The influence of the Celts is prevalent in our culture from music to language and holidays. Many Celtic words are used in the English language. Words like whiskey, land, and bard are all based in Celtic languages. Back in 1997, Loreena McKennitt’s song, “The Mummer’s Dance,” hit the charts in the United States. The video, with its odd instruments and festively dressed minstrels, is a modern representation of the Celtic culture.
Many people have an image of the Celts as a druidic people who walked around in burlap sacks and sacrificed things. But in actuality, the Celts are a fascinating people with culture as varied as the stars in the sky.
Celtic Language and Origins
The word “Celt” is a broad term for the groups of people that spoke Celtic languages and shared a similar cultural and religious identity. Their civilization is thought to have developed around 5th c. BC in central Europe, where they were the dominant power. They were a warrior people that spread their culture through both contact and invasion. The majority of Celts shifted from central Europe to the British Isles after they were defeated by the Romans on the mainland around the 2nd or 3rd century BC. Today, people of Celtic ancestry can be found in many places, including Ireland, Scotland, England, France and Wales.
Christianization of the Celts
The Celts of the southern British Isles were Christianized with the Roman invaders, whereas the Celts of the unconquered north were Christianized through missionary work up through the Middle Ages. They respected nature, life, religion and art—both before and after its Christianization. They did sacrifice animals, but this was always in honor of the changing seasons, in tribute to the gods, or in hope of bountiful harvest. But the Celts were also a warrior people that had conquered most of Europe before the Romans.
Celtic Religion
Like many other groups of people, the Celts original pagan religion and mythology varied from tribe to tribe, giving the religion a difficult pantheon to trace. This ancient religion included a “Mother Goddess” that was familiar to all tribes, as well as a “Green Man” that represented spring and life (and is also represented in many works of literature, such as Sir Gawain and the Green Knight).
Some aspects of the pre-Christian Celts are still obvious in the icons of the Christian Celts. For instance, the endless knots that are set into the Celtic crosses represent eternity and the endless cycle of life. The Celtic cross can be seen in cemeteries across Europe, but also in store windows across Ireland and the US.
Major Celtic Holidays
- Imbolc (February)—honored the reawakening of spring after winter.
- Beltane (April or May)—the most sacred celebration, this fire festival was celebrated with large bonfires lit to purify people and animals.
- Lughnasadh (July or August)—a harvest festival with a great feast.
- Samhain (October or November)— also known as the Celtic New Year—a celebration of the cycle of life and the most important Celtic holiday. Samhain was the time in which the spiritual world invaded the real.
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