Studies of religion - Celtic - Evie Muir Intro Celtic polytheism, is the religious beliefs and practices exercised between 500 BCE and 500 CE by people in modern day Britain and Western Europe now known as the Celts. Through researching into many components of the Celtic religion such as the origin story, principal beliefs, supernatural powers and deities, rituals, influence in society and the human search for meaning it is clear that the Celtic religion is one of uniqueness and interest. Principal beliefs origin story - Celtic mythology does not have a solid creation story, as other religions do, however a few Celtic myths infer the creation of heaven and earth's creation was through giants, these are seen as the mythical beings of the …show more content…
This influenced their decisions and morality as they believed that they were constantly viewed and judged by the gods. The celts strongly believed in reincarnation, that after a person died their spirits would join the divine spirits and then after a time reincarnate in a baby, animal or plant. They believed that humans could connect with the many spirits that surrounded them and that animals can be mediums can be allegories (mediums) of human souls. This fed into their animistic belief system that humans and animals were equal and that plants and animal carry spiritual essence. Human sacrifices were practiced often in the hope of receiving good luck or other favors from the gods. It was necessary to pacify the gods with gifts.in order to ward off the bad or evil side of the spiritual world. Supernatural powers and …show more content…
Mercury was regarded as the inventor of all the arts, the patron of travelers and of merchants, and the most powerful god in matters of commerce and gain. After him the Gauls honoured Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. Of these gods they held almost the same opinions as other peoples did: Apollo drives away diseases, Minerva promotes handicrafts, Jupiter rules the heavens, and Mars controls wars.” These names were given to these gods by the Romans but it is thought that the celts had real cultural names for these gods but the Romans recorded them in their