Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism (also Celtic Reconstructionism or CR) is a polytheistic

Polytheism

Polytheism is the belief of multiple deities also usually assembled into a pantheon of gods and goddesses, along with their own mythologies and rituals....

, animistic

Animism

Animism refers to the belief that non-human entities are spiritual beings, or at least embody some kind of life-principle....

, religious

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

and cultural

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

movement. It is an effort to reconstruct and revive, in a modern Celtic

Modern Celts

A Celtic identity emerged in the "Celtic" nations of Western Europe, following the identification of the native peoples of the Atlantic fringe as "Celts" by Edward Lhuyd in the 18th century and during the course of the 19th-century Celtic Revival, taking the form of ethnic nationalism particularly...

cultural context, pre-Christian

Pre-Christian

Pre-Christian may mean:*before Christianization**historical polytheism *BC**Classical Antiquity**Iron Age...

Celtic religions

Celtic polytheism

Celtic polytheism, commonly known as Celtic paganism, refers to the religious beliefs and practices adhered to by the Iron Age peoples of Western Europe now known as the Celts, roughly between 500 BCE and 500 CE, spanning the La Tène period and the Roman era, and in the case of the Insular Celts...

.

Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism originated in discussions among amateur scholars and Neopagans

Neopaganism

Neopaganism is an umbrella term used to identify a wide variety of modern religious movements, particularly those influenced by or claiming to be derived from the various pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe...

in the mid 1980s, and evolved into an independent tradition by the early 1990s. Celtic Reconstructionism represents a polytheistic reconstructionist approach to Celtic Neopaganism

Celtic Neopaganism

Celtic Neopaganism refers to Neopagan movements based on Celtic polytheism.-Types of Celtic Neopaganism:*Neo-druidism, grew out of the Celtic revival in 18th century Romanticism....

, emphasising historical accuracy over eclecticism such as is found in many forms of Neo-druidism

Neo-Druidism

Neo-Druidism or Neo-Druidry, commonly referred to as Druidism or Druidry by its adherents, is a form of modern spirituality or religion that generally promotes harmony and worship of nature, and respect for all beings, including the environment...

. Currently, "Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism" (CR) is an umbrella term, with a number of recognized sub-traditions or denominations.

Origins

As modern Paganism

Neopaganism

grew in scope and cultural visibility, some Americans of European heritage saw the pre-Christian religions of their ancestors as being worthy of revival, and the study of mythology and folklore as a way to accomplish this. While most Neodruid

Neo-Druidism

groups of the period were primarily interested in "revitalizing the spirit of what they believe was the religious practice of pre-Roman Britain", the Celtic Reconstructionists (CRs) focused on only "reconstructing what can be known from the extant historical record."

Many of the people who eventually established CR were involved in modern Pagan groups in the 1970s and 1980s. Much dialogue in the 1980s took place at workshops and discussions at Pagan festivals and gatherings, as well as in the pages of Pagan publications. This period, and these groups, are referred to in retrospect as "Proto-CR". Later, with the establishment of the Internet in the late 1980s and early 1990s, many of these groups and individuals came together online. This began a period of increased communication, and led to the growth of the movement.

The first appearance in print of the term "Celtic Reconstructionist", used to describe a specific religious movement and not just a style of Celtic Studies

Celtic Studies

Celtic studies is the academic discipline occupied with the study of any sort of cultural output relating to a Celtic people. This ranges from linguistics, literature and art history archaeology and history, the focus lying on the study of the various Celtic languages, living and extinct...

, was by Kym Lambert ní Dhoireann in the Spring, 1992 issue of Harvest Magazine

Harvest Magazine

Harvest was an American Neopagan magazine, published eight times a year between 1980 and 1992.Harvest began in 1980 as a grassroots, homemade zine. Over its twelve-year publication run it grew to be a 42 page, professionally printed magazine with international distribution and news stand sales...

. Ní Dhoireann credits Kathryn Price NicDhàna with originating the term “Celtic Reconstructionist”; however, NicDhàna credits her early use of the term to a simple extrapolation of Margot Adler

Margot Adler

Margot Adler is an author, journalist, lecturer, Wiccan priestess and radio journalist and correspondent for National Public Radio .- Early life :Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Adler grew up mostly in New York City...

's use of the term "Pagan Reconstructionists" in the original, 1979 edition of Drawing Down the Moon
Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today
Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today is a sociological study of contemporary Paganism in the United States written by the American sociologist, Wiccan and journalist Margot Adler...

. Though Adler devotes space to a handful of Reconstructionist traditions, none of those mentioned are specifically Celtic. In chapter eleven, while describing his Neo-druidic

Neo-Druidism

group, New Reformed Druids of North America (NRDNA), Isaac Bonewits

Isaac Bonewits

Phillip Emmons Isaac Bonewits was an influential American Druid who published a number of books on the subject of Neopaganism and magic. He was also a liturgist, singer and songwriter, and founded the Druidic organisation Ár nDraíocht Féin, as well as the Neopagan civil rights group, the Aquarian...

uses the phrase "Eclectic Reconstructionist." Eventually, this pairing of terms became oxymoronic; in the Pagan/polytheist communities, "Reconstructionist" had now come to mean traditions that specifically exclude "Eclecticism".

With the growth of the Internet during the 1990s, hundreds of individuals and groups gradually joined the discussions online and in print, and the movement became more of an umbrella group, with a number of recognized sub-traditions.

Practices

While the ancient Celtic religions were largely subsumed by Christianity, many religious traditions have survived in the form of folklore, mythology, songs, and prayers. Many folkloric practices never completely died out, and some Celtic Reconstructionists (CRs) claim to have survivals of Irish, Scottish or Welsh folkloric customs in their families of origin.

Language

Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...

study and preservation, and participation in other cultural activities such as Celtic music

Celtic music

Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...

, dance and martial arts

Martial arts

Martial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....

forms, are seen as a core part of the tradition. Participation in the living Celtic cultures - the cultures that exist in the "areas in which Celtic languages are actually spoken and in which Celtic traditions have been most faithfully handed down to the present day" - is a vital part of their cultural work and spiritual practice. The protection of Celtic archaeological and sacred sites is important to Celtic Reconstructionists. When construction of the N3 motorway in Ireland threatened to destroy archaeological sites around the Hill of Tara

Hill of Tara

The Hill of Tara , located near the River Boyne, is an archaeological complex that runs between Navan and Dunshaughlin in County Meath, Leinster, Ireland...

, Celtic Reconstructionists (among others) organized protests and a coordinated ritual of protection.

Like many other modern Pagan traditions, Celtic Reconstructionism (CR) has no sacred texts and so personal research is stressed. In order to more fully reconstruct pre-Christian Celtic religions, many CRs study archaeology

Archaeology

Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...

, historical manuscripts, and comparative religion, primarily of Celtic cultures, but sometimes other European cultures, as well. Celtic Reconstructionists are not pan-Celtic in practice, but rather immerse themselves in a particular Celtic culture, such as Gaelic

Gaels

The Gaels or Goidels are speakers of one of the Goidelic Celtic languages: Irish, Scottish Gaelic, and Manx. Goidelic speech originated in Ireland and subsequently spread to western and northern Scotland and the Isle of Man....

, Welsh

Culture of Wales

Wales has a distinctive culture including its own language, customs, holidays and music.Wales is primarily represented by the symbol of the red Welsh Dragon, but other national emblems include the leek and daffodil. The Welsh words for leeks and daffodils Wales has a distinctive culture including...

or Gaul

Gaul

Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...

ish. According to Kathryn Price NicDhàna, CRs believe that while it is helpful to study a wide variety of Celtic cultures as an aid to religious reconstruction, and to have a broad understanding of religion in general, in practice these cultures are not lumped together. In addition to cultural preservation and scholarly research Celtic Reconstructionists believe that mystical

Mysticism

Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...

, ecstatic practices are a necessary balance to scholarship, and that this balance is a vital component of any Celtic Reconstructionist tradition.

While CRs strive to revive the religious practices of historical Celtic peoples as accurately as possible, they acknowledge that some aspects of their religious practice are reconstructions. Celtic Reconstructionists state that their practices are based on cultural survivals, augmented with the study of early Celtic beliefs found in texts and the work of scholars

Celtic Studies

and archaeologists. Feedback from scholars and experienced practitioners is sought before a new practice is accepted as a valid part of a reconstructed tradition.

Celtic Reconstructionists believe it is important to lay aside elements of ancient Celtic cultures which they consider inappropriate practices in a modern society. CRs attempt to find ethical ways of integrating historical findings and research with the activities of daily life. Many CRs view each act of daily life as a form of ritual, accompanying daily acts of purification and protection with traditional prayers and songs from sources such as the Scottish Gaelic Carmina Gadelica
Carmina Gadelica
The Carmina Gadelica is a collection of prayers, hymns, charms, incantations, blessings, runes, and other literary-folkloric poems and songs collected and translated by amateur folklorist Alexander Carmichael in the Gaelic-speaking regions of Scotland between 1855 and 1910...

or manuscript collections of ancient Irish

Irish poetry

The history of Irish poetry includes the poetries of two languages, one in Irish and the other in English. The complex interplay between these two traditions, and between both of them and other poetries in English, has produced a body of work that is both rich in variety and difficult to...

or Welsh poetry

Welsh poetry

Welsh poetry may refer to poetry in the Welsh language, Anglo-Welsh poetry, or other poetry written in Wales or by Welsh poets.-History:Wales has one of the earliest literary traditions in Northern Europe, stretching back to the days of Aneirin Welsh poetry may refer to poetry in the Welsh...

. Celebratory, community rituals are usually based on community festivals as recorded in folklore collections by authors such as F. Marian McNeill

F. Marian McNeill

F. Marian McNeill was born in 1885 at Holm in Orkney where her father was the minister of the Free Presbyterian Kirk. She was a Scottish folklorist, best known for writing The Silver Bough , a four-volume set of Scottish folklore, considered essential by many in the field.She is also known as the...

, Kevin Danaher

Kevin Danaher

Kevin Danaher was a prominent Irish folklorist with a special interest in ethnography and military history....

or John Gregorson Campbell. These celebrations often involve bonfires, dances, songs, divination and children's games. More formal or mystical rituals are often based on traditional techniques of interacting with the Otherworld

Otherworld

Otherworld, or the Celtic Otherworld, is a concept in Celtic mythology that refers to the home of the deities or spirits, or a realm of the dead.Otherworld may also refer to:In film and television:...

, such as the act of making offerings of food, drink and art to the spirits of the land, ancestral spirits, and the Celtic deities. CRs give offerings to the spirits throughout the year, but at Samhain

Samhain

Samhain is a Gaelic harvest festival held on October 31–November 1. It was linked to festivals held around the same time in other Celtic cultures, and was popularised as the "Celtic New Year" from the late 19th century, following Sir John Rhys and Sir James Frazer...

, more elaborate offerings are made to specific deities and ancestors.

The ancient Irish swore their oaths by the "Three Realms" - Land, Sea and Sky. Based on this precedent, reconstructed Gaelic ritual structures acknowledge the Land, Sea and Sky, with the fire of inspiration as a central force that unites the realms. Many Celtic Reconstructionists maintain altar

Altar

An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...

s and shrine

Shrine

A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....

s to their patron spirits and deities, often choosing to place them at outdoor, natural locations such as wells

Clootie well

Clootie wells are places of pilgrimage in Celtic areas. They are wells or springs, almost always with a tree growing beside them, where strips of cloth or rags have been left, usually tied to the branches of the tree as part of a healing ritual...

, streams, and special trees. Some CRs practice divination

Divination

Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic standardized process or ritual...

; ogham

Ogham

Ogham is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the Old Irish language, and occasionally the Brythonic language. Ogham is sometimes called the "Celtic Tree Alphabet", based on a High Medieval Bríatharogam tradition ascribing names of trees to the individual letters.There are roughly...

is a favored method, as are folkloric customs such as the taking of omens from the shapes of clouds or the behavior of birds and animals.

Overall tradition

NicDhàna and ní Dhoireann have stated that they coined the term "Celtic Reconstructionist / Celtic Reconstructionism (CR)" specifically to distinguish their practices and beliefs from those of eclectic

Eclecticism

Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...

traditions like Wicca

Wicca

Wicca , is a modern Pagan religious movement. Developing in England in the first half of the 20th century, Wicca was popularised in the 1950s and early 1960s by a Wiccan High Priest named Gerald Gardner, who at the time called it the "witch cult" and "witchcraft," and its adherents "the Wica."...

and the Neo-druidism

Neo-Druidism

of the time. With ní Dhoireann’s popularization of Celtic Reconstructionism in the Pagan press and then the use of the term by these individuals and others on the Internet, “Celtic Reconstructionism” began to be adopted as the name for this developing spiritual tradition.

Gaelic Traditionalism

Some groups that take a Celtic Reconstructionist approach to Gaelic Polytheism call themselves "Gaelic Traditionalists". Preservation of the living traditions in Gaelic (and other Modern Celtic

Modern Celts

) communities has always been a priority in Celtic Reconstructionism. However, according to The CR FAQ there has been some controversy around the use of the term "Gaelic Traditionalists" by groups outside of the Gaeltacht

Gaeltacht

is the Irish language word meaning an Irish-speaking region. In Ireland, the Gaeltacht, or an Ghaeltacht, refers individually to any, or collectively to all, of the districts where the government recognises that the Irish language is the predominant language, that is, the vernacular spoken at home...

and Gàidhealtachd

Gàidhealtachd

The Gàidhealtachd , sometimes known as A' Ghàidhealtachd , usually refers to the Scottish highlands and islands, and especially the Scottish Gaelic culture of the area. The corresponding Irish word Gaeltacht however refers strictly to an Irish speaking area...

areas of Ireland, Scotland and Nova Scotia. In the opinion of Isaac Bonewits this is partly because "Gaelic Traditionalists" is a term used almost exclusively by Celtic Christians. As Kym Lambert ní Dhoireann put it, "Gaelic Traditionalists" means "those living and raised in the living cultures and [who] are keeping their culture, language and music alive, not any of the American polytheistic groups that have been using it lately." The CR FAQ states that due to those in the Gaelic-speaking areas having a prior claim to the term, most Reconstructionists have been uncomfortable with the choice of other Reconstructionists to call themselves "Traditionalists", a sentiment which Bonewits echoes. According to the authors of the The CR FAQ, while the disagreement over terminology has at times led to heated discussion, the polytheistic “traditionalists” and “reconstructionists” are taking the same approach to their religion, and there are generally good relations between the founders of both movements.

Sub-traditions

While Celtic Reconstructionism was the earliest term in use and still remains the most widespread, as the movement progressed other names for a Celtic Reconstructionist approach were also popularized, with varying degrees of success. Some CR groups have looked to the individual Celtic languages for a more culturally specific name for the tradition, or for their branch of the tradition.

Pàganachd / Págánacht

Some Gaelic-oriented

Gaels

groups have used the Scottish Gaelic, "Pàganachd" ("Paganism, Heathenism") or the Irish

Irish language

Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

version, Págánacht. One Gaelic Polytheist group on the East Coast of the US has used a modification of the Gaelic term as Pàganachd Bhandia (“Paganism of Goddesses”).

Senistrognata

In the late 1990s, members of IMBAS, a Celtic Reconstructionist organisation based in Seattle, began promoting the name Senistrognata, which they say means "the ancestral customs of the Celtic peoples" in reconstructed Old Celtic

Proto-Celtic language

The Proto-Celtic language, also called Common Celtic, is the reconstructed ancestor language of all the known Celtic languages. Its lexis can be confidently reconstructed on the basis of the comparative method of historical linguistics...

.

Others

The Irish word for “polytheism”, ildiachas, is in use by at least one group on the West Coast of the US as Ildiachas Atógtha (“reconstructed polytheism”).
In January 2009, the Gaelic Polytheist organization Gaol Naofa began using the term Fálachus, which they claim translates to "the characteristics, connection or attachment to Fál" (Fál being an Old Irish name for Ireland), to refer to its tradition of Gaelic Polytheism.

Self-identification

In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, Celtic Reconstructionists self-identify as Celtoi; Celtos in the masculine singular form or Celta (feminine singular). This is the Proto-Celtic word for Celt.
Aurrad, which came into use on various mailing lists and bulletin boards in the mid 1990s, means "person of legal standing in the túath
Tuath
Túath is an Old Irish word, often translated as "people" or "nation". It is cognate with the Welsh and Breton tud , and with the Germanic þeudō ....

" in Old Irish.

Celtic Reconstructionism and Neo-druidism

Though there has been cross-pollination between Neo-druid

Neo-Druidism

and Celtic Reconstructionist groups, and there is significant crossover of membership between the two movements, the two have largely differing goals and methodologies in their approach to Celtic religious forms. Reconstructionists tend to look to the whole cultural matrix in which the religious ideas were formed, and place a high priority on authenticity and traditional practice. Some Neo-druids tend to prefer a modern Pagan, eclectic approach, focusing on "the spirit of what they believe was the religious practice of pre-Roman Britain".

However, some Neo-druid groups (notably, Ár nDraíocht Féin

Ár nDraíocht Féin

Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship, Inc. is a non-profit religious organization dedicated to the study and further development of modern, Neo-druidism practice....

(ADF), the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids

Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids

The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids or OBOD is a Neo-Druidic organisation based in England, but based in part on the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards...

(OBOD), and the Henge of Keltria) adopted similar methodologies of reconstruction, at least some of the time. ADF, in particular, has long used reconstructionist techniques, but the group has been criticized for their pan-Indo-European scope, which may result in anachronistic combinations such as "Vedic

Historical Vedic religion

The religion of the Vedic period is a historical predecessor of Hinduism. Its liturgy is reflected in the mantra portion of the four Vedas, which are compiled in Sanskrit. The religious practices centered on a clergy administering rites...

druids" and "Roman

Roman mythology

Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...

druids".

Terminological differences exist as well, especially in terms of what "druid" means. Some Neo-druid groups call anyone with an interest in Celtic spirituality a "druid," and refer to the practice of any Celtic-inspired spirituality as "druidry," while reconstuctionist groups usually use the older definition, seeing "druid" as a culturally-specific office that requires decades of training and experience, which is only attained by a small number of practitioners, and which must be conferred and confirmed by the community the druid serves.

External links

The CR FAQ - An Introduction to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism: Written by a collective of long-term members of the CR community and representatives of diverse CR sub-traditions — including some of the founders of the tradition — the FAQ is only the second document to present a consensus view that speaks for more than one group's vision.
Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism: The much-briefer consensus tradition statement from 2003. Contains unclear bits that were later cleared up in the FAQ, but a much quicker read than the FAQ.
What we mean by Celtic Reconstructionism: Statement from Imbas
FAQ RC – Uma Introdução ao Paganismo Reconstrucionista Celta - Portuguese translation of The CR FAQ.
Tairis - Collection of articles on Celtic Reconstructionism with a focus on Scottish Reconstructionism
Land, Sea & Sky, edited by Shae Clancy and Francine Nicholson. Online anthology generally centered around Celtic mythology and Celtic Reconstructionism

Organisations

Celtic Reconstructionists of the Delaware Valley: Celtic Reconstructionists of the Delaware Valley and greater Philadelphia area (Pennsylvania)
Gaol Naofa: Gaelic Polytheism organization (Alabama)
IMBAS (Seattle, Washington)
New Tara: Diverse Celtic group which includes Reconstructionists (Toronto)

Online portals

CAORANN: Celts Against Oppression, Racism and Neo-Nazism
Óenach: A Celtic Reconstructionist Assembly/Forum
Pàganachd / Págánacht: Home of the CR FAQ and other CR resources
Celtoi Net (German)

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Origins

Practices

Overall tradition

Sub-traditions

Self-identification

Celtic Reconstructionism and Neo-druidism

See also

Celtic Reconstructionism

Celtic polytheism and folklore

External links