Frustrations with Celtic Reconstructionism
Go to the source.
This has been my philosophy on all things spiritual for many years. It is an impulse that lead me to Celtic Reconstructionism in the first place. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the Pagan Celts, from as many sources as I could. Don’t get me wrong, a thorough study of Celtic lore is invaluable, and there is plenty out there to learn. But I want a heartfelt, passionate education not just an academic one. Go to the source! What did the idea of “source” mean to pagan Celts? What does it mean to me? What did they see as the source for their emotions, cosmology, and life? What do I see as the source for my emotions, cosmology, and life? What if they differ in substantial ways? And if they do, how do I have a comprehensive spirituality without making apologies for “insulting Celtic culture”? Can I still call myself a Celtic Reconstructionist? It was as if a venerable old Druid was tapping me on the shoulder saying, “You must unlearn what you have learned”.
An experience I had a few years ago seems to be when a lot of these questions started to surface. I had hiked to the top of a pinnacle behind Pikes Peak and did some prayers to Brighid. I had been feeling a decided lack of imbas in my practice lately and wanted to re-connect. Right after the prayer was over I noticed a group of swallows flying around the pinnacle catching the bugs that were riding the thermals off the sun drenched granite. Their wings literally cut the wind and you can hear the sound of it. After loosing myself in the experience of watching the swallows, it hit me. I must approach a time like this with no expectations, and no pre-conceived notions about what is spiritual and what is not. The seed that was planted that day is coming to harvest in my life. I realize that much of my time spent as a Celtic Reconstructionist has been putting my beliefs and experiences into a “Celtic” box and a “Non-Celtic” box. As long as I do this there is no possibility of a fully integrated spirituality.
Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom
I still have a lot of respect for pagan Reconstructionist religions, but they are, in my opinion, ultimately a step in the right direction and not the journey itself. I don’t think Reconstructionism as it is currently practiced will last much longer. They came along exactly when they needed to to give a little grounding to the fluff out there. However, we must remember that the Celts of the ancient world got their beliefs and practices from their own experiences of their own time. Reconstructing those beliefs is pointless, and ultimately fruitless. We should see the lore as inspiration not as dogma. If we are really going to follow their example it would be for us to go to the source ourselves. Just like they did! This is why Faery Seership has lit a whole new fire of imbas for me. It is grounded in the lore but not ruled by it. Books like Ogam: Weaving Word Wisdom by Erynn Rowan Laurie are an exception to most Celtic Reconstructionist literature. Why? Because you can tell the author has worked with the system for many years.
Frankly I got tired of Celtic Reconstructionist email lists and discussions. After reading the same old argument about who the Celts were, how language is important (and trust me it is) and how personal gnosis is different from Celtic culture and lore, blah blah blah. It gets really damn old. Where’s the beef! I kept hoping we would talk about something other than what an ocaire was and start talking about how Reconstructionism was relevant to current problems. You know like the problem of climate change, human suffering, morality, personal interactions with the Tuatha Dé Dannnn, and a whole host of other issues and needs? That and the fact that you can only read chapters and essays on the “History of the Celts” so many times before you just want to scream.
Paths like Gaelic Traditionalism and even Reconstructionism now seem anachronistic to me. The world is completely different, and you can read Cattle Lords and Clansmen (great book by the way) until you have it memorized but you will never be able to re-create the economy of Ancient Ireland today no matter how much land you buy. And although I admire the Gaelic Traditionalists knowledge base and commitment to Gaelic culture, it seems to be trading one dogma for another. I don’t want to see the world the same way as my Celtic ancestors did, I want to follow their example and be inspired by them.
Veve for Maman Brigitte
One of the most fascinating things that I have become aware of in the past year is that Saint Brigit (and yes she is a goddess no matter what any Catholic will try to tell you) is now a part of the Voodoo tradition. When I heard this it blew me away! How did this happen? After a little research I found that:
“Maman Brigitte, is indeed the Vodou manifestation of the Celtic goddess Brigid. During the Stuart Wars, many Scottish and Irish men and women loyal to the Stuart crown were deported to the West Indies, and that is how Brighid arrived in Haiti. Maman Brigitte will heal the sick if she is invoked for that reason. She is also a magician, and a particular friend of women and children.”
Now this is in no way traditionally Celtic, but does that mean that it is an insult to Celtic culture? Not at all, it is another expression of it. If a Celtic Reconstructionist tried to incorporate a symbol like this into a book he was writing about the Gods and Goddesses he would get roasted alive in chat rooms and email lists. This creates an atmosphere that stifles growth and personal spiritual expression. Now I am not advocating that people pass anything off as Celtic, but lets give people a chance to express their own interactions with the gods and refrain from calling them posers.
The long in short of it is that I no longer consider myself to be a Celtic Reconstructionist. I think Faery Seership draws from deep wells of Celtic Otherworld lore, and I continue to learn Gaelic and remain obsessed with anything Celtic. However, I prefer interacting with the Sídhe and the Gods and Goddesses on my own and learning directly from the source. I found that I did not feel like I had any room to breath in Reconstructionism. Faery Seership is much more forgiving in that respect. Faery Seership requires personal honesty and exploration of the self that is by no means easy, it is, however, incredibly rewarding.
Hmm, great post first off, well written and concise. I myself have struggled with many of your concerns.
I think that the Lore is very important, because it gives us a cultural and ancestral base. How can we say we follow in the footsteps of *our* ancestors if we know nothing about them. If we generalize “following the ancestors” into broad strokes and limit this to simply “going to the source” then we run the risk of losing our identity as a spirituality and being consumed by the shrieking void of New Age heteropraxy. All people “go the source”, as the Source is universal and teaches the entire race of humanity in different ways according to their ancestry and country of origin.
That being said I totally agree with you that Reconstructionism can be stifling. Reconstructionism needs to realize that there is a difference between Exoteric and Esoteric. The Lore, the ritual structure and seasonal rites are the Exoterica of a Recon tradition, the outward forms of belief and praxis. Esoterically the practices and memes may and should vary vastly between one Recon and another. There is no “right way” to relate to the Gods, we are individuals and unique, thus our inner spiritual lives will be unique experiences.
My concern is that we may throw the baby out with the bathwater regarding “growing out of Reconstructionism”. Having a consensus of Exoteric matters, a sort of loose orthopraxy (right/correct practice) is important for the structural strength of a religion.
Perhaps the disdain mentioned of UPGs is more prevalent in Celtic Recon circles, but I have found that Asatru is a little more lenient, however we have constructed a system that allows for a better chance of accurate UPGs to be diseminated. In Asatru, the general concensus is that UPGs are valid for personal use, and can only be extended as theories to the rest of the community. Eventually a UPG will be doctrinated if multiple people have the same UPG and it does not conflict with the existing lore. For instance, a UPG that Woden is a god of Love, Peace and Harmony would never fly, as it directly contradicts what we know of this complex diety. However, I have had UPGs of Woden that expand upon the popular misconception of a cold-hearted, ruthless ruler and war-chieftain. In my meditations he has wept in anguish over losing his beloved son, Balder, he has shown me. . .in essence, a softer, more human side.
Love the emanation of Bride in voudoun! I love voudoun and find it a beautiful and fascinating tradition and a great example of how a tradition (such as Recon Celt/Teutonic) can absorb and expand it’s sources of inspiration and wisdom without losing the root-culture.
I am just concerned that you may be confusing growing up with growing away lol. What I mean by this is that, as Recons (I have been where you are at before and will probably be there again) we mature and grow beyond the basics. We can no longer read the Havamal or the Dun Cow with the verve and passion that we used to, semantic debates no longer hold our attention. Many in Recon mistake this as a sign that they are no longer Recon and should find something else. I myself joined a Wicca coven during one of these growth-spurts – much to my chagrin – and learned valuable lessons (mostly on “what not to do” and “why the fluffers are confused” lol), but the loss of intimacy with my Gods that ensued was too painful for me to bear, and I am still trying to rebuild bridges that I burned in a blind moment of spiritual zeal. What I had truly done was outgrown the basic handbooks, had outgrown the devotional reading of the “lore” and was ready to embark on a wonderful esoteric journey into the deeper realms of Spirit.
Thus I am seeking to expand and expound upon the Heathen religion, seeking – along with others in the blogosphere – to help guide Heathenism into a more respectful stage, where we can trade ideas that heretofore would have been shouted down as heresy. I am excited to be a part of the “adolescent Heathenism”, and I hope my voice makes an impact on my community. I think that your knowledge, wisdom, and clarity of voice would benefit the Celtic Recon community. . .and it would be sorely missed.
Frith,
Bjorn
Strider,
This post absolutely blew me away! lol I think you are a great leader, and I had an inkling that you were a spiritualist like me. lol However, I have some concerns. I don’t want you to feel I am not validating your feelings (believe me, I am going through this period right now. You know, where you want to bang your head up against the wall cuz you’re not getting anywhere?) I just hate to see anyone abandon their tradition they’ve worked hard at.
How I see recon is that it gives you an excellent foundation in the culture you are most drawn to, and then once you have that foundation you can then start to mix other traditions and “majik” into it. Without a doubt, I think you are at that point and you shouldn’t have to feel guilty about stepping away from “strict” celtic recon for awhile and exploring something else to see if you like it.
I am concerned that you will abandon the path you’ve worked so hard at and go to something that seems great, but in the end you may feel unsatisfied-or maybe not-but is it worth the risk to delve completely into Foxwood’s trad and forgetting your own? I’m speaking out of experience here, and I am ashamed that I did that. Maybe not ashamed, but it was one of those moments were I said “damn I wish I would have known what was going to happen before it did, cuz I wouldn’t have done it!” That group is falling apart as I write this (literally! Its been a crazy week)
I’m not trying to say that foxwood’s trad is not valid, but look at it as an addition, not a replacement. I actually got the book today, because I liked how it sounded very similar to the Circle of Crow group. I am staying neutrual about it right now (seeing I’ve only read about 20 pages) mainly because I don’t trust anything that is written post-Gardenirian Wicca until I’ve done extensive research on it. I looked into it and I am not sure if his mentor (lady circe) was wiccan or not. Now I’m not saying all wicca is bad, I just haven’t found exactly what she practiced or where she learned it. I feel lineage is very important in majik, and I want to know what system I involving myself in when I practice the spiritual side of it-an important lesson I learned in the last coven.
I have a pretty good background in majik, communication with the fae, (much to my dismay at times-why are my keys in the trunk?) and chanelling-at least these are things I learned in the coven. If you ever want to get together (or anyone in the Tuatha who is interested in practicing the more spiritual side of celtic recon) I would love that! I’ve been afraid in the Tuatha to express my spiritual nature because in a recon group it is looked down upon when someone says they can chanel or have talked to the gods. (It was really hard to tell ya’ll that I can commune with the dead) UPG has a stigma on it, when it shouldn’t. And because you have that a great foundation in celtic lore, you can tell when the UPG matches or it doesn’t. Anyways, now that I have the book, we can try some stuff out! I would love to talk to you about this in person because its just to hard talk about something this sensitive without sounding pretentious!
Love Love
Kayla
Bjorn and Kayla,
I really appreciate your thoughts on this. I want to assure you that I am *not* leaving the Celtic tradition here. It is an absolute obsession of mine and I know that will never change.
You both make excellent points about trotting off esoteric paths half-cocked and abandoning the work you have done before. Let me assure you I have been down that road before (with a group called Traceless Way) and know exactly where it leads. I remain committed to our tuatha and have a deep respect for Celtic culture.
I am at a crossroads in my life right now. This last year has been the toughest one of my life, with my Mom dying and other problems I will not mention here. Suffice it to say that these experiences have jarred some new insights and needs from deep down.
Right now I see this as a yet another step in what I have always explored before. I do recognize, however, that times have changed and we must change with them. i just don’t think I can continue to call myself a Celtic Recon when large sections of the community seems obsessed with one upping each others “Celticness” via academic debate. This in no way means that I will stop studying the lore (I fucking love it), just that my focus is changing towards my personal ancestors and family right now. I have mentioned to you both some of the experiences I have had with my Mom lately. I simply *must* work with her for her sake and mine.
I truly appreciate the kind words from both of you. Go raibh míle maith agaibh!
Anyway I am very interested in talking to you both about this more. Maybe you could come by on Friday night for dinner?
Hey hey! Yes, we would love to come by for dinner! Thanks for the invite, what time should we be there?
I was going to save my response for Friday, but I know I’ll forget all the pertinent points because I am a space cadet like that lol, I’ll post my responses to your comment on my blog there.
I can understand that you aren’t abandoning the Celtic way, and I didn’t think that was what you were doing. I would encourage you, as a friend who respects your dedication to the lore, to not give up on CR but rather to begin to influence it’s direction. That fight is a hard one, and will not be won in chatrooms, BBS or blogs alone, but on all fronts including publication. Voices are needed to bring change to a damaged system, and as the old adage goes: “Evil men prosper when good men do nothing.”
I do understand that you are in a time of reflection and have deep rooted ancestor work to do at this time in your life, and I am sympathetic to that, I truly am.
Of course, we can discuss these things at length on Friday, but I may need to glance at the blog while at your house to refresh my memory lol
How about maybe around 7 p.m?
Sounds good! Looking forward to it
Oh. . .what should we bring? Would you like us to bring a salad? Bottle of wine?
I personally love this direction. I also know you well enough to know that you will never loose your passion for all things Celtic or step off the Celtic path.
One of the things I have loved over the past five years of being a part of this group is the lack of dogma and the freedom allowed each of us. Each is part of the group for a different reason. While we are all on the same path each person walks it a bit differently. While this is the only Pagan group I have been associated with, freedom seems to be something frowned upon judging from things I’ve read. I stay away from messageborads and forums because they generally turn into “I’m smarter than you” flame wars.
I’m relatively new to paganism outside of the worship of Brighid that was handed down from my grandmother. I strongly believe, as Bjorn mentioned, that to understand your ancestor’s belief system you have to understand the world they lived in. Not what they believed, but what was it about their world that fostered those beliefs. I enjoy the lore. I love hearing you read it because you are so passionate about it and I love getting lost in the stories. However, I view them the same as I do biblical stories. Passages written by an ancient people to describe what they did not understand. (Although there is actual proof of Celtic mythological figures.) There is a message in every story. I have found myself frustrated over the past couple of years because I did not have the drive to memorize those stories for myself. I have found my obsession lies with more recent history (12th century forward). It is amazing how the tales of the ancient Celts and those of Michael Collins and Padraig Pearce parralell. I’ve heard it said that the Greek view their history mythologically while the Celts view their mythology historically.
Way off track…LOL. Anyway, finding the source, yes absolutely!!!! Your obsession with lore is a solid foundation for this step you are taking right now. This is the direction I have been most eager to explore. I enjoy the lore and don’t want to get away from it. (I know you wont) I love the history. However the Source is where my passion lies and the Source is what is going to make the difference in our lives. I’m more excited about this than anything we have done. A bit intimidated, but excited.
First off, thanks to all who’ve been so open and gracious to one another is openly sharing thoughts and feelings.
Tuatha is truly a unique group in that there is a lack of dogma, support for the individuals approach to the path and an openness to different approaches.
The lore, the history of our ancestors is important — it’s the foundation they gave us. It’s our responsibility to continue to grow, incorporating our experiences with that of our ancestors to pass onto our progeny.
I find it natural that folks integrate pieces of one belief system into their native system. After all, aren’t we all moving toward “the source”. As Don said we’re walking the same path but in little bit different ways.
Strider, I see what you’re doing as adding to your path, not leaving is or taking away from it. Just as we mix events in our lives to make us who we are now, we’ll be different tomorrow because of things that happen today.
**”I realize that much of my time spent as a Celtic Reconstructionist has been putting my beliefs and experiences into a “Celtic” box and a “Non-Celtic” box. As long as I do this there is no possibility of a fully integrated spirituality.”**
This is the truest statement you make, I feel. To speak frankly, the Celts were as mixed a pot as we are here in North America, taking influence from Norse, Persian, and Teutonic culture, just as we in North America take influence from British, Irish, Scandinavian, German, African, Italian, Native American, Latino cultures and so many more. To say that there is something inherently Celt is going to require a lifetime’s devotion to study, and while this is an admirable and honorable pursuit, as you say yourself, one looses touch with the experience of spirit. Histories and books and “lore” with a big-L can help us in framing an experience, but we do not gain any experience from these things. Reading about the Tuatha de Dannan is not the same as making journey there, experiencing the Otherworld with the senses. I have this in the draft of my next post, and I feel that the essence of all spirituality is experience.
Our ancestors did not theorize about the land, they experienced it, made their living from it, worked with it everyday, took from it and into themselves and grew. They did not base the honoring of spirits of place on some hearsay about a long-since legend, they based these on a shared experience, or on their individual experience. For you, experiencing the swallows on the mountain gave you a renewed experience of imbas. You had the experience first, then framed it in lore and language. (There is a bit of critical lit theory here, about sign and signifier, but I digress.)
Spirituality is not cerebral. As reconstructionists, we can get too heavy on the academics of getting everything “just so,” or we can have a nice toolkit which we utilize in framing our experience. I’m not suggesting we stop thinking, only that we continue experiencing. If Faery Seership adds to your spiritual experience, then go forth. Only you can decide where your spirit home lies.
Frithfully,
Borea
Borea,
Thanks so much for your thoughts on this. When you talked about experiencing the Otherworld with your senses it reminded me of you work with Seidhr! This to me is the essence of what we are all doing (or should be doing). Experience is where the juice lies. I will be checking in with your blog to see your next post on this.
Hey Strider, I posted a response to the comments you left on Nakedwoadwarrior, in case you were interested