BEFORE READING: I wrote this blog up a while ago, as a beginning of a theme I wanted to have with my series of Pagan Blog Project posts, namely to show off the vastness of our own tradition, to show off how rich and varied it is without resorting to stealing from other cultures.
After typing this, I honestly did sit on it for a while. I honestly did not know whether or not to post it. I honestly feel like I could come off as an asshole, which is the last thing I would want to do. Am I a bit scathing, well, yes, I guess scathing is a bit of an accurate term to use when it comes to bad history and appropriation, but that goes without saying.
This was the first time I did post-writing research, not on the topic, but on others who have posted something similar to this before. Wicca For the Rest of Us certainly did so, and so did Metal Gaia. And they an apologetics style defense of appropriation was posted on a Tumblr blog. I figured with that post, and with the surprising numbers of supporters of it, that this blog needed to be posted.
The original name for the post was Celtophilia, meaning Love of the Celts. The change was a last minute decision, since I am a bit of a Celtophile, so Celtic Appropriation it is. :)
AND NOW FOR YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED PBP POST!
"The Celts believed in a single Goddess split into three aspects, which the Christians stole as their trinity."-From Wicca For the Rest of Us
The Celts ranged from the Asia Minor all the way out to the Iberian Peninsula in their long history. Over time, due to wars from both the Germanic tribes and the Romans, as well as Roman Catholicism and the British Empire, the Celtic tribes and nations fell one by one to the 6-9 left today (depending on whom you ask). These nations being: Ireland, Scotland, Isle of Man, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, Galicia, Asturias, and Cantabria. Other groups of Celts still exist today in the process of reviving their culture, but for the most past, those are the nine.
In the 17th century, William Stukeley, an Anglican Vicar and an antiquarian began studying the ancient Druids, and began calling himself a Druid to. These druids dressed in white, worshipped in stone circles, and believed in and worshipped a single sun god. In fact, he stated that the only difference between the Druids and the Christians was that the Druids believed in a savior to come, and to the Christians, that savior had come in the form of Jesus of Nazareth. Now of course, history has proven his theories wrong, but what he started was the archaeological study of the Celts, and the beginning of the Druid Revival. Countless more followed in history, Iolo Morganwyn, William Price, Ross Nichols, etc.
I think the first point that must be made is that the Celts had a rich and vibrant spirituality and culture that still continues today. Sure, it's definitely different from the Celts of the time of the Paleo-Druids, but it still lives on. Within Neopagan Celtic Spirituality, beliefs in the Fair Folk, no matter under what name they are known by, is commonplace; as well as ancestor worship, communion with nature, and the use of poetry and inspiration. The Celtic nations had varied deities, some shared between the tribes and some that were vastly different. The popular modern deity Cernunnos actually was not found with the Insular Celts, although he is similar to other figures in their traditional myths, and today he is found among most modern Celts.
This leads me to the discussion on the misunderstanding of what is Celtic, and the appropriation of Celtic culture that happens a lot. Like most appropriation and mislabeling, it begins with thinking of the Celts as one big unified culture. Much like Native Americans, whom had many different cultures and tribes, the Celts were similar. Hell, we even see this with the modern USA. New English culture is vastly different from Dixie, which is vastly different from Cascadia. Sure, we share certain features, like a history, certain beliefs about our nation, etc., but we come at them differently. The Celts are the same.
Where to start. I think a disclaimer is in order. I am not folkish at all. I feel that, if one is called to a practice, or wants to learn more about it personally, they are perfectly free to, as long as they are respectful. I am no enemy of syncretism or acculturation, if I was, there would be no statue of Budai on my altar, nor would I study Buddhism or use a mala. I am also not anti Celtic Wicca. In fact, William Butler Yeats, a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, began creating a Celtic Hermeticism, so Wicca can definitely work within a Celtic context, and can work very well.
What I am against, is this belief that the Celts were Wiccan, and that Neopaganism is Celtic in general. I know this is an idea that is rare anymore, we as a movement have grown up, but its still notable. First of all, Wicca is only about 60 years old. Second of all, the Celts were polytheistic, not Trinitarian (in response to the bunny posted at the top); were definitely patriarchal, not matriarchal (though women in Celtic society had more rights); and had a system that focused on the Land, Sea, and Sky (and not the Classical Elements of Air, Fire, Water, and Earth). Also, the potatoes, the damn potatoes, need I say more.
The sad point is that appropriation can put lives at risk. Sounds dramatic, no? But shall I remind you of the James Arthur Ray sweat lodge debacle in which two people died, and eighteen more were injured. In the 21 Lessons of Merlyn, amidst the misogyny and very New Agey beliefs about the Druids being from Atlantis, has put down some bad herbalism. To quote Isaac Bonewits, "He also explains how to make a tincture of mistletoe without mentioning that the berries are deadly poisonous, or whether he is referring to European or American mistletoe, which have very different medicinal properties." Now, I am going to give the author, Douglas Monroe, the benefit of the doubt. However, I don't think the everyday person, whom might not know this would take that into account, and may accidentally poison themselves. I for one, would not want that!
I will speak more of this in my two blogs on Eclecticism when we get to the E's, but there is one easy solution to this. Solution thy name is education! Pick up a good book on Celtic culture, both ancient and modern, and skim through it a little. I'm not saying become a Celtic Reconstructionist. Neo-Druidry and Celtic Wicca are a-okay in my book. I don't think there is a way to write this, in some way, much needed blog, without coming off unintentionally as an asshole. Yet, here I am, stating this fact out, when it's most needed, as we rediscover our footing.
NEXT WEEK: Something less Phlegmatic in humor (although I am pretty Phlegmatic), CARDINAL POINTS AND ASSOCIATED SPIRITS AND SYMBOLS
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