Ancient Celtic Religion, Druids and Funerary Beliefs

Summary

This video by World History Encyclopedia explores the ancient Celtic religion, focusing on their gods, druids, and funerary beliefs. The Celts, who lived in parts of Western and Central Europe from the late Bronze Age to the Iron Age, practiced a polytheistic religion without written records. Their beliefs, reconstructed from archaeological and classical sources, revered sacred sites like rivers and groves. Funerary practices included grave goods and occasional human sacrifices. Druids were key religious figures known for rituals and divination. The Celts believed in the cyclical nature of life and an afterlife similar to mortal life, free of suffering.

Highlights

• The Celts saw human life as cyclical and had a polytheistic belief system. 🔄
• Their religion lacked written records but archaeological findings give us insight. 🏺
• Sacred sites included rivers, springs, and groves; offerings were made there. 🌲
• Druids, the religious leaders, conducted rituals and were seen as wise. 🔮
• Burial practices varied, with grave goods suggesting a belief in an afterlife. ⚰️

Key Takeaways

• Celtic religion believed in the cyclical nature of life and afterlife. 🔄
• Druids played a central role in religious practices and were revered for their wisdom. 🧙‍♂️
• The Celts had numerous deities, some universal and others local, influencing various aspects of life. 🐉
• Rituals often occurred in natural settings, and offerings were made to gods. 🌿

Overview

The ancient Celts, who thrived in Western and Central Europe, followed a unique polytheistic religion that viewed life as a cyclical journey. Unfortunately, their lack of written records means much of their religious beliefs have been pieced together through archaeology and writings of classical authors. They held natural sites like rivers, springs, and groves as sacred, believing these places were portals to the supernatural world, where offerings were often made to their gods.

Druids were at the heart of Celtic religious life, serving as the wise leaders who conducted rituals, sacrifices, and divinations. They harnessed their profound knowledge to aid their communities through practical and spiritual guidance. Their attire and the rituals they conducted were steeped in symbolism, and they were believed to hold the power to place taboos and interpret omens, ensuring the community adhered to societal norms.

Funerary practices among the Celts were rich with symbolism. They placed significant emphasis on the afterlife, as evident from the grave goods found in burials which ranged from weapons to board games. This not only indicates their belief in life beyond death but also their desire to equip their loved ones with essentials for their journey. While burial mounds were initially popular, cremation gained traction, possibly influenced by Mediterranean cultures.

Ancient Celtic Religion, Druids and Funerary Beliefs Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 Did you know that the Celts  believed human life was cyclical? Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia!  My name is Kelly and today's video is all about   the ancient Celtic religion, gods and goddesses,  druids and afterlife beliefs. Don't forget,   the easiest way to support us is by giving this  video a thumbs up, subscribing to our channel and   hitting that bell icon for notifications,  so you don't miss out on any new uploads.
• 00:30 - 01:00 If you haven't already heard, World History  Encyclopedia has teamed up with Andante Travels to   bring you the 'Treasures of Ancient Greece' guided  tour. Join our expert tour guide, Dr Rita Roussos,   as she takes you on a journey through Classical  Athens to Delphi, across the Gulf of Corinth   and into the Peloponnesian Hills where the hero  Hercules began his 12 labours and King Agamemnon   set out to rescue Helen and capture Troy. Make  sure to visit worldhistory.travel or hit the
• 01:00 - 01:30 link in the description below to learn all about  this amazing trip, and we hope to see you there! The ancient Celts, who occupied parts of Western  and Central Europe during the late Bronze Age   and through to the Iron Age, believed in  a polytheistic religion for which we are   lacking in written sources. What we do know comes  from the archaeological remains of the culture
• 01:30 - 02:00 and writings of classical authors which has helped  us piece together some key gods, sacred sites and   ritual practices of the Celts. Throughout the span  of the ancient Celtic civilisation and across the   wide region they inhabited, there was variation  in the religious practice but we do know that   there were common features that linked them all  including reverence for sacred groves and other   natural sites like rivers and springs, offerings  to the gods in the form of food, animals and very
• 02:00 - 02:30 rarely human sacrifices, and the inclusion of  grave goods in burials. Since we don't have any   written records, we don't know anything about the  Celts beliefs about their origins, the universe or   their place in it which has left an incomplete  picture of their gods, beliefs and practices.   The ancient Celts believed that natural sites  like rivers, lakes and bogs were sacred and   water was a conduit to the other world which  made rivers and springs even more sacred.
• 02:30 - 03:00 Rituals and ceremonies were held on  hilltops, on mountains and in sacred groves,   especially oak tree groves and even specific  individual oak trees could be sacred; these   sacred places were all considered potential  meeting places between the physical world   and the supernatural worlds. In spaces closer  to urban settings, there may have been additions   of shrines, temples or ritual gates and the  ancient Celts probably used the megalithic
• 03:00 - 03:30 structures that had been set up centuries  earlier, as well as developing their own   religious architecture. The sacred sites were  often adorned with statues of the gods, usually   depicted in wood, not stone, although stone  representations of gods did become more popular   after the Roman conquest. From the 4th century  BCE, the Celts began erecting stone temples   and these temples were often given monumental  doorways decorated in paintings and reliefs.
• 03:30 - 04:00 They believed that the head was the home of the  soul so it really isn't all that surprising that   a common decoration in these temples were masks  and even human heads from sacrificial victims. We know that the ancient Celts had hundreds of  deities, although there was a combination of   universal gods venerated by all the Celtic people  and some local gods that were only worshipped   in particular regions. We also know that the  Celtic religion and their gods and practices
• 04:00 - 04:30 were influenced by earlier cultures, neighbouring  peoples and as the Roman Empire expanded,   the ancient Celts adopted and adapted many  facets of the Roman religion into their own.   The burial practices, votive inscriptions and  rituals that we know of tell us that the gods were   believed to either control humanity in some way or  that they at the very least had a strong influence   on the welfare of the Celtic people. Gods were  associated with powers that often overlapped
• 04:30 - 05:00 with other deities concerning warfare, lightning,  rivers, the sun, families or particular tribes.   Gods, and in particular local deities, would often  be associated with aspects of everyday ancient   Celtic society like tribal identity, protection  of specific groups like children and mothers,   healing and hunting. The god venerated most  widely was Lugus, who was now better known   as Lugh, and who represented the sun and light  and was believed to be all wise and all-seeing.
• 05:00 - 05:30 The god most commonly depicted though was  Cernunnos, the horned god, most famously depicted   on the Gundestrup Cauldron. He is a fairly  mysterious figure who was often shown seated   and wearing horns or antlers. Other major deities  included the goddess Epona; who was associated   with horses, Sequana; who was a healing goddess  and particularly venerated in Central France,   Brigantia; who the Romans equated with Nike and  Victory, and who was an important goddess in
• 05:30 - 06:00 Britain, Esus; who was perhaps a patron of crafts  with his hammer-like staff, and Rhenus; who was   the god of the Rhine River. There were also the  cases of the gods that were depicted as a trio   which perhaps represent three different aspects of  the same divinity, like the three mother goddesses   known as the Matronae, who individually represent  concepts of strength, fertility and power.
• 06:00 - 06:30 Of course, this is just a small handful of  the hundreds of deities that were worshiped   throughout the ancient Celtic society. Animals  were also important to the Celts and may have   even been considered sacred especially the bull,  boar, stag and horse. They appear in designs on   weapons and armour, since the Celts regarded  them as totems that had protective qualities. Druids were the religious leaders in the ancient  Celtic community, and are known for their great
• 06:30 - 07:00 wisdom and knowledge of religious traditions. Not  only did the druids perform religious rituals like   sacrifices to the gods, but they were also able to  give practical help through interpreting natural   events, divining the future and creating medicinal  potions and remedies with the special use of   sacred plants like mistletoe. Since druids claimed  they could foresee the future and interpret omens,   they were also keen astronomers and were experts  in the use of calendars. Druids kept the knowledge
• 07:00 - 07:30 of their community and could even place taboos on  people, in order to ensure everyone was following   the rules of the community. These taboos could be  something as mundane as not eating a particular   type of meat but it was believed that if you  didn't obey, death or misfortune would follow for   the perpetrator and their family. We don't have  much evidence at all that women could be druids   but there is also no evidence suggesting that they  couldn't be and the general lack of information on
• 07:30 - 08:00 druids in general has led to very fanciful  interpretations of the role of the druid in   ancient Celtic society. We do know though, that  they held a high place in society and according   to Julius Caesar, they didn't pay taxes and  they didn't have to perform military service.   To become a fully practicing druid, you had  to train for some 20 years and the emphasis   on oral learning means that we don't have any  first-hand written records of their activities.
• 08:00 - 08:30 There have been archaeological finds of  unusual headgear which often consisted   of bronze leaf-shaped pieces, cones or discs,  and sometimes even horn or antler attachments   that would not have had a military function, so  it's believed that the druids may have worn this   with perhaps long white robes. The schedule  of rituals were determined by the cycles of
• 08:30 - 09:00 astronomy, nature and in particular the phases  of the moon. These natural cycles gave rise to   the belief in the cyclical nature of human life as  well as the birth and death of gods and spirits.   The god of the year for example, would die in  autumn to be reborn in spring. The gods were   offered prayers and incantations and, to thank or  appease them or to gain favour for future events   or to avoid disasters like famine or war,  votive offerings were made at sacred sites;   these votive offerings ranged from foodstuffs  and decorated weapons and armour to jewellery,
• 09:00 - 09:30 pottery or even small models of a body part  that was afflicted with an illness. At sacred   water sites, these offerings were often thrown  in the depths and excavations at Anglesey have   uncovered swords and shields, cauldrons, animal  bones and spear points. Animals like oxen, dogs or   horses were often sacrificed to the gods and they  were burned or buried at the site. Part of the   animal would often be eaten in a feast before the  remains would be left as an offering to the gods.
• 09:30 - 10:00 Although rarely, humans were also sacrificed to  the gods and the most common source of sacrificial   offering were likely captured enemy warriors.  The standard manner for ritual killings as seen   on the Lindow Man, who was found in a bog near  Cheshire in England, was to be hit on the head,   strangled, then have the throat cut. Sometimes  though, the manner of death depended on the god;   like for Esus, they were hung from a tree  and their limbs were removed, or for Taranis,
• 10:00 - 10:30 the sacrificial victim was placed in a wooden  vessel or hollow tree and then burnt alive.   To the delight of archaeologists, hordes of  precious goods were buried in shallow pits.   These deposits were often added to over  time and a number of hordes were found   close together which suggests the  place of burial was sacred in some way,   and the number of goods found in these  deposits indicate a greater meaning   than just a safe place to deposit them,  but that ritual meaning has been lost.
• 10:30 - 11:00 Amulets were believed to be a form  of protection for both the living   but also the deceased on their journey to  the underworld. These amulets have been found   primarily in the graves of women and children.  It was believed they could ward off bad luck   and could take very unusual forms like  mini wheels, feet, shoes and axes.   Since burials were accompanied by grave goods, we  can safely say that the Celts had a strong belief
• 11:00 - 11:30 in the afterlife. Those individuals who were a  part of the higher echelons of the ancient Celtic   society were buried with a number of possessions  including weapons, armour, tools, eating utensils,   feasting goods, clothing, board games and precious  goods like bronze vessels and gold jewellery.   Those of importance were often buried in a wood  lined chamber, deep in a large earthen mound;
• 11:30 - 12:00 often they would be laid out in a four-wheeled  wagon which had usually been disassembled and   dressed in their finery; gradually though,  flat graves replaced the use of burial mounds.   People being buried with grave goods indicates  that the ancient Celts believed the deceased   would need them, either on their afterlife  journey or at their next destination, or both.   What we know of the Celt's belief in the other  world is very limited, but it may have been   considered much like mortal life but without  the bad stuff like disease, pain and sorrow;
• 12:00 - 12:30 as was the view of the medieval European  Celts. Not all Celts were buried, though,   and from the 2nd century BCE onwards, cremation  became more popular which was probably an   influence from Mediterranean cultures. They also  sometimes left the corpse exposed to the elements   and then the bones were either buried or kept  for future religious ceremonies. The beliefs that   informed their daily lives including the cyclical  nature of existence, seemed to have equally
• 12:30 - 13:00 informed their view of the afterlife; nothing ever  died but only changed form to live again either on   earth or elsewhere in the presence of the gods.  What's your favourite part of Celtic religion?   Let us know in the comments below! If you enjoyed  this video, make sure to give it a thumbs up and   subscribe to our channel so you don't miss out  on our new videos every Tuesday and Friday. This video was brought to you by World History  Encyclopedia. For more great articles and
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