Celtic Reconstructionist

[PerseH ~Staff Wrangler~]

Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism

(also Celtic Reconstructionism or CR) is a polytheistic, animistic, religious and cultural movement. It is an effort to reconstruct and revive, in a modern Celtic cultural context,
pre-Christian Celtic religions.


Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism originated in discussions among amateur scholars and Neopagans in the mid 1980s, and evolved into an independent tradition by the early 1990s. CR represents a polytheistic
reconstructionist approach to Celtic Neopaganism, emphasising historical accuracy over eclecticism such as is found in Neo-druidism. Currently, "Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism" (CR) is an umbrella term, with a
number of recognized sub-traditions or denominations.[2]


Origins


As modern Paganism grew in scope and cultural visibility, some Americans of European heritage saw the pre-Christian religions of their ancestors as being worthy of revival, and the study of mythology and folklore as a way to accomplish this.[3] While most Neodruid groups of the period were primarily interested in "revitalizing the spirit of what they believe was the religious practice of pre-Roman Britain", the Celtic
Reconstructionists focused on only "reconstructing what can be known from the extant historical record."[4]


According to the authors of the CR FAQ the people who went on to establish CR were involved in Pagan groups in the 1970s and 1980s. Often these groups contained many Celtic elements that eventually found their way into core CR practice. Much of the dialogue in the 1980s took place at workshops and discussions at Neopagan festivals and gatherings, as well as in the pages of Neopagan publications.[5] This period, and these groups, are referred to in retrospect as "Proto-CR".[6][5] Later, with the establishment of the Internet in the late eighties and early nineties, many of these Proto-CR, or early CR, groups and individuals
came together online. This began a period of increased communication, and led to the growth of the movement.[5][7]


The first appearance in print of the term "Celtic Reconstructionist", used to describe a specific religious movement and not just a style of Celtic Studies, was by Kym Lambert ní Dhoireann in the Spring, 1992
issue of Harvest Magazine.[8][9] Ní Dhoireann credits Kathryn Price NicDhàna with originating the term “Celtic Reconstructionist”;[10] however, NicDhàna credits her early use of the term to a simple
extrapolation of Margot Adler's use of the term "Pagan Reconstructionists" in the original, 1979 edition of Drawing Down the Moon.[11] Though Adler devotes space to a handful of Reconstructionist
traditions, none of those mentioned are specifically Celtic.[12] In chapter eleven, while describing his Neo-druidic group, New ReformedDruids of North America (NRDNA), Isaac Bonewits uses the phrase
"Eclectic Reconstructionist."[13] However, by the time CR became a recognized tradition, this pairing of terms had become oxymoronic; in the Pagan/polytheist communities, "Reconstructionist" had now come to
mean traditions that specifically exclude "Eclecticism".[6][10][14]


With the growth of the Internet over the 1990s, hundreds of individuals and groups gradually joined the discussions online and in print, and the movement became more of an umbrella group, with a number of recognized sub-traditions.[7]


Practices


While the ancient Celtic religions were largely subsumed by Christianity,[15] many religious traditions have survived in the form of folklore, mythology, songs, and prayers.[6][16][17] Many folkloric practices never completely died out, and some CRs have survivals of Irish, Scottish or Welsh folkloric customs in their families of origin.[6][17][16]


Language study and preservation, and participation in other cultural activities such as Celtic music, dance and martial arts forms, are seen as a core part of the tradition.[6][18] Participation in the living
Celtic cultures[19] - the cultures that survive in the "areas in which Celtic languages are actually spoken and in which Celtic traditions have been most faithfully handed down to the present day."[20] - is a vital
part of their cultural work and spiritual practice.[19] The protection of Celtic archeological and sacred sites is important to CRs,[21] some of whom organized protests and rituals when construction of the N3
motorway in Ireland threatened to destroy archeological sites around the Hill of Tara.[21][22]


In order to more fully understand ancient Celtic religion, many CRs study archaeology, historical manuscripts, and comparative religion, primarily of Celtic cultures, but sometimes other European cultures, as
well.[23] Celtic Reconstructionists are not pan-Celtic in practice, but rather immerse themselves in a particular Celtic culture, such as the Gaelic, Welsh or Gaulish. While they believe it is helpful to study a
wide variety of Celtic cultures as an aid to religious reconstruction, and to have a broad understanding of religion in general, in practice these cultures are not lumped together.[6] In addition to cultural
preservation and scholarly research Celtic Reconstructionists believe that mystical, ecstatic practices are a necessary balance to scholarship, and that this balance is a vital component in determining whether a tradition is CR.[24]


Many CRs view each act of daily life as a form of ritual, accompanying daily acts of purification and protection with traditional prayers and songs from sources such as the Scottish Gaelic Carmina Gadelica or
manuscript collections of ancient Irish or Welsh poetry.[24] Celebratory, community rituals are usually based on traditional community celebrations as recorded in folkloric collections by authors such as Marian McNeill, Kevin Danaher or John Gregorson Campbell. These celebrations often involve bonfires, dances, songs, divination and children's games.[6] More formal or mystical CR rituals are often based on traditional techniques of interacting with the Otherworld, such as the act of making offerings of food, drink and art to the spirits of the land, ancestral spirits, and the Celtic deities. CRs give offerings to spirits throughout the year, but at Samhain, more elaborate offerings are made to specific gods and ancestors.[25]


The ancient Irish swore their oaths by the "Three Realms" - Land, Sea and Sky.[26] Based on this precedent, Gaelic CR ritual structures acknowledge the Land, Sea and Sky, with the fire of inspiration as a central force that unites the realms.[24] Many CRs maintain altars and shrines to their patron spirits and deities, often choosing to place them at outdoor, natural locations such as wells, streams, and special trees. Some CRs practice divination. Ogham is a favored method, as are folkloric customs such as the taking of omens from the shapes of clouds or the behaviour of birds and animals.[24]


While CRs strive to be as traditional as possible,[4] they openly acknowledge that some aspects of their religious practice are revivals and reconstructions. They state that these practices are based on
cultural survivals, augmented with study of early Celtic beliefs found in texts and the work of scholars and archaeologists. Feedback from scholars and experienced practitioners is sought before a new practice
is accepted as a valid part of a CR tradition.[27]


CRs believe it is important to lay aside elements of some ancient Celtic cultures which would be clearly inappropriate practices for a modern society. CRs strive to find ethical ways of integrating their historical
findings and research with their daily lives.[27]


Terminology


NicDhàna and ní Dhoireann have stated that they coined the term "Celtic Reconstructionist / Celtic Reconstructionism (CR)" specifically to distinguish their practices and beliefs from those of eclectic
traditions like Wicca and the Neo-druidism of the time.[6][10][28] With ní Dhoireann’s popularization of Celtic Reconstructionism in the Pagan press, and then the use of the term by these individuals and others on
the Internet, “Celtic Reconstructionism” began to be adopted as the name for this developing spiritual tradition.[29][30][31]


While Celtic Reconstructionism was the earliest term in use, and still remains the most widespread, as the movement progressed other names for a Celtic Reconstructionist approach were also popularized, with varying degrees of success.[2]


Pàganachd / Págánacht


Some CR groups have looked to Celtic languages for a more culturally specific name for the tradition, or for their branch of the tradition. There are groups who now described their traditions as Pàganachd
("Paganism, Heathenism" in Scottish Gaelic)[24] or the Irish version, Págánacht. [22] Some Gaelic-oriented groups use the two terms somewhat interchangeably,[32] or further modify these terms to describe the CR
sub-tradition practiced by their particular group, such Pàganachd Bhandia (“Paganism of Goddesses”),[6][24] used by a Gaelic Reconstructionist group on the East Coast of the US.[6][24]


Gaelic Traditionalism


Some groups that take a Celtic Reconstructionist approach to Gaelic polytheism call themselves "Gaelic Traditionalists".[2] While there is agreement that a priority of Celtic Reconstructionism is to preserve the
living traditions in Gaelic (and other Modern Celtic) communities, there has been some controversy around the use of the term "Gaelic Traditionalists" by groups outside of the Gaeltacht and Gàidhealtachd
areas of Ireland, Scotland and Nova Scotia.[33] Part of this is because most "Gaelic Traditionalists" are actually Christians.[2] As Kym Lambert ní Dhoireann put it, "Gaelic Traditionalists" means "those living and
raised in the living cultures and [who] are keeping their culture, language and music alive, not any of the American polytheistic groups that have been using it lately."[10] Due to those in the Gaelic-speaking
areas having a prior claim to the term, some CRs have been uncomfortable with the choice of other reconstructionists to call themselves "traditionalists".[2][33] While this disagreement over terminology has at times led to heated discussion, the polytheistic “traditionalists” and the “reconstructionists” are taking the same approach to their religion, and there are generally good relations between the founders of both movements.[33]


Senistrognata / Sinnsreachd


In the late 1990s, members of Imbas, a Celtic Reconstructionist organisation based in Seattle, began promoting the name Senistrognata,[34] which they say means "the ancestral customs of the Celtic peoples" in reconstructed Old Celtic.[35]


In 2006, An Cónaidhm na dTuath Gaelach, an American group that does not call themselves CR, began promoting the name Sinnsreachd (Scottish Gaelic) or Sinsearacht (Irish), which they say is the modern Gaelic
equivalent of the term. However, Sinnsreachd and Sinsearacht actually mean "ancestry",[36][37][38] "seniority",[39] or "genealogy".[37][39]


Other


• The Irish word for “polytheism”, Ildiachas, is in use by at least one group on the West Coast of the US as Ildiachas Atógtha (“reconstructed polytheism”).[34][40]


• Aurrad, which came into use among members of the Nemeton mailing list in the mid 1990s,[41] means "person of legal standing in the túath"[42] in Old Irish.[43]


• In January 2009, the Gaelic Polytheist organization Gaol Naofa began using the term Fálachus, which they claim translates to "the characteristics, connection or attachment to Fál" (Fál being an Old Irish name for Ireland), to refer to its tradition of Gaelic Polytheism.[44]


• In Germany, Austria and Switzerland, the CRs are calling themselves Celtoi, in masculine singular Celtos and in feminine singular Celta. This is the Proto-Celtic word for Celt.


Celtic Reconstructionism and Neo-druidism


Though there has been cross-pollination between Neo-druid and Celtic Reconstructionist groups, and there is significant crossover of membership between the two movements, the two have largely differing goals and methodologies in their approach to Celtic religious forms. Reconstructionists tend to look to the whole cultural matrix in which the religious ideas were formed, and place a high priority on authenticity and traditional practice, while most Neo-druids tend to prefer a Neopagan, eclectic approach, focusing on "the spirit of what they believe was the religious practice of pre-Roman Britain".[4]


However, some Neo-druid groups (notably, Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF), the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD), and Keltria) have more recently adopted similar methodologies of reconstruction, at least some
of the time. ADF, in particular, has long used CR-type techniques, but many CRs criticize them for their pan-Indo-European scope, which may result in unusual combinations such as "Vedic druids" and "Roman
druids".[45]


Philosophical differences exist as well, especially in terms of what "druid" means. Some Neo-druid groups call anyone with an interest in Celtic spirituality a "druid," and refer to the practice of any
Celtic-inspired spirituality as "druidry," while CR groups usually use the older definition, seeing "druid" as a culturally-specific office that requires decades of training and experience, which is only attained
by a small number of practitioners, and which must be conferred and confirmed by the community the druid serves.




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