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Celtic Spirituality

Before Britain and Ireland was Christianized, the Celtic nation lived a pagan tribal life. They were farmers, artists and warriors, worshipping the natural aspects around them: the sun, the moon, the stars and the Earth Mother. The term ’Keltoi’ was given by Greek writers to a race of `barbarians’ who emerged from the Rhinelands of Central Europe as a distinct group of clans or tribes between 1000 and 500 BC.

The earliest remnants of their Celtic culture date from between 800 and 450 BC and are attributed to artists of the Hallstatt period, named after archaeological finds found in a cemetery in Hallstatt, Austria. These outstanding finds include many stylized bird, animal and human representations, crafted with such mastery and fluidity of line as to give the impression of life and movement.

Between the fifth and fourth centuries BC a new style, known as La Tene, named after a site on Lake Neuchatel in Switzerland, appeared. Paul Jacobsthal, a distinguished student of this period, describes it as `an art without a genesis’. With its characteristic abstract symbols, floral patterns and imaginative decoration, the distinctive La Tene style was to provide inspiration for the artists who created the illuminated manuscripts and intricate stone carvings in Britain and Ireland over a thousand years later.

Birdlip Bronze Mirror

Although many of the elements associated with Celtic art were adapted from other sources and modified, the wonderful artistry of the Celts was widely known, and in particular their craftsmanship in metalwork, where elaborate and fine detail on jewellery and armour were produced. Torcs, bracelets, rings and other jewellery, as well as drinking vessels, horse decorations and swords worked in gold, silver and bronze have all been found. Using their skills with enamels, plating and casting, the Celts created articles which are hard to match even today.

The Celts kept no written records but had an oral tradition, so all important events that needed remembering, as well as themes which revolved around their heroes, gods and beliefs, were learned largely by continuous repetition as chants or were woven into prose form. These were recited by the bards in a way that was both entertaining and imparted knowledge down through each generation, and great merit was attached to accurate recitation.

With the arrival of the Romans in the first century AD, British Celts experienced massive disruption. Christianity was introduced in the following centuries, and the old beliefs became absorbed into the new faith. With the gradual conversion of the Celts and the eventual Roman withdrawal in the fifth century AD, a new era of Celtic Renaissance began.

Extract from “Celtic Ornament-The art of the scribes” Illustration and text by Courtney Davis

First published by Blandford Press (1988) PB ISBN 0-304-35962-9