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Who were the Celts The Celts: an amazing conglomeration of tribes with remarkable staying power. Refusing to acknowledge Roman rule, the Celts were formidable fighters under any circumstances. Exceedingly good at hit-and-run warfare, they were adept at scattering to isolated areas in small groups - taking their Gods with them. The famed Asterix comic strip gives an amusing indication of what the Gaulish contingent of Celts felt about the Romans. Ireland (never conquered by the Romans) became another stronghold, and so did the bits of Britain nobody else much wanted. Wales, for example. They also infiltrated the Orkneys, Baleiric Islands, bits of Scandinavia and the Caucasus
The Celts were doing alright until Christianity came along. The Church nicked some of their Gods for promotional sainthood purposes and thus began the conversion process. Only by building churches on already sacred sites could Celts be converted. Prior to Roman or Christian influence the Celts preferred to pass on their sacred teachings and myths orally. After the coming of Christianity in the fifth century onwards, the monks recorded the myths, and it is thanks to them that so many survive today. One might expect Christian monks to have qualms about recording pagan tales, but this does not seem to have been the case. St Patrick, who brought Christianity to Ireland in 432, had his doubts about the old stories until he received a vision in which he was told to respect and record them.
Celtic Mythology - Creation Passed on through spoken language, the Celts do not have a specific creation myth; rather, they begin their history with the settling of Ireland. Ireland was invaded by five successive waves of people.The first wave was the Partholonians. Partholon, his wife Dealgnaid, and their companions landed in the western province of Munster on Beltaine. Ireland was already inhabited by the Fomorians, thought to represent the ancient, evil Irish gods. The Fomorians were driven out to the north, where they returned periodically to plague the successive invaders. The Partholonians did a great deal to develop Ireland, building the first building as well as clearing four plains and forming seven lakes in addition to the one plain and three lakes Ireland possessed at the time. Unfortunately, all the Partholonians except one, Tuan mac Cairill, were killed in an outbreak of the plague.
The next wave was the Nemedians. They also landed in the west and fought the Fomorians, winning three battles with them. After these battles, they too were struck with the plague, and the Fomorians took advantage of the weakness of the Nemedians to demand heavy tribute. Eventually the Nemedians rose against the Fomorians and demanded freedom or battle; in the ensuing battle, they defeated the Fomorians. It is not clear whether they were all killed as well or whether they left the island, but after that battle the Nemedians no longer lived in Ireland.
Two hundred years after the Nemedians' battle, the Fir Bolgarrived in Ireland from Greece. The Fir Bolg divided Ireland into five provinces, Connacht, Ulster, Leinster, and two Munsters, and were the first Irish people to establish a kingship and administration of justice.The Tuatha de Danaanarrived next, on Samhain, and fought a great battle against the Fomorians. The Fomorian king, Balor, was killed, and the Fomorians were driven out of Ireland for the last time.
The Milesians lived in Spain until one of their princes sighted Ireland from a watchtower. He sailed to find it and there met the three Tuatha de kings, who became afraid that he would try to invade Ireland and killed him. His companions returned to Spain with his body, and the Milesians set sail to exact revenge. When they arrived, the three Tuatha de kings requested that they be left in peace for three days. Amergin, poet and Druid of the Milesians, agreed, and the Milesians withdrew their ships for three days while the Tuatha de prepared for battle. After the battle, the Tuatha de were defeated, and Amergin was given the task of dividing the land, and he gave the Tuatha de Danaan the land below the ground and the Milesians the land above. After this, the Tuatha de lived below the hills, and it is they who were turned into the legendary faerie folk of Ireland.
The ancient Celts believed in many gods and goddesses. The ancient Celts believed that every tree, every bush, every flower, every everything had a little deity living in it. Some of their gods and goddesses were extremely powerful. But most were little deities. The ancient Celts did not worship their gods. They did not go to church. Instead, they left little offerings all over the place. Each fine had their own special little deities. Each clan had theirs as well. Unlike the ancient Greeks, the gods of the ancient Celts did not trouble themselves with the affairs of men, unless they were asked to do so. http://www.livingmyths.com/Celticmyth.htm - handy website
The god Lugh We can see this ‘euhemerization’ clearly in the case of the god Lugh, who gives his name to the Irish summer festival of Lughnasadh. In the earliest Irish myths he is clearly a deity. As such, he offers himself as the saviour of the TuathadéDanann, the predecessors of the Milesians or Gaels. Seeking entry at the palace of King Nuada of the Silver Hand, at Tara, he announces each of his skills in turn – ‘Blacksmith, warrior, musician, poet, scholar …’. Each time he is refused entry, until he points out that no one else combines all these skills in one person, as he does. In the Mabinogion, the main source of British myths, Lugh has become the much more human LleuLlawGyfes, nephew (and possibly son) of the magician Gwydion. He is skilled, and protected by charms, but he is not obviously a god: in fact at one point he appears to be mortal.
The Dagda, father of the gods Lughshares some characteristics with the Dagda, a larger-than-life figure prominent in myths of the TuathadéDanann. Like Lugh, he is powerful and omnicompetent. Yet he is often represented as a rather comic figure whose short tunic fails to cover his buttocks, and whose huge club has to be carried on wheels. He has great magical powers, and he possesses a harp which comes to him when he calls, and a cauldron of abundance which restores dead warriors to life (but without powers of speech, perhaps in case they say too much about the afterlife).
Goddesses Powerful though these gods were, the Celtic goddesses were perhaps even more so. They were closely associated with the land, and in this identification they sometimes seem to be aspects of a single all-embracing Goddess. Their link to the seasonal cycles, to fertility and death, may partly account for the fact that a single goddess often takes three forms, or aspects – usually maiden, mother and crone. Celtic goddesses could be life-giving and sustaining, but were also, in their dark aspect, associated with sex and death, which in Celtic terms are part of the round of life. The most powerful Irish example is the red-haired shape-shifting Morrigan, said to have coupled with the Dagda.
Druids A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul (France), and possibly other parts of Celtic Europe and Galatia during the Iron Age and possibly earlier. Very little is known about the ancient druids. They left no written accounts of themselves and the only evidence is a few descriptions left by Greek, Roman and various scattered authors and artists, as well as stories created by later medieval Irish writers.
While archaeological evidence has been uncovered pertaining to the religious practices of the Iron Age people, "not one single artefact or image has been unearthed that can undoubtedly be connected with the ancient Druids." Various recurring themes emerge in a number of the Greco-Roman accounts of the druids, including that they performed human sacrifice, believed in a form of reincarnation, and held a high position in Gaulish society. Next to nothing is known about their cultic practice, except for the ritual of oak and mistletoe as described by Pliny the Elder.
The Banshee The Banshee was a woman who carried with her an omen of death. Sometimes you saw the Banshee as an old woman dressed in rags, sometimes you saw her as a young and beautiful girl and sometimes you saw her as a wash woman, ringing out bloody clothing. Whenever she was seen, she let out a horrible cry and legend has it this cry brought death to any family that heard it. King James I of Scotland thought he was approached by a Banshee. Shortly after, he died at the Earl of Atholl.
Pookas The Pookas are a certain type of fairy- one bent on creating havoc in the mortal world. The Pooka appeared at night across rural Ireland and the seaboard. On a good day, the Pooka would cause destruction on a farm- tearing down fences and disrupting the animals. On a bad day, the Pooka would stand outside the farmhouse and call the people outside by name. If anyone came out, the Pooka would carry them away. The Pookas also loved to mess with the ships pulling away from Ireland, and were blamed for many shipwrecks along the rocky coast.
Changeling As legend has it, female fairies often give birth to deformed children. Since the fairies prefer visually pleasing babies, they would go into the mortal world and swap with a healthy human baby, leaving behind a changeling. While the changeling looked like a human baby, it carried none of the same emotional characteristics. The changeling was only happy when misfortune or grief happened in the house. The changeling legend has lasted for centuries. William Shakespeare talks of a changeling in his play, “A Midsummer’s Night Dream.” Three hundred years later, Scarlett O’Hara believed Rhett Butler’s illegitimate child was a changeling in “Gone with the Wind.”
Dagda’sHarp In Irish mythology, the Dagda was a high priest who had a large and beautiful harp. During a war, a rival tribe stole Dagda’s harp and took it to an abandoned castle. Dagda followed the tribe and called to the harp. The harp came to Dagda and he struck the chords. The harp let out the Music of Tears and everyone in the castle began to cry. Dagda struck the chords again and the harp played the Music of Mirth and all the warriors began to laugh. Then, Dagda struck the chords a final time and the harp let out the Music of Sleep. Everyone but Dagda fell into a deep sleep, allowing him to escape with his magical harp unharmed.
Children of Lir The story of the Children of Lir comes from the Irish Mythological Cycle. Lir was the lord of the sea. He had a wife and four children. When Lir’s wife died, he married his wife’s sister, Aoife. Aoife was jealous of Lir’s children and wanted to be rid of them. One day Aoife took the children to a lake. While they were swimming she performed a spell on them and turned them into swans. Under the spell the children were to remain swans until they heard the sound of a Christian bell. The swans swam from lake, to river to stream for years waiting for the sound of that bell, but it wasn’t until St. Patrick came to Ireland that the children could be free of the curse- 900 years later.
Shamrock The three green leaves of the Shamrock is more than the unofficial symbol of Ireland and one of the marshmallows in Lucky Charms. The Shamrock has held meaning to most of Ireland’s historic cultures. The Druids believed the Shamrock was a sacred plant that could ward off evil. The Celtics believed the Shamrock had mystical properties due to the plant’s three heart-shaped leaves. The Celtics believed three was a sacred number. Some Christians also believed the Shamrock had special meaning- the three leaves representing the Holy Trinity.
Finn MacCool Finn MacCool is a mythological warrior that appears in several Irish legends. One popular story tells of a salmon that knew all of the world’s knowledge. Finn decided to eat the Salmon to gain the knowledge. As he was cooking the fish, juice squirted out and burned Finn’s thumb. Finn stuck his thumb in his mouth to stop the pain and instantly learned the knowledge the salmon carried. From then on, anytime Finn sucked his thumb he gained whatever knowledge he was seeking.
Faeries Faeries exist in some form in mythology all over the world but hold a special importance to the Irish. The fairy society in Ireland is thought to be very much alive, and far from Peter Pan’s Tinker Bell. An Irish fairy can take any form she wishes, but will usually choose a human form. They are said to be beautiful, powerful and hard to resist, which is unfortunate because most fairies in Ireland love to bring misfortune and bad luck to the mortals who come near them.
leprechaun The leprechaun is likely the most widely known type of fairy living in Ireland. Leprechauns have been in existence in Irish legend since the medieval times. Traditionally, leprechauns are tall fairies and often appear to humans as an old man – much different from the modern view of a small, childlike fairy in a green suit. As legend holds, Leprechauns love to collect gold, which they store in a pot and hide at the end of a rainbow. If a human catches a leprechaun, the fairy must grant the human three-wishes before he can be released.
Celtic Mythical Creatures • Aed • Aine • Amaethon • Andarta • Anu • Arawn • Arianrhod • Arvernus • Aufaniae • Badb • Balor • Banda • Bean-Nighe • Belatucadros • Belenus • Bile • Boann • Brag • BresMacelatha • Bugbear • Buggane • Bwbachod • Carman • Ceasg • Cernunnos • Coblynau • Cyroraeth • Dagda • Dewi • Dian Cecht • Divona • Don • Dracae • Epona • Formorian • Flaitheas • Gobniu • Grannus • Gwydion • Gwynn ApNadd • Hamavehae • Herne • Ialonus • Icauna • Iccovelauna • Lenus • Lir • Lug
