# Ask  me about Celtic Mythology!



## Lily Maeve La Fey (Dec 29, 2014)

I am no expert, but I have spent years on my own time studying Celtic mythology both pre and post Christian. So if you have any questions about a particular myth, Celtic fey, gods or Arthurian legend please send them my way and I'll see if I can answer them. I also know plenty about Ancient Irish culture including Druidic tradition, ogham and plant/medicine lore.


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## Shreddies (Dec 29, 2014)

Well, off the top of my head: I've been wondering for a while now about what was involved in Pre-Christian Celtic (or Irish?) wedding ceremonies.


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## Gurkhal (Dec 30, 2014)

I've got a few questions! There are lots of things that I wonder about but hopefully this will at least come out somewhat coherent.

1. Are there are general themes that can be detected with Celtic warrior gods in their mythological place?

2. Did the Celts have a tradition of ancestor cults?

3. Was the mythology dominated by pan-Celtic deities or by local deities?

4. How prominent were goddesses in relation to gods in the mythology?


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## Lily Maeve La Fey (Jan 1, 2015)

So, the Celts in Ireland were speculated to do a couple of things.  

1) dance around the druid's bonfire at Beltaine (May 1st) and the couple would be married for a year and a day if they did not conceive a child.
2) Before Christainity was the main religion, but after it was introduced to Ireland many of the Irish pagans  moved to have a druid preside over the handfasting. The head druid...(Archdruid if he were available) would invoke the gods and bless the couple. The two would drink from the same chalice on a stone or stump alter and the druid would tie a chord about their hands. Another interesting note, at this time it was considered bad luck to wed on Beltaine, as that was when the fairy queen would come from the mounds or forest and claim a human male consort, which meant the bridegroom would be claimed if he were to wed another on that day.

What we now about ancient Celts is kind of sparse due to how little they left behind, but both of these would be good to use.


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## Lily Maeve La Fey (Jan 1, 2015)

To Gurkhal,

1) warrior gods were said to be fierce, they could be both male and female, and Gaelic, British and Gaulish Celts all seemed to associate horses with their warrior gods as well. A common picture depicts the god or goddess with a round ornate sheild, a bronze two/three foot long sword called a cliomh, painted in wode with a horse behind them.

2) This varies greatly between the clans in the areas where Celts were dominant, but a ancestor cults weren't common. Though something akin to ancestor worship did happen. On Samhain (October 31) upon the final harvest Celts would gather in groves with their druids and light a bonfire. A fraction of the harvest and wine would be set upon the alter for the spirits passing through the veil from the Otherworld (Tir Na Og/ Annwn). They would hold a ceremony and to mark the begining of it, the Celts would pass a chalice of wine around the circle each welcoming a relative back from the other side. Once the ceremony was over, they retired to the inside of their halls and feast with bards to tell stories.

3) Mythology was Pan-Celtic in the sense that the gods of the Celts were extremely similar, and even their names were similar. Mannan Mac Lir is the Irish god of the sea, and in Welsh it's Mann Mac LLyr. But certain specifics did change from locality to locality.

4) Goddesses were equally as prominent in Celtic mythology as the gods.


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