Noel's angel Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 (edited) The Druids were a highly influential group in Celtic society who were viewed as magicians. They trained for many years, learning the oral tradition off by heart, gaining knowledge of all the rituals for appeasing the gods. They were the religious leaders and were in charge of worship and making sacrifices to the gods. The Druids influence lay in their secrecy-this gave them the means of gaining and retaining power. Their moral disapproval, their ability to excommunicate, gave them control of the minds and souls of their people. The most important religious symbol for the Celts was the human head (they are found everywhere in Celtic art) The Celts believed that the human soul lived in the head. There is an obvious result of the Celtic in the magic connected with the head-the Celts were headhunters. Warriors cutt off the heads of their enemies and brought them back as trophies of their victories. Numbers had a power that the Celts recognised and used in their ceremonial and spiritual lives (e.g 3,7) The Celts celebrated 4 great feasts each year, corresponding to the growth cycle of crops. SAMHAIN(1st November)- The Celtic year began on 1st November. It may seem strange to celebrate this in the darkness of winter but the Celts believed that life grew out of darkness and that new life was already germinating in the earth (important for Christianity) October 31st was New Years Eve when the wall between the natural and supernatural was considered especially thin. The gates of the other world would open and people communicated with their ancestors. The New Year was celebrated on the 31st by extinguising all the fires in Ireland then relighting them. (The Christian faith rebaptised this celebration by calling ti All Saint's day-1st Nov. and the previous day All Saints Eve-Halloween. The month of November was then dedicated to the dead and still is today. IMBOLG (February 1st) - February 1st marked the beginning of spring and new life. Women were honoured. When Christianity took over, this date marked the feast of Saint Brigid. BELTANE(1st May)- marked the beginning of summer (MayDay customs are still being observed) LUGHNASAD (1st August)- This was one of the greatest festivals of the year, the harvest festival. The Celts celebrated the feast with gatherings and fairs. Christianity arrived and thrived in this atmosphere-we have to ask why? The answer lies in the character of the Irish...'It was in the substance of this character that Christianity was to act as a fermenting yeast' (Brendan Lehane) Frank Delaney- 'No wonder the Celts of Ireland were ready for Jesus Christ-the pacifism of Christianity blended cunningly with the sense of moral courage' Local Celtic saints (monks and nuns) replaced the deities and heros. They now offered a new heroism and local cults were built up around them instead Edited January 9, 2005 by Noel's angel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel's angel Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 (edited) some of that is background, but you should be able to build on it to make a pretty good essay. You should also have a read through 'the life of patrick' by Muirchu (a hagiographer) it should be pretty helpful as long as you bear in mind that he was trying to promote Patrick about 3 hundered years after his death, so many stories arent accurate (as you will see having read the Confession) Edited January 9, 2005 by Noel's angel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel's angel Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 i also have some info on how Christianity came to Ireland if you are interested in that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiZzGiG Posted January 9, 2005 Author Share Posted January 9, 2005 Thank you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!! YOU are AMAZING!! I'm so pumped for this essay! Woo! oh, and i was wondering if you had a citation for the info? our paper has to have a works cited page thanks again!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel's angel Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 sorry, its mostly just from some sheets that my Religion teacher gave me. the only sources i have are for the quotes, which i have already shown. sorry about that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thy Geekdom Come Posted January 10, 2005 Share Posted January 10, 2005 I have a friend from seminary who knows TONS about pre-Christian Ireland... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiZzGiG Posted January 11, 2005 Author Share Posted January 11, 2005 [quote name='Noel's angel' date='Jan 10 2005, 01:33 PM'] sorry, its mostly just from some sheets that my Religion teacher gave me. the only sources i have are for the quotes, which i have already shown. sorry about that [/quote] ah, no worries! i'll figure something out thanks SO much for the info!! thanks to everyone, actually! you guys are awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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