Festivals
"The Irish Celts celebrated four main dates. The four main Celtic festivals are:
Imbolc - the first day of Spring. It is celebrated on 1 Feb. This later became Christianised as St. Brigid's Day.
Beltaine - This marks the end of the dark part of the year and the welcoming of summer. It was celebrated on 1 May (Bealtaine is the Gaelic word for the month of May). It is the day associated with moving cattle to higher pastures and beginning new projects.
Lughnasa (or Lughnasad) - was celebrated on the 1 August. (The word for August in Gaelic is Lúnasa). It is closely associated with the Celtic god Lug. It was also an important communal date with a big feast to mark the occasion. Celts gathered at one of a number of traditional sites around the country.
Samhain - traditionally has been a very important date in the Irish calendar. It takes place on 1 November (again the Gaelic for November is Samhain) and it marks the end of one year and the birth of another. In Celtic religion, it was considered a time when the gods were hostile and dangerous and had to be pleased by making sacrifices." from http://www.gaelicmatters.com/celtic-religion.html.
Imbolc - the first day of Spring. It is celebrated on 1 Feb. This later became Christianised as St. Brigid's Day.
Beltaine - This marks the end of the dark part of the year and the welcoming of summer. It was celebrated on 1 May (Bealtaine is the Gaelic word for the month of May). It is the day associated with moving cattle to higher pastures and beginning new projects.
Lughnasa (or Lughnasad) - was celebrated on the 1 August. (The word for August in Gaelic is Lúnasa). It is closely associated with the Celtic god Lug. It was also an important communal date with a big feast to mark the occasion. Celts gathered at one of a number of traditional sites around the country.
Samhain - traditionally has been a very important date in the Irish calendar. It takes place on 1 November (again the Gaelic for November is Samhain) and it marks the end of one year and the birth of another. In Celtic religion, it was considered a time when the gods were hostile and dangerous and had to be pleased by making sacrifices." from http://www.gaelicmatters.com/celtic-religion.html.
Ritual
Death rituals. Originally the Celts had a burial process called the Urnfeild Culture, this is where they cremated each other then put then in urns.Although this practice only lasted till the Halstaat period (6th- 8th century BCE). After this period the started to practice Inhumation Burial rites. This is also known as a 'full body burial'. According to your class your burial may differ. Slaves and low class Celts had a regular grave (as we know it today), and were buried with some of their most prized possessions. On the other hand, were wealthy and noble Celts were buried in tomb with many possessions like jewelry, swords, chariots, wine flagons (A large vessel to contain wine) and many more important items. There were also other Inhumation burial sites where Celts were buried and large mounds and rocks were scattered around the mound. This is a ritual which is said to fend off evil spirits. Skip to 3.20 on the YouTube video to gain a great insight to the burial of the nobel.
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Fire Rituals. One of the main fire rituals for the ancient Celts was the fire ritual Beltain. This was mentioned previously in the festival section. As mentioned Beltain was celebrating the end of Spring. This Fire was extremely important to the Celts as it represented that they were no more oppressed by the cold winter nights and now spring has arrived and they are now able to grow their crops. It was deeply connected to the gods and was a strong religious belief.
Magic Rituals. A major ritual revolving around magic in the ancient Celtic practice was the "Magic of the Head". Celtic magical beliefs have an ideology that the human head and brain is of major magical importance. They believe it hold great power. It is because of this belief that the ancient Celtic warriors would behead other warriors from foreign tribes and preserve them and display them at sacred religious times. |
Coming of Age Ritual. The coming of age ritual in Celtic society was particularly important for the young men. This was an essential practice in the process of becoming a warrior. This was not only a 'life event' but a ritual with great religious importance.Here the young person was to embark on a quest. This quest may vary in degree according to different tribes but the quest may be a scavenger hunt for important items of a full-blown quest in the wilderness The Celts believe that this quest enabled the young man or in some cases women to evoke and draw on the power of a god or goddess in their transition of child to adult.
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Wedding Rituals. One of the most important events in Celtic life is marriage The essential ritual in Celtic Weddings is the handfasting ceremony The handfasting ceremony involves 13 ribbons, each with their own symbolic meaning. The hand fasting ritual is a physical bond which unites a man and a woman when getting married. In ancient Celtic tradition this practice would of been performed by the Druids. The 13 ribbons are tried around the couples wrists and units them phyisicaly, but also spiritually under the gods. This ritual is believed to be the 0rigin of the phrase 'tieing the knot'.
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