Are there still people who practice the old Celtic religion around today??

Question

I am starting to question my beliefs and what Ive been taught all my life - I was raised in a Christian home and was taught all the Christian beliefs and values but now Im starting to wonder if the way I worship is the right way!! I still believe that God is the one and only true god and that He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for the sins of the world and bring Salvation as a free gift of grace to those who chose to accept it but I wonder if sitting in a sanctuary with a bunch of hypocritical stuck up elderly people listening to an old hypocritical preacher is the way to go!! I dont feel the same way about God and Jesus and all that as everyone I hear does!! I dont know if its really for me!! But I cant just desert everything Ive been taught all at once!! And the Celtic "religion" appeals to me a little but I would like to learn more about what the old Celts believed and how or what they worshipped!!

Answer 1

These are the basics of the Druid Celtic Beliefs. There are many sites for research, but the ones about Druidry and Witches are not to be trusted.

Some Facts About the Druids
Do Druids believe in God?
Modern Druids recognise One Divine Creative Spirit originating and supporting the whole of creation.

How about Gods and Goddesses?
The presence or manifestation of the One Divine Spirit takes many forms and these may be interpreted as masculine or feminine by different people in different places and times. For example, most Druids regard the Earth as a living Goddess. This does not conflict with the concept of the One Divine Spirit.

Do Druids have a Holy Book?
Druids have no sacred texts. The tradition is not governed by a set of written rules, ancient or modern.

How then, do Druids recieve their Spiritual knowlwdge?
Druids believe that the Divine Spirit exists within all of Creation: animal, vegetable and mineral. All that exists contains the Divine and is therefore sacred. Druids train to access the Divine through the natural world as well as other recorded sources of wisdom.

Do Druids believe in the Devil?
No. Druids do not believe in an externally manifesting source of evil. Druids see no case for some outside agency being to blame for extreme anti-social human behavior nor do they believe that such behavior is the product of Divine predestination. Druids believe strongly in individual personal responsibility for ALL our actions, good or bad.

Didn't Druids go around sacrificing people?
The Romans were keen to justify their campaigns against the Celts and record them making sacrifices. Later, Christian writers in Ireland made mention of Druids putting a stop to human sacrifice. We will probably never know exactly what happened so long ago, but sacrifice in any form, real or allegorical, plays no part in Druidry today.

So what happens when we die?
Druids have always believed that the soul is immortal, with Druidry teaching a Western Tradition of reincarnation. Between and after incarnations, the soul is believed to dwell in the light of the otherworld or Summerlands which is neither "above" or "below", but rather "within".

I hope you find what you seek in your search. Blessed Be.

Sorry to make this longer, but the Druids, if they did practice human sacrifice gave it up long before Christianity did. Crusades, Inquisition, even the hanging of Mary Dyer for her Quaker preachings. were all human sacrificies and they continue today.

Answer 2

The thing about the old Celtic religion is the Celts in thier heyday covered most of northern Europe and adopted alot of the different regions beilief with thier own. The old Celtic priest class were the Druids by the way, the trouble is between rome invading everywhere and Christainity not alot was left behind. The Druid had a oral tradition and did not like to write anything down. Places like Scotland and Ireland were not invaded by Rome, so it took longer for Christiainity to take over. Many people follow the old Celtic ways in different ways. There are modern Druids, Wiccans, Celtic Christians etc etc etc. Have a look at these links and they should get you started. I'd also suggest getting some good books and the celts and thier mythology a good author is Peter Berresford Ellis, he writes in plain english and does a Brief history series that is easy to read.

http://celtdigital.org/celtrel.htm

http://draeconin.com/database/celtreli.htm

http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/contents.html

http://paganmusic.co.uk/druidryintro.html

http://www.angelfire.com/realm2/amethystbt/Druidhistory.html

http://www.grailchurch.org/celtic.htm

http://www.avalonia.co.uk/

PS: Dont listen to the bigots and fear-mongers.

Answer 3

THere's no way of telling what The RIght Way to worship God is. If you're having problems with your current church, experiment. Try going to a different church. I was going to a catholic church for about the first 10 or 11 years of my life, then my family experimented by attending a Nazarene service. We haven't looked back since.

I think ancient Celtic practices have been converted into the Wiccan religion, haven't they? The only thing I remember for sure about the Celts is their practice of human sacrifice, which is in fact frowned upon in most societies today. :P

Answer 4

Well, your parents will freak, but I can tell you the basics.

Yes, there's people that practice it. There is no written, recorded remains of what exactly they practiced or believed in, so everyone will have a different answer. Most of the records were transferred by word of mouth and by generations of celtic pagans.

It's certainly not Wicca, which is a modern faith based on several traditional "pagan" beliefs (pagan, in this statement, is anything unChristian, but paganism is associated with multiple gods and goddesses and other such religious structure). There'll be a million and one Wiccans answering this, convinced their faith was practiced 2000 years ago, but most of it is newage stuff that a bunch of middle aged women made up to feel better about themselves.

The real, old stuff is darker, danker, more creepy. It's really awesome, too. There's the sex rites - the ancient pagans believed that a great state of being is achieved through orgasm. There is no stigma placed on sex. In fact, many "spells" and rituals involve sex, including orgies - though not practiced as much today, it was certainly how it was back then. There was also sacrificial rites - sometimes involving the slaying of animals or people in sacrifice. Trust me, if you were to really follow this faith you'd be pregnant and in jail pretty fast... it's almost impossible for people to really embrace this faith in modern times unless they live in a remote area where their acts will go without reproach. Not to say they are evil, they are just outdated in today's moral codes.

They believed in multiple gods and goddesses. The ancient Celtic religion is often referred to as "Druidism", and basic websearches on the ancient gods of Celts and Druids would bring up information on them. Most of these gods aren't considered actual, just like the ancient Roman gods. However, people still believe it! My close male friend is a Norse Pagan, he believes in all the ancient Norse and Viking religions - he believes he will die and go to Valhalla, and he believes in Thor and all associated gods.

Celts were never united in their beliefs; there were various tribes worshipping various sets of gods. Between sects even the beliefs changed. It's IMPOSSIBLE to give you a very general overview of the faith, but this site does a decent attempt:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/druid.htm

Personally, don't get confused with Wicca...

Answer 5

Yes, I have seen footage of "New Druids" conducting a ceremony at Stone Henge.

Answer 6

not all are hypicritical. but ive never heard of Celtic.