The Celts

The Celts,

their misty history,

magical tattoos,

and wild nature.

Circles of stone,

therein,

the marriage,

between earth and sky.

The voices of the Druids,

whisper through time,

the spirit of the Celt,

the fire in the heart,

will never die….

by Ashlyn Brady

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Hello and welcome to this week’s blog about the Celts. I had planned on writing a blog about Celtic Women, but I got side-tracked with writing history, and the word count kept growing longer and longer. I had to find a place to stop or I’d been writing a book.

The Ancient Celts

The Celts had an oral tradition of passing on their history and stories. So what is written about them are the words of others. Current thinking is that the Celts were not one single race of people, but rather tribes of people who shared common languages, religions and some cultural traditions.

Around the 6^th Century BC, the core of Celtic people lived in central Europe, in the area of Austria. Over the centuries that followed, they migrated to eastern and western Europe, France, Portugal, Spanish Galicia, Italy and the British Isles.

  

The Romans and the Celts

World domination versus the Barbarians.

History suggests the Celts were a pain in the butt to Roman leadership, until the Celts were conquered, or surrendered and were subjugated, or retreated to lands that are still Celtic strongholds today.

In the 4^th Century BC, tribes of Celts (Gauls) had migrated to Northern Italy to settle and farm the lands. They developed an obsessive taste for Italian wine. Relations with the early Roman neighbors turned sour, and tensions escalated.

The Gauls attacked Rome, which was already a prosperous city. The people who could escape the march of the terrifying barbarians fled to the countryside. The Vestal Virgins and religious treasures were carted away to a secret location.

The Gauls were tall, with long, fair hair. They wore plaid-patterned clothes. Gold torques encircled their necks. They went into battle naked to the waist and with their magical tattoos on display. The warriors fought as individuals, in their own style with their own weapons as part of a clan.

The siege at Capitoline Hill went on for months and Rome was subjected to the usual horrors and savagery of war. Finally the Romans offered 1000 pounds of gold to end the battle. The Gauls accepted the booty and withdrew from Rome.

Bad blood was split on Roman soil and it would last for centuries to come....including Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars (in France and Belgium) and the conquest of Britain.

Massacre of the Druids

By 50 A.D most of southern England had fallen to Roman occupation. The native Brits (including the Celtic tribes) staged guerrilla attacks to resist Roman rule. Finally in 57 A.D, the Roman General Suetonius reached his limit of endurance. He led his armies west and then north into Wales to reach the sacred home of the Druids—the island of Anglesey.

The Druids were the spiritual leaders in Celtic society. They were made up of women and men. They had power and influence over the hearts and minds of the people. Kill the Druids and you kill the people’s leaders. The conquest of Britain is more likely.

Between the Welsh mainland and Anglesey lay a treacherous, sandy strait of water subject to cross-currents and undertow. The Romans felled trees and built boats made of green timber to cross the strait. 

Waiting on the island's shores, were the Druids and their company. The final battle was imminent. Wild-haired women brandished torches. Druids shouted invocations to the deities.

At first the Romans feared the crazed enemy, then they launched their blood-thirsty attack. The men, women and children were massacred on the beach and then the island was ransacked.

That was the end of the Druids and the British tradition of natural magic.  Over the centuries that followed, secret societies came into being but eighteen hundred years would pass before there was widespread interest in Druidism again. A revival took place In the Victorian Age.

Hadrian’s Wall

I’m veering from the Celtic path for a bit to visit Hadrian’s Wall which was also called the Roman Wall. It was built coast to coast across northern Britain at a time when the Roman Empire had stopped expanding and was consolidating.

The fortress wall was started in 122 A.D and took 6 years to complete.  It was probably built for many reasons including taxation, control of migration, and to stop the cattle-raiders and smugglers. The purpose was also to keep out the Barbarians to the north which included the Scottish tribes. Rebellion to Roman rule hadn’t stopped.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Coming up on Google + next week, I’ll be posting articles about Celtic Women, the fourth topic in my series of Interesting Women posts. I’ll be featuring the Tuatha de Denann, a supernatural tribe in Irish Mythology. They were also known as the “people of the Goddess Danu” (name associated with the Danube River).  

source: www.pinterest.com

I have to include Boadicea, Queen of the Celtic Iceni tribe.

“We British are used to women commanders in war; I am descended from mighty men! But I am not fighting for my kingdom and wealth now. I am fighting as an ordinary person for my lost freedom, my bruised body, and my outraged daughters.... Consider how many of you are fighting — and why! Then you will win this battle, or perish. That is what I, a woman, plan to do!— let the men live in slavery if they will.”

These are the words of Queen Boadicea, according to ancient historian Tacitus, as she summoned her people to unleash war upon the Romans.

source: www.ancient-origins.net 

Boadicea fought the Roman occupation of Britain.  She set fire to Londinium (London), and massacred the people. She was eventually defeated but was never captured by the Romans.

source: www.pinterest.com

Morrigan was, and, is the great triple Goddess (maiden, mother and crone) of Ireland. She has many associations, with crows, life and death, and being a warrior. 

Morrigan had a relationship of some sort with Dagda, the High King and great God of the Tuatha de Denann people. And one day, in the distant future, I would like to write a fictional story about the encounters between Morrigan and Dagda set during the time of the Roman occupation of Britain.

If you can, please come and read about the Celtic Women next week. Thank you for reading this lengthy blog.

♥ Ashlyn