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If you had asked any of the ancient Druidic Celts who they were or what they were called, they would have responded with the name of their tribe; rather than, any of the names (like Galatac, Keltoi, or Celtac) given to them by classical Mediterranean writers. The Celts belonged to complex and variegated social groupings that ranged from large, loose confederations of tribes to small, compact tribal units. Although they had a written language, the Celts rarely used it, preferring instead to pass on their beliefs, knowledge, and wisdom through the time honored method of their oral traditions. The honored and revered Storytellers, the Seannachaidhs, were a popular fixture around the fire, especially those who told the longest and most intricate tales during the wintertime. Since daylight hours were scarce that time of year and families spent a lot of time around the light and warmth of the hearths, they became gatherings places, where the Seannachaidhs, who burned with the fires of inspiration, would tell the stories of the people. To be gifted with Awen, /|\, was to know, love, and preserve truth with appreciative nurturing commitment. The Natural World inspired the imaginations and enlivened their art of the Druidic Celts. Awen represented the three worlds; mind, body, and spirit; sea, land, and sky. Awen also symbolized inspired creativity, spiritual healing, attunement with the Nature Spirits, the skills of divination and prophecy, and the fluidic flow of the spiritual life force. All of the animals, forests, lakes, mountains, rivers, and trees were blessed and holy to the Celts and worthy of their utmost reverence.
The Druidic Bards were
inspired by the spirit of Awen. As guardians of the sacredness of the Word,
keepers of the ritual memories, and poetic warders of the tribe, the bards were
musical dream weavers, creativity seers, sacred storytellers, and divinity
diviners. Bards were voice spinners, singing word magic into being. The songs of
the bards renewed the land as they walked the Earth journeying to sacred sites
where the ancient spirit of holiness lingered still.
When the bards produced artistic works in healing lyrical lines and patterns of balanced love, light, and power, harmonic resonance was restored to the planet time and time again. Their melodies were enchanted with the wonder of life. The Druidic Celtic Folklore and Fairytales were alive with the vibrancy and the glittering glories of hosts of Fairies; of the Nature Spirits or elemental beings of fire, earth, air, and water; and of the hallowed divinity of the land, the sea, and the sky. Besides their deep respect and abiding reverence for the Natural World, another hallmark of the Celts was their thematic tradition of mythic storytelling about heroic quests, sacred kingships, and underworld journeys. Storytellers told tales of Goddesses and Otherworld Beings appearing at critical life passage moments in groups of threes, since the theme of triplication or the power of a group of three was a significant symbolic pattern or design that recurred in Celtic art, mythology, religion, and storytelling. There were the Three Kindreds (ancestors, fairies, Gods and Goddesses). Triple faced; triple headed Celtic deities were venerated in various forms with the most popular being the triplicity of the Mother Goddess energy. Sometimes the three Goddesses depicted were identical; while, at other times their overall potency was heightened by showing three different aspects of the maternal role.
Like the intricate,
intertwining, interlacing, eternally connected knotwork of their art, the
spiritual continuity of the Celtic traditions shined through their cultural
mythos. For instance, the Celtic Goddess Brighid (who was associated with the
cow) was featured in many heroic myths about sacred kingship and underworld
quests. The fire festival of Imbolc honored Goddess Brighid as it ushered in the
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