Celtic
Paganism
By: Katherine Esteve, Emily Wright,
Juhi Kapadia, Lucy Yuan, and Kathy Guo
Celtic Paganism
• Polytheistic Religion
• A lot like Norse Paganism
• Followed by Celts during the
Iron Age
• Also known as Celtic Polytheism
Geographic
Origin
• Celtic paganism
originated in
Northern Europe and
Western Europe
• Modern practices of
Celtic paganism can
be found in the United
States, Britain, but
also in Scandinavia,
Slavic Europe, and
Latin Europe
Celtic Beliefs
Beliefs
• Celts gathered to sacrifice
animals, fruits and vegetables
during Samhain
• Lit bonfires in honor of the dead
and to help the dead on their
journey.
• Ghost’s, Fairies’ and demons
The Ovates
• Worked with death and regeneration
(sacrifices)
• “Native healers of the Celts”
• Conversed with ancestors and
prophesized the future
• All creation has its own spiritual force
and holds the wisdom of nature
The Druids
Professional class in Celtic society
• Led rituals in surrounded by sacred trees
- Trees were believed to have
a strong spiritual presence
- Fuel for heat, cooking, building materials
and weaponry
- understand all energies
(plants, stars, moons, gravity)
Shamanism
• Trees connect the lower, middle
and upper world
• The upper world
consists of the stars and
the god’s while human’s
live in the middle
Lug
• God of Sun and
Light
• Celtic equivalent
to Roman god
Mercury
• Had variations to
his name such as
Lugh or Lleu
Nodens
• He was one of the Gods of healing,
the sea and hunting
Morrigan
• A war goddess,
forerunner of the
Arthurian Morgan
La Fey
• Also the Goddess of
Victory
• Morrigan “traid”
which includes her
sisters Badb and
Macha
Epona
• Goddess of
Horses
• Usually portrayed
riding a mare or a
foal
• Associated with
Celtic
horsemanship
Danu
• Mother goddess, an
aspect of the Great
Mother
• Mother of the
Tuatha Dé Danann
• She was the mother
of the Triple
Goddess
Dis Pater
• Originally a god of
death and the
underworld, but later
chief god of the gauls
• The Gauls believed
that Dis Pater was the
ancestor of all Gauls
Brighid
• Also known as
Brigit
• She is the goddess
of healing and
craftsmanship,
especially
metalwork
• Also a patron of
learning and poetry
Major festivals/holidays
Imbolc
• February 1; 1st full moon in
Aquarius
• Time of cleansing and newborn
lambs
• Festival of Lights, marks
beginning of spring
• Ceremonies involve water,
candles pledges and planting a
hope or a seed, making candles
• Candles are lit , Yule greens are
burnt to send winter on its way
• Evolved into Ground Hog’s Day
Beltane
• May 1; 1st full moon in Taurus
• A fertility festival with offerings to
nature; celebrates new life in all its
forms
• time when the Goddess and the
God are united in sacred marriage,
symbolically fertilizes the animals
and crops for the coming year
• Bonfires of sacred wood are lit in
honor of the Celtic god Beli
• Evolved into May Day
Lughnassadh
• August 1; 1st full moon in Leo
• harvest festival in honor of god
Lugh’s wedding to mother
earth
• Celebrates the beginning of
harvest season, the decline of
summer to winter
• Time to dismiss regrets,
farewells, and prepare for
winter
• Ceremonies involve breads,
grains and harvest corn dolls
Samhain
• October 31; ending of the Celtic year
• Night the old God died, and time when the Crone
Goddess would go into mourning for her lost son 
temporary darkness
• aka Feast of the Dead/Ancestor Night
• Feasts are made in remembrance of
dead ancestors
• A time for settling problems, throwing
out old ideas and influences
• Evolved into Halloween
Rituals
Background
• Celtic religion was strictly oral and
as such, there is very little written
history
• Sacred texts and teachings were
memorized by heart
Human Sacrifice
• Early Celts preformed human
sacrifices to make lands fertile
• Over time, this ritual was
replaced with spells
Daily Rites
• Prayers or rituals performed in
the morning and evening
• Preformed to strengthen the
bonds between them and the
gods
Burial and Afterlife
• People were buried with food,
weapons, and ornaments
• Funerals were intended to be
celebrations of the deceased’s life
rather than a time of mourning
• Sometimes placed in burial
mounds
Newgrange Burial Mound
Burial and Afterlife
• Believed that the soul was immortal
and death was a passing from one
world to another
• Druids believed in Transmigration of
the soul
• Belief in the Otherworld – a realm of
“fairy folk” and other supernatural
beings
Why were Druids so important?
Druids were integrated within
society
B. Druids were the upper social class
that directed kings and queens
C. Druids worked with nature and
nature was extremely important to
Celtic society
A.
Who was the mother of
the Tuatha Dé Danann?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Morrigan
Epona
Danu
Brighid
Which festival celebrates
the coming of Spring?
A.
B.
C.
D.
Imbolc
Beltane
Yule
Samhain
Which God/Goddess was
important to
horsemanship?
Epona
B. Danu
C. Lug
D. Morrigan
A.
Why is there still so much
speculation around Celtic
Paganism?
A. No one actually researched Celtic
Paganism
B. The gods erased all the information
C. The Celtic people erased all the
information
D. Much of the history about Celtic Paganism
was told orally so some information may
not be accurate.
Sources
• http://gorddcymru.org/atlanta/holidays/in
dex.htm
• https://pantherfile.uwm.edu/barnold/ww
w/lectures/holloween.html
• http://www.taracelebrations.org/
• http://www.gaolnaofa.com/articles/dailyrites/
• http://www.scns.com/earthen/other/sean
achaidh/godcelt.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_polyth
eism#Burial_and_afterlife
• http://www.ancientspiral.com/Celt.htm
• http://www.liafail.org/mids.html
• http://druidry.org/modules.php?op=modlo
ad&name=PagEd&file=index&topic_id=1&p
age_id=184
• http://www.britannia.com/wonder/michel
l2.html
• http://www.unc.edu/~reddeer/god_dess_e
s/celtic.html
• http://www.wicca.com/celtic/wicca/celtic.
htmhttp://spells-witchcraft.org/picturesof-greek-gods-and-goddesses.html
• http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/celticdei
ties/tp/CelticDeities.htm