN

Planet: Uranus

Gemstone: Peridot

Rowans tend to be idealistic and original, a free-thinker filled with the fire of idealism. You are probably unconventional, artistic, and ahead of your time, imaginative and humanitarian in your outlook.

February 18 - March 17: ASH

Planet: Neptune

Gemstone: Coral

Ash people are good communicators, witty and spontaneous, and generally curious about life.

March 18-April 14: ALDER

Planet: Mars

Gemstone: Ruby

Alders are filled with courage and affection, loyalty and determination. Your energy is considerable, you enjoy physicality, and love to play.

April 15 - May 12: WILLOW

Planet: The Moon

Gemstone: Moonstone

Willows tend to be in touch with their emotions, intuitive, and adaptable. Underneath the appearance of hesitance, willows possess great flexibility and inner strength, along with a strong will.

May 13 - June 9: HAWTHORN

Planet: Vulcan

Gemstone: Topaz

Hawthorns are spontaneous and sometimes impatient, possessing great confidence, creativity, and charm.

June 10 - July 7: OAK

Planet: Jupiter

Gemstone: Diamond

Oaks tend to be self-confident and responsible, optimistic and proud, with ample charisma and a strong philosophical streak.

July 8 - August 4: HOLLY

Planet: Earth

Gemstone: Red Carnelian

Holly people are cautious and practical, reasonable and filled with personal integrity, sensitive and protective.

August 5 - September 1: HAZEL

Planet: Mercury

Gemstone: Amethyst

Hazels are very perceptive, idealistic, and artistic. Wisdom and creativity are especially important to hazel people.

September 2 - September 29: VINE

Planet: Venus

Gemstone: Emerald

Vine folks are very sensitive and self-critical, gentle and romantic. You can be quite authoritative, and harmony is of great importance to you.

September 30 - October 27: IVY

Planet: The Moon

Gemstone: Opal

Ivy people are social and loyal to their friends, kindly but sometimes restless, and, although appearing hesitant, actually very strong.

October 28 - November 24: REED

Planet: Pluto

Gemstone: Jasper

Reeds tend to be fearless and stubborn, uncompromising and independent, imaginative, loyal, and sometimes jealous.

November 25 - December 23: ELDER

Planet: Saturn

Gemstone: Jet

Elders are energetic, self-disciplined, although disliking routine, open, spontaneous, and self-sufficient.

Cuardai provides more information about Druids & Celts on her board at Wicca Spirit's 'SOULS' Forum. Click Here Now to view (Use your browser's back button to return).

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