Sacred Groves
Historically, many cultures cultivated sacred groves, including the ancient Greeks and Romans, as well as the Celts. We recently were able to eat lunch in an oak grove above St. Cybi’s well. This 360 degree video will let you look around the grove while I talk. We are sitting in a grove of oak trees, but throughout history sacred trees could be of many kinds, depending on the locality. The Greeks had a sacred cyprus grove at the Temple of Zeus at Nemea and an olive grove at the temple of Athena on Rhodes. There was a sacred fir grove near Croton in southern Italy, and a laurel grove on the road to Ostia. In Roman law, cutting down trees in a sacred grove was punishable by death. For the Celts, living in more northern climates the sacred groves were Read more…
The Hill of Tara
Tara started out as Neolithic site, with a Neolithic passage tomb, called The Mound of Hostages, built around 3200 BC and holding the graves of over 300 individuals. Then, in the early Bronze age, some thousand years later, a giant ‘woodhenge’ was built on the hilltop to surround the passage tomb. The Celtic period begins with the Iron Age, starting roughly around 500 BC. Several large enclosures were built on the hill, the largest of which, The Enclosure of the Kings, had a circumference of 1000 meters. Another two structures were built in a figure eight—one called Cormac’s house and a second that is the royal seat. It is at this point that Tara unites history and religion. In Celtic mythology, Tara was the capital of the Tuatha de Dannan, the Irish gods, and its Neolithic passage tomb was seen Read more…
The Celtic City of Glanum
The Celts in France were known to the Romans as Gauls, though in their own language they called themselves Celtae and are the origin of the name that came to be applied to all the peoples who shared their language and culture. The city of Glanum was established by the 6th century BC when the villagers built ramparts on the hills surrounding their village to protect themselves from invaders. The hallmark of the town was a sacred spring known for its healing powers and was dedicated to the Celtic water god, Glanis, one of several Celtic gods worshipped in the city. Archaeologists view the city as having a vibrant Celtic culture, using characteristic pottery, cooking utensils (boiling rather than frying), and a penchant for displaying the heads of their enemies at the city gate. As with the Britons, we know Read more…
Celtic Religion
Our understanding of Celtic religion is at times a long the lines of educated guesses. Like the people living in Britain prior to 800 BC, the Celts had no written language. This makes it obviously very difficult for us to develop a clear understanding of their religious beliefs. What we do have is the writings of the Romans who conquered them, which in itself is problematic because, when victors write history, invariably they are writing from a position of their own magnificence, and by definition are seeking to downplay and barbarize the achievements and culture of those they conquered. Scholars do think there was a basic religious homogeneity among the Celts, with significant regional differences, especially since they were spread out across Europe from Czechoslovakia to Ireland. Like the Romans who came to Britain after them, the Celts were polytheists, Read more…
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