You do not have to be
Celtic by blood to follow a Celtic Path or enjoy Celtic
things. The following is an excerpt by Erynn Rowan Laurie
that says it better than I can.
Following A Celtic Path
What elements are required to make a path
true to the Celtic spirit? I think that there are
several. The more of them you have, the closer you get,
in my opinion.
First is reverence for Celtic deities.
This is easy, and pretty widespread, even among groups
that are not really Celtic in focus. Lots of purely
Wiccan groups, for instance, revere Celtic Gods and
Goddesses, without fulfilling any of the other possible
criteria.
Second, connection with ancestors and land
spirits. This one is pretty generic and needs to be taken
in combination with several other things, because
ancestor worship and reverence for land spirits happens
in most old Pagan cultures. I would suggest that this
connection and reverence must happen in a style not
unlike that shown in Evans-Wentz's "The Fairy Faith
in Celtic Countries" for it to be seen as a
continuation of the Celtic spirit. We can carry it
forward into a modern Celtic spirit by having a general
love and reverence for the earth and its creatures. A
deep appreciation of nature is revealed in early Celtic
nature poetry from Ireland and Wales.
Third, poetry as intrinsic to the structure of
magick. Lorax and I have done a number of rants on poetry
here. We're not talking about lame moon/June/tune rhymes,
but about the kind of poetry that stirs up fire in the
soul, the kind that speaks power in its descriptions and
its focus. The sort of poetry that sucks you in and
churns your guts.
Although we often get clinical in our writing,
we also try hard to make much of our writing lyrical in
that sense. I hope that we sometimes succeed. In addition
to poetry as magick, there was also respect for poetry as
a social mechanism; it offered praise for those who were
worthy, and satire and scorn for those who were not. It
isn't just the reading of poetry, but the making of
poetry that is important. Celtic Pagans must be poets,
even if they aren't great poets.
Fourth, a connection with the past. The Celts
had a reverence for history, and that reverence is a part
of the Celtic spirit, I believe. For some, this
connection comes through physical ancestry. For others,
it comes through study of history. Some people get it
through connecting with the feeling of the myths. Other
folks get it in other ways. I think that this is why we
have such heated debates here about the importance (or
lack thereof) of sticking to historical fact. We all
recognize that something from the past is speaking to us
strongly, but we disagree about the methods of judging
its veracity and usefulness.
Fifth, a sense of early Celtic cosmology; doing things in
terms of three realms rather than the classical Greek
four elements, using Celtic symbols like triskeles and
spirals rather than pentagrams, celebrating Celtic
holidays rather than (or more deeply than) the holidays
of other religions, threes and nines as ritually
important, use of a sacred/cosmic tree and well
combination. Much of this cosmology has had to be
painstakingly reconstructed from fragmentary hints, and
it goes back again to the argument that historical
research is important to learning about and preserving
the Celtic spirit.
Sixth, I think that inclusiveness is important. We can't
rely on genealogy or geography to determine who is
Celtic. The historical Celts roamed all over Europe, and
lands beyond. Anyone worthy might be taken into the tribe
through marriage or adoption. The Celts are roaming
still, moving to America, Australia, and other widely
diverse lands. And they're still taking people in through
marriage and adoption.
Seventh, respect for women was a definite part
of the Celtic spirit. While Celtic women didn't have it
perfect, they were far better off than their Greek and
Roman counterparts. Likewise, respect for and acceptance
of gays and lesbians seems important. There is certainly
text evidence for men loving men in early Celtic society.
Women were not as often written about, but I think it is
safe to assume that women had similar choices open to
them.
Eighth, an appreciation of the complex and intricate.
This is found in Celtic art, law, myth and poetry. The
classical historians noted that the Celts spoke in
riddles and loved to obfuscate. Wordplay and veiled
reference were common.
Ninth, personal responsibility and a deep sense
of self are a part of the Celtic spirit. Boasting and
personal pride are evident in every Celtic tale.
Sometimes it went overboard, so of course, like some
other things (head hunting, etc), we have to be careful
not to get too deeply into it. I think that some of us do
act on this Celtic instinct, and that's why we often have
heated debate on this list. So long as it doesn't get out
of hand, I find it encouraging and a growth-oriented
activity. Spirited argument was a part of the poet's
duty, and was one of the ways in which the younger poets
learned from the older. Along with this, I would say that
the Celtic spirit includes a strong sense of ethics about
what is right and what is wrong. The Celts were not an
"anything goes" kind of people. They had a very
complex body of laws governing what was appropriate and
what was not. Celtic Pagans need both a strong sense of
personal responsibility and a code of personal and social
ethics in order to carry the Celtic spirit forward.
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