Celtic holidays: list, dates and description

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:45

Recently, interest in Celtic holidays is quite large. Many see in them similarities with the sacred rites of other peoples, trace analogies, drawing appropriate conclusions. A large role in the popularity of druidism is played by the recent interest in pagan culture. At the same time, it must be admitted that it is extremely difficult to single out originally Celtic traditions that would not be inherent in other states of Western Europe. On this score, researchers have many versions and assumptions. In this article, we will try to organize the most famous opinions that exist today about this culture.

Common signs

With regard to the Celtic holidays, the concepts of "eight-part year" and "wheel of the year" have long been strengthened, which reflects the ideas about the calendar that existed among this people. In this culture, great importance was given to cyclicity, since it was in it that they saw the endless continuation of everything that exists,when the end became the beginning and the beginning became the end.

The yearly circular cycle has no definite beginning and end. In the ideas of this people, it contains eight magical and sacred dates that carry a deep and sacred meaning, dividing the year into eight parts. The first "cross", dividing the year into peculiar four parts, includes the four main points of the "life" of the Sun, including the equinox and solstice. The second "cross", in turn, bisects each of the remaining parts.

It must be said that most of the rituals associated with these intermediate points are well known. Information about them has reached our days. As a result, a strong feeling is created that the holidays of the "solar cross" were celebrated more modestly. This can be especially attributed to the equinoxes, which look like only a preparation for the change of light and dark, in the sacred sense of these concepts.

Celts

It is better to understand the Celtic holidays and rituals if you delve into the essence of this people. This was the name of the tribes that were close in material culture and language to the tribes of Indo-European origin. At the turn of the eras, they occupied vast territories in Central and Western Europe.

It was the Celts who were considered one of the most warlike peoples of Europe. Before the battle, in order to intimidate the enemy, they blew their battle trumpets, uttering deafening cries. It is known that as early as the first millennium BC, they began to use a metal rim to increase the strength of the wheels in theirchariots. As a result, it has become an essential attribute of the thunder god Taranis.

In 390 BC, the Celts invaded Rome, almost completely sacking it. They destroyed all historical records prior to this period. In 279 BC, about ten thousand Celts moved to Asia Minor at the invitation of the ruler of Bithynia, Nicomedes I, who needed powerful support in dynastic confrontations. As a result, they settled in the region of central Anatolia, in Cappadocia, eastern Phrygia, creating the state of Galatia. It lasted until 230 BC.

Mythology

Celtic pagan holidays are based on rich mythology. At the same time, very little information has been preserved about the pantheon of gods that existed among them. Their religion is based on the idea of the existence of a world tree, which they considered the oak. Human sacrifices existed, but were carried out only in the most extreme cases, if the country was on the verge of destruction.

In Celtic society, the most influential were priests called druids. In their hands was concentrated not only the implementation of a religious cult, but also education, the highest judicial power. Fearing to lose their influence, they jealously guarded their knowledge. Because of this, the training of druids was conducted only orally. First of all, the student should develop memory in order to remember large amounts of information.

The Celts lived according to the laws of a tribal society, in their culture there were many traditions and legends. They are throughoutpassed down from mouth to mouth for many centuries. Archaeological excavations have confirmed that the Celts believed in the afterlife, leaving a large number of various objects in the burial places of the dead. It was weapons, tools, jewelry, there were even carts and carts with horses.

The belief in the transmigration of souls played a central role in mythology. This helped to overcome the fear of death, maintaining selflessness and courage in the soldiers. In the list of Celtic holidays, information about which has been preserved to our time, Beltane, Samhain, Imbolc, Lughnasad. We will talk about them in this article.

Cycle

In the Celtic holidays, the wheel of the year was of great importance. With its help, a certain annual cycle of holidays was established. It consists of eight holidays, which are celebrated at approximately the same time intervals. At the heart of the cycle is the changing path of the Sun as observed from Earth across the celestial sphere throughout the year.

It is noteworthy that the eight-pointed wheel of the year used by the current neo-pagans is an exclusively modern invention. In many pagan cultures, there were celebrations corresponding to the equinoxes, solstices, agrarian and seasonal holidays were celebrated between them. But in no tradition did all eight holidays, which are included in the modern syncretic "wheel", exist.

This calendar was adopted and approved in the late 1950s. In this article, we will consider only the Celtic holidays, which, according to mosthistorians were indeed celebrated by representatives of this people.

Imbolc

This is one of the four main holidays that still remains in the Irish calendar. It was originally celebrated in early February or at the first sign of spring. Today, as a rule, the holiday of Imbolc is celebrated on February 1 or 2. This day is believed to be halfway between the spring equinox and the winter solstice.

Initially, it was dedicated to the goddess Brigid, during the time of Christianity it was even celebrated as St. Brigid's day. This is a traditional time for forecasting the weather, perhaps the holiday was the forerunner of the famous American Groundhog Day.

On Imbolc it was customary to make crosses of St. Brigid, as well as her images in the form of a special doll, which were solemnly worn from one house to another. People wanted to receive her blessing. To do this, they prepared for her a bed, drink and food, and items of clothing were invariably left on the street. It was believed that the saint patronizes livestock and the home, protecting and protecting them.

Over time, the cross of St. Brigid became the unofficial symbol of Ireland. Most often it is made from straw, from reed stalks, with a wicker square in the middle, from which rounded rays diverge in four directions.

Previously, a large number of rituals were associated with this cross. Sometimes this symbol even today adorns the houses of Catholic believers, mainly in rural areas. Many believe that the cross is able to protecthouse from fires. The symbol is associated with the patron saint of Ireland. According to legend, Saint Brigid herself wove this cross on the deathbed of her father, and according to another, a we althy pagan who, having learned what it means, decided to be baptized.

Brigid and Saint Brigid

Interestingly, a goddess named Brigid also existed in Celtic mythology. She was the daughter of the Dagda, the most important female deity in Ireland. In civilian life, she patronized artisans, poets, doctors, especially women who helped with childbirth. In turbulent times, she turned into a goddess of war.

Since ancient times, it has been a tradition in Ireland to bury a live chicken by three streams to gain favor.

After the adoption of Christianity by the Irish, they began to celebrate Imbolc as a holiday dedicated to Saint Brigid. This is an Orthodox and Catholic saint. She was born in the middle of the 5th century, is considered the patroness of this country.

A little reliable information has been preserved about her life and fate. There are three lives written at different times. According to one version, her father was the pagan king of Leinster, and her mother was a slave from the ancient Scottish people of the Picts, who was converted to Christianity by St. Patrick. Brigid became famous for her kindness, mercy and her miracles. She healed the sick, distributed food to the poor, treats never ran out in her hands. Her main talent was brewing.

She converted to Christianity around 480, founding a monastery in the area of the town of Kildare, where an oak tree grew,revered by the druids. She died in 525 in the monastery she founded. She was buried in Downpatrick next to St. Patrick.

Beltane

This is a holiday celebrated at the beginning of summer or May 1st. Beltane was originally a Scottish or Irish holiday. In many countries inhabited by the Celts, it was given special religious significance, dedicating Belenus to the god of fertility and the sun. Druids made symbolic sacrifices to him.

According to the existing belief, on the day of the holiday Belenus descends to the earth. It was believed that it was on this day that the tribes of the goddess Danu arrived in Ireland, one of the mythical tribes that, according to legend, ruled Ireland.

During the Christian period, this Celtic holiday was superseded by Easter, the day of St. Walpurgis, the feast of the Holy Cross.

On this day, bonfires were kindled on the hills. The participants of the holiday passed between the fires or jumped over them for ritual purification.

The Celts hung the May Bough on the door, and in the yard they planted the May Bush from rowan branches, it was decorated in the manner of a modern Christmas tree. Initially, these rituals were associated with an attempt to protect oneself from evil spirits; over time, the custom lost its meaning. In regions where representatives of this people historically lived, the Celtic festival of Beltane is still celebrated in the countryside.

Recently, it began to develop again with the development of neo-pagan movements, today it is considered international.

Lugnasad

Thisa pagan holiday of the beginning of autumn, the name of which is literally translated as "the wedding of the Lug" or "the assembly of the Lug". The Lughnasad holiday, according to legend, was established by the god Lug in honor of his adoptive mother, the goddess Tailtiu. This happened after she died.

It is obligatory celebrated on August 1, when the blueberry harvest period begins, they prepare pies from the grains of the new crop.

Samhain

This holiday was dedicated to the end of the harvest. It symbolized the end of one agricultural year and the beginning of the next. Over time, it coincided with the eve of All Saints' Day, influencing Halloween traditions.

This is a Celtic holiday in October - it was celebrated on the night of October 31st to November 1st. In the Celtic tradition, he divided the year into two parts - light and dark. In the Latin version, Samhain was called "Three Nights of Samonios".

It is noteworthy that the pagan celebration remained even after the peoples inhabiting Britain adopted Christianity. At the Irish court until the 12th century, Samhain was celebrated from November 1 to November 3 in compliance with all ancient traditions.

The Oxford Dictionary claims that the holiday was the same for all the peoples who inhabited the British Isles, being associated with supernatural powers and death. There is no evidence that it had any special significance in pagan times other than seasonal and agricultural. At the same time, its traditional perception as a dark pagan holiday associated with the dead appeared only in the 10th-11th centuries due toChristian monks who wrote about him about four centuries after the adoption of Christianity in Ireland.

Traditions and features

Samhain was considered the holiday of the beginning of the new year. In Scotland and Ireland, it is sometimes called "the festival of the dead" even today. It was believed that only people who violated their geys, that is, taboos and prohibitions common in antiquity, died that night. It was believed that this was the last day of the harvest.

Traditionally it was divided into Samhain, deciding which part of the cattle would survive the coming winter and which would not. The last one was cut to stock up for the winter.

Traditionally, bonfires were lit during the holiday, and the druids predicted the future with the help of drawings that fire left on the bones of slain animals. People jumped over the fire, it was also a tradition to pass between two rows of high fires. This ritual symbolized purification by fire. For this, cattle were sometimes led between the fire.

After the adoption of Christianity by the Irish, Samhain began to coincide with All Saints' Day, followed by All Souls' Day on November 2.

In recent years, Samhain is increasingly celebrated in Russia as part of festivals of Celtic culture. As a rule, in large cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Vladivostok. Dance and musical groups perform at the festive venues, various fun contests are organized.