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An Introduction to Celtic Tattoo Mythology page 2
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When we consider ancient Celtic myths and Celtic legends, we are confronted with two rather conflicting mental images. On the one hand, there is the mighty, ferocious Celtic warrior, famed and feared throughout the Roman empire, fighting naked or painted blue, screaming like a Berserker, and cutting off the heads of the enemy.
The Irish epics
replace headhunting with cattle raiding. Warriors sit around a smoky hall, feasting and
drinking and telling tales - who is the mightiest? The most famous story, the Tain Bo
Cuailnge, tells of such a cattle raid. The Scottish Highlanders made their living and took
their entertainment from stealing their neighbors' cattle for well over a thousand years.
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On the other
hand, Celtic mythology is incorporated into the popular image of the druids. Merlin in his
tall hat turning Wat into a fish or a squirrel. A powerful nature religion peopled with
druids and bards who spent as long learning their craft as Buddha spent under the banyan
tree seeking nirvana. A religion of magic and wonder with one foot in our world and the
other in the land of faery. This "Disney" version of druidism ignores the
bloodthirstiness of the Celtic pantheon and the human sacrifice involved in their
propitiation, often by fire and, possibly, by boiling alive. In ancient Gaul, until Roman
Christianization, the Celts decorated their homes with the heads of the enemy.
There is a lot of
academic confusion and debate about the origins of druidism, some feeling it spread west
as the Celts themselves migrated over hundreds of years from the eastern steppes into
Europe and, eventually, the British Isles (via Spain for the Irish). On the other hand, at
the time of the Roman empire it seems as though the Isles were the stronghold of the
religion, training druids and sending them back to Europe. So, did the "classic"
Celtic religion originate in the British Isles and slowly replace the older, bloodier,
more pantheistic and less refined religious beliefs the Celts had originally brought to
Europe? We don't know.
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We do know that
the Celtic religion was nature based (trees, water, etc.), what neopagans now call
"earth spirituality". It is thought that there were three classes of
"clergy", druid, bard and ovate, with differing functions, though it's difficult
to pinpoint these differences. Some feel it was a question of degree and level of
training. Seership was a highly developed and a very important function. Druids not only
led spiritually, but functioned as arbiters and judges. There is some evidence to suggest
that the druid hierarchy spanned Celtic Europe with some archdruids having ultimate
jurisdiction over large areas.
It is very difficult to interpret the archeological and historical evidence since the Celts had no written language. Aside from digging in the ground and trying to make sense of what they find, scholars must rely on the Greek and Roman historians and the myths as they were finally written, centuries later. These manuscripts were Irish and Welsh, with the Irish being earlier. Since this site deals with Scotland, it the Irish tradition we will discuss, as that is the mythology that went to Dalriada along with fledging Christianity and that informs Highland folklore and customs to this day (as well as many of our own).
The Celtic calendar was lunar based, with thirteen months. Extra days as needed were added at new year's as a "time between times." Their year was divided into eight segments, each with a corresponding festival. The four fire festivals take place on the last evening of a month and the following day because the Celts, like the Jews, count a day from sunset to sunset. That's why we celebrate All Hallow's Eve, Midsummer's Eve, and so on.
These four fire
festivals are tied to the agricultural cycle as follows:
Samhain is
celebrated on October 31-November 1 (Halloween). It is the end of the harvest, the
beginning of winter and once marked the Celtic new year. At Samhain, the barrier between
our world and the Otherworld thins, allowing contacts between the spirits (faeries) and
humans. Normal rules of human conduct do not apply and one may "run wild". Great
bonfires are lit and participants join hands and circle the fire, or young men take
blazing torches and circle (sunwise) their homes and lands to protect them from evil
spirits. This was also a festival of the dead and the church was easily able to transform
these holidays into All Saint's Day (November 1) and All Soul's Day (November 2).
Imbolc is
celebrated February 1-2 (later transformed into Candlemas by the church, and popular now
as Groundhog Day). Imbolc marked the beginning of Spring (hard to imagine where we live!),
the beginning of new life (in Britain the beginning of lambing season). Dedicated to the
ancient mother goddess in her maiden aspect, it was later transformed into a feast day for
the Irish saint of the same name (and attributes), St. Brigid.
The third
festival of the agricultural year is Beltane (Bealtunn in Scots Gaelic, meaning May Day),
celebrated April 30-May 1. The myth surrounding this festival is common to many ancient
pagan religions. The god, Bel (or Cernunnos, the horned god of Ireland) dies but is reborn
as the goddess' son. He then impregnates her ensuring the neverending cycle of rebirth.
This is very basic fertility worship. May Day traditions includes young people picking
flowers in the woods (and spending the night there), and the dance around the May Pole,
weaving red (for the god) and white (for the goddess) streamers round and round. A great
bonfire celebrates the return of the sun. In Ireland, the first bonfire was lit on Tara by
the High King followed by all the others. On May Day itself, the Highland tradition has
the entire community leading the cattle to summer pasturage, not to return until Samhain.
The final
celebration of the agricultural year is Lughnasadh (Lammas in England), the feast of the
god Lugh and the first fruits of the harvest (generally wheat or corn). Lughnasadh is
celebrated August 31-September 1. In Scotland, the first stalks of corn are called
"John Barleycorn", of course, and were used to make the first beer of the fall
season. Now, John Barleycorn refers to that greatest of Scots drinks (many distilleries
are closed for August, reopening for the fall whisky-making season on September 1). This
festival, as celebrated in England, gives me the willies, reminding me of that great
horror novel by Thomas Tryon, Harvest Home. At Lammas, the Corn King dies (to be
reborn at spring), ensuring plenty for the winter.
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The other four
holidays of the Celtic year celebrate the spring and fall equinoxes and the winter and
summer solstices. Each name contains the word "Alban" meaning "Light
of". The name for ancient Scotland was Alba.
Alban Arthuan (Light of Arthur), like winter solstice celebrations all over the world, celebrates the return of the sun following the shortest day in the year. It's no wonder the church adopted these holidays as the birthdate of the Son. From ancient Celtic and Norse mythology we enjoy such holiday traditions as holly and mistletoe (sacred to the druids), the yule log, Santa Claus in his aspects of Father Christmas or the Holly King. Supposedly, King Arthur was born on the winter solstice (and he, too, will come again). Ireland celebrates Christmas much more enthusiastically than Scotland. Under the Kirk at its strictest, Christmas was viewed as an idolatrous celebration and not observed. Today, the Scots put most of their merry-making efforts into Hogmany, the New Year's celebration.
The spring
(vernal) equinox is celebrated as Alban Eiler (Light of the Earth). The equinoxes were
considered a time of balance, not only between dark and light, but between worlds as well
and, therefore, a time of high magical potential. More mundanely, this festival signified
the time for spring planting and fertility rituals.
Alban Heruin
(Light of the Shore) is celebrated as Midsummer's Day with games, picnics, and all manner
of light-hearted fun. The antics of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Shakespeare
well captures the spirit of this festival, including the interaction between our people
and those of the faery world.
Finally, Alban
Elued (Light of the Water) is observed at the autumn equinox and, like the spring equinox,
is a very sacred time when the line between worlds is thin and magical possibilities
abound.
Much more seems
to be known about the four fire festivals (which are still celebrated in many traditional
ways) than the four solar festivals. Were the solar festivals mainly druidic sacred times
in which lay participation was minimal (it would seem that some of the neo-druids have
taken this view and make rather more of these dates than the Irish and Gaels do)? Or could
the solar celebrations pre-date druidism, belonging to the Stonehenge builders, and
falling slowly into disuse? This seems a possibility since the Celtic calendar is lunar
based, rather than solar.
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In any case, we find in Celtic mythology a strong foundation in ancient goddess (mother earth) and fertility religion (common throughout the ancient world), merged with the peculiar emphasis on the Otherworld and its accessibility to mankind found in the druid religion. More than any other people, perhaps, the Celts live with one foot in this world and one in the other. The druid belief was that we are composed of mind, body and spirit (Christianity likewise believes this), with spirit acting as the bonding agent between body and mind, rather than an elevated or qualitatively different state of being. Thereby, we are enabled to travel between worlds, if we know how, or if we are born with the gift. Combined with the druidic belief in reincarnation, there is little fear of the Otherworld and the faery world is simply an alternate reality, rather than a higher plane.
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