ELTIC ICCA

INTRO

Well as you can guess by the name of this page I'm not Christian. I created this page to speak my piece about a lot of those happy go lucky, unicorns dancing around a bubbling brook, crystal sucking pagan web sites out there. I think that's the end of my bashing other pages now. Okay first of all being pagan doesn’t mean your a Satanist.If you look in the dictionary it'll tell you that all that paganism means is that your not Christian. ANY religion other than Christianity is deemed pagan. Now if your a Pagan and your reading this you might get miffed at me but remember the first and greatest thing about being pagan is that the rules of being a Pagan are much more flexible than that of other religions. That's the great thing about being a solitary practitioner is that you take what you need or want to use and throw the rest away. Now I only mean that to a certain extent. Things like the three fold law you don't just throw away because you don't like it. But I don't personally believe that you have to follow the books written to the letter. If we had to follow every rule we may as well be Christian. The next thing on my list to cover are "Crystal Suckers"(you know who you are).Okay it's true that crystals are used to store magic energy but TOO many of you are going to extremes. Crystals were meant to be used as tools not as your main source of energy. Pagans today have forgotten one of the most important sources of energy...themselves. Tools are meant to enhance your power not to be your power. I mean come on that would mean you had nothing to do with the casting of the spell, the rock in your hand would have done all the work for you. STORM
Until recently I didn’t think that there was that big of a difference between Wicca and Celtic Wicca, there is. Of course there are the normal differences things like names of Gods, language related stuff like that. There are some other differences also. This page is for Celtic Wicca so I'm not going to do a comparison. I'll cover some general things about Celtic Wicca, and you can learn about Wicca on someone else's page. This is probably going to be the first page that won't be my personal views. Everything on here (almost)will be of a general nature and not necessarily my way of doing it. I will have to throw in tidbits. STORM

The Beginning....

The Celts were the beginning. Celts first appeared around 9th century B.C.. They came from the east in waves. Settling in Gaul, North Italy, the Balkans Asia minor, Britain, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and on the Iberian peninsula. By the time the 5th century came around they were already attacking towns in Italy, France, Switzerland, and Germany. Eventually they controlled from the British Isles to Turkey. That was before the Romans and Germanic tribes. Although they were not all of the same ethnic stock they spoke similar enough dialects. They were very good Craftsmen and warriors. Some people say they founded the western European civilization. Celtic women were held in high regard and were as good as their male counterparts at fighting. It was common for the women to fight alongside the men. By the first century B.C. the Romans had conquered most the Celtic lands. However the Celts destroyed many of the roman legions, controlling their lands again. Then the Christians came and destroyed their beliefs. Burning their books and changing their language. St. Patrick himself burned over 180 Irish books written in the Celtic language. This set an example for other Christians. Oddly enough while all this stupidity was happening Christian monks felt the need to record the Celtic beliefs.

THE RELIGION

The Celts were very religious. The ethical teachings of the Druids were very easy: worship the Gods, do no evil, and be strong and courageous. The Celts believed in reincarnation and transmigration. And of course they believed in several female Deities.(like Wicca) The Druids were the Celtic priesthood. Of course there was a female version of druids. There are some things in history that suggest that a female version of Druids was around before the male Druids. The females are thought to have called themselves Dryads. In Celtic beliefs there was no punishment by the Gods after death. There were three circles, Abred, the innermost where life starts. In this circle is where the human soul must perfect itself. The second circle is Gwynedd. In this circle you can rest forever from reincarnation. And the third circle was Ceugant, the resting place for the ultimate power of creation. The Druids taught that a soul would go through many incarnations in the Abred. Abred is about perfecting life on Earth. Once you perfect that the soul will not return. Three things will hinder progress ego or pride, lies, and unnecessary cruelty. Most Celtic ceremonies were done at night because the Celts measured time by the nights, not days. Their calendar also had thirteen months. The bright half of the month was made up of the fifteen days of the waxing moon, and the Dark half was made up of the waning moon. During the waxing you do positive magic, and during the waning you do binding or Dark magic. The months of a Celtic year were named after trees. They also used the solar year in accordance to the time it takes the sun to circle the Earth and return to the same position. Like many other religions Samhain was the beginning of the New year. The Celtic year was divided in to light and dark. Dark Starting on Samhain and light starting on Beltane. Religious holidays were mainly on solstices, equinoxes, and moon phases.

MYTHS BEHIND IT ALL...

The first group of people in Ireland were a group of people known as the Fomorians. But the tended to live in the sea. The first group to try to invade them were called the Partholon. But in the middle of the invasion they all died of an epidemic Next to try were the Nemeds, they also failed. After it was the Fir Bolgs who succeeded kind of. They intermarried with the Fumors and built Hill forts. They kept control of the Island until the Tuatha De Danann came. The Tuatha De Danann destroyed the Fumors. Rather than kill them all they gave them 1/5th of Ireland. Amid many years of problems The Tuatha De Danann finally defeated the Fumors once and for all. After that they lived well for many years, until the mortal Gaelic Celts came. After a big war the Celts drove the Tuatha De Danann underground. Where Using magic made Ireland unlivable for the Gaelic Celts. The Gaelic Celts were forced into a peace treaty with the old gods. Part of the treaty was that the Gaelic Celts had to pay homage to the old gods.

THOSE SPECIAL NIGHTS

October 31(Halloween or Samhain)
This is the night when the veil between this world and the next is the thinnest. The ruling time of the Crone aspect of the Goddess.

Winter Solstice
A time of rebirth and turning of the Earth to force the tides.

Imbolc February 1st or the first full moon of Aquarius.
A time of cleansing purification, preparation for growth and renewal.

Spring Equinox
Balance of light and dark. Spell producing and new beginnings.

Beltane(May 1st or the first full moon of Taurus)
Time of the Horned God and Lady of the Greenwood.

Lughnassadh(August 1st or the first full moon of Leo)
A time for spell work regarding good fortune and abundance.

Autumn Equinox
Again a balance of light and dark. A good time for meditations and rest to prepare for Samhain.

EDITORIAL

Well that's it, this page wasn’t meant to be a tutorial; just a little information. Now remember all you little pagan boys and girls out there I'm not saying this is the one and only right way to do it. In fact I'm saying the opposite; this is one way of doing it take what you need forget the rest. Don't do it by the book, free style. But don't go overboard. I guess that's the best way I can explain Crystal suckers; they have gone too far and lost sight of the basics. Being pagan and having the freedom to freestyle makes it very easy to get wrapped up in what your doing and forget the most basic things. Every time I read books I remember things, important things that I just lost sight of. So stay strong, keep focused, and always know what your getting into before you mess with it. And remember it doesn't really matter what you believe in, as long as you believe in something.STORM

ABOUT HELLSTORM

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Counter by Rapid Axcess Information compiled from D.J.Conways Celtic Magic, and various debates.