Tay's
Response To The
Henge of Keltria
F.A.Q.

This is my response to your Keltrian faq. Please understand that it is through my deep sense of responsibility and a stringent course of study into the histories of our peoples, that I feel such a deep sense of passion and need to voice my opposition to the materials found within your faq. I mean you no disrespect nor harm in doing so.

Note: You may view the F.A.Q. in it's original format on the Henge Of Keltria's Page here. We mean not to slander or cause harm to the Henge of Keltria or it's members. This is simply an example of a traditionalist Pagan's viewpoint as compared to that of a 'neopagan'.

What is the Henge of Keltria
& What is Neopagan Druidism?
Table of Contents

What is the Henge of Keltria?
What are the definitions of "Neopagan" and "Druidism?"
Who were the Druids?
Was Stonehenge built by the Druids?
Was sacrifice practiced by the Druids?
Do Keltrian Druids practice human or animal sacrifice
Explain some aspects of Celtic belief that you emulate in your modern practices
What is the Keltrian view of Deity?
What are the other beliefs of Keltrian Druidism?
How do you worship?
When do you worship?
How can I find out more about the Henge of Keltria?

What is the Henge of Keltria?

The Henge of Keltria is a nonprofit religious organization dedicated to the positive, life affirming spiritual path of Neopagan Druidism. We call it Keltrian Druidism. The Henge of Keltria exists to provide information and training to those interested in Keltrian Druidism and to promote Celtic Earth-based religions.

Why do you call it Druidism? What is it that qualifies any of you as Draoi? We are all simply Gaels, children of Scotta. Not one of us knows the true way of the Draoi, therefore none are qualified to suppose or make commentary on their practices.

What are the definitions of "Neopagan" and "Druidism?"

The word Pagan is generally used to describe pre-Christian religions that existed throughout the Western world. 'Neo' means new, so Neopagan literally means "New Pagan." The term "Neopagan" is used to describe people who are part of the revival of some of the beliefs and practices of these pre-Christian religions. Neopagans often drop the prefix and just call themselves Pagans.

If you are truly pagan, then you are a reborn in these modern times. That makes nothing you do new/neo, this makes that which you practice ancient/old ways. Therefore, one should not ascribe the prefix neo to anything dealing with direct ancestry. The term neo should only be ascribed to religions and belief systems created within this century i.e. Wicca or Satanism.

Druidism is our modern adaptation of ancient Celtic religion. The priests of the ancient Celts were called Druids.

No, they were not called Druids, if called anything at all it was Draoi. There is no evidence to support that the Gaels had a priestly caste much to the contrary, they had a strong belief in free will thus, they would have needed no one to meditate the Gods for them. The Draoi on the other hand, were the learned caste. These were the judges, doctors, lawyers, healers, musicians, and various other professional classes. They all seemed to be trained in the arts of divination, sacrificial rites, ritual and so forth. But that which Pliny the Elder was speaking of as for the period of training of a Draoi, was as per the specialty that the particular Draoi was being trained in. If he/she was a physician, lawyer and so forth, then there were those who were the bardic classes, who must know the meters, having assigned to them so many meters of verse to memorize within the span of a year and a day. These last few where the genealogists of the Draoi, those few had the great tasks of keeping the histories of their peoples committed to memory in order to pass it to the future generation and in order that a Brehon might be able to call upon this particular Draoi in the course of a case in order to recite the verses of his people, that the court might know the reach of the law in the case of penalty, as the law sometimes reached into four generations of a family in order to pay the debt of 1 of it's members.

Who were the Druids? The word Druid may derive from an Indo-European word Drus, meaning "oak," and the Indo-European wid, meaning "to know". Literally, Druid means 'to know the oak'. The ancient Druids did not have many buildings for worship. The classical writers noted that the Druids' preferred sanctuaries were forest clearings.

No, this is another supposition from Greek and Latin, seemingly not related to the true meaning of the word in Gaelic. The word Druid in Gaelic doesn't even come close to that of Draoi. The word Draoicht in Gaelic means: magician. You will not find "wid" in the Gaelic as there is no "w" to be found in the language. The word Druid in the Gaelic language means: to close, or to draw nigh. So you can see where the confusion with the language and the so-called modern, scholars butt heads on the facts.

Although the Celts existed throughout much of Europe, the Druids were known to exist only in what is called the latter Celtic range. This area is basically Gaul and the British Isles.

Where is this coming from? The Irish lore is replete with instances of the Draoi. For instance, Cathabadh, Mog Ruith, Talesin, Amergain�.. and so on�.. These were all great Draoi, a few that some now see as Gods. Mog Ruith made himself a God and was accepted by the Tuatha de Danaan�. What are you reading?

The priestly class of these Celts were on an equal level with nobility. They included the Druids (priests), Bards (poets and musicians) and Seers (diviners). The Druids were held above Bards and Seers, and according to Caesar, had authority in peace and war.

Again, your caste system is straight from Caesar, Pliny, Posidoneous etc�.. This has been proven wrong again and again by the actual lore. Ollamh was the highest class. There was no caste called Druid.

The Druids met in caves, deep in the woods, and in buildings for study and training that could last as long as 20 years. All the Druidic teachings were orally transmitted, so little is known about their teachings.

Uhmmmm�.. where are you getting this? This is clearly from the modern and complete supposition. Look to the dialogues between Columba and the Druid, St. Patrick and Oissan. The orally transmitted tradition is even questionable because of clear evidence within the ancient writings of the early Celtic Christian Church, that there were some burnings of Sacred texts of the ancient pagan peoples of Celtic Europe by not only the Church but by the Roman armies.

How do we know about the Druids? Knowledge of the Druids, and the ancient Celts in general, is found from direct archaeological evidence, from the writings of classical authors in Greece and Rome, and from folklore transcribed by 12th c. Christian scribes and scholars.

Ok, now why is most of your faq involving itself only with that which was written by Roman invaders when you have valid archeological and anthropological evidence as well as word of mouth folklore within the genealogies of the clanns themselves? Why are you not looking to the Clan societies for some of your information as well?

Was Stonehenge built by the Druids? No, the Celts didn't expand into Britain until between the 5th to 3rd c. BCE. Stonehenge was completed by about 1600 BCE. The Druids however, did have enough astronomical knowledge to realize the significance of Stonehenge. They may have used Stonehenge, at least for observational purposes, although there is no clear evidence to support this.

Very good.

Was sacrifice practiced by the Druids? The ancient Celts practiced sacrifice. It was written that the Druids were required to be present for all public sacrifices. Caesar described huge wicker works that were filled with grains, animals and humans and then burned. Other classical writers described sacrifice by stabbing and impaling.

Again, the infamous "wicker man" theory. Again, from the point of view of a man that found our people to be barbaric in their actions. This from a man whose country's greatest past time was to turn loose lions on gladiators in the coliseum on Sundays for a fight to the death. What a way to treat your most prized champions, eh?

There has been a wide range of opinion about sacrifice and its significance to the Druids. Caesar was attempting to show the brutality of the Celts, while some scholars compare these sacrifices to modern executions.

Even to the modern scholars, there are those that recognize the cosmological significance of human and animal sacrifice. Bone/stone, blood/water, skin/earth, mind/cloud, spirit/sky, hair/plant life and grasses. Replenishment of the cosmos through sacrifice was seen as necessary in almost every ancient culture. Replacement of that which was taken throughout the year by the tribes.

The answer probably lies somewhere between these two. The ancient Celts believed strongly in reincarnation. They did not fear death as most people in our culture do, because they knew that their souls would live again in another body. The Celts were described as having used criminals and political prisoners for sacrifice whenever possible. In the cultural context of the ancient Celtic people, sacrifice may have been the best possible treatment for these people.

See Talesin to refute reincarnation in simple human form. The Celts believed in rebirth in many forms. I am a wave of the sea�. And so forth. It was believed that we are reborn in many forms that we may better understand the order of the cosmos. Not exclusively human, and the human being sometimes the least of our incarnations.

Do the Keltrian Druids practice human or animal sacrifice? No, we don't. Over the centuries, religious thought has evolved. During the time of the Ancient Druids, blood sacrifice was seen as a powerful way of contacting the Gods. Today we recognize blood as a symbol representing the power that exists within all of us. In modern practice, we replace blood sacrifice with another representation of our power. We use grain, herbs, a small piece of handiwork, or other positive representation of our devotion to the Gods.

Ok, this is a personal choice. Although, I see no problem with one raising their animals in order for sacrifice or for sharing the bounty of the meat with their family and the ancestors as a symbolic sacrifice and possibly, burning what is left or offering in a votive deposit the remains, in order to fulfill the cosmological requirement. What I am left wondering here is, by your statement above, are you taking a stand against animal sacrifice as well ?

Explain some aspects of Celtic belief that you emulate in your modern practices. We know very little about the specific religious practices of the Celtic peoples. We have adopted the use of many Celtic Dieties that we know about through the study of mythology.

This much is apparent. Although I am hard pressed to understand why your group has such limited knowledge with such a wealth of archeological, anthropological, genealogical and folklore out there to seek answers from. And why does it appear that you know so little about these deities that you have adopted? I mean really now, Brighid at mid winter? You know full well our people did not celebrate Yule, that is GERMANIC in origin.

Our rituals celebrate the cycles of life and the year. With the changing of the seasons, we choose different Gods that best represent the things we associate with that season.

So are you saying it's a personal choice on the part of the group? Because the festivals and the Gods and Goddesses that they are a dedication to, what aspects of the season alongside what aspects of the deities, are lain out plainly enough in the lore that a mere child could figure out how, what, why and who to celebrate on the four high days of the Celtic year.

We have also adapted many Celtic symbols to our religion. We believe that these symbols helped trigger the connection the Celts felt between themselves and the Gods, and that it can do the same for us. For example, the Celts placed great importance in the number three. We have developed many associations of threes. We worship and revere the Gods, Ancestors and Nature Spirits.

The Gods are the Ancestors. Don't you understand that? Do the genealogy. You can trace the clans directly back to the gods themselves. For instance, I am MacLaren, the clan traces back to Eochaidh himself! (Dagda).

We associate them with the realms of Sky, Water and Earth. We also associate them with the three aspects of our being: Spirit, Mind and Body.

That's sensible enough. Now think on a deeper cosmological level� go into the blood. Reach into the mother herself and understand. Anu Mother of the Land, Danu Mother of the Gaels (yet one in the same). You are almost there and yet, this is not quite far enough.

Another example: The only detailed account of Druidic ritual was written by the Roman Author Pliny the Elder. He described the gathering of mistletoe which was found growing on an oak tree. A Druid, dressed in white, cut the mistletoe using a sickle and allowed it to fall on to a white piece of cloth. This ritual took place on the 6th night after the new moon. From this account, we see that the Druids held some importance to the color white, and used a sickle.

From this account, we see that Pliny wasn't so smart after all because in his original account it said , "golden sickle", We all know that Gold will not cut the harsh bark of mistletoe as it is far too soft of a material to do so. As for the account of white robes, this was a healer that Pliny was observing, knowing that white was easily judged more sanitary because one could view the cloth and tell whether or not it was stained with some foreign material. Mistletoe is a healing herb, or should I say healing parasite, so what was witnessed, was someone of the medical arts, gathering part of some ancient type, herbal cure. As for the dress code of the Draoi of the period, it would have been tribal dress geared to their particular clan. It has been mentioned that they wore six colors which would make greater sense, as the nobles all wore tartans of six colors, land lords and such wore five, landowners 4, warriors 3, peasants two and slaves one.

We prefer white robes for our clergy in ritual and have adopted the sickle for use. We also set aside the 6th night of the moon for our Mistletoe Rite.

Ok, seems silly, but it's your choice. Again that's a personal choice, much like one calling themselves Druid. Which is a bad choice, tasteless to be exact, but again, personal.

What is the Keltrian view of Deity? We see Deity in many different aspects, both male and female. These different aspects of Deity each represent different aspects of life, nature and the seasons. We use appropriate aspects of Deity in rituals and in our lives to help us maintain contact. The idea that these aspects of Deity are separate from each other is called polytheism (many Gods). The idea that these aspects are part of a larger whole (often called the unmanifest and sometimes God) is called pan-polytheism. In Keltrian Druidism, we see both polytheism and pan-polytheism as valid views of Deity.

Ok, I can go along with that.

We believe that Deity exists in all living things. We see each human, animal and plant as a unique expression of the Divine. Some Druids extend this view to what are normally considered inanimate objects such as wells, rivers, and mountains.

This would be because they are all part and parcel of the Mother. The well of knowledge, the rivers, oceans and streams are her blood, the hills are the mounds of her breasts and so forth.

They see Divinity in many places such as mountains, rivers, and the wind. This idea, that inanimate objects are in some way living is called animism. Keltrian Druids are animistic at least to the level where they see the Divine within plant life.

I don't know that I agree with the term animistic and all that the definition of that word entails. You see, that's like calling us all shamanistic, the point is that this simply isn't so. Shamanism being a word for the otherworld journeyers of the Siberian Tungus tribes, is one word which you will never see me apply to anything of Celtic nature, simply because the word does not belong to the Gaelic language, nor the Welsh, and never has. I think you mean something as per totems in your usage of the word animistic as well and that bothers me, as it does not fit into the cultural system of the ancient Gaels, at least not in the way you are interpreting it. Many animals are found in Celtic lore, but they usually symbolize something other than that which could be construed as totemic. Such as Dogs in the lore symbolize healing and death. Do you see where I am going with this? We believe that we can be reborn into the shape of animals, even shapeshift into the form of an animal while journeying, but totem animals were not part of the scheme within Celtic lore or lifestyles. We knew when we felt a kinship, that we had once been that animal, that explained to us any vast knowledge on the habits of that particular animal that we might have and nothing further played into it. Think of the Swans of Lir, or the Crane Bag (Aoife), these weren't totems, they were actual shapeshifting journeys.

What are the other beliefs of Keltrian Druidism? The following set of statements encompass the major points of our values and worldview: We believe in Divinity as it is manifest in the Pantheon. There are several valid theistic perceptions of this Pantheon.

Such as? As I see it there are at least five sectors of invader that can be seen as ancestral gods. Not only the Tuatha de Danaan (which is my pantheon) but, the Fomorii , the Firbolg, the Partholons, the Nemedians, the Milesians. Make that six, eh? There are over 400 deities in the Indo-European Pantheons. I'm not poking at you with this statement, basically I am agreeing with you here, I would just like to see your examples.

We believe that nature is the embodiment of the Gods.

As are we.

We believe that all life is sacred and should neither be harmed nor taken without deliberation or regard.

Ok, that's a given, but what about circumstances when it should be taken?

We believe in the immortality of the spirit.

Not reincarnation. Are you stating the difference here or is this combined with soul in your view? See to me, every movement, every waking breath is spirit, thus spiritual.

We believe that our purpose is to gain wisdom through experience.

Ok, so hopefully that means you won't take my disagreements as meanspirited and see the experience through my eyes without regards to feelings as a new way to experience the Gaels.

We believe that learning is an ongoing process and should be fostered at all ages.

I agree

We believe that morality should be a matter of personal conviction based upon self respect and respect for others.

Again agreed

We believe that individuals have the right to pursue enlightenment through his or her chosen path.

As long as it doesn't defame and defile the truth of the cultural history of the path they are pursuing as I believe strongly, Wicca has done to the Celtic and Native American Cultural experience.

We believe in a living religion able to adapt to a changing environment. We recognize that our beliefs may undergo change as our tradition grows.

I don't see mine as a religion, too many nasty connotations with that 'R' word, more I see it as a way of life. A tradition to be cherished and passed to future generations.