Page 12 - Celtic Beasts Sampler

Spain, and Portugal. The unique culture. mythology. and art developed

by these fierce warriors is considered the greatest achievement north of
the Alps after the Ice Age. During the Roman periods just before the

Celtic "empire" began to wain, cities as widely separated an Ankara.

Belgrade. Cologne. and Milan all spoke Celtish. The Romans usually

called them Gauls. but Julius Caesar (ioo-44 BCE) wrote that the Gauls of

his day referred to themselves as Celtae. When at St. Paul wrote to

the Galatians, he was addressing Celts. By that time Celts had already

reached Britain and Ireland. subjugated the previous inhabitants and
blended their cultures and religious systems for over half a millennium.

They were a people deeply connected with Creation. Both literally

and symbolically, animals were a constant part of their lives. In ancient

times the Druids used beasts for divination. This is likely the reason the

Irish continued to domesticate ravens and wrens. To this day, if a bird

happens to fly into some Irish households. on the literal level. such an

event might be understood to mean nothing more than a new pet. On
the symbolic level, it can portend good luck. But if a frog hops into the

house, it means that someone in about to die. In the Scottish Highlands

on the other hand. small birds are often considered harbingers of death.

The Celts not only relied on animals for their survival but they respected

them, learned from them, and honoured them by decorating their

jewellery, weapons. monuments. and. in the Christian period. their

manuscripts,, book covers, reliquaries, and chapels with brilliant. intricate.
elaborate zoomorphic designs.

In order to enter the world of Celtic beasts it is essential to act aside

all linear thinking. To understand the role of animals in the ancient myths

and in the lives of the saints, it will be necessary to see them as more than

either simple beasts or archetypal symbols. We are about to journey on a

spiritual path. the origin of which can be traced to the earliest remaining
evidence of human worship. Since archaeologists have claimed that the

Bear is the oldest identifiable deity, we will begin with her. We will

observe that there is a thread forming a connecting link, which runs all

the way back to the ancient Bear Mother and forward into Christian

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