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Chapter 2
RELIGION OF THE CELTS
IRELAND AND THE CELTIC RELIGION

We have already said that of all the Celtic peoples, the Irish are of particular interest, because their culture has preserved and brought to us many features of the culture of the ancient Celts. And yet, even they did not carry their religion through the gap that separates us from antiquity.

They didn't just change their faith; they renounced it completely, so that no mention remains. Saint Patrick, himself a Celt, in the 5th century. who converted Ireland to Christianity, left us an autobiographical account of his mission, an extremely interesting document, representing the first written evidence of Christianity in Britain; however, he does not tell us anything about those teachings over which he triumphed. We learn much more about Celtic beliefs from Julius Caesar, who perceived them solely as an outside observer. The vast corpus of legends recorded in the form known to us in Ireland between the seventh and twelfth centuries, although they often clearly go back to a pre-Christian source, does not contain, apart from references to belief in magic and the existence of certain official rituals, any information about religious or even moral and ethical system of the ancient Celts. We know that individual representatives of the nobility and bards resisted the new faith for a long time, and this confrontation was resolved in the 6th century. in the battle of Moreau, but no traces of polemics, nothing that would indicate a struggle between two teachings, which is reflected, for example, in the descriptions of the disputes between Celsus and Origen, has reached us. As we will see, the literature of medieval Ireland contains numerous echoes of ancient myths, there appear the shadows of beings who in their time were undoubtedly gods or embodiments of the elements; but the religious content of these stories has been emasculated, and they have turned into simply beautiful stories. And yet, not only Gaul had, as evidenced by Caesar, its own developed creed; as we learn from the same source, the British Isles represented the center of the Celtic religion, were, so to speak, Celtic Rome.

Let's try to describe this religion in general terms before moving on to talk about the myths and legends generated by it.

THE FOLK RELIGION OF THE CELTS

But first it should be emphasized that the religion of the Celts, of course, was a complex formation, and it cannot in any way be reduced to what we call Druidism. In addition to the official doctrine, there were beliefs and prejudices that arose from a source deeper and more ancient than Druidry, which were destined to long outlive it - and to this day cannot be said to have completely disappeared.

PEOPLE OF MEGALITHES

The religions of primitive peoples for the most part grow out of the rites and practices associated with the burial of the dead. We do not know the name or history of the oldest known people who inhabited the “Celtic” territories in Western Europe, but, thanks to the numerous surviving burials, we can say quite a lot about them. These were the so-called megalithic people, who built dolmens, cromlechs and mounds with burial chambers, of which there are more than three thousand in France alone. Dolmens are found in the south of Scandinavia and further south along the entire western coast of Europe up to the Strait of Gibraltar and on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. They were also found on some of the western islands of the Mediterranean Sea and in Greece, namely in Mycenae, where an ancient dolmen still stands next to the magnificent burial at Atreidae. Roughly speaking, if we draw a line from the mouth of the Rhone north to the Varangerfjord, then all the dolmens, with the exception of a few Mediterranean ones, will be west of this line. To the east, as far as Asia, we will not meet one. However, having crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, we find them along the entire North African coast, as well as in the east - in Arabia, India and even Japan.

DOLMENS, CROMLECHS AND BURNS

It should be clarified that a dolmen is something like a house, the walls of which are upright, uncut stones, and the roof is usually a single huge stone. The plan of the structure is often wedge-shaped, and hints of some kind of “porch” can often be found. The original purpose of the dolmen was to serve as a dwelling for the dead. A cromlech (which in everyday language is often confused with a dolmen) is, in fact, a circle of standing stones, in the center of which a dolmen is sometimes placed. It is believed that most, if not all, known dolmens were formerly hidden under a mound of earth or smaller stones. Sometimes, as, for example, in Carnac (Brittany), individual standing stones form entire alleys; Obviously, in this area they performed some kind of ritual and liturgical function. Later monuments, like, say, Stonehenge, may be made of processed stones, but, one way or another, the roughness of the structure as a whole, the absence of sculptural and any decorations (besides ornaments or just individual symbols carved on the surface), a clear desire to produce the impression due to the accumulation of huge blocks, as well as some other features that will be discussed later, bring all these buildings together and distinguish them from the tombs of the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and other more developed peoples. Dolmens in the proper sense eventually give way to huge mounds with burial chambers, as at New Grange, which are also considered to be the work of the Megalithic people. These mounds arose naturally from dolmens. The first dolmen builders belonged to the Neolithic era and used tools made of polished stone. But in the mounds they find not only stone, but also bronze and even iron tools - at first, obviously, imported, but then locally produced items also appear.

ORIGIN OF THE MEGALITH PEOPLE

The language spoken by this people can only be judged by its traces in the language of the conquerors - the Celts. But the distribution map of the monuments irrefutably indicates that their creators came from North Africa; that at first they did not know how to travel by sea over long distances and went west along the coast of North Africa, after which they moved to Europe where the Mediterranean Sea at Gibraltar narrows to the size of a narrow strait only a few miles wide, and from there they settled throughout the western regions of Europe , including the British Isles, and in the east they passed through Arabia to Asia. It should, however, be remembered that, although initially, without a doubt, a special race, over time the people of the megalith no longer possessed racial, but only cultural unity. This is clearly proven by the human remains found in the tombs, or more precisely, by the variety of shapes of their skulls." Archaeological finds characterize the builders of dolmens in general as representatives of a highly developed civilization for their time, familiar with agriculture, cattle breeding and, to a certain extent, sea voyages. The monuments themselves , often of impressive size, requiring deliberate and organized efforts in their construction, clearly indicate the existence at that time of a priesthood that took care of burials and was able to control large groups of people.The dead, as a rule, were not burned, but were buried intact - impressive monuments, obviously , mark the burial places of important persons; no traces have reached us from the graves of ordinary people.

PLAIN CELTS

De Jubainville, in his sketch of the ancient history of the Celts, speaks of only two main tribes - the Celts and the Megalithic people. But A. Bertrand, in his excellent work “The Religion of the Gauls” (“La Religion des Gaulois”) divides the Celts themselves into two groups: the inhabitants of the lowlands and the highlanders. The Lowland Celts, according to his view, left the Danube and came to Gaul around 1200 BC. e. They founded lake settlements in Switzerland, the Danube basin and Ireland. They knew metal, knew how to work with gold, tin, bronze, and by the end of the period they learned to process iron. Unlike the Megalithic people, they spoke a Celtic language, although Bertrand seems to doubt that they belonged to the Celtic race. They were rather Celticized without being Celts. This peaceful people of farmers, cattle breeders and artisans did not like to fight. They burned their dead rather than burying them. In one large settlement - in Golasecca, in Cisalpine Gaul - 6,000 burials were found. Everywhere, without any exception, the bodies were previously cremated.

This people, according to Bertrand, did not break into Gaul as conquerors, but gradually infiltrated there, settling in free areas in the middle of valleys and fields. They passed through the Alpine passes, setting off from the environs of the Upper Danube, which, according to Herodotus, “is born among the Celts.” The newcomers peacefully merged with the local inhabitants - the people of the megalith, and at the same time none of those developed political institutions that are born only with war appeared, but it is possible that it was these lowland tribes that made the main contribution to the development of the Druidic religion and the poetry of the bards.

CELTS OF THE MOUNTAINS

Finally we come to the third, actually Celtic, tribe, which followed on the heels of its predecessors. At the beginning of the 6th century. its representatives first appeared on the left bank of the Rhine. Bertrand calls the second tribe Celtic, and this one - Galatian, identifying them with the Galatians of the ancient Greeks and with the Gauls and Belgae of the Romans.

As we have already said, the second tribe is the Celts of the plains. Third - the Celts of the mountains. For the first time we meet them among the ridges of the Balkans and Carpathians. Their social organization was something like a military aristocracy - they lived off tribute or robbery from the subordinate population. These are the war-loving Celts of ancient history, who devastated Rome and Delphi, mercenaries who fought in the ranks of the Carthaginian and later Roman armies for money and for the love of battle. They despised agriculture and crafts, their fields were cultivated by women, and under their rule the common people turned almost into slaves, as Caesar tells us. Only in Ireland the pressure from the military aristocracy and the sharp divisions that arose in connection with this are not so clearly visible, but even here we find a situation in many ways similar to the situation in Gaul: here there were also free and unfree tribes, and the ruling elite acted cruelly and not fair.

And yet, although these rulers had vices generated by the consciousness of their own power, they were also distinguished by many beautiful, worthy qualities. They were stunningly fearless, fantastically noble, keenly aware of the charm of poetry, music, and abstract reasoning. Posidonius indicates that around 100 BC. e. they had a thriving college of poet-bards, and about two centuries earlier Hecataeus of Abdera reports musical festivals held by the Celts on a certain western island (probably in Great Britain) in honor of the god Apollo (Luga). They were Aryans of the Aryans, and this was their strength and ability to progress; but Druidism - not in a philosophical, scientific sense, but because of the power of the priesthood, which subjugated the political structure of society - turned out to be their curse; they bowed to the Druids, and this revealed their fatal weakness.

The culture of these mountain Celts was markedly different from the culture of their lowland counterparts. They lived in the Iron Age, not the Bronze Age; they did not burn their dead, considering it disrespectful, but buried them.

The mountain Celts conquered Switzerland, Burgundy, the Palatinate and northern France, part of Britain in the west and Illyria and Galatia in the east, but small groups of them settled throughout the Celtic territory, and wherever they went, they occupied the position of leaders.

Caesar says that Gaul in his time was inhabited by three tribes, and "all of them differ from each other in language, institutions and laws." He calls these tribes Belgae,

Celts and Aquitans. He places the Belgae in the northeast, the Celts in the center, and the Aquitani in the southwest. The Bel-gi are the Galatians of Bertrand, the Celts are the Celts, and the Aquitani are the Megalithic people. All of them, of course, came under Celtic influence to a greater or lesser extent, and the difference in languages ​​which Caesar notes was hardly particularly great; and yet it is worth noting - a detail quite consistent with the views of Bertrand - that Strabo claims that the Aquitani were noticeably different from the others and resembled the Iberians. He adds that the other peoples of Gaul spoke dialects of the same language.

MAGICAL RELIGION

Traces of this triple division were preserved in one way or another in all Celtic countries, which should certainly be remembered when we talk about Celtic thinking and Celtic religion and try to evaluate the contribution of the Celtic peoples to European culture. Mythology and art seem to have originated among what Bertrand calls the inhabitants of the lowlands. But these songs and sagas were composed by the bards in order to entertain the proud, noble and warlike aristocrats, and therefore they cannot but express the ideas of these aristocrats. But in addition, these works colored the beliefs and religious ideas born among the Megalithic people - beliefs that are only now gradually receding before the all-pervading light of science. Their essence can be expressed in one word: magic. We should briefly discuss the nature of this magical religion, for it played a significant role in the formation of the corpus of legends and myths that will be discussed further. In addition, as Professor Bury noted in his lecture given at Cambridge in 1903: “In order to study the most complex of all problems - the ethnic problem, in order to evaluate the role of a particular race in the development of peoples and the consequences of racial mixing, it must be remembered that the Celtic civilization serves those gates that open the way for us to that mysterious pre-Aryan pre-world, from which, perhaps, we, modern Europeans, have inherited much more than we now imagine.”

The origin of the term "magic" is not precisely known, but it probably arose from the word "magi", the self-name of the priests of Chaldea and Media in pre-Aryan and pre-Semitic times; these priests were typical representatives of the system of thought we are considering, which combined superstition, philosophy and scientific observations. The basis of magic is the idea that all nature is permeated through and through with invisible, spiritual energy. This energy was perceived differently than in polytheism - not as something separate from nature and embodied in some divine beings. It is present in nature implicitly, immanently; dark, boundless, it inspires awe and awe, like a force whose nature and boundaries are shrouded in impenetrable mystery. Initially, magic was, as many facts seem to indicate, associated with the cult of the dead, for death was considered a return to nature, when spiritual energy, previously invested in a specific, limited, controlled and therefore less frightening form of the human personality, now acquires endless power and uncontrollable. However, not completely uncontrollable. The desire to control this power, as well as the idea of ​​the means needed for this purpose, were probably born from the first primitive experiences of healing. One of the most ancient human needs was the need for medicine. And it is likely that the ability of known natural, mineral or plant substances to produce a certain effect, often frightening, on the human body and mind, was perceived as an obvious confirmation of that understanding of the Universe, which we can call “magical”. The first magicians were those who learned better than others to understand medicinal or poisonous herbs; but over time, something like witchcraft science appeared, partly on the basis of actual research, partly on poetic imagination, partly on the art of clergy. Knowledge of the special properties attributed to any object and natural phenomenon was embodied in rituals and formulas, tied to certain places and objects, and expressed in symbols. Pliny's discussions of magic are so interesting that it is worth citing them here almost in full.

PLINY ON MAGICAL RELIGION

“Magic is one of the few things about which a long conversation is necessary, and only because, being the most deceptive of the arts, it has always and everywhere enjoyed the most unconditional confidence. Let us not be surprised that it acquired such a wide influence, for it united in itself the three arts that most excite the human spirit. Originally emerging from Medicine, which no one can doubt, it, under the guise of caring for our body, took the soul into its hands, taking on the guise of a more sacred and profound spiritual healing. Secondly, promising people the most pleasant and seductive things, she attributed to herself the merits of Religion, about which there is no clarity in human minds to this day. And to crown it all, she resorted to Astrology; after all, everyone wants to know the future and is convinced that such knowledge is best received from heaven. And so, having shackled the human mind in these triple fetters, she extended her power over many nations, and kings of kings worship her in the East.

Of course, it originated in the East - in Persia, and Zoroaster created it. All knowledgeable people agree on this. But is it only Zoroaster?.. I have already noted that in ancient times, and at other times, it is not difficult to find people who saw magic as the pinnacle of learning - at least Pythagoras, Empedocles, Democritus and Plato crossed the seas and, being rather exiles, rather than travelers, they sought to study magical wisdom. When they returned, they extolled magic and its secret teachings in every possible way.<...>Among the Latins in antiquity one can find traces of it, for example in our Laws of the Twelve Tables and in other monuments, as I have already said in the previous book. In fact, only in 657 from the founding of Rome, under the consulate of Cornelius Lentulus Crassus, did the Senate prohibit human sacrifice; this proves that even up to that time such terrible rites could be performed. The Gauls carried them out to this day, for only Emperor Tiberius called the Druids and the entire horde of prophets and healers to order. But what is the use of issuing bans on art that has already crossed the ocean and approached the very borders of Nature? (Historia Naturalis, XXX.)

Pliny adds that, as far as he knows, the first person to write an essay on magic was a certain Ostgan, a comrade of Xerxes in the war with the Greeks, who sowed “the seeds of his monstrous art” throughout Europe wherever he went.

Magic, as Pliny believed, was originally alien to the Greeks and Italians, but was widespread in Britain; the system of rituals here is so developed that, according to our author, it seems as if the British taught this art to the Persians, and not the Persians taught them.

TRACES OF MAGICAL BELIEFS REMAINED IN THE MEGALITH MONUMENTS

The impressive ruins of religious buildings left to us by the Megalithic people tell us a lot about the religion of their creators. Take, for example, the curious mound at Man-et-Oyc, in Brittany. Rene Gall, who examined this monument in 1864, testified that it was preserved intact - the earthen cover was untouched, and everything remained as it was when the builders left the sacred place. At the entrance to the rectangular chamber there was a stone slab on which a mysterious sign was engraved - probably the totem of the leader. Just beyond the threshold of archeology, a beautiful pendant made of green jasper, approximately the size of an egg, was discovered. In the center of the room on the floor lay a more intricate decoration - a large, slightly elongated ring made of jadeite and an ax, also made of jadeite, the blade of which rested on the ring. The ax is a well-known symbol of power, it is often found in Bronze Age rock paintings, Egyptian hieroglyphs and Minoan reliefs, etc. At a short distance from them were two large jasper pendants, then an ax made of white jade (Deposits of white jade do not occur in Europe; it can only be found in China.), then another jasper pendant. All these objects were placed exactly along the diagonal of the camera, directed from northwest to southeast. Axes made of jadeite, jade and fiberboard were stacked in one of the corners - 101 samples in total. Archaeologists did not find any remains of bones or ashes or a burial urn; the structure was a cenotaph. “Isn’t a certain ceremony based on magical practices being revealed to us here,” asks Bertrand?

Palmistry in Havre-INIS

Regarding the burial at Le Havre-Inis, the curator of the Museum of Ancient Peoples, Albert Maitre, made a very interesting observation. There were found - as in other megalithic monuments in Ireland and Scotland - many stones decorated with an extremely peculiar design of wavy and concentric circles and spirals. If the strange patterns on the human palm at the base and on the tips of the fingers are examined under a magnifying glass, it will be discovered that the patterns on the stones are very reminiscent of them. The lines on the palm are so distinctive that they are known to be used to identify criminals. Could the similarities found be coincidental? Nothing similar to these patterns is found in any other places. Shouldn't we remember here about palmistry - a magical art that was widespread in ancient times and even today? The palm as a symbol of power is a well-known magical sign, even included in Christian symbolism: it is enough to recall, for example, the image of a hand on the back of one of the crossbars of Muireda-ha in Monasterbojk.

STONES WITH HOLES

Another interesting and as yet unexplained feature of many of these monuments, from Western Europe to India, is the presence of a small hole in one of the stones that make up the chamber. Was it intended for the spirit of the deceased, or for offerings to him, or was it a path through which revelations from the world of spirits could come to a priest or magician, or did it combine all these functions? It is well known that stones with holes are the most common of the relics of ancient cults, and they are still revered and used in magical practices associated with childbirth, etc. Obviously, holes should be interpreted specifically as a sexual symbol.

STONE WORSHIP

Not only the heavenly bodies, but also rivers, trees, mountains and stones - everything became an object of worship for this primitive people. The veneration of stones was especially widespread and is not as easily explained as the veneration of living and moving objects. Perhaps the point here is that the huge individual blocks of unprocessed stone looked like artificially created dolmens and cromlechs. This superstition turned out to be extremely tenacious. In 452 AD e. The cathedral of Arles condemned those who “worship trees, springs and stones,” a practice condemned by Charlemagne and numerous church councils until very recent times. Moreover, a drawing made from life by Arthur Bell and reproduced here testifies that in Brittany there are still rituals in which Christian symbolism and ritual serve as a cover for the most complete paganism. According to Mr. Bell, the priests are very reluctant to take part in such rites, but they are forced to do so by the pressure of public opinion. Holy springs, the water from which is considered to have healing properties, are still quite common in Ireland, and as a similar example on the mainland, mention should be made of the sacred waters of Lourdes; however, the latter cult is approved by the church.

PITS AND CIRCLES

In connection with megalithic monuments, it is necessary to recall another curious ornament, the meaning of which is still unclear. Round depressions are made in the surface of the stone, and they are often framed by concentric lines, and one or more radius lines extend from the hole beyond the circles. Sometimes these lines connect the depressions, but more often they extend only slightly beyond the widest of the circles. These strange signs are found in Great Britain and Ireland, in Brittany and here and there in India, where they are called mahadeos. Besides that, I

Pits and circles from Scotland

discovered a curious specimen - or at least it seems so - in Dupois' Monuments of New Spain. This illustration is reproduced in Lord Kingsborough's Antiquities of Mexico, vol. A furrow is drawn through all these circles to the very edge. This pattern is very reminiscent of typical European patterns of pits and circles, although it is executed more accurately. There can hardly be any doubt that these ornaments mean something, and, moreover, wherever they are found, they mean the same thing; but what remains a mystery. We would venture to guess that this is something like a plan of a tomb. The central recess marks the actual burial site. The circles are the standing stones, ditches and ramparts that usually surround it, and the line or groove running from the center outwards is the underground passage into the burial chamber. From the figures below, this “passage” function that the groove performed becomes obvious. Since the tomb was also a shrine, it is quite natural that its image is among the sacred signs; perhaps his presence indicated that the place was sacred. It is difficult to say to what extent this assumption is justified in the case of Mexico.

MURMENT AT NEW GRANGE

One of the most significant and largest megalithic monuments in Europe is the large mound at New Grange, on the northern bank of the Irish River Voyne. This mound and others adjacent to it appear in ancient Irish myths in two qualities, the combination of which is in itself very curious. On the one hand, they are considered the dwellings of the Sid (in modern pronunciation shi), or the fairy people - this is probably how the deities of ancient Ireland began to be perceived, and on the other hand, according to tradition, the high kings of pagan Erin are buried here. The story of the burial of King Cormac, who supposedly became a Christian long before Patrick began to preach it on the island, and who ordered that he should not be buried at the river Voyne, since this place was pagan, leads to the conclusion that New Grange was the center of a pagan cult, which was by no means limited to the veneration of royalty. Unfortunately, these monuments in the 9th century. were found and plundered by the Danes, but enough evidence has been preserved that these were originally burials performed according to the rites of the ancient religion. The most important of these, the mound at New Grange, has been carefully examined and described by Mr. George Caffey, Keeper of the Collection of Celtic Antiquities in the National Museum, Dublin. From the outside it looks like a large hill overgrown with bushes. Its diameter at its widest point is slightly less than 100 meters, its height is about 13.5 meters. It is framed by a circle of standing stones, of which there were apparently thirty-five originally. Inside this circle there is a ditch and a rampart, and on top of this rampart there is a border of large stone blocks, laid on an edge, from 2.4 to 3 meters in length. The hill itself is actually a cairn, now overgrown, as already mentioned, with grass and bushes. The most interesting thing is inside the cairn. At the end of the 17th century. workers who were removing stone from the hill to build roads discovered a corridor leading inside; They also noticed that the slab at the entrance was densely dotted with spirals and rhombuses. The entrance faces exactly southeast. The walls of the corridor are made of upright blocks of uncut stone and covered with the same blocks; its height varies from approximately 1.5 to 2.3 meters; its width is slightly less than 1 meter, and its length is about 19. It ends in a cross-shaped chamber 6 meters high, the vaulted ceiling of which is made of large flat stones, inclined inward and almost touching at the top. They are covered by a large slab. At each of the three ends of the cruciform chamber stands what appears to be a huge, crude stone sarcophagus, but there is no sign of burial.

SYMBOLIC PATTERNS IN NEW GRANGE

All these stones are completely unprocessed and were clearly taken from the bottom of the river or somewhere else nearby. On their flat edges there are drawings that are of particular interest. If you do not take the large stone with spirals at the entrance, it is unlikely that these drawings should have served as decoration, except in the most crude and primitive sense. In these drawings there is no desire to create a decor that matches the size and shape of the surface. Patterns are scratched here and there on the walls.

Varieties of pits and circles

Their main element is a spiral. It is interesting to note the similarity of some of them with the supposed "fingerprints" at Le Havre-Inis. There are also triple and double spirals, diamonds and zigzag lines. At the western end of the chamber, a design resembling a palm branch or fern leaf was found. The design is quite naturalistic, and it is hardly possible to agree with Mr. Kafi's interpretation - that it is part of the so-called "fishbone" pattern. A similar palm leaf, but with veins extending at right angles from the stem, was found in the neighboring mound at Dout, near Lugcru, and also - in combination with the sign of the sun, the swastika - on a small altar in the Pyrenees, sketched by Bertrand.

SHIP SYMBOL AT NEW GRANGE

In the western section of the chamber we find another remarkable and rather unusual pattern. Various researchers saw in it a mason's mark, an example of Phoenician writing, a group of numbers; and finally (and no doubt correctly) Mr. George Caffey suggested that it was a rough representation of a ship with sails raised and people on board. Note that directly above it there is a small circle, which is obviously an element of the picture. A similar image is available in Daut.

As we will see, this figure can clarify a lot. It was discovered that on some stones of the Lokmariaker mound in Brittany there are many similar ornaments, and on one of them

Solar ship (with sail?) from New Grange, Ireland

Solar ship from Lokmariaquer, Brittany

Solar ship from Holland, Sweden

they have a circle in the same position as in the drawing at New Grange. This stone also depicts an ax, which the Egyptians considered a hieroglyph of divine nature, and in addition, a magical symbol. In Dr. Oscar Montelius's work on the stone sculpture of Sweden we find a sketch carved in stone of a rude representation of several ships containing men; above one of them is a circle divided into four parts by a cross, no doubt an emblem of the sun. The assumption is that

ships (as in Ireland, drawn so conventionally symbolically that no one would see a specific meaning in them, unless the clue was given by other, more complex pictures) is accompanied by a solar disk only as a decoration, seems implausible to me. It is unlikely that the tomb, in those days the center of religious ideas, would be decorated with meaningless, empty drawings. As Sir George Simpson so well said, “Men have always connected sacredness and death.” Moreover, there is no hint of decorativeness in these scribbles. But if they were meant to be symbols, what do they symbolize?

It is possible that here we are faced with a complex of ideas of a higher order than magic. Our assumption may seem overly bold; nevertheless, as we will see, it is quite consistent with the results of some other studies, such as

Ship (with sail?) from Rixo

indicating the origin and nature of the megalithic culture. Once accepted, it will provide much greater certainty to our ideas about the relationship of the Megalithic people with the inhabitants of North Africa, as well as about the nature of Druidry and related teachings. It seems to me quite obvious that such a frequent appearance of ships and the sun in rock paintings in Sweden, Ireland, and Brittany cannot be accidental. And looking, for example, at an image from Holland (Sweden), no one will doubt that two elements clearly make up one picture.

SHIP SYMBOL IN EGYPT

The symbol of the ship, with or without the image of the sun, is very ancient and is often found on Egyptian tombs. He is associated with the cult of Ra, which was finally formed in 4000 BC. e. Its meaning is well known. This is the barque of the sun, the vessel in which the solar god makes his voyages - in particular, when he sails to the shores of another world, carrying with him the blessed souls of the dead. The solar god, Ra, is sometimes depicted as a disk, sometimes in another form, hovering above or inside a boat. Anyone who goes into the British Museum and looks at the painted or decorated

Egyptian solar barque. XXII Dynasty

Egyptian solar barque; inside the god Khnum and his companions

carved sarcophagi, one will discover many paintings of this kind. In a number of cases, he will see that the life-giving rays of Ra are pouring out onto the boat and those sitting in it. Further, on one of the rock carvings of ships in Bakka (Boguslen), given by Montelius, a boat with human figures is drawn under a circle with three descending rays, and above another ship there is a sun with two rays. It may well be added that in the mound at Dowth, near New Grange, and belonging to the same period, as at Loughcrew and other places in Ireland, circles with rays and crosses within are found in abundance; In addition, it was possible to identify the image of the ship in Daut.

In Egypt, a solar barge sometimes carries simply an image of the sun, sometimes a figure of a god with accompanying deities, sometimes a crowd of passengers, human souls, sometimes a body lying on a stretcher. In megalithic drawings, the sun also sometimes appears, and sometimes not; Sometimes there are people in the boats, and sometimes there are not. Once accepted and understood, a symbol can be reproduced with any degree of convention. Perhaps in its full form this megalithic emblem should look like this: a boat with human figures and a sun sign at the top. These figures, based on our interpretation, depict the dead heading to another world. These are not deities, for anthropomorphic images of gods remained unknown to the megalithic people even after the arrival of the Celts - they first appear in Gaul under Roman influence. But

Egyptian solar barque; Inside the solar disk, the god Ra holds the ankh cross. XIX dynasty

if these are the dead, then we have before us the origins of the so-called “Celtic” doctrine of immortality. The drawings in question are of pre-Celtic origin. They are also present in places where the Celts never reached. Nevertheless, they are evidence of precisely those ideas about another world that, since the time of Caesar, have become accustomed to being associated with the teachings of the Celtic Druids and which clearly came from Egypt.

"NAVETAS"

In this regard, I would like to draw the reader’s attention to the hypothesis of W. Borlas, according to which a typical Irish dolmen should have depicted a ship. In Minorca there are buildings called simply “navetas” - “ships” because of this similarity. But, adds W. Borlas, “long before I knew of the existence of caves and navetas in Minorca, I had formed the opinion that what I previously called the “wedge shape” goes back to the image of a boat. As we know, real ships were found several times in Scandinavian burial mounds. In the same territory, as well as on the Baltic coast, in the Iron Age, a ship very often served as a tomb.” If Mr. Borlas's hypothesis is correct, we have strong support for the symbolic interpretation I have proposed for the megalithic sun-boat paintings.

SHIP SYMBOL IN BABYLONIY

We first encounter the ship symbol around 4000 BC. e. in Babylonia, where each god had his own ship (the barge of the god Sin was called the Barque of Light); Images of gods were carried during ceremonial processions on a stretcher in the shape of a boat. Jastrow

believes that this custom dates back to the times when the holy cities of Babylonia were located on the coast of the Persian Gulf and celebrations were often held on the water.

STOP SYMBOL

There is, however, reason to think that some of these symbols existed earlier than any of the known mythologies, and different peoples, drawing them from a now unknown source, mythologized them in different ways, so to speak. An interesting example is the symbol of two feet. According to a famous Egyptian myth, the feet were one of the parts into which the body of Osiris was cut. They were a kind of symbol of power. Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead says: “I came to earth and took possession of my two feet. I am Atum." In general, this symbol of feet or footprints is extremely widespread. In India we find the footprints of Buddha; the image of feet is present on dolmens in Brittany and becomes an element of Scandinavian patterns on stone. In Ireland, there are stories about the footprints of St. Patrick or St. Columba. What is most surprising is that this image is also present in Mexico. Tyler, in his “Primitive Culture,” mentions “the Aztec ceremony at the Second Festival in honor of the sun god Tezcatlipoca; they scatter flour of maize before his sanctuary, and the high priest looks at it until he sees the divine footprints, and then exclaims: “Our great god has come to us!”

“ANKH” AS COMPOSITION OF ROCK PAINTINGS

Cross ankh

We have further evidence of the connections of the Megalithic people with North Africa. Sergi points out that the signs on the ivory tablets (probably having a numerical value) discovered by Flinders Petrie in the Naquadah burial are similar to the designs on European dolmens. Among the designs carved on megalithic monuments are also several Egyptian hieroglyphs, including the famous "ankh" or "crux ansata", a symbol of vitality and resurrection. On this basis, Letourneau concludes "that the builders of our megalithic monuments came from the south and are related to the peoples of North Africa."

LANGUAGE EVIDENCE

Considering the linguistic side of the issue, Rees and Brynmore Jones found that the assumption of the African origin of the ancient population of Great Britain and Ireland is quite justified. It was also shown that the Celtic languages, in their syntax, belong to the Hamitic, and specifically Egyptian, type.

EGYPTIAN AND “CELTIC” CONCEPTS OF IMMORTALITY

Of course, the facts that we currently have do not allow us to build a coherent theory of the relationship between Western European dolmen builders and those who created the amazing religion and civilization of Ancient Egypt. But if we take into account all the facts, it becomes obvious that such relationships took place. Egypt is a country of classical religious symbolism. He gave Europe the most beautiful and most famous images - the image of the divine mother and the divine child. It seems that from there the deep symbolism of the journey of souls led to the World of the Dead by the god of light came to the first inhabitants of Western Europe.

The religion of Egypt, to a greater extent than other developed ancient religions, is built on the doctrine of a future life. The tombs, impressive in their splendor and size, complex rituals, amazing mythology, the highest authority of the priests - all these features of Egyptian culture are closely connected with ideas about the immortality of the soul.

For the Egyptian, the soul, deprived of a body, was not just a ghostly likeness of it, as classical antiquity believed, no, the future life was a direct continuation of earthly life; a righteous person who took his place in the new world found himself surrounded by his own relatives, friends, workers, and his activities and entertainment were very similar to his previous ones. The fate of the evil one was to disappear; he became the victim of an invisible monster called the Soul Eater.

And so, when Greece and Rome first became interested in the ideas of the Celts, they were struck first of all by the doctrine of the afterlife, which, according to the Gauls, was professed by the Druids. The peoples of classical antiquity believed in the immortality of the soul; but what are the souls of the dead in Homer, in this Greek Bible! Before us are some degenerate, lost creatures, devoid of human appearance. Take, for example, the description of how Hermes leads the souls of the suitors killed by Odysseus to Hades:

Ermiy, meanwhile, the god of Killenia, killed men

He summoned souls from the corpses of the insensible; having yours in hand

Golden rod...

He waved them, and, in a crowd, the shadows flew behind Ermiy

With a squeal; like bats in the depths of a deep cave,

Chained to the walls, if one breaks away,

They will fall to the ground from the cliff, screaming, fluttering in disarray, -

So, shrieking, the shadows flew after Ermiy; and led them

Ermiy, patron saint in troubles, to the limits of fog and decay...

The ancient writers felt that the Celtic ideas about the afterlife represented something completely different, something at once more sublime and more realistic; it was argued that a person after death remains the same as he was during life, maintaining all the previous personal connections. The Romans noted with amazement that a Celt could give money in exchange for a promise to receive it back in a future life. This is a completely Egyptian concept. Such an analogy also occurred to Diodorus (book 5), for he had not seen anything similar in other places.

TEACHING ABOUT THE TRANSMISSION OF SOULS

Many ancient writers believed that the Celtic idea of ​​the immortality of the soul embodied Eastern ideas about the transmigration of souls, and a theory was even invented according to which the Celts learned this teaching from Pythagoras. Thus, Caesar (VI, 14) says: “The Druids try most of all to strengthen the belief in the immortality of the soul: the soul, according to their teaching, passes after the death of one body into another.” Also Diodorus: “...the teaching of Pythagoras is popular among them, according to which the souls of people are immortal and some time later they live again, since their soul enters another body” (Diodorus. Historical Library, V, 28). Traces of these ideas are indeed present in Irish legend. Thus, the Irish leader Mongan is a historical person whose death was recorded in 625 AD. e., argues over the place of death of a king named Fotad, who was killed in a battle with the legendary hero Finn Mac Cumal in the 3rd century. He proves that he is right by calling from the other world the ghost of Kailte, who killed Fotad, and he accurately describes where the burial is located and what is inside it. He begins his story by saying to Mongan: “We were with you,” and then, turning to the crowd: “We were with Finn, who came from Alba...” - “Hush,” says Mongan, “you must not reveal the secret." The mystery, of course, is that Mongan is Finn's reincarnation. But in general, it is obvious that the teachings of the Celts did not at all coincide with the ideas of Pythagoras and the inhabitants of the East. The transmigration of souls was not part of the natural course of things. It could happen, but usually did not; the deceased received a new body in that world, and not in this world, and as far as we can establish from ancient texts, there was no talk of any moral retribution here. This was not a doctrine, it was an image, a beautiful fantastic idea, which should not be openly proclaimed to everyone, as evidenced by Mongan's warning.

Obviously, the basis of the Druid teachings was the belief in the immortality of the soul. Caesar speaks directly about this and claims that the Druids developed this idea in every possible way rather for the sake of establishing their own status, rather than for considerations of a metaphysical order. A firm belief in another world, like that rooted among the Celts, is one of the most powerful weapons in the hands of the priesthood, which holds the keys to the afterlife. So, Druidism existed in the British Isles, in Gaul, and, as far as can be judged, wherever the Celts came into contact with the tribes of dolmen builders. The Celts also lived in Cisalpine Gaul, but there were no dolmens there - and there were no Druids. It is clear, in any case, that when the Celts came to Western Europe, they found there a powerful priesthood, complex religious rituals, huge ritual buildings and a people deeply immersed in magic and mysticism, with a developed cult of the Underworld. From this we can draw the following conclusions: Druidism arose thanks to the impressionability of the Celts, who, as we already know, were extremely capable of borrowing other people’s ideas, namely the ideas of the former population of Western Europe - the megalithic people, who, in turn, had a certain connection to the spiritual culture of the Ancient Egypt, which, however, should not be discussed further here. The question still remains largely open and, perhaps, will not be fully resolved, but if there is a rational grain in the assumptions put forward here, then the people of the megalith still take one or two steps from under the veil of eerie mystery that surrounds them , and it becomes obvious that he played a significant role in the development of religious ideas in Western Europe and in preparing this part of the world for the adoption of Christianity, which eventually triumphed here. Bertrand, in the most interesting section of his work - the chapter on the “Ireland of the Celts” - notes that many monasteries arose in Ireland very soon after Christianization, and their general organization probably indicates that they were in fact transformed colleges of Druids . Caesar told us what similar, very numerous, establishments looked like in Gaul. Despite the difficulty of training and the severity of discipline in them, they attracted many people - for the Druids enjoyed enormous power and extensive privileges. There they studied the arts and sciences and trusted human memory with thousands of poems containing age-old wisdom. It seems that the situation was not too different among the Irish Druids. This kind of structure could easily turn into a Christian one - since in Ireland this religion took on a rather specific form. There was no need to eradicate magical rituals - early Irish Christianity, as the extensive hagiographical literature shows, was as replete with magical ideas as pagan Druidism. The main content of religion remained the belief in an afterlife. And most importantly, there was absolutely no need to deny the supremacy of the priesthood over earthly power; the words spoken by Dion Chrysostom about the Druids still retained their truth: “It is they who command everything, and kings on golden thrones, in magnificent palaces, are only their servants and the executors of their plans.”

CAESAR ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE DRUIDS

Caesar speaks with great respect of the religious, philosophical and scientific knowledge taught by the Druids. “They talk a lot to their students,” he writes, “about the luminaries and their movement, about the size of the world and the earth, about nature and about the power and authority of the immortal gods” (VI, 14). We would, of course, like to know something more specific; but the Druids, although they were excellent in the art of writing, categorically did not want to write down their teachings; truly a wise precaution, for in this way they not only created around him a certain atmosphere of mystery, so attractive to the human mind, but ensured that no one could ever refute their positions.

HUMAN SACRIFICE IN GAUL

The above-cited message from Caesar is morally contradicted by the monstrous practice of human sacrifice, the widespread use of which among the Gauls is noted by our author. Prisoners and criminals, or, if there were not enough of them, even innocent people, probably children, were herded inside specially built huts at set times and burned alive there in order to gain the favor of the gods. Of course, human sacrifices were not performed only by the Druids - at a certain stage of cultural development they took place in all areas of both the Old and New Worlds and in this case, no doubt, represented a relic of the customs of the Megalithic people. The fact that this practice did not disappear among the Celts, who were at a fairly high stage of development in all other respects, finds parallels in Mexico and Carthage and is obviously explained by the undivided dominance of the priestly class.

HUMAN SACRIFICE IN IRELAND

Bertrand attempts to rehabilitate the Druids by declaring that in Ireland we find no trace of this terrible custom, although there, as elsewhere in Celtica, the Druids enjoyed unlimited power. In a very ancient treatise, Dinshenhas, which has come down to us as part of the Book of Leinster, it is reported that in the valley of Mag-Slecht stood a large golden idol - Crom Kreuch (Blood Moon). Asking for good weather and a harvest, the Celts sacrificed children at his feet: “They asked him for milk and bread in exchange for their children - how great was their fear and how sorrowful their groans!”

AND IN EGYPT

The Egyptians were distinguished by a light, cheerful character and were not prone to fanaticism; We do not find any mention of human sacrifices either among the inscriptions or among the drawings, which are as numerous as the information they provide about all aspects of the life of the people is rich. Manetho, Egyptian historian writing in the 3rd century. BC e., we report that human sacrifice was abolished only by Amasis I at the beginning of the reign of the XVIII dynasty, around 1600 BC. e. But the complete silence of all other sources shows that, even if you believe Manetho’s statement, such rituals in historical times were extremely rare and were perceived negatively.

NAMES OF CELTIC GODS

What names did the Celtic deities have and what qualities did they have? Here we are largely groping in the dark. The Megalithic people did not believe that their gods had human form. Stones, rivers, springs, trees and other natural objects served as symbols for this tribe, or half symbols, half real embodiment of revered supernatural forces. But the impressionable Celtic soul of the Celt was not content with this. Caesar reports about the existence of gods in human form among the Celts with different names and characters, identifying them with the characters of the Roman pantheon - Mercury, Apollo, Mars, etc. Lucan calls the triad of deities: Teutat, Ez and Taran; It should be noted that in these names one can distinguish truly Celtic, that is, Aryan, roots. Thus, “Ez” goes back to the Indo-European basis “*as”, meaning “to be”, preserved in the name Asura Mazda among the Persians, Esuna among the Umbrians, and Ases among the Scandinavians. Teuthates comes from a Celtic root meaning "valiant", "warlike", and is a god similar to Mars. Taran (Thor?) - according to Jubinville, the deity of lightning (“taran” in Welsh, Cornish, Breton means “lightning”). Votive inscriptions to these gods have been found in Gaul and Britain. Other inscriptions and images confirm the existence in Gaul of many minor, local deities, from whom we have at best names. In the form in which they have come down to us, they bear obvious traces of Roman influence. All sculptures are rough likenesses of works of Roman religious art. But among them there are also wild, strange images - three-faced gods, gods with branchy horns, snakes with the horns of rams and other now incomprehensible symbols of ancient faith. Very noteworthy are the often repeated “Buddha pose” with crossed legs, so familiar to the East and Mexico, as well as the tendency, well known to us from Egypt, to unite gods into triads.

CAESAR ON THE CELTIC DEITIES

Caesar, who tried to fit the religion of the Gauls into the framework of Roman mythology - which, incidentally, the Gauls themselves did after the conquest - says that Mercury is considered the main god among them and that they see in him the creator of all arts, the patron of trade, the guardian of roads and the patron of travelers. From this we can conclude that for the Gauls, as for the Romans, he served as a guide for the dead - travelers to another world. Many bronze statues of Mercury made by the hands of the Gauls have reached us, and his very name was adopted by these people, as many place names testify. Apollo was called the god of healing, Minerva was the guardian of all arts and crafts, Jupiter ruled the sky, and Mars patronized war. Of course, Caesar here unites many different Gallic deities under five Roman names.

GOD OF THE UNDERWORLD

According to Caesar, the most notable god of the Gauls was (in Roman terminology) Dis, or Pluto, the deity of the underworld inhabited by the dead. The Galls consider themselves his descendants, and in his honor, says Caesar, they begin counting the day from the onset of night. The name of God is not given. D'Arbois de Jubainville believes that he, like Ez, Teutat, Taran, and in the mythology of the Irish - Balor and the Fomorians, personifies the forces of darkness, evil and death, and thus Celtic beliefs develop the solar myth known throughout the world, based on the idea of ​​the eternal struggle between day and night.

GOD OF LIGHT

The god of light in Gaul and Ireland is Lug, whose name appears in many place names such as "Lug-dunum" (Leiden), "Lyon", etc. In Irish myths, Lug is endowed with distinctly solar properties. He comes to his army before the battle with the Fomorians, and it seems to the warriors, says the saga, as if they are seeing the sunrise. And yet, as we will see later, he is the god of the underworld, belonging to the forces of darkness through his mother Etlin, daughter of Balor.

CELTIC BELIEF OF DEATH

Celtic ideas about death, on the one hand, are completely different from both Greek and Roman, and on the other hand, as has already been indicated, they closely correspond to Egyptian ones. The other world was not a kingdom of darkness and suffering, but, on the contrary, of light and freedom. The sun was as much the ruler of another world as the ruler of this one. Of course, there was evil, and darkness, and pain, and this principle in the myths of the Irish Celts was embodied by Balor and the Fomorians, which we will remember more than once; but that these images were in some special way associated with the idea of ​​death is, I think, an absolutely false hypothesis that arose from an erroneous comparison with the corresponding ideas of the peoples of antiquity. Here the Celts are more closely related to North Africa or Asia than to the European Aryans. Only by recognizing the fact that the Celts, from what we know of them since the collapse of their central European empire, are an exceptional mixture of Aryan and non-Aryan characteristics, will we come to a true understanding of their contribution to European history and their influence on European culture.

FIVE FACTORS OF ANCIENT CELTIC CULTURE

To sum up, we can, it seems, distinguish five components of the religious and spiritual life of the Celts, as it was before Roman and Christian influences. Firstly, here we have a huge array of folk beliefs and magical rituals, which include human sacrifices. These rituals differed from place to place because they were tied to various natural objects, which were considered to be embodiments or vehicles of divine or diabolical power. Secondly, there was, undoubtedly, a kind of intellectual and philosophical doctrine, the central object of worship in which was the sun as a symbol of divine power and constancy, and the central idea was the idea of ​​​​the immortality of the soul. Thirdly, there was the cult of anthropomorphic deities - Esus, Teutat, Lug and others, who personified the forces of nature or protected divine institutions. Fourthly, the Romans were deeply struck by the presence of quasi-scientific ideas among the Druids about the structure of the world, about the details of which we, unfortunately, know practically nothing. Finally, we had occasion to note the power of the institution of priests, which dominated the field of religious

CELTS TODAY

Due to the fact that the present population of countries called "Celtic" is obviously mixed, it is often considered that this definition has no basis in reality. Those Celts who fought with Caesar in Gaul and the English in Ireland are no more - they died on the battlefields, in the vastness from Alesia to the River Voin, and in their place another racial substrate has established itself. According to this view, the only true Celts are the tall, red-faced Highlanders of Perthshire and north-west Scotland, and the few dynasties of the ancient race of conquerors still extant in Ireland and Wales. It seems that in this concept there is a considerable share of secular education, as well as literature, which gave the right to this education only to members of a privileged caste and who, thanks to intellectual superiority and the atmosphere of pious awe that surrounded him, became the main political, social and spiritual force in all Celtic lands. We talk about these factors, mentally separating them from each other, but in practice they were intertwined into an indissoluble unity, and the Druid caste controlled everything. The question naturally arises: can we distinguish here Celtic and pre-Celtic, probably even pre-Aryan elements? This task is, of course, very difficult; however, it seems to me that, having compared similar facts and drawn relevant parallels, we will not be very mistaken if we attribute to the Megalithic people a special teaching, rituals and priestly institution of Druidry; and to the Celts - anthropomorphic deities and a thirst for knowledge and abstract constructions; folk superstitions are just the form that ideas common to the entire human race have taken in specific localities.

Introduction…………………………………………………………………….. 3

1. History of the Celtic tribes………………………………………….4

2. Religion of the ancient Celts………………………………………......8

2.1. Druids……………………………………………………………8

2.2. Gods………………………………………………………………………………........10

2.3. The decline of Druidism and its vestiges……………………………...12

Literature……………………………………………………………………………….13

Introduction

Currently, in world culture it is difficult to trace the heritage of any one people. And in general, the terms people and nationality can be traced very relatively, taking into account our possible ignorance and, first of all, assuming that the data we have is reliable. Thus, we can only talk about what the division of the population is in our opinion. The globe into separate ethnic groups, what is their role in the historical process and, as a consequence, in the formation of modern civilizations. Ancient peoples represent a very interesting object for study, because many of them were scattered over a vast area and made a significant contribution to the history of a number of modern countries. Their religion, culture, and traditions were passed down through the centuries, changed and intertwined more than once, giving peculiar shades and flavors to the foundations of neighboring tribes. One of the most widespread peoples were the Celts. Traces of their existence have been found throughout Europe, the Mediterranean coast, and parts of western Asia - approximately 1/13 to 1/10 of the land. And all because they led a mainly nomadic lifestyle, constantly conquering and exploring new territories. All this would have been impossible without a clear hierarchy in society, which allowed some to rule and others to obey. Unlike the neighboring Roman Empire, where the social pyramid was based on an army loyal to the king, among the Celts religion and mythology played the main role. They were kept and brought to life by the Druids, in other words, the priests. To understand this, you must first understand who the Celts are and what their history is.

History of the Celtic Tribes

In the first half of the last millennium BC. From the mass of nameless primitive peoples in the territory north of the Alps, the first to emerge were the Celtic tribes, the initial pages of whose written history were marked by bloody battles and devastating raids on the richest centers of the time, which threw the rest of Europe into disarray. The educated southern world, in particular the Greek and Roman world, to which we owe the first information on the ancient history of Europe, knew nothing about the Celts until then. Meanwhile, to the northwest of the Alps, in a complex process, the community of this amazing people was born, who were the first of the barbarians, as the southern world liked to call them, to become a classic representative of the “barbarian” world. This people brought Central Europe closer to the southern environment and, thanks to their creative abilities, completed the development of primitive civilization in the territory north of the Alps. By this time, i.e. around the end of the 6th-5th centuries. BC. In the Celtic environment, important economic and social changes had already occurred, social stratification caused primarily by local conditions and prerequisites. Numerous centers of power of the local tribal nobility arose, which the southern world learned about when it was economically profitable for it to supply them with its products, thus helping to raise the standard of living and splendor of the ruling stratum. And suddenly well-armed groups of Celts boldly and courageously attacked the most important centers of the educated south, invaded Northern Italy, occupied even Rome and penetrated far to Sicily itself; at the same time, another wave headed to the Carpathian Basin, the Balkans and even Asia Minor. The southern world was stunned by their tenacity in battle, their courage, courage and greed. Only now did he come face to face with the unpleasant fact that beyond the Alps a numerous people had grown up who, during the next half millennium of European history, became an important military and political factor. Therefore, already in the 4th century. the Celts were considered one of the largest barbarian peoples of the then world, along with the Persians and Scythians. In addition, they did not always maintain hostile relations with their neighbors. There were also separate settlements that gradually mixed with other ethnic groups - the Scythians, for example, living on the territory of modern Russia. So the presence of Celtic blood in our ancestors is undoubtedly. And yet, this people did not achieve complete ethnic unity and did not create a single state entity, a power that would unite the various tribes into a single organized and stable whole. This people was fragmented into many more or less large tribal formations that spoke different, albeit related, dialects, most of which disappeared at a later time. The Greek world called them “Keltoi”, Celts. In all likelihood, this name spread precisely during the culminating period of the heyday of the centers of power of the ruling layer, if not earlier, then, in any case, not later than the 6th century, and it is possible that originally it was the name of one of the tribes, and perhaps and only the dominant clan, which was then appropriated to the entire people. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that there was some kind of pre-Celtic language as the original one, which served as the basis for all later dialects. There were a number of different dialects, just as there was in ancient times a network of cultures and cultural groups that later served as the unifying basis of Celtic culture and a single style. The name “Keltoi” became known to the rest of the world before others. The Romans, however, called the Celtic people “Galli” and from this word later came the names Gallia Cisalpina in the northern part of modern Italy, Gallia Narbonensis in southern France and Gallia Transalpina in the center modern France, well known from the “Gallic War”, which was waged by the Roman military leader G. Yu. Caesar in the last century BC. Later, again at a time when the old centers of Hallstatt culture had long since fallen into decay, the name Galatae, Galatians, appears. In Asia Minor they claim that their language was related to the language of the Treveri, that is, the Celts who lived in the area of ​​​​present-day Trier. But all these names are more or less synonyms. Diodorus Siculus, who traveled throughout most of Europe, and Caesar, who fought for a long time in Gaul, say that the names Galli and Galatae refer to the same people, who are called Keltoi, in Latin Celtae; Diodorus considers the name "Celts" to be more correct. We find a similar interpretation among historians and geographers of later times. Only in Britain, it seems, this name was not so common. Starting from the 5th century BC, the name “Celts” quickly spread throughout what was then Europe. But what happened before the 5th century remained a mystery for a long time. From the end of the 18th century. under the influence of romanticism, interest in the past of the Celts, which had already manifested itself earlier in Western Europe and the British Isles, where many descendants of this people lived, increases. This interest developed into a true Celtic mania, with the result that, often without any critical approach, real and imaginary evidence of the glorious past of the Celts was collected. Since the 17th century. It was believed that the Celts on the west coast of France and England were the builders of megalithic structures built from large blocks of stone, both menhirs (tall standing monoliths) and dolmens (funeral chambers made of large stones), and long stone alleys or circular structures (Stonehenge) , which are considered astronomical observatories and places of worship. Romantics considered the Celts to be the most ancient people, identified them with the descendants of biblical characters, and often, based on arbitrary etymological comparisons, came to the conclusion that the Celts were settled almost throughout Europe. Ideas about the high level of development of the Celts were also supported by literary falsifications. The most famous of them are the epic works of the Scottish poet D. Macpherson, dating back to 1760-1763, which the author presented as a translation from the Celtic works of Ossian, a Celtic bard who lived in the 3rd century. Echoes of empty etymologization persisted for a very long time, essentially until our time, and during this entire process a wide variety of archaeological finds were indiscriminately attributed to the Celts. Even at the end of the last century, pan-Celtic tendencies were observed as a counterweight to militant Germanism or English imperialism, and until that time Breton folk songs telling about the Druid resistance to Christianity or the fight against the Franks were considered authentic; in fact, these were the works of Ersart de la Villemarque, published in 1839. This is only one of the facts of falsification known to us, in fact, today's history of the Celts is greatly distorted, since the only way to copy books was a census, where “author’s amendments” cannot be ruled out "and original opinions. The court census was controlled, but the rest of the flow of information, although dubious, was not verifiable information. In the West, therefore, the Celtic traditions were very strong and supported by a wide variety of sources and monuments: the message of ancient writers telling about the life of the Celts and their warlessness; literary monuments of the Gallic-Roman era, especially inscriptions on tombstones and similar structures; etymological connection in the names of rivers, localities and hills; Celtic coins, the finds of which were rapidly multiplying; objects of Celtic art and material monuments in nature; and finally, occasional anthropological studies. All this little by little reveals the history of the Celts, who ruled Europe for many centuries in a row and gave rise to modern culture.

2. Religion of the ancient Celts

The religion of the Celtic peoples is known to us - and even then far from completely - only in the form in which it had developed at the time of the collision of these peoples with the Romans, that is, by the 1st century. BC e. The sources for its study are, firstly, quite numerous archaeological monuments of the Roman era - images and inscriptions, and secondly, reports of ancient writers. The previous development of the Celtic religion remains completely unknown to us. At a later time, it underwent rather rapid decomposition, first under the influence of Romanization, and then of Christianity.

As already mentioned, religion occupied one of the leading places in the social life of the Celts. Sometimes reaching the point of mysticism, it firmly held the consciousness of all believers and made them flexible material in the hands of the ruling strata. Religion has given rise to all sorts of cults, rituals, customs, traditions, myths and epics. The basic concepts of God can be found in the triads of Irish bards. They postulate the basic principles of the Celtic worldview regarding many issues.

2.1 Druids

In the era of close contact between the Celts (Gauls) and the Romans (1st century BC - 3rd century AD), Celtic society stood at the level of a developed tribal system on the eve of its transformation into a class formation, that is, generally more higher historical level than the Germans and Slavs. The bulk of the Celtic tribes inhabited the Iberian Peninsula, Gaul (present-day France) and the British Isles. The most powerful of the tribes that lived in Gaul and were better known to us were the Alloborgi, Helvetii, Sequani, Arverni, Aedui, Treveri, and Nervii, who were constantly at war with each other. But the stronger of them gradually united their neighbors around themselves. During the time of Caesar (mid-1st century BC), the two largest tribal unions competed in Gaul: the Aedui were at the head of one, the Sequani were at the head of the other. Within the tribes, a well-born hereditary aristocracy had already emerged, keeping the people subordinate and waging constant wars.

This aristocratic and warrior-like tribal system of the Celts was reflected in their religion. The practice of worship was entirely in the hands of a professional priesthood - the Druids. They constituted, along with the secular aristocracy, the influential and privileged elite of the Celtic tribes. Although the Celtic priests did not form a closed and hereditary caste, access to the title of Druid was usually open only to a person from the tribal aristocracy. The Druids had their own intertribal organization, which covered all of Gaul. Once a year they gathered for meetings held in the general Gallic religious center, in the region of the Carnut tribe. They chose from among themselves a high priest, whose position was for life. Anyone wishing to become a druid underwent long and difficult training, which lasted for 20 years. The candidate studied priestly wisdom and memorized many religious hymns and spells*. Women could also be Druids. The authority of the Druids was very great: it is not for nothing that the Celtic religion is often called Druidism. They were sacrificers, fortune tellers, sorcerers, spell casters, healers, and keepers of secret knowledge.

The cult was cruel and barbaric in nature. Human sacrifice was widely practiced, partly related to a system of fortune telling. Many rituals were dedicated to the veneration of the sacred oak (the word “druid” itself is derived from “dru” - oak) and mistletoe. The ritual of cutting a mistletoe branch with a golden sickle was considered especially mysterious; This was done at night, on the full moon, and the druid who performed the ritual dressed in white clothes.

Roman writers mention, in addition to the Druid-priests themselves, two more professions that were directly related to the religious beliefs of the Celts: eubags - ministers of sacrifices and bards - inspired singers, probably of a shamanic persuasion. One of the main priestly doctrines was the doctrine of the transmigration of souls; Along with it, the Celts also had ideas about the afterlife underground, under water or on islands.

From inscriptions and images, partly from reports of Roman writers, we know a large number of names of Celtic gods. Most of them were, apparently, local and tribal patron gods, and, as a rule, they even bore names according to their tribe: for example, the Alloborgs had the god Allobrox, the Arverni - Arvenorix, the Santons - Santius, the Marsacians - Marsacian Mothers, among the Nervii - Nervini, etc. * But with the strengthening of intertribal ties, the circle of admirers of some deities expanded greatly. Their names are repeated in many inscriptions. Certain deities were even common among the Celtic tribes of Gaul and Britain. These are the gods Belenos (Belis, Bel), Kamulos (Kumall), Ogmios (Ogmian, Ogam), Esus (Esar), etc. But they were also at the beginning, probably, local and tribal gods, as can be seen from their eponymous names, and from the geographical distribution of inscriptions with these names. Thus, the goddess Brigantia was the patroness of the Brigantes tribe, Mogons - the Mogontsiaks, Dumiatis was revered in the Puy de Dome region. It is possible that Esus was the eponymous god of the Essuvian tribe or clan.

Having at first, apparently, been communal and tribal patrons, the Celtic gods have retained in many cases a very archaic appearance and, by their names or attributes, betray an ancient totemic origin. Some of them are obviously related to the hunting cult. These are the Gallic gods Mokkus (boar), Cernunnos (god with deer antlers), Dea Artio, depicted with a bear. Often there is an image of a horned snake accompanying the figures of various deities. Ireland had a fish god. Others are associated with domestic animals and were apparently considered patrons of livestock breeding. These are the goddess Epona (from epos - horse), depicted riding a horse, the god Mullo - a mullah or donkey, Tarvos - a bull, Damona - the patroness of cattle.

Other deities show a clear connection with natural phenomena, and some of them, apparently, were patrons of fertility and agriculture, or represented more complex images. Of the gods of celestial phenomena, the following stand out: Leucetios - the god of lightning, Taranis (Taranukus) - the thunderer, whose attribute was a spoked wheel or a hammer (the Romans identified Taranis with Jupiter). The sun deities were more revered in the British Isles (Crom, Dagda, Samhan, etc.) than in Gaul. There were a lot of deities of rivers and springs. Esus, one of the most revered gods, was apparently associated with forest vegetation, in which some researchers even wanted to see the ancient single god of the Celts. There are two known images of him in the form of a man chopping down a tree; one of them, with the name of God, is on an altar found in Paris, on the site of the present Cathedral of Notre Dame. The Roman poet Lucan mentions the name of Esus next to Teutates and Taranis; on this basis, some scholars have suggested that these three gods constituted the supreme triad of the Celtic religion, but there are no serious motives for this, especially since these names do not appear together in any inscription.

Also interesting is the figure of Ogmios, the god of wisdom and eloquence, who may have been the patron of the grain field in the past; Ancient writers brought him closer to Hercules. The warlike life of the Celtic tribes gave rise to a number of war deities or endowed the old gods with military functions: such are the British Belatukadros (his name, found in 14 inscriptions, means “brilliant in war”), Caturix (“king of battle”), Cocidius, Belenus, Belisama .

With the development of trade intertribal ties, gods appeared - patrons of trade, whom the Romans identified with their Mercury and Minerva. A more ancient era of matriarchy is indicated by the veneration of mother goddesses (Matres or Matronae in Latin), who were usually depicted in triads. In addition to the gods, the Celts believed in numerous spirits, fairies, elves, monsters, and deified trees, springs, and stones.

2.3 Decline of Druidism and its vestiges

Since the practice of worship was in the hands of professional Druids, the fate of the ancient religion depended to a large extent on their authority. During the years of the Roman conquest of Gaul, Julius Caesar supported the Druids, trying to rely on them in the fight against the military Celtic nobility. But after the pacification of Gaul, Rome's policy towards the Druids changed. Augustus and Tiberius persecuted the Druids and tried to undermine their authority among the Gallic population. Romanization further undermined this authority, and the spread of Christianity completed the fall of the Celtic religion.

However, traces of this religion have survived to this day in the beliefs of the population of France, England, and Ireland: this is a belief in witches, sorcerers, elves and fairies, and various fantastic monsters. As for the great gods of the Celtic pantheon, some of them quietly turned into Christian saints: for example, Saint Brigid, Saint Patrick.

It is interesting to note that in recent times in Ireland and Wales, in connection with the revival of the nationalist anti-British movement, attempts have been made to revive the ancient Celtic religion. This Irish-Welsh "neo-Druidism" is associated with the idealization of the ancient religion of the Druids as supposedly secret and profound wisdom. It represents a rather groundless, purely intellectual movement.

Literature

1. Myths of the peoples of the world. Encyclopedia. 2 vols., - M., 1991.

2. Tokarev S.A. Religion in the history of the peoples of the world. - M.: Politizdat, 1964, p.559

3. John McCulloch. Religion of the ancient Celts. – M.: Tsentrpoligraf, 2004, p. 336

Currently, in world culture it is difficult to trace the heritage of any one people. And in general, the terms people and nationality can be traced very relatively, taking into account our possible ignorance and, above all, with the assumption that the data we have is reliable. Thus, we can only talk about how, in our opinion, the division of the world's population into separate ethnic groups is, what their role is in the historical process and, as a consequence, in the formation of modern civilizations. Ancient peoples represent a very interesting object for study, because many of them were scattered over a vast area and made a significant contribution to the history of a number of modern countries. Their religion, culture, and traditions were passed down through the centuries, changed and intertwined more than once, giving peculiar shades and flavors to the foundations of neighboring tribes.

One of the most widespread peoples were the Celts. Traces of their existence have been found throughout Europe, the Mediterranean coast, and western parts of Asia - approximately from 1/13 to 1/10 of the land. And all because they led a mainly nomadic lifestyle, constantly conquering and exploring new territories. All this would have been impossible without a clear hierarchy in society, which allowed some to rule and others to obey. Unlike the neighboring Roman Empire, where the social pyramid was based on an army loyal to the king, among the Celts religion and mythology played the main role. They were kept and brought to life by the Druids, in other words, the priests. To understand this, you must first understand who the Celts are and what their history is.

HISTORY OF THE CELTIC TRIBES.

In the first half of the last millennium BC. e. From the mass of nameless primitive peoples in the territory north of the Alps, the first to emerge were the Celtic tribes, the initial pages of whose written history were marked by bloody battles and devastating raids on the richest centers of the time, which threw the rest of Europe into disarray. The educated southern world, in particular the Greek and Roman world, to which we owe the first information on the ancient history of Europe, knew nothing about the Celts until then. Meanwhile, to the northwest of the Alps, in a complex process, the community of this amazing people was born, who were the first of the barbarians, as the southern world liked to call them, to become a classic representative of the “barbarian” world. This people brought Central Europe closer to the southern environment and, thanks to their creative abilities, completed the development of primitive civilization in the territory north of the Alps.

By this time, i.e. around the end of the 6th-5th centuries. BC e. In the Celtic environment, important economic and social changes had already occurred, social stratification caused primarily by local conditions and prerequisites. Numerous centers of power of the local tribal nobility arose, which the southern world learned about when it was economically profitable for it to supply them with its products, thus helping to raise the standard of living and splendor of the ruling stratum. And suddenly well-armed groups of Celts boldly and courageously attacked the most important centers of the educated south, invaded Northern Italy, occupied even Rome and penetrated far to Sicily itself; at the same time, another wave headed to the Carpathian Basin, the Balkans and even Asia Minor. The southern world was stunned by their tenacity in battle, their courage, courage and greed. Only now did he come face to face with the unpleasant fact that beyond the Alps a numerous people had grown up who, during the next half millennium of European history, became an important military and political factor.

Therefore, already in the 4th century. the Celts were considered one of the largest barbarian peoples of the then world, along with the Persians and Scythians. In addition, they did not always maintain hostile relations with their neighbors. There were also separate settlements that gradually mixed with other ethnic groups - the Scythians, for example, living on the territory of modern Russia. So the presence of Celtic blood in our ancestors is undoubtedly. And yet, this people did not achieve complete ethnic unity and did not create a single state entity, a power that would unite the various tribes into a single organized and stable whole. This people was fragmented into many more or less large tribal formations that spoke different, albeit related, dialects, most of which disappeared at a later time.
The Greek world called them "Keltoi", Celts. In all likelihood, this name spread precisely during the culminating period of the heyday of the centers of power of the ruling layer, if not earlier, then, in any case, no later than the 6th century, and it is possible that initially it was the name of one of the tribes, and perhaps only the dominant clan, which was then appropriated to the entire people. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that there was some kind of pre-Celtic language as the original one, which served as the basis for all later dialects. There were a number of different dialects, just as there was in ancient times a network of cultures and cultural groups that later served as the unifying basis of Celtic culture and a single style.

The name "Keltoi" became known to the rest of the world before others. The Romans, however, called the Celtic people "Galli" and from this word later came the names Gallia Cisalpina in the northern part of modern Italy, Gallia Narbonensis in southern France and Gallia Transalpina in the center modern France, well known from the “Gallic War”, which was waged by the Roman military leader G. Yu. Caesar in the last century BC. Later, again at a time when the old centers of Hallstatt culture had long since fallen into decay, the name Galatae, Galatians, appears. In Asia Minor they claim that their language was related to the language of the Treveri, that is, the Celts who lived in the area of ​​​​present-day Trier. But all these names are more or less synonyms. Diodorus Siculus, who traveled throughout most of Europe, and Caesar, who fought for a long time in Gaul, say that the names Galli and Galatae refer to the same people, who are called Keltoi, in Latin Celtae; Diodorus considers the name "Celts" to be more correct. We find a similar interpretation among historians and geographers of later times. Only in Britain, it seems, this name was not so common.

Starting from the 5th century BC. e., the name “Celts” quickly spread throughout what was then Europe. But what happened before the 5th century remained a mystery for a long time. From the end of the 18th century. under the influence of romanticism, interest in the past of the Celts, which had already manifested itself earlier in Western Europe and the British Isles, where many descendants of this people lived, increases. This interest developed into a true Celtic mania, with the result that, often without any critical approach, real and imaginary evidence of the glorious past of the Celts was collected. Since the 17th century. It was believed that the Celts on the west coast of France and England were the builders of megalithic structures built from large blocks of stone, both menhirs (tall standing monoliths) and dolmens (funeral chambers made of large stones), and long stone alleys or circular structures (Stonehenge) , which are considered astronomical observatories and places of worship. Romantics considered the Celts to be the most ancient people, identified them with the descendants of biblical characters, and often, based on arbitrary etymological comparisons, came to the conclusion that the Celts were settled almost throughout Europe.

Ideas about the high level of development of the Celts were also supported by literary falsifications. The most famous of them are the epic works of the Scottish poet D. Macpherson, dating back to 1760-1763, which the author presented as a translation from the Celtic works of Ossian, a Celtic bard who lived in the 3rd century. Echoes of empty etymologization persisted for a very long time, essentially until our time, and during this entire process a wide variety of archaeological finds were indiscriminately attributed to the Celts. Even at the end of the last century, pan-Celtic tendencies were observed as a counterweight to militant Germanism or English imperialism, and until that time Breton folk songs telling about the Druid resistance to Christianity or the fight against the Franks were considered authentic; in fact, these were the works of Ersart de la Villemarque, published in 1839. This is only one of the facts of falsification known to us, in fact, today's history of the Celts is greatly distorted, since the only way to copy books was a census, where “author’s amendments” cannot be ruled out "and original opinions. The court census was controlled, but the rest of the flow of information, although dubious, was not verifiable information.

In the West, therefore, the Celtic traditions were very strong and supported by a wide variety of sources and monuments: reports of ancient writers telling about the life of the Celts and their warlike behavior; literary monuments of the Gallic-Roman era, especially inscriptions on tombstones and similar structures; etymological connection in the names of rivers, localities and hills; Celtic coins, the finds of which were rapidly multiplying; objects of Celtic art and material monuments in nature; and finally, occasional anthropological studies. All this little by little reveals the history of the Celts, who ruled Europe for many centuries in a row and gave rise to modern culture.

DRUIDS.

Julius Caesar writes most reliably about the hierarchy of Celtic society in his “Gallic War”. He distinguishes three main classes in Gaulish society - druides, equites and plebs, performing three functions - priest, warrior and householder. In other words, these are druids, horsemen and people. Sometimes riders under the name “filed” also served as judges.

The priestly class of the Druids was a closed aristocratic corporation that was in charge not only of religious affairs, but also enjoyed great political influence, much more than the layer of horsemen. This institution was pan-Celtic, known in the British Isles and Gaul, and apparently had influence for a certain period in Central Europe; only in Spain and northern Italy there are neither written references nor archaeological data about it. Caesar's opinion that this institution arose originally in the British Isles is only his personal assumption. Ancient sources (Caesar, Pliny) attribute a very wide sphere of activity to the Druids, but at present it is difficult to verify how true this was.

What was the essence of their teaching, philosophical and religious ideas, we know only in part. They believed in the immortality of the soul; death, in their opinion, did not mean the end, but only the middle of a long life. Under their patronage were sacred oak groves, and their very name allegedly arose from the word “oak” (“dris”). Sacrifices (for example, white bulls) were not made without a branch of this tree, since they considered everything growing on the tree to be a gift from heaven, and the actions performed in connection with this were the instructions of the gods. Lunar emblems were also held in great esteem, since the Gauls calculated time not by days, but by nights, and made sacred sacrifices at night by the light of the moon. In addition to performing sacrifices, sometimes supposedly human ones, the Druids predicted the future; they exerted pressure through unfavorable predictions and determined what time was most suitable for solving important issues - this allowed them to remain at the top of the hierarchical pyramid. The Celts clearly perceived the supernatural as the main, basic aspect of their lives, and the other world as prevalent.

The Druids were also entrusted with raising boys, from whom those worthy were selected to join their own ranks. The training lasted about twenty years and consisted of learning by heart the secrets of the age-old wisdom and knowledge of the Druids. They did not use writing and left a negligible number of written monuments: all learning was conducted orally.
In a later period, the Druids were no longer such a closed caste, nor a purely priestly corporation. At the beginning of the Roman occupation, Druidism was still in full bloom; later it declined. The Druids fought against Romanization and took part in uprisings, and therefore the Roman authorities were especially interested in eliminating this institution. This institution lasted especially long in Ireland. The successors of the Druids there were the "filed", the founders of permanent medieval schools.

RELIGION OF THE ANCIENT CELTS.

As already mentioned, religion occupied one of the leading places in the social life of the Celts. Sometimes reaching the point of mysticism, it firmly held the consciousness of all believers and made them flexible material in the hands of the ruling strata. Religion has given rise to all sorts of cults, rituals, customs, traditions, myths and epics.
The basic concepts of God can be found in the triads of Irish bards. They postulate the basic principles of the Celtic worldview regarding many issues. There are triads about man and his everyday life, creatures in general and, of course, about God. So, what did the Celts understand by this word?

·There are three primary unities, and each of them is possible only by one: one God, one Truth and one point of Freedom, i.e. the point of balance of all opposites.

· The symbol of this balance were the so-called swinging stones, which, with enormous weight, could be moved by a simple touch of the hands.

· Three things flow from three primary unities: all Life, all Good, all Power.

· God is necessarily threefold: He constitutes the greater part of Life, the greater part of Knowledge, the greater part of Power, and there cannot be in him more than this greater part of each thing.

· Three greatnesses of God: perfect Life, perfect Knowledge, perfect Power.

· Three things will definitely prevail: the highest Power, the highest Reason, the highest Love of God.

· Three guarantees of what God does and will accomplish: His infinite Power, His infinite Wisdom, His infinite Love, since there is nothing that could not be accomplished, become true and not be moved by these three attributes.

· Three things that God cannot help but be: that in which the perfect Good must consist; by what one must desire the perfect Good; and what the perfect Good must accomplish.

· Three things that God cannot help but do: the most useful, the most necessary, the most beautiful for each thing.

· Three main goals of the activity of the Divine, as the creator of every thing: to reduce evil, to strengthen good, to make clear any difference in such a way as to make it possible to know what should be and what should not be.

· God's three necessities: to be infinite in oneself, to be finite in relation to the finite, to be in harmony with every species.

A very convenient religion. How else can you control barbarians? No way! Human strength can cause resistance, wisdom cannot be understood, love is generally not suitable for governing ancient peoples. But God, the bearer of infinite power, intelligence and love (in the person of the Druids), being also an invisible object of unquestioning worship for many generations, is very suitable for this purpose. After all, everyone can believe. Any good is from God, how can one not worship at least for this? However, one cannot demand the supernatural - He is not capable of the most useful, necessary and beautiful things. But God can help achieve this - then a decrease in evil, an increase in goodness and insight - but again, not for everyone, but only for the Druids. The complexity of the wording also left the Druids with the possibility of verbal debate to prove the truth and maintain the faith.

Other triads are also closely connected with God, which indicates the deep penetration of religion into other areas of life. Below is part of the triads "On Creatures in General".

· Three things God gave to every being: the fullness of his own nature, the full revelation (distinctiveness) of his Individuality and the originality of his Aven (Ego). This is the true and complete definition of the personality of every being.

· Three circles of existence: the circle of emptiness (Cylch y Ceugant), where besides God there is nothing living or dead, and no one except God can pass through it; the circle of reincarnation (Abred), where every spiritualized being is born of death, and man goes through it; the circle of bliss (Gwynfid), where every spiritual being is born of life and man will pass through it in the sky.

· Three necessary phases of any existence in relation to life: the beginning in Annwfn (Annwfn - abyss), reincarnation in Abred and Fullness in the sky or circle of Gwynfid; without these three phases there is no life - except with God.

Here is another important point of the teaching: God gives life, endows the body with a soul (individuality, identity) and after the death of the body takes everything back. Caesar writes about this in The Gallic War. Druids prove that souls do not perish and after death they pass from one body to another - they think that this look awakens courage in people, making them despise the fear of death. This was simply necessary for nomadic warlike tribes.

· Three forces of being: not having the opportunity to be different, not necessarily being different, and not having the opportunity to be the best due to the inconceivability of this. This is the perfection of every thing.
In this place it is clear how, with the help of religion, they tried to tame the burning topic of class inequality. Yes, the phrase is vague, but the main idea seems to me to be the following: be what you already are and don’t think about the best - and you will be perfect. In your mediocrity? It doesn’t matter, the original wording doesn’t hurt the ears, quite the contrary. Meanwhile, another brick is laid in consciousness.

After life, a person finds himself on the circle of reincarnation; accordingly, there are triads about a person’s presence on the circle of Abred.

Here are some of them:

·Three things are strengthened every day due to the increasing desire for them: Knowledge, Love, Justice.

· Three things are constantly decreasing: Darkness, Delusion, Death.

And finally, two triads about a person’s presence on the Gwynfid circle.

· Three main advantages of the Gwynfid circle: Absence of evil, absence of need, absence of death.

· Three fullnesses of happiness in Gwynfyd: participation in every capacity with special perfection; the possession of all genius with exceptional genius; The feeling of love embraces all beings, while at the same time possessing a single love - love for God. And this is the fullness of the Gwynfidd sky.

So that’s what these two circles are for: there everyone will find everything that they did not receive from life. Being perfect, a person gives his soul to the circle of Abred. There, knowledge, love and justice come to him by themselves. It would be interesting to know the opinion of the original authors on the first point: knowledge of what? Is it really possible that the other two points were not there? And in the circle of Gwynfid, evil, need and death disappear. If they disappear, it means they were there. All that is directly said in the triads is that there was death - otherwise you won’t get to these two circles. But it turns out that there was both evil and need. It feels like Abred and Gwynfid are a justification for religion, why should we believe? As has been shown, the triads “About God” indicate only His existence, and that everyone owes their present and future to Him. So, the Gwynfind circle endows a person with special perfection, exceptional genius and love for God - for such a generous gift. Reality is balanced by fiction, supplemented by rituals, traditions, myths and tightly occupies the consciousness of the Celts.

Almost every class extensively practiced a large number of various rituals, and these rituals clearly went beyond the scope of purely practical agricultural or other actions. It was rather something more general, and probably the Celts perceived this as nothing more than maintaining world order. This is precisely the key point that fundamentally distinguishes the Celtic sacred worldview from other similar concepts, gives it such social significance and determines many of the characteristic features of Celtic mythology. In general, we can say that this feature of the Celts’ worldview was manifested not only in magic and ritual actions.

The Celts keenly felt the connection between civilization and nature in almost all areas of their activity. Thus, in particular, the Irish epic describes the close relationship between royal power and the general world order, as well as a large number of signs directly related to this. The reign of the illegitimate king causes a total crop failure, the Fal stone - one of the treasures of the tribes of the goddess Danu - cries out under the true king, etc. The king had the largest number of various “geis” - sacred prohibitions, and violation of them by the king was considered the most serious.

One of the key Irish sagas, The Destruction of the House of Da Derg, gives a detailed account of the tragic outcome of King Conaire's breaking of all gaices. Also in the sagas, the motif of the enormous power of Truth, so characteristic of Indian mythology, is often found. This also primarily concerned the king; he was bound by this like no one else, and in the sagas there are repeated descriptions of the misfortunes that befall the country if the king violates this principle. This is directly echoed by another Irish tradition - the terrible consequences of the satire of the druid, and later of the poet, following any unjust decision of any leader, and above all, again the king. You can also note the two most important rites with which the reign of the king began. Tarbfeis. The festival of the bull consisted in the fact that a specially designated person ate the blood and meat of a ritual bull, plunged into a prophetic dream and saw the future king in him. Another ritual, the horse ritual, followed a similar pattern.

In some areas of the Celtic world, a special cult of severed heads is sometimes found. According to ancient ideas, the head symbolized the whole person, and, probably, on the basis of these ideas, a cruel cult of heads arose; the warrior brought home the severed head of a defeated enemy on the neck of his horse, like a military trophy, and nailed it to the wall of his house. The heads of noble persons were even embalmed and then shown to guests as tangible proof of the host’s bravery.

Of great importance was the cult of the five sacred trees of the world, which directly correlated with their cultural counterparts - the central pillars of the Bruiden (five feast halls), as well as with other motifs (the five parts of Ireland, the five waves of conquest, etc.). The Bruiden Halls are the most obvious ritual embodiment of the idea of ​​world order, with a world tree in the center and a horizontal projection around it. The largest number of royal gesses were associated with Bruiden.

The central holiday of the Celts - Samhain - consisted of the annual ritual destruction and revival of the world order in the image of Bruiden.
This list can be continued, but one thing is certain - the Celts perceived the world around them as something integral (without dividing into nature and culture), harmonious and balanced. And that is why great attention was paid to not disturbing this balance, to maintaining this world order. And it was precisely such a harmonious and balanced existence that the Celts perceived as the only path that did not lead a person to disaster.

The old Celtic beliefs were largely penetrated by Roman ideas, for the old Celtic gods there were corresponding gods in the Roman pantheon, their names were identified and mixed. Under the influence of the Roman environment, temple architecture of a more distinct type also appeared in the Celtic world. From the time when direct Roman influence began to take its toll, starting from the turn of the old and new eras, and then during the era of the Roman Empire, polygonal or round temples were erected, usually with an external gallery. They were erected away from settlements, which speaks of old religious beliefs, of sacred places on hilltops, at river sources or at crossroads. The center of these sanctuaries was a small room, often oval, with a diameter of only 5-10 m; around this central room there was a terrace, open on the outside or with a colonnade. These sanctuaries were places of cult of Celtic deities, and their design interspersed Celtic and Roman elements. Some studies, for example in Trier, suggest that in older times such buildings were erected from wood, but already in the 1st century stone buildings on lime mortar appeared, both polygonal, which is often considered the more ancient type, and round.

As you can see, the Celtic religion is very diverse and contradictory, so the key points raise so many questions, the answers to which can only be guesswork. The examples are banal: for this it is worth at least comparing the lofty teaching set forth in the triads with the terrible rituals performed by the Celts, and especially with human sacrifices, when the victim was crucified, killed with arrows, or with the night bacchanalia, when the priestesses were completely naked and painted in red, they were transferred to all sorts of furies with flaming torches in their hands. The indelible mark produced by all this action completely took possession of people, forcing them to obey and follow the will of the priests.

HERITAGE OF THE ANCIENT CELTS.

The Celts occupied the Mediterranean coast of Africa, the western part of Eurasia and England, were able to discover Greenland, and, it is possible, reached the shores of America. Of course, they made a huge contribution to the development of world civilization, in particular, Eurasian cultures. Echoes of traditions, epics and symbolism exist among many modern peoples.

In France, the names of many tribes became the names of cities, mountains and rivers. The main stronghold of Celtic traditions and Celtic heritage are the British Isles, especially Ireland and Scotland. There, the development process was not disturbed in any way even at a time when Celtic Gaul was already undergoing deep Romanization, almost throughout the entire 1st century AD. e. Ireland was in a particularly advantageous position, where neither Roman nor later Anglo-Saxon power could gain a foothold; it remained the cultural and religious center of the Celtic world, retaining its Celtic character until modern times. But Scotland also had the opportunity to preserve Celtic traditions. The Scots, Irish invaders and settlers in northern Britain, penetrated there as early as the 2nd century, and in the 4th century AD. e. Sources already speak directly about them. They founded the Scottish state, which absorbed the native Picts and Caledonians and increased the Celtic population in Wales, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. The old Celtic traditions held on there very stubbornly. Back in 1249, the ceremonial installation of the Scottish king took place there. The king, after his church coronation in the temple, was led in procession to the sacred stone, where his entire genealogy was read to him in Gaelic, and the people paid him honor.

The Celtic spirit came to life again in Europe when, from the 2nd century, wandering singers spread the old Celtic legends in France and Germany, and court epic clothed the old world of ancient Celtic tales with a new one, singing the praises of King Arthur, Percival and Tristan. During the Crusades, many eastern elements were woven into these ancient Celtic echoes. When, under the influence of romanticism in the 18th century, interest in the ancient past of peoples increased again, it was the Celtic environment and the Celtic heritage that served as a rich source that inspired outstanding representatives of European culture: Herder, Goethe, Chateaubriand, R. Wagner and others.

The Irish people are the only people who have most fully preserved their Celtic character. To this day, there is also Celtic literary creativity, which reflects the deep love of nature, so firmly embedded in religion. With the works of some poets of our time (Gruffield in Cardiff, Roper Er Marson).

The culture of the Germans changed greatly under the influence of the Celts. As early as the 2nd century, they adopted many technical skills in manufacturing, in the making of jewelry (especially brooches) and ceramics. Sometimes it is very difficult to distinguish what in the material culture of the Germans is their own creativity, and what arose under Celtic influence. The production of jewelry and especially brooches throughout the Danube basin comes from late La Tène forms; in artistic openwork and other works, motifs of Celtic ornamentation, richly used in the decoration of temples and scriptures, are constantly used. This can be noted for all of Europe, especially during the Renaissance, when Gothic was very popular - in painting and building buildings.

Some customs of the Cimmerians, the ancient inhabitants of the Crimea, have a certain similarity with what was practiced by the Baltic Gauls. Among these customs he includes fortune telling by the entrails of human victims, as well as the love of surrounding one’s home with the heads of killed enemies stuck on poles. It is interesting that in our folk tales this is how Baba Yaga’s home is described. In Gaul they dyed their hair red - a custom that also existed among our distant ancestors, as evidenced by many of the skulls found in southern Russia (available in the Kiev Museum). Finally, the nobles shaved, keeping only long mustaches and leaving the beards to the commoners. You can also find several Celtic words like gora - high place (Russian mountain); liun, leun - blanket, cloak (Russian laziness), which with good reason can give rise to some rapprochements on the basis of linguistics. So far, there are only historical traces that part of the Celts around 631 BC from the Dniester plains were thrown back by the Scythians to the Danube and Rhine.

The importance of the Celts for European civilization has no parallel in the ancient history of Europe. In ancient times, they were credited with bringing “barbarian” Europe closer to the sources of developed southern culture and civilization of the emerging ancient world. Later, the Celts used their organizational skills, their technical achievements and the content of artistic works and created that economic and commercial base, the main features of which left their mark on the environment as a whole. They completed the most ancient development of civilization in Central Europe.

Later, at the end of the last century BC, squeezed by the Roman Empire from the south and the Germans from the north, they lost their political and economic positions, and the Celtic religion, having already become the property of history, grew into a different form, gradually being distributed in the culture of various states. The Celtic heritage has become the richest treasury of European culture, from which its outstanding representatives drew. The modern world is often not even aware of this.

The religion of the Celtic peoples is known to us - and even then far from completely - only in the form in which it had developed at the time of the collision of these peoples with the Romans, that is, by the 1st century. BC e. The sources for its study are, firstly, quite numerous archaeological monuments of the Roman era - images and inscriptions, and secondly, reports of ancient writers. The previous development of the Celtic religion remains completely unknown to us. At a later time, it underwent rather rapid decomposition, first under the influence of Romanization, and then of Christianity.

Druids

In the era of close contact between the Celts (Gauls) and the Romans (1st century BC - 3rd century AD), Celtic society stood at the level of a developed tribal system on the eve of its transformation into a class formation, that is, generally more higher historical level than the Germans and Slavs. The bulk of the Celtic tribes inhabited the Iberian Peninsula, Gaul (present-day France) and the British Isles. The most powerful of the tribes that lived in Gaul and were better known to us were the Alloborgi, Helvetii, Sequani, Arverni, Aedui, Treveri, and Nervii, who were constantly at war with each other. But the stronger of them gradually united their neighbors around themselves. During the time of Caesar (mid-1st century BC), the two largest tribal unions competed in Gaul: the Aedui were at the head of one, the Sequani were at the head of the other. Within the tribes, a well-born hereditary aristocracy had already emerged, keeping the people subordinate and waging constant wars.

This aristocratic and warrior-like tribal system of the Celts was reflected in their religion. The practice of worship was entirely in the hands of a professional priesthood - the Druids. They constituted, along with the secular aristocracy, the influential and privileged elite of the Celtic tribes. Although the Celtic priests did not form a closed and hereditary caste, access to the title of Druid was usually open only to a person from the tribal aristocracy. The Druids had their own intertribal organization, which covered all of Gaul. Once a year they gathered for meetings held in the general Gallic religious center, in the region of the Carnut tribe. They chose from among themselves a high priest, whose position was for life. Anyone wishing to become a druid underwent long and difficult training, which lasted for 20 years. The candidate studied priestly wisdom and memorized many religious hymns and spells *. Women could also be Druids.

* (E. Anwyl. Celtic religion in pre-Christian times. London, 1906, p. 48-49.)

The authority of the Druids was very great: it is not for nothing that the Celtic religion is often called Druidism. They were sacrificers, fortune tellers, sorcerers, spell casters, healers, and keepers of secret knowledge.

The cult was cruel and barbaric in nature. Human sacrifice was widely practiced, partly related to a system of fortune telling. Many rituals were dedicated to the veneration of the sacred oak (the word “druid” itself is derived from “dru” - oak) and mistletoe. The ritual of cutting a mistletoe branch with a golden sickle was considered especially mysterious; This was done at night, on the full moon, and the druid who performed the ritual dressed in white clothes.

Roman writers mention, in addition to the Druid-priests themselves, two more professions that were directly related to the religious beliefs of the Celts: eubags - ministers of sacrifices and bards - inspired singers, probably of a shamanic persuasion.

One of the main priestly doctrines was the doctrine of the transmigration of souls; Along with it, the Celts also had ideas about the afterlife underground, under water or on islands.

Gods

From inscriptions and images, partly from reports of Roman writers, we know a large number of names of Celtic gods. Most of them were, apparently, local and tribal patron gods, and, as a rule, they even bore names according to their tribe: for example, the Alloborgs had the god Allobrox, the Arverni - Arvenorix, the Santons - Santius, the Marsacians - Marsacian Mothers, among the Nervii - Nervini, etc. * But with the strengthening of intertribal ties, the circle of admirers of some deities expanded greatly. Their names are repeated in many inscriptions. Certain deities were even common among the Celtic tribes of Gaul and Britain. These are the gods Belenos (Belis, Bel), Kamulos (Kumall), Ogmios (Ogmian, Ogam), Esus (Esar), etc. But they were also at the beginning, probably, local and tribal gods, as can be seen from their eponymous names, and from the geographical distribution of inscriptions with these names. Thus, the goddess Brigantia was the patroness of the Brigantes tribe, Mogons - the Mogontsiaks, Dumiatis was revered in the Puy de Dome region. It is possible that Esus was the eponymous god of the tribe or clan of the Essuvii **.

* See E. M. Shtaerman. Morality and religion of the oppressed classes of the Roman Empire. M., 1961, pp. 162-163.

** Anwyl, p. 33.

Having at first, apparently, been communal and tribal patrons, the Celtic gods have retained in many cases a very archaic appearance and, by their names or attributes, betray an ancient totemic origin.

Some of them are obviously related to the hunting cult. These are the Gallic gods Mokkus (boar), Cernunnos (god with deer antlers), Dea Artio, depicted with a bear. Often there is an image of a horned snake accompanying the figures of various deities *. Ireland had a fish god**.

* ("Bilderatlas zur Religionsgeschichte", hg. v. H. Haas, 17. Lieferung, 1933, S. XI-XII.)

** (J. Bonwick. Irish druids and old Irish religions. London, 1894, p. 127.)

Others are associated with domestic animals and were apparently considered patrons of livestock breeding. These are the goddess Epona (from epos - horse), depicted riding a horse, the god Mullo - a mullah or donkey, Tarvos - a bull, Damona - the patroness of cattle *.

* (Anwyl, p. 24.)

Other deities show a clear connection with natural phenomena, and some of them, apparently, were patrons of fertility and agriculture, or represented more complex images. Of the gods of celestial phenomena, the following stand out: Leucetios - the god of lightning, Taranis (Taranukus) - the thunderer, whose attribute was a spoked wheel or a hammer (the Romans identified Taranis with Jupiter). The sun deities were more revered in the British Isles (Crom, Dagda, Samhan, etc.) than in Gaul. There were a lot of deities of rivers and springs. Esus, one of the most revered gods, was apparently associated with forest vegetation, in which some researchers even wanted to see the ancient single god of the Celts *.

* (L "abbé E. Théron. Druides et druidisme. Paris, 1886, p. 39.)

There are two known images of him in the form of a man chopping down a tree; one of them, with the name of God, is on an altar found in Paris, on the site of the present Cathedral of Notre Dame. The Roman poet Lucan mentions the name of Esus next to Teutates and Taranis; on this basis, some scholars have suggested that these three gods constituted the supreme triad of the Celtic religion, but there are no serious motives for this, especially since these names do not appear together in any inscription.

Also interesting is the figure of Ogmios, the god of wisdom and eloquence, who may have been the patron of the grain field in the past; Ancient writers brought him closer to Hercules * (however, the Romans also brought other Celtic gods closer to their Hercules).

* (Anwyl, p. 39; Bonwick, p. 126; "Bilderatlas,..", S. XI.)

The warlike life of the Celtic tribes gave rise to a number of war deities or endowed the old gods with military functions: such are the British Belatukadros (his name, found in 14 inscriptions, means “brilliant in war”), Caturix (“king of battle”), Cocidius, Belenus, Belisama .

With the development of trade intertribal ties, gods appeared - patrons of trade, whom the Romans identified with their Mercury and Minerva.

A more ancient era of matriarchy is indicated by the veneration of mother goddesses (Matres or Matronae in Latin), who were usually depicted in triads *.

* ("Bilderatlas...", S. XII-XIII.)

In addition to the gods, the Celts believed in numerous spirits, fairies, elves, monsters, and deified trees, springs, and stones.

The decline of Druidism and its vestiges

Since the practice of worship was in the hands of professional Druids, the fate of the ancient religion depended to a large extent on their authority. During the years of the Roman conquest of Gaul, Julius Caesar supported the Druids, trying to rely on them in the fight against the military Celtic nobility. But after the pacification of Gaul, Rome's policy towards the Druids changed. Augustus and Tiberius persecuted the Druids and tried to undermine their authority among the Gallic population. Romanization further undermined this authority, and the spread of Christianity completed the fall of the Celtic religion.

However, traces of this religion have survived to this day in the beliefs of the population of France, England, and Ireland: this is a belief in witches, sorcerers, elves and fairies, and various fantastic monsters. As for the great gods of the Celtic pantheon, some of them quietly turned into Christian saints: for example, Saint Brigid, Saint Patrick *.

* (P. Sebillot. Le paganisme contemporain chez les peuples celtolatins. Paris, 1908; St. Czarnowski. Swiety Patryk, bohater narodowy. Irlandii (Czarnowski. Dziela, t. IV. Warszawa, 1956).)

It is interesting to note that in recent times in Ireland and Wales, in connection with the revival of the nationalist anti-British movement, attempts have been made to revive the ancient Celtic religion. This Irish-Welsh "neo-Druidism" is associated with the idealization of the ancient religion of the Druids as supposedly secret and profound wisdom. It represents a rather groundless, purely intellectual movement.