1.
Celtic mythology
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Celtic mythology is the mythology of Celtic polytheism, the religion of the Iron Age Celts. Like other Iron Age Europeans, the early Celts maintained a polytheistic mythology and it is mostly through contemporary Roman and Christian sources that their mythology has been preserved. The Celtic peoples who maintained either their political or linguistic identities left vestigial remnants of their ancestral mythologies, however, from what has survived of Celtic mythology, it is possible to discern commonalities which hint at a more unified pantheon than is often given credit. Indeed, many Gaelic myths were first recorded by Christian monks, the oldest body of myths stemming from the Heroic Age is found only from the early medieval period of Ireland. As Christianity began to take over, the gods and goddesses were slowly eliminated as such from the culture, the Tuatha Dé represent the functions of human society such as kingship, crafts and war, while the Fomorians represent chaos and wild nature. The leader of the gods for the Irish pantheon appears to have been the Dagda, the Dagda was the figure on which male humans and other gods were based because he embodied ideal Irish traits. Celtic gods were considered to be a clan due to their lack of specialization. Irish tales depict the Dagda as a figure of power, armed with a club, in Dorset there is a famous outline of an ithyphallic giant known as the Cerne Abbas Giant with a club cut into the chalky soil. While this was produced in relatively modern times, it was long thought to be a representation of the Dagda. In Gaul, it is speculated that the Dagda is associated with Sucellus, the Morrígan was a tripartite battle goddess of the Celts of Ancient Ireland. She was known as the Morrígan, but the different sections she was divided into were also referred to as Nemain, Macha and she is most commonly known for her involvement in the Táin Bó Cúailnge. The god appearing most frequently in the tales is Lugh, the most famous of these are the cities of Lugdunum, Lugdunum Batavorum and Lucus Augusti. Lug is described in the Celtic myths as the last to be added to the list of deities, in Ireland a festival called the Lughnasadh was held in his honour. Other important goddesses include Brigid, the Dagdas daughter, Aibell, Áine, Macha, notable is Epona, the horse goddess, celebrated with horse races at the summer festival. Significant Irish gods include Nuada Airgetlám, the first king of the Tuatha Dé Danann, Goibniu, the smith and brewer, Dian Cecht, the patron of healing, less is known about the pre-Christian mythologies of Britain than those of Ireland. Important reflexes of British mythology appear in the Four Branches of the Mabinogi, especially in the names of characters, such as Rhiannon, Teyrnon. The children of Llŷr in the Second and Third Branches, and the children of Dôn in the Fourth Branch are major figures, indeed, though there is much in common with Irish myth, there may have been no unified British mythological tradition per se. Whatever its ultimate origins, the material has been put to good use in the service of literary masterpieces that address the cultural concerns of Wales in the early
2.
Celtic polytheism
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Celtic polytheism was one of a larger group of Iron Age polytheistic religions of the Indo-European family. The Celtic pantheon consists of numerous recorded theonyms, both from Greco-Roman ethnography and from epigraphy, among the most prominent ones are Teutatis, Taranis and Lugus. Figures from medieval Irish mythology have also been adduced by comparative mythology, the most salient feature of Celtic religion as reflected in Roman historiography is their extensive practice of human sacrifice. In the later 5th and the 6th centuries, the Celtic region was Christianized, comparatively little is known about Celtic polytheism because the evidence for it is fragmentary, due largely to the fact that the Celts who practiced it wrote nothing down about their religion. Therefore, all we have to study their religion from is the literature from the early Christian period, commentaries from classical Greek and Roman scholars, the archaeologist Barry Cunliffe summarised the sources for Celtic religion as fertile chaos, borrowing the term from the Irish scholar Proinsias MacCana. Cunliffe went on to note there is more, varied. The only problem is to assemble it in a form which does not too greatly oversimplify the intricate texture of its detail. The archaeological evidence does not contain the bias inherent in the literary sources, nonetheless, the interpretation of this evidence can be colored by the 21st century mindset. Various archaeological discoveries have aided understanding of the religion of the Celts and these include the coins of the Roman provinces in the Celtic lands of Gaul, Raetia, Noricum, and Britannia, and another is the sculptures, monuments, and inscriptions associated with the Celts. The evidence from Ireland has been recognised as better than that from Wales, because they were written in a very Christian context, these sources must be scrutinised with even more rigor than the classical sources in assessing their validity as evidence for Celtic religion. Various Greek and Roman writers of the ancient world commented on the Celts, however, the key problem with the use of these sources is that they were often biased against the Celts, whom the classical peoples viewed as barbarians. The names of two hundred of these deities have survived to us today, although it is possible that some of these names were different titles or epithets used for the same deity. Some Celtic theonyms can be established as Pan-Celtic by comparing Continental with Insular Celtic evidence, an example of this is Gaulish Lugus, whose name is cognate with Irish Lugh and Welsh Lleu. Another example is Gaulish Brigantia, cognate with Irish Brigid and this latter theonym can even be reconstructed as a Proto-Indo-European epithet of the dawn goddess, as *bhr̥ghntī the one on high. He declared that the most widely venerated god in Gaul was Mercury, the Roman god of trade, several of these deities, including Lugus and Matrones, were triple deities. Brighid, probably were indeed once regarded as divine, the warriors who are the main protagonists of the stories have the same status as those in the Greek myths, standing between the human and divine orders. To regard characters such as Cú Chulainn, Fergus Mac Roich or Conall Cernach as former gods turned into humans by a storyteller is to misunderstand their literary. Cú Chulainn is no more a god than Superman is
3.
Scottish mythology
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It was the belief that Beira, the Queen of Winter, had a firm hold on the country by raising storms during January and February thus preventing greenery to emerge. She was considered a tough and brutal old woman who stirred the deadly spiraling action of Corryvreckan, ushering snow, even the creation of lochs and mountains were attributed to her. Scottish mythology is not like the Greek and Roman myths as it deals with aspects of nature. In this context the most powerful and feared goddess representing winter is Beira who rules winter for its entire duration, immediately, the following season she readily concedes to Dual Lord and Lady who then enjoy equal power during the ensuing season. This myth is akin to the myth of the Mayans and deals with female power in the creation. However, Donald Mackenzie in his book Scottish Wonder Tales from Myth and Legend states that the goddesses of the Scottish myths are not glorified, Scottish mythology is dominated by goddesses, and according to Donald Mackenzie they are greater and stronger than the gods. The Celtic goddesses were authoritative and were associated with female fertility as related to female divinity, in olden times the Celtics land and national societies were both linked with the body of the goddess and her representative on earth was the queen. Another ambivalent character in Scottish myths was the hag, the Goddess, the Gaelic Cailleach, and the Giantess, the hag is also considered a healer and helpful during childbirth and is divine and said to have long ancestry and incredible longevity. She is also known as at once creator and destroyer, gentle and fierce, several origin legends for the Scots arose during the historical period, serving various purposes. One Scottish origin legend, or pseudo-historical account of the foundation of the Scottish people, as they roamed through Ireland, from Clonmacnoise, Armagh and Kildare to Cork, and finally, to Bangor, they were continually engaged at war with the Pictanei. After some time, they crossed the Irish Sea to invade Caledonia North of Roman Britain, successively capturing Iona, the latter places are echoed by the appearance of Cinnrígmonaid and Cinnbelathoir in the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba. The territory so conquered was then named Scotia after Scota, the Egyptian wife of Spartan commander Nél or Niul, once the Picts adopted Gaelic culture and their actual characteristics faded out of memory, folkloric elements filled the gaps of history. In the eighteenth century the Picts were co-opted as a Germanic race, in the Celtic domains of Scotland, also known as Gaelteached, there were ancient pre-Christian structures. These are the Ulaid, or people of the North-Eastern corner of Ireland, the Ulaid had close links with Gaelic Scotland, where Cúchulainn is said to have learned the arts of war. These stories are written for the most part in prose, the centrepiece of the Ulster Cycle is the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Other important Ulster Cycle tales include The Tragic Death of Aifes only Son, Fled Bricrenn Bricrius Feast and this cycle is, in some respects, close to the mythological cycle of the rest of the Gaelic speaking world. Some characters from the latter reappear, and the sort of shape-shifting magic is much in evidence, side by side with a grim. Scottish Gaelic adaptations of Ulster Cycle tales appear in the Glenmasan manuscript, the stories of Finn mac Cumhaill and his band of soldiers the Fianna, appear to be set around the 3rd century in Gaelic Ireland and Scotland
4.
Welsh mythology
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Welsh mythology consists of both folk traditions developed in Wales, and traditions developed by the Celtic Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium. Like most predominately oral societies found in the prehistoric Britain, Welsh mythology and this oral record has been lost or altered as result of outside contact and invasion over the years. The only character to appear in every branch is Pryderi fab Pwyll, the king of Dyfed, who is born in the first Branch, is killed in the fourth, and is probably a reflex of the Celtic god Maponos. The only other recurring characters are Pryderis mother Rhiannon, associated with the peaceful British prince Manawydan and he manages to win her hand at the expense of Gwawl, to whom she is betrothed, and she bears him a son, but the child disappears soon after his birth. Rhiannon is accused of killing him and forced to carry guests on her back as punishment. The child has been taken by a monster, and is rescued by Teyrnon and his wife and they return him to his real parents, Rhiannon is released from her punishment, and the boy is renamed Pryderi. In the second branch, Branwen, sister of Brân the Blessed, king of Britain, is given in marriage to Matholwch, Matholwch and Branwen have a son, Gwern, but Matholwch proceeds to mistreat Branwen, beating her and making her a drudge. Branwen trains a starling to take a message to Bran, who goes to war against Matholwch and his army crosses the Irish Sea in ships, but Brân is so huge he wades across. The Irish offer to make peace, and build a big enough to entertain Bran, but inside they hang a hundred bags, telling Efnysien they contain flour. Efnysien kills the warriors by squeezing the bags, later, at the feast, Efnysien throws Gwern on the fire and fighting breaks out. Seeing that the Irish are using the cauldron to revive their dead, Efnysien hides among the corpses and destroys the cauldron, only seven men, all Britons, survive the battle, including Pryderi, Manawyddan and Bran, who is mortally wounded by a poisoned spear. Brân asks his companions to cut off his head and take it back to Britain, Branwen dies of grief on returning home. Five pregnant women survive to repopulate Ireland, Pryderi and Manawydan return to Dyfed, where Pryderi marries Cigfa and Manawydan marries Rhiannon. However, a mist descends on the land, leaving it empty, eventually they return to Dyfed and become hunters again. While hunting, a white boar leads them to a mysterious castle, Pryderi, against Manawydans advice, goes inside, but does not return. Rhiannon goes to investigate and finds him clinging to a bowl, the same fate befalls her, and the castle disappears. Manawydan and Cigfa return to England as shoemakers, but once again the locals drive them out and they sow three fields of wheat, but the first field is destroyed before it can be harvested. The next night the field is destroyed
5.
Cornish mythology
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Cornish mythology is the folk tradition and mythology of the Cornish people. Some of this contains remnants of the mythology of pre-Christian Britain, the fairy tale Jack the Giant Killer takes place in Cornwall. Cornwall shares its ancient cultural heritage with its Brythonic cousins Brittany and Wales, as well as Ireland, part of Cornish mythology is derived from tales of seafaring pirates and smugglers who thrived in and around Cornwall from the early modern period through to the 19th century. Cornish pirates exploited both their knowledge of the Cornish coast as well as its sheltered creeks and hidden anchorages, for many fishing villages, loot and contraband provided by pirates supported a strong and secretive underground economy in Cornwall. Legendary creatures that appear in Cornish folklore include buccas, knockers, Giants, the knocker or bucca is the Welsh and Cornish equivalent of Irish leprechauns and English and Scottish brownies. About two feet tall and grizzled, but not misshapen, they live beneath the ground, Old Michaelmas Day falls on 11 October. According to an old legend, blackberries should not be picked after this date and this is because, so British folklore goes, Satan was banished from Heaven on this day, fell into a blackberry bush and cursed the brambles as he fell into them. In Cornwall, a similar legend prevails, according to which the devil urinated on them, weather lore Mist from the hill / Brings water for the mill, / Mist from the sea /Brings fine weather for me. When he see a sign for Roach, turnaround, nellie Sloggett of Padstow devoted much of her attention to Cornish folklore and legend. She collected and recorded stories about the Piskey folk, fairies of Cornish myth. She published most of her works in this category under her better-known pen-name of Enys Tregarthen, another legend relating to the pool concerns Jan Tregeagle. The Beast of Bodmin has been reported many times but never identified with certainty, Doom Bar According to legend, the Mermaid of Padstow created the Doom Bar as a dying curse, after being shot by a sailor. However, there are different versions of the story and the precise details are unclear. She then met a man, and one fell in love with the other, One version explains that she was love sick, and tried to lure him beneath the waves, however he escaped by shooting her. Another version suggested the man, Tristram Bird, fell in love with her and asked her to marry him, another suggestion is that a fisherman, Tom Yeo, shot her because he thought she was a seal. The ending of the legend is generally similar, with her dying breath, she levelled a curse at Padstow, or at the harbour itself, stating that the harbour will be desolate or unsafe. With that, a storm came, wrecking many boats. Within the bounds of Gulval parish lies the disused Ding Dong mine, popular local legend claims that Joseph of Arimathea, a tin trader, visited the mine and brought a young Jesus to address the miners, although there is no evidence to support this
6.
Shapeshifting
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In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability of a being or creature to completely transform its physical form or shape. This is usually achieved through an inherent ability of a creature, divine intervention. The idea persisted through the Middle Ages, where the agency causing shapeshifting is usually a sorcerer or witch and it remains a common trope in modern fantasy, childrens literature, and works of popular culture. The most common form of shapeshifting myths is that of therianthropy, legends allow for transformations into plants and objects, and the assumption of another human countenance. Shapeshifting to the form of a wolf is known as lycanthropy. Therianthropy is the general term for human-animal shifts, but it is rarely used in that capacity. It was also common for deities to transform mortals into animals, other terms for shapeshifters include metamorph, the Navajo skin-walker, mimic, and therianthrope. The prefix were-, coming from the Old English word for man, is used to designate shapeshifters, despite its root. While the popular idea of a shapeshifter is of a human being who turns into something else, proteus was noted among the gods for his shapeshifting, both Menelaus and Aristaeus seized him to win information from him, and succeeded only because they held on during his various changes. Nereus told Heracles where to find the Apples of the Hesperides for the same reason, the Titan Metis, the first wife of Zeus and the mother of the goddess Athena, was believed to be able to change her appearance into anything she wanted. In one story, she was so proud, that her husband, Zeus and he then swallowed her because he feared that he and Metis would have a son who would be more powerful than Zeus himself. She stayed alive inside his head and built armor for her daughter, the banging of her metalworking made Zeus have a headache, so Hephaestus clove his head with an axe. Athena sprang from her fathers head, fully grown, and in battle armor, in Greek mythology, the transformation is often a punishment from the gods to humans who crossed them. Zeus transformed King Lycaon into a wolf as a punishment for either killing Zeus children or serving him the flesh of Lycaons own murdered son Nyctimus, Demeter transformed Ascalabus into a lizard for mocking her sorrow and thirst during her search for her daughter Persephone. She also turned King Lyncus into a lynx for trying to murder her prophet Triptolemus, Athena transformed Arachne into a spider for challenging her as a weaver and/or weaving a tapestry that insulted the gods. Artemis transformed Actaeon into a stag for spying on her bathing, io was a priestess of Hera in Argos, a nymph who was raped by Zeus, who changed her into a heifer to escape detection. The young Tiresias was walking through a forest when he found two snakes in the act of love and he poked them with a stick and was instantly changed into a woman. He lived in this form for many years, and even married and had children
7.
Druid
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A druid was a member of the high-ranking professional class in ancient Celtic cultures. While perhaps best remembered as religious leaders, they were also legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and they are however attested in some detail by their contemporaries from other cultures, such as the Romans. The earliest known references to the date to the fourth century BCE. Later Greco-Roman writers also described the Druids, including Cicero, Tacitus, in about 750 CE the word druid appears in a poem by Blathmac, who wrote about Jesus, saying that he was. Better than a prophet, more knowledgeable than every druid, a king who was a bishop, the druids then also appear in some of the medieval tales from Christianized Ireland like the Táin Bó Cúailnge, where they are largely portrayed as sorcerers who opposed the coming of Christianity. In the wake of the Celtic revival during the 18th and 19th centuries, fraternal and neopagan groups were founded based on ideas about the ancient druids, many popular notions about druids are based on the misconceptions of 18th century scholars. These have been superseded by more recent study. The modern English word druid derives from the Latin druides, which was considered by ancient Roman writers to come from the native Celtic Gaulish word for these figures, other Roman texts also employ the form druidae, while the same term was used by Greek ethnographers as δρυΐδης. Based on all forms, the hypothetical proto-Celtic word may then be reconstructed as *dru-wid-s meaning oak-knower. The two elements go back to the Proto-Indo-European roots *deru- and *weid- to see, the sense of oak-knower is supported by Pliny the Elder, who in his Natural History considered the word to contain the Greek noun drýs, oak-tree and the Greek suffix -idēs. The modern Irish word for Oak is Dair, which occurs in anglicized placenames like Derry – Doire, there are many stories about saints, heroes, and oak trees, and also many local stories and superstitions about trees in general, which still survive in rural Ireland. Both Old Irish druí and Middle Welsh dryw could also refer to the wren, sources by ancient and medieval writers provide an idea of the religious duties and social roles involved in being a druid. One of the few things that both the Greco-Roman and the vernacular Irish sources agree on about the druids is that played an important part in pagan Celtic society. He also claimed that they were exempt from service and from the payment of taxes. Pomponius Mela is the first author who says that the instruction was secret and was carried on in caves. Druidic lore consisted of a number of verses learned by heart. What was taught to Druid novices anywhere is conjecture, of the oral literature, not one certifiably ancient verse is known to have survived. All instruction was communicated orally, but for ordinary purposes, Caesar reports, in this he probably draws on earlier writers, by the time of Caesar, Gaulish inscriptions had moved from the Greek script to the Latin script
8.
Samhain
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Samhain is a Gaelic festival marking the end of the harvest season and the beginning of winter or the darker half of the year. Traditionally, it is celebrated from 31 October to 1 November, as the Celtic day began and this is about halfway between the autumn equinox and the winter solstice. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Imbolc, Bealtaine, historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Similar festivals are held at the time of year in other Celtic lands, for example the Brythonic Calan Gaeaf, Kalan Gwav. Samhain is believed to have Celtic pagan origins and there is evidence it has been an important date since ancient times, the Mound of the Hostages, a Neolithic passage tomb at the Hill of Tara, is aligned with the Samhain sunrise. It is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and many important events in Irish mythology happen or begin on Samhain and it was the time when cattle were brought back down from the summer pastures and when livestock were slaughtered for the winter. As at Bealtaine, special bonfires were lit and these were deemed to have protective and cleansing powers and there were rituals involving them. Like Bealtaine, Samhain was seen as a time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld could more easily be crossed. This meant the Aos Sí, the spirits or fairies, could easily come into our world. Most scholars see the Aos Sí as remnants of the pagan gods, at Samhain, it was believed that the Aos Sí needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. Offerings of food and drink were left outside for them, the souls of the dead were also thought to revisit their homes seeking hospitality. Feasts were had, at which the souls of dead kin were beckoned to attend, mumming and guising were part of the festival, and involved people going door-to-door in costume, often reciting verses in exchange for food. The costumes may have been a way of imitating, and disguising oneself from, divination rituals and games were also a big part of the festival and often involved nuts and apples. In the late 19th century, Sir John Rhys and Sir James Frazer suggested that it was the Celtic New Year, in the 9th century AD, Western Christianity shifted the date of All Saints Day to 1 November, while 2 November later became All Souls Day. Over time, Samhain and All Saints/All Souls merged to create the modern Halloween, historians have used the name Samhain to refer to Gaelic Halloween customs up until the 19th century. Since the later 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Samhain, or something based on it, Neopagans in the Southern Hemisphere often celebrate Samhain at the other end of the year. In Modern Irish the name is Samhain, in Scottish Gaelic Samhainn/Samhuinn and these are also the names of November in each language, shortened from Mí na Samhna, Mì na Samhna and Mee Houney. The night of 31 October is Oíche Shamhna, Oidhche Shamhna and Oie Houney,1 November, or the whole festival, may be called Lá Samhna, Là Samhna and Laa Houney, all meaning Samhain day
9.
Imbolc
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Imbolc or Imbolg, also called Brigids Day, is a Gaelic traditional festival marking the beginning of spring. Most commonly it is held on 1 February, or about halfway between the solstice and the spring equinox. Historically, it was observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. It is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals—along with Beltane, Lughnasadh, for Christians, especially in Ireland, it is the feast day of Saint Brigid. Imbolc is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and there is evidence it has been an important date since ancient times, at Imbolc, Brigids crosses were made and a doll-like figure of Brigid, called a Brídeóg, would be paraded from house-to-house. Brigid was said to visit ones home at Imbolc, to receive her blessings, people would make a bed for Brigid and leave her food and drink, while items of clothing would be left outside for her to bless. Brigid was also invoked to protect homes and livestock, special feasts were had, holy wells were visited and it was also a time for divination. Although many of its customs died out in the 20th century, it is still observed, since the latter 20th century, Celtic neopagans and Wiccans have observed Imbolc as a religious holiday. The etymology of Imbolc/Imbolg is unclear, the most common explanation is that is comes from the Old Irish i mbolc, meaning in the belly, and refers to the pregnancy of ewes. Another possible origin is the Old Irish imb-fholc, to wash/cleanse oneself, eric P. Hamp derives it from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning both milk and cleansing. Professor Alan Ward derives it from the Proto-Celtic *embibolgon, budding, the 10th century Cormacs Glossary derives it from oimelc, ewe milk, but many scholars see this as a folk etymology. Nevertheless, some Neopagans have adopted Oimelc as a name for the festival, the date of Imbolc is thought to have been significant in Ireland since the Neolithic period. This is based on the alignment of some Megalithic monuments, for example, at the Mound of the Hostages on the Hill of Tara, the inner chamber is aligned with the rising sun on the dates of Imbolc and Samhain. In Gaelic Ireland, Imbolc was the feis or festival marking the beginning of spring, during which great feasts were held and it is attested in some of the earliest Old Irish literature, from the 10th century onward. It was one of four Gaelic seasonal festivals, Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane, from the 18th century to the mid 20th century, many accounts of Imbolc or St Brigids Day were recorded by folklorists and other writers. They tell us how it was celebrated then, and shed light on how it may have been celebrated in the past, Imbolc has traditionally been celebrated on 1 February. However, because the day was deemed to begin and end at sunset and it has also been argued that the timing of the festival was originally more fluid and based on seasonal changes. It has been associated with the onset of the lambing season—which could vary by as much as two weeks before or after 1 February—and the blooming of blackthorn
10.
Lughnasadh
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Lughnasadh or Lughnasa is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. Originally it was held on 1 August, or about halfway between the solstice and autumn equinox. However, over time the celebrations shifted to the Sundays nearest this date, Lughnasadh is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc and Beltane. It corresponds to other European harvest festivals such as the Welsh Gŵyl Awst, Lughnasadh is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and has pagan origins. The festival itself is named after the god Lugh and it involved great gatherings that included religious ceremonies, ritual athletic contests, feasting, matchmaking and trading. There were also visits to holy wells, much of the activities would have taken place on top of hills and mountains. Lughnasadh customs persisted widely until the 20th century, with the event being variously named Garland Sunday, Bilberry Sunday, Mountain Sunday, the custom of climbing hills and mountains at Lughnasadh has survived in some areas, although it has been re-cast as a Christian pilgrimage. The best known is the Reek Sunday pilgrimage to the top of Croagh Patrick on the last Sunday in July, a number of fairs are also believed to be survivals of Lughnasadh, for example the Puck Fair. Since the later 20th century, Celtic neopagans have observed Lughnasadh, or something based on it, in some places, elements of the festival have been revived as a cultural event. In Old Irish, the name was Lugnasad and this is a combination of Lug and násad, which is unstressed when used as a suffix. Later spellings include Luᵹ̇nasaḋ, Lughnasadh and Lughnasa, in Modern Irish, the spelling is Lúnasa, which is also the name for the month of August. The genitive case is also Lúnasa as in Mí Lúnasa and Lá Lúnasa, in Modern Scottish Gaelic, the festival and the month are both called Lùnastal. In Manx, the festival and the month are both called Luanistyn, the day itself may be called either Laa Luanistyn or Laa Luanys. In Welsh, the day is known as Calan Awst, originally a Latin term, in Breton, the day was known as Gouel Eost, the Feast of August. In Irish mythology, the Lughnasadh festival is said to have begun by the god Lugh as a funeral feast. She was said to have died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture, Tailtiu may have been an earth goddess who represented the dying vegetation that fed mankind. The funeral games in her honour were called the Óenach Tailten or Áenach Tailten and were held each Lughnasadh at Tailtin in what is now County Meath, according to medieval writings, kings attended this óenach and a truce was declared for its duration
11.
Paganism
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Paganism is a term that derives from Latin word pagan, which means nonparticipant, one excluded from a more distinguished, professional group. The term was used in the 4th century, by early Christian community, the term competed with polytheism already in use in Judaism, by Philo in the 1st century. Pagans and paganism was a pejorative for the same polytheistic group, Paganism has broadly connoted religion of the peasantry, and for much of its history a derogatory term. Alternate terms in Christian texts for the group was hellene. In and after the Middle Ages, paganism was a pejorative that was applied to any non-Abrahamic or unfamiliar religion, there has been much scholarly debate as to the origin of the term paganism, especially since no one before the 20th century self-identified as a pagan. In the 19th century, paganism was re-adopted as a self-descriptor by members of various artistic groups inspired by the ancient world. Forms of these religions, influenced by various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe, exist today and are known as contemporary or modern paganism, while most pagan religions express a worldview that is pantheistic, polytheistic, or animistic, there are some monotheistic pagans. It is crucial to stress right from the start that until the 20th century people did not call themselves pagans to describe the religion they practised, the notion of paganism, as it is generally understood today, was created by the early Christian Church. It was a label that Christians applied to others, one of the antitheses that were central to the process of Christian self-definition, as such, throughout history it was generally used in a derogatory sense. The term pagan is from Late Latin paganus, revived during the Renaissance and it is related to pangere and ultimately comes from Proto-Indo-European *pag-. The evolution occurred only in the Latin west, and in connection with the Latin church, elsewhere, Hellene or gentile remained the word for pagan, and paganos continued as a purely secular term, with overtones of the inferior and the commonplace. However, this idea has multiple problems, first, the words usage as a reference to non-Christians pre-dates that period in history. Second, paganism within the Roman Empire centered on cities, the concept of an urban Christianity as opposed to a rural paganism would not have occurred to Romans during Early Christianity. Third, unlike words such as rusticitas, paganus had not yet acquired the meanings used to explain why it would have been applied to pagans. Paganus more likely acquired its meaning in Christian nomenclature via Roman military jargon, Early Christians adopted military motifs and saw themselves as Milites Christi. As early as the 5th century, paganos was metaphorically used to persons outside the bounds of the Christian community. In response, Augustine of Hippo wrote De Civitate Dei Contra Paganos, in it, he contrasted the fallen city of Man to the city of God of which all Christians were ultimately citizens. Hence, the invaders were not of the city or rural
12.
Deity
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A deity is a concept conceived in diverse ways in various cultures, typically as a natural or supernatural being considered divine or sacred. A male deity is a god, while a female deity is a goddess, the Oxford reference defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. Various cultures have conceptualized a deity differently than a monotheistic God, a plain deity need not be omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, or eternal, however an almighty monotheistic God generally does have these attributes. Monotheistic religions typically refer to God in masculine terms, while other religions refer to their deities in a variety of ways – masculine, feminine, androgynous, some Avestan and Vedic deities were viewed as ethical concepts. In Indian religions, deities have been envisioned as manifesting within the temple of every living beings body, as sensory organs, but in Indian religions, all deities are also subject to death when their merit runs out. The English language word deity derives from Old French deité, the Latin deitatem or divine nature, deus is related through a common Proto-Indo-European language origin to *deiwos. Deva is masculine, and the feminine equivalent is devi. Etymologically, the cognates of Devi are Latin dea and Greek thea, in Old Persian, daiva- means demon, evil god, while in Sanskrit it means the opposite, referring to the heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of high excellence, exalted, shining ones. The closely linked term god refers to supreme being, deity, which states Douglas Harper, is derived from Proto-Germanic *guthan, from PIE *ghut-, guth in the Irish language means voice. The term *ghut- is also the source of Old Church Slavonic zovo, Sanskrit huta-, from the root *gheu- An alternate etymology for the term god traces it to the PIE root *ghu-to-, the term *gheu- is also the source of the Greek khein to pour. Originally the German root was a noun, but the gender of the monotheistic God shifted to masculine under the influence of Christianity. In contrast, all ancient Indo-European cultures and mythologies recognized both masculine and feminine deities, the term deity often connotes the concept of sacred or divine, as a god or goddess, in a polytheistic religion. However, there is no accepted consensus concept of deity across religions and cultures. Huw Owen states that the deity or god or its equivalent in other languages has a bewildering range of meanings. Some engravings or sketches show animals, hunters or rituals, the Venus of Willendorf, a female figurine found in Europe and dated to about 25,000 BCE has been interpreted as an exemplar of a prehistoric divine feminine. In Buddhist mythology, devas are beings inhabiting certain happily placed worlds of Buddhist cosmology and these beings are mortal and numerous. It is also common for iṣṭadevatās to be called deities, although the nature of Yidams is distinct from what is meant by the term. Buddhism does not believe in a creator deity, however, deities are an essential part of Buddhist cosmology, rebirth and Saṃsāra doctrines
