Celtic Religion Research Paper

The Celts were a combination of peoples with similar languages and cultural patterns and they originated in central Europe from 1000 to 50 B.C.E.10 Some core values of the Celtic peoples beliefs that define Celtic civilization’s distinctiveness are the ancient Celtic’s religious focus on nature as sacred and the focus on Druidry. The ancient Celts can be considered polytheistic because they worshiped many Celtic gods and goddesses, possibly over four hundred gods and goddesses total.11 The Celtic religion was closely related with nature and it also revered the divine goddess and god duality, which is why the ancient Celtic religion can be considered a “fertility cult.”12 They believed that deities were in all aspects of nature and natural forces, from the rivers, the trees, to even the wind, and so instead of building temples they would worship wherever they felt the presence of divinity – in nature.13 Their sacred holidays revolved around the wheel of the year at corresponding times in the changing of the seasons, such as Samhain after the autumn equinox and Beltaine after the spring equinox.14 Since the Celtic beliefs were closely intertwined with nature, I would consider this

The Druids were a class of Celtic religious experts who performed many religious, judicial, and educational functions, which helped to preserve the sacredness of Celtic lore amongst the peoples.15 Although much is not known about the Celtic peoples or Druidry, it is known that the druids held a high status in Celtic society from the perspective that they were best able to preserve the sanctity of Celtic religion and knowledge of the divinity in nature.16 It is possible that druid knowledge was passed orally and kept within close confines between just the druids and Celtic peoples, which is why Druidry is a distinctive aspect of the ancient Celtic