The Religion Of The Ancient Celts Vol 1

The scientific study of ancient Celtic religion is a thing of recent growth. As a result of the paucity of materials for such a study, earlier writers indulged in the wildest speculative flights and connected the religion with the distant East, or saw in it the remains of a monotheistic faith or a series of esoteric doctrines veiled under polytheistic cults. With the works of MM. Gaidoz, Bertrand, and D'Arbois de Jubainville in France, as well as by the publication of Irish texts by such scholars as Drs. Windisch and Stokes, a new era may be said to have dawned, and a flood of light was poured upon the scanty remains of Celtic religion.

"The Religion of the Ancient Celts" is perfect for those interested in the Celts from a historical, linguistic, mythological, or ethnological standpoint. The book's author, MacCulloch, covers his subject matter clearly and thoroughly. He adds references to such things as parallels with Greek mythology and Sumerian religion. The style of the book will satisfy the expert without mystifying or losing the attention of the amateur.

First published in 2005. This work, a broad history of the Celtic religion, explores all aspects of Celtic life and worship. Topics include the Celtic people, the Gods of the Gaul, the Irish mythological cycle, gods and mem, nature plant and animal worship, cosmogony, sacrifice, festivals, the Druids, magic and rebirth.

"Celtic Mythology" is a study on ancient folk tales and legends of old Ireland, Wales and other Celtic regions, which remained a precious legacy to their illustrative history. The book deals with different aspects of folklore and mythology: myths of the creation, tales of gods and their position and behavior, the mythical creatures and animals, folk tales of the divine land and many more. Well grounded in history and sociology, the author relates these folk tales, legends and myths of Gaelic, Brythonic and Gaulish people to each other and explores the influence of Christianity on their development through the ages. "The Religion of the Ancient Celts" is an exhaustive and comprehensive study of the Celtic religion. It provides insights into Celtic religious practices, and comparisons geographically as well as with more familiar Roman and Christian pantheons. The author offers numerous interpretations and overlaps regarding the mythological roles of gods and goddesses. The Celts interacted with many cultures over the years and adopted their gods and combined with theirs. Roman and Greek gods were adopted as were Vikings' and Christianity later.

Book Excerpt: e animals they slew, apologising to them for the slaughter. This apologetic attitude, foundwith all primitive hunters, is of the nature of a cult. Other animals, too sacred to be slain, would be preserved and worshipped, the cultgiving rise to domestication and pastoral life, with totemism as aprobable factor. Earth, producing vegetation, was the fruitful mother;but since the origin of agriculture is mainly due to women, the Earthcult would be practised by them, as well as, later, that of vegetationand corn spirits, all regarded as female. As men began to interestthemselves in agriculture, they would join in the female cults, probablywith the result of changing the sex of the spirits worshipped. AnEarth-god would take the place of the Earth-mother, or stand as herconsort or son. Vegetation and corn spirits would often become male, though many spirits, even when they were exalted into divinities, remained female.With the growth of religion the vaguer spirits tended to become gods andgoddesses, aRead