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Celtic spiritual traditions included deeply held beliefs in an afterlife, fairy mounds, immortality, magic, Nature Spirits, and supernatural and mythical beings and monsters who made their home in the Otherworld. The boundaries between this world and the Otherworld were adaptable, fluidic, and malleable. All Celtic mortals had the ability or aptitude to cross over the thresholds between lands and realms and to travel back and forth between them. During the Celtic Calendar Festivals of Beltaine and Samhain the boundaries betwixt and between worlds disappeared for a time, for a spell. Many Celtic tales focus on Shamanic Metamorphosis or the ability to shapeshift or to morph or phase from the shape of a human into that of an animal, bird, or fish for purposes of knowledge, initiation, training, travel, reconnaissance, or escape. The ancient Celts believed that it was possible to shapeshift back and forth between the human and animal realms of existence. To them the ethers and dimensions were fluidic and malleable.
If one could cognize the
underlying matrix and reason for being of the hare, then one could become the
hare at least for as long as one could hold the focus of "hareness". Even if one
did not want to experience being a particular animal, acquiring some of the
attributes of the animal might be desirable such as the swiftness of the hare.
The magical transformation of the caterpillar to the butterfly attests to both the possibility and probability of the globally linked Human Being morphing into a Cosmically Resonant Harmonic Being. The Natural World inspired the imaginations of the Celts and enlivened their art. Most of the artwork depicted the Celtic reverence and respect for Nature in the elaborate entwining plant (flowers, leaves, trees, vines) and animal (birds, deer, dolphins, griffins) motifs, as well as, in the dynamically intricate designs (chevrons, knotwork. labyrinthine patterns, spirals). All kinds of objects including household items, jewelry, religious statues, and weapons were decorated with harmoniously balanced Natural Worlds patterns. The vibrant diversity of Celtic art permeated all areas of daily life from the stylized animal heads on the open ends of a neck torc to the swirling vegetative carvings on a the handle of a bucket.
All of the animals,
forests, lakes, mountains, rivers, and trees were blessed and holy to the Celts
and worthy of their utmost reverence. The Celts preferred to perform their
rituals outside in the Natural World underneath the never-ending circle of sky
in forest clearings. in open air shrines, and in sacred groves...
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Celts
Celtic Ancient Civilization 
