Celtic neopaganism

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Celtic neo-paganism or Celtic paganism ( Celtic Neo-Paganism ) is a generic term for neo-pagan -keltische ideologies and movements, and above all four main directions can be distinguished: the " Modern Druids " or "Neodruidentum" organized by Wicca influenced -Kult "Celtic witches ", The so-called" Celtic Neo-Shamanism "as well as the so-called" Neocelts "or Celtic Reconstructionists (also New Celticism or Neo-Celtae ).

In addition to more serious attempts to revive the Celtic religion , there are also many pure reinvention such as the " Celtic Tree Horoscope ", the " Celtic Tree Calendar ", "The Celtic Moon Wheel", the "Druid Yoga" Wyda, " Celtic Reiki ", the " Druid Tarot " , the “Welsche bard alphabet” or the magical system of the “ Coelbren ”, which are only imaginative offers on the esoteric market and are nevertheless adopted by many “Celtic neo-pagans”.

Modern druidism

The "New Druids" movement has its roots in part in British Freemasonry and in the Celtic romanticism of the 19th century, triggered above all by the works of the Welsh poet Edward Williams (1747 to 1826). Williams, who called himself Iolo Morganwg , was the editor of the much discussed work "Barddas", which is regarded by some as an authentic compilation of medieval, Welsh Bardentexts , but is considered by others to be a forgery of Williams'. In 1792 he founded the Gorsedd of Bards , - a bard association that was supposed to follow on from medieval druid traditions and continues to exist today.

From the first not explicitly Masonic inspired and 1781 by Henry Hurle justified Ancient Order of Druids and the "Masonic order of druids" in 1874, founded by Wentworth Little Ancient and Archaeological Order of Druids (originally not a neo-pagan religious, but as a purely humanitarian organization of Freemasonry was intended and has only acted as such under other names in the form of numerous splits to this day), numerous successor orders and splintering offs arose, which sometimes complemented and influenced each other. The most influential and well-known association of this synthesis of two orders that emerged from British occultism is probably the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (OBOD) founded by Ross Nichols in 1964 as a spin-off from the Ancient Druid Order . However, there are numerous other orders and associations such as the British Druid Order (BDO) , the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA) , the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA) , the Ar nDraiocht Fein (ADF) and the Henge of Keltria .

Although the neodruids deal strongly with ancient Celticism and British mythology, Druidism is a new and independent religion, which is central to nature worship and astral mysticism. The neodruids hold solstice celebrations and worship "Mother Nature" as the supreme deity. The religious celebrations take place in "sacred groves" as well as ancient monuments of the megalithic culture such as Stonehenge. The neodruids themselves refer to their orders or lodges as "Groves" or, in Celtic terms, "Nemeton". There is a system of ranks in most orders that is officially based on the ranks or titles of the medieval Irish filid and druid , but unofficially it is more likely to be traced back to Masonic tradition. Modern Druidism is now a tradition over 200 years old, the main areas of influence of which are primarily Great Britain and France, although there are also numerous Neodruid orders of some importance in Germany, Switzerland and the USA. The members of the British Druids Society are the only people who are officially permitted to enter the Stonehenge grounds and perform rituals there on certain events such as winter and summer solstices and spring and autumn equinoxes .

Contemporary Celtic witchcraft

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Celtic witchcraft or "Celtic witchcraft" is a form of Celtic neo-paganism based on a loose syncretism of Celtic (mostly Irish and Welsh) symbolism with elements of the Wicca religion. Celtic Wicca often serves as a general umbrella term, whereby Celtic Witchcraft is also used to distinguish the Celtic Wicca syncretism from the traditional British traditional Wicca . Celtic Witchcraft thus represents a Celtic-inspired form of "Neo-Wicca", to which free-flying witches often feel they belong and which is common in self-initiation.

Already Gerald Brousseau Gardner's original Wicca was influenced in many ways by Celtic elements, not least because Gardner himself a Neodruide of Universal Bond and a friend of OBOD founder Ross Nichols was. Among other things, the cauldron symbol, the number of thirteen members in a coven and the flagellation go back directly to the Scottish witchcraft belief of the Renaissance, Gardner's coven also used the names Ceridwen and Cernunnos for the great mother and the "horned god". The couple Stewart and Janet Farrar, who belong to the Alexandrian tradition, also dealt with the Celtic tradition, also because of their home in Northern Ireland, and brought stronger Celtic elements into their version of the Alexandrian Wicca.

The first author to refer explicitly to an alleged unbroken Celtic tradition was Gerald Gardner's student Raymond Buckland. He was instrumental in popularizing Wicca in the United States. In general, Celtic Witchcraft is primarily a product of American authors, most of whom are themselves not of Irish or Welsh descent. The book series The Mists of Avalon by the American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley contributed to the popularization of Wicca and Celtic Witchcraft . In the 1980s she reinterpreted the Arthurian legend from a female point of view and used elements of the Wicca cult for her portrayal of the pre-Christian religion of Britain.

The new Celtic witchcraft is not a uniform doctrine, but an umbrella term that encompasses various forms and traditions, including:

  • Druidcraft : A mixed tradition of modern OBOD druidism and British traditional witchcraft. The term was coined by OBOD Arch-Druid Philip Carr-Gomm , who worked with British Wicca author Vivianne Crowley on the framework of the tradition .
  • Pecti Wita also known as Scottish Witchcraft or Pictish Witchcraft : One of the traditions established by Raymond Buckland . Buckland was a student of Gerald Gardner and initiated into British traditional witchcraft, but claims to have learned Pecti-Wita from a Scottish witch named Aidan Breac.

Further lines and related traditions use the names: Caledonii Tradition , Celtic Faerie Craft , Cymry Wicca , Druidic Witchcraft , Irish Witchcraft , Faery Wicca , Irish Witta etc.

Celtic neo-shamanism

"Celtic neo-shamanism" describes a neo-pagan-Celtic movement strongly influenced by core shamanism , which has been popularized especially since the early 1980s by British authors such as Tom Cowan and John and Caitlin Matthews. Experiences and techniques of the core shamanism developed by the American ethnologist Michael Harner are combined with elements from Irish and Cymrian legends as well as British “magical” folk customs in order to revive the (allegedly) “original Celtic shamanism”. The central aspect of “Celtic neo-shamanism” is the experience of the “ otherworld ”, which is identified with the world of the Celtic gods and spirits. The Celtic shamans assume an eternal "shamanic consciousness" which is preserved by the deceased ancestors and which the Celtic shaman can gain from them through an out of body experience.

The Celtic neo-shamans interpret the Celtic religion as a worship of nature and the ancestral spirits and often make use of hallucinogenic substances to go into a trance and visit the world of these Celtic spirits, the Celtic shamans referring to legendary figures such as Taliesin , who are also said to have traveled the otherworld as mortal people. Furthermore, the belief of the modern Celtic shamans includes the doctrine of rebirth as well as approaches to holistic medical teachings.

Celtic reconstructionism

The term “Celtic Reconstructionism” refers to the idea of ​​a reconstructed pagan religion that emerged around the mid-1970s and was discussed in Margot Adler's 1979 book “Drawing down the Moon”.

In 1985, various Celtic-neo-pagan groups met in Wisconsin for the Pagan Spirit Gathering . In the early 1990s, the term Celtic Reconstructionist , abbreviated CR, gradually began to take hold to describe people trying to understand, research, and recreate an authentic Celtic path for modern pagans. Above all, the Internet formed an important connecting medium for the many scattered small groups. In the German-speaking countries, the self-designation "Celtoi" also caught on a few years ago, but this is not generally adopted and accepted by all German-speaking CR. Further names, partly covering reconstructed Celtic religion, partly as names of local groups: "Cretima Celtica", "Senobessus", "Areisesta", "Vida Celtica", "Senistrognata". Some of the larger groups or organizations are: Celtoi.Net (D), Celtoi eV (D), Fálachus (Ir), Ildiachus Gaelach (IR, UK), IMBAS (USA), Óenach (Ir, UK), Pagánachd (USA) , Tairis (UK), Tuacondate (USA).

Contrary to a widespread misunderstanding, the pre-Christian religion of the Celts is not to be revived in an unadulterated form (what the CR movement calls "spiritual reenactment"), but the creation of a modern tradition, a composition of modern ideas inspired by early Celtic beliefs is sought that respects the ancient sources and works from science and archeology. Other sources of inspiration are folklore sources such as the Carmina Gadelica . Often prayers and spells are pagan adaptations from the Christian, medieval island Celtic literature. At the same time, all those things of the early Celtic religions that are unacceptable to modern believers, such as human sacrifice , slavery, and patriarchal elements of these early societies, are rejected .

The groups are mostly small and can include all types of communities such as households, families or groves. A Celtic family tree is not considered necessary.

The path is polytheistic (polytheistic) and animistic (all-soulfulness). It is believed that there are numerous entities active in the world that intervene in, influence and respond to personal life and human actions. There is no strict separation between deities, ancestors and natural beings. Animals, trees, mountains, rivers, sacred springs and other natural phenomena and also things made by human hands are assigned a soulfulness.

The ethics is also based on traditional sources such as B. the Irish and Welsh triads , the Brehon Laws or the teachings of Morann .

The usual form of worship is devotion, to which goddesses and gods, nature spirits and ancestors are invited as guests and food and drink, incense and other things are offered. As is customary with the Celts, ritual objects are broken or otherwise destroyed before they are offered by laying down, sinking in a body of water or burning in a sacrificial fire. Places of worship are small altars, shrines or piles of stones within the home or in the great outdoors.

Celtic reconstructionism celebrates the four main old Irish festivals Samhain , Imbolc , Beltaine and Lughnasadh . The names of the festivals can therefore also be Gaulish , Cornish , Welsh , Manx , Breton or Scottish Gaelic . Gallic and mainland Celtic CR followers usually celebrate the festivals using a modified form of the Coligny calendar .

In this context, the recent reconstruction of a Celtic column in Neuwied-Irlich is interesting .

Other manifestations

In addition, there are forms of “customs” or “folklore paganism”, which view modern and modern folk customs as remnants of pre-Christian, Celtic religiosity. In the English-speaking world, this includes Celtic traditionalism (also Gaelic traditionalism , Welsh traditionalism , etc.). According to some neo-pagans, the latter were reinterpreted in Celtic Christianity , in Irish Catholicism , in folk customs from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Brittany, living or revived goblin and fairy beliefs and the teachings of the Culdeer and Pelagius and Johannes Scottus Eriugena , which also existed in the modern druidism. Authors of this current of Celtic Christianity include: a. John O'Donohue and Phyllida Anam-Aire . In the German-speaking area, a form of "folk-paganism", without any stronger reference to Christianity, is represented by Manfred Böckl , Inge Resch-Rauter , Georg Rohrcker and - in part - Wolf-Dieter Storl and is expressed under the name " Alpine shamanism ”. Some groups see also Perchten - Krampus - and carnival customs and Laubmann - July - Candlemas - St. John - Easter - May Day - Reaper hard - Kräuterweih - and even Nicholas -Bräuche in these traditions.

literature

  • Christian-J. Guyonvarc'h, Françoise Le Roux: Les Fêtes celtiques , Ouest-France Université, coll. "De mémoire d'homme: l'histoire", Rennes 1995, ISBN 2-7373-1198-5
  • Francoise Le Roux, Christian-J. Guyonvarc'h, Les druides , Ouest France 1986, ISBN 2-858829-20-9
  • Tom Cowan: The Shamans of Avalon. Travel to the otherworld of the Celts. Integral 2003, ISBN 3-548-74035-9 .
  • Sirona Knight: Celtic Traditions. Druids, Faeries, and Wiccan Rituals. Citadel Press, 2000, ISBN 0-8065-2135-X .
  • Alexei Kondratiev: The Apple Branch. A Path to Celtic Ritual. Citadel Press, 2003, ISBN 0-8065-2502-9 .
  • Sharynne MacLeod: Queen of the Night. Rediscovering the Celtic Moon Goddess.
  • Caitlin Matthews, John Matthews: The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom: The Celtic Shaman's Sourcebook. Element Books Ltd, 1994, ISBN 1-85230-561-4 .
  • Caitlin Matthews, John Matthews: The Great Manual of Celtic Wisdom. Heyne, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-453-18920-5 .
  • John Matthews: Taliesin. The Last Celtic Shaman. Inner Traditions, 2002, ISBN 0-89281-869-7 .
  • John Matthews: Celtic Shamanism. Rituals, symbols, traditions . Diederichs, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-7205-2654-2 .
  • Jean Markale: Merlin. Priest of Nature. Inner Traditions, 1995, ISBN 0-89281-517-5 .
  • Jane Raeburn: Celtic Wicca. Ancient Wisdom for the 21st Century. Citadel Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8065-2229-1 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Neokelte  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations
Wiktionary: New Celts  - explanations of meanings, word origins , synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c `` The CR FAQ '', German translation, p. 2
  2. ↑ a b c `` The CR FAQ '', German translation, p. 8
  3. ↑ `` The CR FAQ '', German translation, p. 3, p. 5
  4. ↑ `` The CR FAQ '', German translation, p. 3
  5. ↑ `` The CR FAQ '', German translation, p. 6
  6. ↑ `` The CR FAQ '', German translation, p. 7
  7. ↑ `` Irish Druids And Old Irish Religions, James Bonwick '', p. 75, at Sacred Texts http://www.sacred-texts.com/pag/idr/idr15.htm