by Quasizoid
What historians had previously thought be a singular ethnic group, was actually the effect of widespread trade between several different groups over the course; namely, the Tartessians (Iberian Peninsula), the Etruscans, and various tribal groups across the continent. The latter, archaeologists refer to as the Hallstatt culture, based on the similarities in their designs and metallurgical skills. Here, this from wikipedia:
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC (European Early Iron Age), developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC (Late Bronze Age) and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.
By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some 1000 km, from the Champagne-Ardenne in the west, through the Upper Rhine and the upper Danube, as far as the Vienna Basin and the Danubian Lowland in the east, from the Main river, Bohemia and the Little Carpathians in the north, to the Swiss plateau, the Salzkammergut and to Lower Styria.
It is named for its type site, Hallstatt, a lakeside village in the Austrian Salzkammergut southeast of Salzburg. The culture is commonly linked to Proto-Celtic and Celtic populations in its western zone and with (pre-) Illyrians in its eastern zone.
While the Gaels and Bretons subsequently descended from the Iberian Peninsula, in the British Isles they eventually came into trade with the Scandinavian peoples to the north and the Belgae to the east. All this while the Hallstatt culture did much along the Rhine and Danube routes. That their distinctive burial mounds have been found as far as western China,certainly emphasizes that these people really got around.
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2009/05/06/china%E2%80%99s-celtic-mumm…
http://www.duerinck.com/celts.html
http://www.hixenbaugh.net/research/chronology.cfm?id=5
The Question of Human Sacrifice
There is much debate as to the veracity of Roman accounts on such practices. In fact, writers like Pliny, Tacitus and Lucan seem somewhat confused as to what deities were involved- given that each tribe actually had its own patron and matron deities they identified with. While some were common throughout that diaspora with only slight language differences in name, others were either geographically (sea gods) or ancestrally (dis pater) specific. Thus more apt to commonality were the solar, water and earth deities. What we do know is that human figures (wicker men, quorn dollies) were burnt in effigy to solar deities, generally symbolized by the solar wheel, which can be seen emphasized in numerous Celtic designs; for example, the triskele and the cross, aside from the standard 6 or 8-spoked wheel (or as seen in the Gundestrup Cauldron). The general ideal is celestial motion. From this practice also descends the firewheel traditions still celebrated in different parts of continental Europe.
Forensic studies of bog bodies found across Europe, however, do seem to concur with Tacitus's descriptions of bogging as a sacral form of persecution. It is also not so far removed from the medieval practice of “trial by water”, used in many parts of Europe right up to even the 17th century.
The practice of collecting severed heads however, was not so much a cult as a code of power and retribution, especially when nailed on doors or fashioned into drinking vessels for libations or pacts. Particularly warlords of all ages esteemed to display the heads of their fallen enemies as trophies. Indeed, some were inclined to believe that it did reap them magical potency. However, there is evidence in archaeological finds that indicate human sacrifice, though not necessarily of their own people:
http://www.archaeology.org/0201/etc/celtic.html
While the Gaels and Bretons subsequently descended from the Iberian Peninsula, in the British Isles they eventually came into trade with the Scandinavian peoples to the north and the Belgae to the east. All this while the Hallstatt culture did much along the Rhine and Danube routes. That their distinctive burial mounds have been found as far as western China,certainly emphasizes that these people really got around.
http://www.weirdasianews.com/2009/05/06/china%E2%80%99s-celtic-mumm…
http://www.duerinck.com/celts.html
http://www.hixenbaugh.net/research/chronology.cfm?id=5
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Overview of the Hallstatt and La Tène cultures. The core Hallstatt territory (800 BC) is shown in solid yellow, the area of influence by 500 BC (HaD) in light green. The core territory of the La Tène culture (450 BC) is shown in solid green, the eventual area of La Tène influence in darker green.
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The Question of Human Sacrifice
There is much debate as to the veracity of Roman accounts on such practices. In fact, writers like Pliny, Tacitus and Lucan seem somewhat confused as to what deities were involved- given that each tribe actually had its own patron and matron deities they identified with. While some were common throughout that diaspora with only slight language differences in name, others were either geographically (sea gods) or ancestrally (dis pater) specific. Thus more apt to commonality were the solar, water and earth deities. What we do know is that human figures (wicker men, quorn dollies) were burnt in effigy to solar deities, generally symbolized by the solar wheel, which can be seen emphasized in numerous Celtic designs; for example, the triskele and the cross, aside from the standard 6 or 8-spoked wheel (or as seen in the Gundestrup Cauldron). The general ideal is celestial motion. From this practice also descends the firewheel traditions still celebrated in different parts of continental Europe.
Forensic studies of bog bodies found across Europe, however, do seem to concur with Tacitus's descriptions of bogging as a sacral form of persecution. It is also not so far removed from the medieval practice of “trial by water”, used in many parts of Europe right up to even the 17th century.
The practice of collecting severed heads however, was not so much a cult as a code of power and retribution, especially when nailed on doors or fashioned into drinking vessels for libations or pacts. Particularly warlords of all ages esteemed to display the heads of their fallen enemies as trophies. Indeed, some were inclined to believe that it did reap them magical potency. However, there is evidence in archaeological finds that indicate human sacrifice, though not necessarily of their own people:
http://www.archaeology.org/0201/etc/celtic.html
Ritual Procedure and Worship
By Quasizoid The ancient Celts used no temples, rather sacred groves of oak, yew, birch or even willow, depending on the deity or elemental involved. Offering and pillar stones stood in their midst, often bearing their prospective effigies and symbols of the gods elaborately carved into their facets. Naturally where good carving stone was scarce, wood was often used. The ancient groves were still the objects of veneration in Christian times, though fines were levied against those who still clung to the old ways. However, despite the claims of some monastic accounts, the Celts were not in the habit of worshipping idols, rather, these wide-eyed effigies were meant to be respected as wards, watching over this sacred space- the old superstition in the spell binding "evil eye".
As for animal sacrifice, animals were sacred to the earth, thus as they were bled and cleaned on the altar stone, a furrow in the bowl allowed the blood to run off and hence placate the spirit by returning it the earth. The reasoning behind this was that blood and semen were considered the potents of the life spirit, also represented by the berries of mistletoe and holly sacred to the yule season (namely when these berries mature). The animal itself thus ritually cleansed was ready for the sacred feast. Even in those days it was common practice to stuff the animal with herbs, berries and nuts (sacred to the particular festivity) before roasting. Certain herbs charms were also cast into the fire to purify it.
Druid is generally a catch-all term for what was actually no different than tribal shamanism. Possibly the term came from the Welsh "derwyd" or forest man and all the instinctive or visionary kenning that goes with it, albeit herbalism, healing, magic or animism. The more bardic among them were not only keepers of oral tradition but messengers of events abroad; the forerunners of the medieval travelling minstrel. Some were simply priests; masters of ceremony, well versed in ritual procedure for every occasion. Practices differed from tribe to tribe according to its needs.
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| This cupped stone in Wuestenberg was for collecting rainwater. |
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| Note the serpent engraving on the side of it |
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| This stone shows the furrow typical for blood libations. |
Can y tylwyth teg: Welsh Song of the Fae
From grassy blades, and fenny shades, my happy comrades hie;
Now day declines, bright evening shines, and night invades the sky.
From noonday pranks, and thymy banks, to Dolyd's dome repair,
For our's the joy, that cannot cloy, and mortals cannot share.
The light-latched door, the well-swept floor, the hearth so trim and neat,
The blaze so clear, the water near, the pleasant circling seat.
With proper care, your needs prepare, your tuneful tabors bring;
And day shall haste to tinge the east, ere we shall cease to sing.
But first I'll creep where mortals sleep, and form the blissful dreams;
I'll hover near the maiden dear, that keeps the hearth so clean:
I'll show her that the best of men, so rich in manly charms,
Her Einiou, in vest of blue, shall bless her longing arms.
Your little sheaves of primrose leaves, your acorns, berries spread;
Lets kernels sweet increase the treat, and the flowers their fragrance shed:
And when 'tis o'er, we'll crowd the floor, in jocund pairs advance,
No voice be mute, and each shrill flute, shall cheer the mazy dance.
When the morning breaks, and man awakes, from sleep's restoring hours;
The flocks, the field, his house we yield, to his more active powers.
While clad in green, unheard, unseen, on sunny banks we'll play,
And give to man, his little span, his empire of the day.
Only this part of the original Welsh text remains preserved:
Dowch, dowch, gyfeillon mân,
O blith marwolion byd,
Dowch, dowch, a dowch yn Iân.
Partowch partowch eich pibau cân,
Gan ddawnsio dowch i gyd,
Mae yn hyfryd heno i hwn.
From noonday pranks, and thymy banks, to Dolyd's dome repair,
For our's the joy, that cannot cloy, and mortals cannot share.
The light-latched door, the well-swept floor, the hearth so trim and neat,
The blaze so clear, the water near, the pleasant circling seat.
With proper care, your needs prepare, your tuneful tabors bring;
And day shall haste to tinge the east, ere we shall cease to sing.
But first I'll creep where mortals sleep, and form the blissful dreams;
I'll hover near the maiden dear, that keeps the hearth so clean:
I'll show her that the best of men, so rich in manly charms,
Her Einiou, in vest of blue, shall bless her longing arms.
Your little sheaves of primrose leaves, your acorns, berries spread;
Lets kernels sweet increase the treat, and the flowers their fragrance shed:
And when 'tis o'er, we'll crowd the floor, in jocund pairs advance,
No voice be mute, and each shrill flute, shall cheer the mazy dance.
When the morning breaks, and man awakes, from sleep's restoring hours;
The flocks, the field, his house we yield, to his more active powers.
While clad in green, unheard, unseen, on sunny banks we'll play,
And give to man, his little span, his empire of the day.
Only this part of the original Welsh text remains preserved:
Dowch, dowch, gyfeillon mân,
O blith marwolion byd,
Dowch, dowch, a dowch yn Iân.
Partowch partowch eich pibau cân,
Gan ddawnsio dowch i gyd,
Mae yn hyfryd heno i hwn.
Ancient Shamanism versus Modern Druidry
By QuasizoidUntil recent advancements in archeo-forensics it was assumed the name "Druid" descended from the alleged Indo-European root “dru-wido” relating to the endurance of oak. However, there was little to be found in Celtic burials to even suggest they were an elite order of a caste system. Rather, much of what the Romans aspired to compare with Hellenic tree spirit cults, was in fact shamanism, as can be found in most tribal cultures.
There is also a great deal confusion between them and ceremonial priests. While shamans were seers and healers, priests were the masters of ceremony when it came to preparing animals and rituals for the feast, hand fastings, or officiating decisions passed by the chieftains and the elders of the clan. Priesthood was not a position of permanence, rather elected by the tribe or sometimes even borrowed from other tribes, depending on their experience with certain rituals. Bardic tradition was more something that arose with the travelling minstrel. It had always been the practice of any Celt to retain and pass on one’s knowledge of a craft or heritage by means of allegorical verse. Being such widespread travellers and traders just simply can’t accommodate dragging along tons of written documentation at the risk of loss or damage when met with conflict or natural disaster. This is just the way it was in those days, and to truly understand it requires thinking outside of the modern conveniences we tend to take so for granted. In this respect Modern Druidry is quite a different cup of tea.
Modern Druidry came to be established through a revivalist movement inspired by the English antiquarian William Stukeley around the 1740s with his multi-volume publication “Universal History”. Also deeply involved with Freemasonry and its esteeming brothers such as Edmund Halley and Isaac Newton, he pioneered the archeological investigation and reconstruction of Stonehenge and the Avebury megaliths. Unfortunately his assumption was that these monuments were built by “Druids” aspiring a religion of Phoenician influence introduced through trade along the Atlantic coast. Although the Phoenicians did in fact conduct such trade along the British Isles for tin and gold, modern forensics confirms that these megaliths existed well before the Phoenicians even appeared in the Levant. Taking these factors into consideration, however, does not necessarily deminuate Modern Druidry in its own right of bardic tradition and spiritual practice, provided it does not assume that the use of these verses and rituals qualifies the order itself as some millennial unbroken tradition.
The Solar Wheel
By Quasizoid
As the legend goes, the sun god, having fertilized the fallow earth in his underworld journey, ascends again after Winter Solstice. Beltaine (eve of April 30 - 1st of May) celebrates his virile youth and sexual union with the maiden earth mother. The "Gladyearhalf" was believed to be dominated by all manner of capricious light spirits and fae. Samhain (eve of October 31 - 1st of November), on the other hand, honours the Sun god's return with her (as the crone) to her underworld domain. It was believed that with this transition to the dark underworld regime of things, dark spirits and ghosts of the dead had the rule of the roost. Thus at feasts, the dead were ceremoniously welcomed to attend, with a place specially set for them at the table. In this time, leaders were also elected and critical decisions made- with all due respect that the ancestors be present. In Winter, death of course came as the Morrigan and her ravens, to collect the souls of the lost. Much like her Germanic equivalent, she appeared to the doomed as half beauty - half corpse.
Discoveries in the Vosges Mountains
Article from Archaeologie-Vosges
http://www.archeologie-vosges.com/the-kelten-gb_295939.html
Discovery of celestial stones
Three stones representing the firmament were discovered these last years. They are similar to the disc of Nebra but are estimated to top it in age by 1500 to 2500 years. Two of these three stones give, however, more precise information on the constellation of the stars.
The first stone stands in the Vosges Mountains. We are talking about the “Rutschfelsen” near Dabo in the Moselle region. Very well-known in the Dabo area, it was never subject to an analysis until 25 may 2008, when Jean-Pierre Kruger found striking resemblances to the Italian ‘rock of stars’ (near Lillianes). Adjoining picture of the Rutschfels / All rights reserved.
The second stone was found during construction works in Jean-Pierres Kruger’s garden, around eight feet below the ground. It sizes 44 inches in width, 29 inches in height and 14 inches in depth in the Vosges’ red sandstone.
The material is fine and hard and has very few quartz inclusions. Placed in an angle of 49°, this stone points in the extension of its axis very precisely to the polestar. As to Mr Feidt (former president of the astronomic association “Némésis” of Saverne in Alsace), this ascertainment proves the stone to be celestial. However, it is currently being examined by Mr. Koeppen of the Astronomical Observatory of Strasbourg (ULP) in order to analyse the signs more precisely.
The third stone resembles the second, yet presents a greater number of star constellations. Found in Harreberg / Froeschen, near Dabo, it also undergoes a precise analysis at the ULP. We will be able to give you further information within a few months.
These three stones, as the stone of the Italian Alps, represent the Pleiades. Likewise, the ‘Pleiades’ Mountain (where the path of the stars can be discovered) situated north-east of the Lake Geneva in Switzerland, signifies that the Western civilisation represented constellations of stars in the prehistory before the Orient.This constitutes the thesis brought forward by Jean-Pierre Kruger.
The writing of the Celts (Recall)
The Ogham writing of the Celts appeared in the third or fourth century AD in the South of Ireland. In fact, some 300 small sized signs were noticed on stones / rocks in different regions of Ireland, but also in WALES, DEVON, English CORNWALL, as well as on the island MAN.
For reasons of linguistic order, it is assumed that most of these signs are from the fourth or fifth century AD.
The origins of the OGHAM-writing in the Vosges Mountains
The origins of this Celtic writing were hereafter established in the Vosges Mountains. It is the thesis defended by Jean-Pierre Kruger who has now been searching and analysing the different stones and other elements found in this region for over 15 years.
Hence, rocks in the Lorraine Alsace region feature characteristics indicating the presence of signs and writings dating back to the Bronze Age, that is the prehistoric period succeeding the Neolithic (in the course of the third millennium) and ending around 1000 B.C. with the emergence of iron.
The German linguist, Professor Herbert Pilch of the Albert-Ludwig University (Fribourg in Brisgau / Germany), has already taken into account the signs and writings on stones discovered by Jean Pierre Kruger and advises of it in his book “The Celtic languages and literatures”, ISBN 978-3-8253-5330-8, page 356.
It is a fact that these signs and writings discovered in the Vosges Mountains differ from OGHAM signs, since they are not similarly regrouped. In view of the erosion, the state of the stones, Jean-Pierre Kruger deducts from it that this writing is antecedent. However, scientific proof still needs to be provided. This day, no method of scientific analysis exists to date the writing on a stone and compare it with others in order to know whether or not it is antecedent.
Up till today, Jean-Pierre Kruger noticed 18 different characters on stones in the Vosges region. Among them are also stones with three different characters.
The pre-Celtic calendar
A stone (of calcareous type) of which the true composition is not known with certainty was discovered on 19 September, 1997 in the fields adjacent to Sarraltroff and Oberstinzel in the Moselle region. This 8.3 oz object is covered with a certain tinted layer exposing seven small equidistant cuts. According to various examinations of the site, this stone would represent the twelfth fraction of a circular entity with an inside diameter of 11 inches and of 14.2 inches outside.
The whole study leads to the hypothesis that it concerns a segment of the Celtic calendar which the Romans probably still used in the Gallo-Roman villa "Heidenschloss ", very close to the place of this discovery.
Discovery of stone weights
More than 250 stone weights were found in the Vosges region, hence allowing to define a system of weight and measure units for every stone. These stones served in sale and in purchase of goods (iron ore, charcoal, iron ingots and transported animals).
They were found on ancient trade channels.
Certain stones have the form of a head dressed by a hair crown (it is the origin of the halo represented above the head of the Saints and of God and resumed by the Christian Church).
It is probable that these stones are the ancestors of our actual currencies. (On the ancient currencies of the Antiquity, amongst other things the head of emperors was also represented).
http://www.archeologie-vosges.com/the-kelten-gb_295939.html
Discovery of celestial stones
Three stones representing the firmament were discovered these last years. They are similar to the disc of Nebra but are estimated to top it in age by 1500 to 2500 years. Two of these three stones give, however, more precise information on the constellation of the stars.
The first stone stands in the Vosges Mountains. We are talking about the “Rutschfelsen” near Dabo in the Moselle region. Very well-known in the Dabo area, it was never subject to an analysis until 25 may 2008, when Jean-Pierre Kruger found striking resemblances to the Italian ‘rock of stars’ (near Lillianes). Adjoining picture of the Rutschfels / All rights reserved.
The second stone was found during construction works in Jean-Pierres Kruger’s garden, around eight feet below the ground. It sizes 44 inches in width, 29 inches in height and 14 inches in depth in the Vosges’ red sandstone.
The material is fine and hard and has very few quartz inclusions. Placed in an angle of 49°, this stone points in the extension of its axis very precisely to the polestar. As to Mr Feidt (former president of the astronomic association “Némésis” of Saverne in Alsace), this ascertainment proves the stone to be celestial. However, it is currently being examined by Mr. Koeppen of the Astronomical Observatory of Strasbourg (ULP) in order to analyse the signs more precisely.
The third stone resembles the second, yet presents a greater number of star constellations. Found in Harreberg / Froeschen, near Dabo, it also undergoes a precise analysis at the ULP. We will be able to give you further information within a few months.
These three stones, as the stone of the Italian Alps, represent the Pleiades. Likewise, the ‘Pleiades’ Mountain (where the path of the stars can be discovered) situated north-east of the Lake Geneva in Switzerland, signifies that the Western civilisation represented constellations of stars in the prehistory before the Orient.This constitutes the thesis brought forward by Jean-Pierre Kruger.
The writing of the Celts (Recall)
The Ogham writing of the Celts appeared in the third or fourth century AD in the South of Ireland. In fact, some 300 small sized signs were noticed on stones / rocks in different regions of Ireland, but also in WALES, DEVON, English CORNWALL, as well as on the island MAN.
For reasons of linguistic order, it is assumed that most of these signs are from the fourth or fifth century AD.
The origins of the OGHAM-writing in the Vosges Mountains
The origins of this Celtic writing were hereafter established in the Vosges Mountains. It is the thesis defended by Jean-Pierre Kruger who has now been searching and analysing the different stones and other elements found in this region for over 15 years.
Hence, rocks in the Lorraine Alsace region feature characteristics indicating the presence of signs and writings dating back to the Bronze Age, that is the prehistoric period succeeding the Neolithic (in the course of the third millennium) and ending around 1000 B.C. with the emergence of iron.
The German linguist, Professor Herbert Pilch of the Albert-Ludwig University (Fribourg in Brisgau / Germany), has already taken into account the signs and writings on stones discovered by Jean Pierre Kruger and advises of it in his book “The Celtic languages and literatures”, ISBN 978-3-8253-5330-8, page 356.
It is a fact that these signs and writings discovered in the Vosges Mountains differ from OGHAM signs, since they are not similarly regrouped. In view of the erosion, the state of the stones, Jean-Pierre Kruger deducts from it that this writing is antecedent. However, scientific proof still needs to be provided. This day, no method of scientific analysis exists to date the writing on a stone and compare it with others in order to know whether or not it is antecedent.
Up till today, Jean-Pierre Kruger noticed 18 different characters on stones in the Vosges region. Among them are also stones with three different characters.
The pre-Celtic calendar
A stone (of calcareous type) of which the true composition is not known with certainty was discovered on 19 September, 1997 in the fields adjacent to Sarraltroff and Oberstinzel in the Moselle region. This 8.3 oz object is covered with a certain tinted layer exposing seven small equidistant cuts. According to various examinations of the site, this stone would represent the twelfth fraction of a circular entity with an inside diameter of 11 inches and of 14.2 inches outside.
The whole study leads to the hypothesis that it concerns a segment of the Celtic calendar which the Romans probably still used in the Gallo-Roman villa "Heidenschloss ", very close to the place of this discovery.
Discovery of stone weights
More than 250 stone weights were found in the Vosges region, hence allowing to define a system of weight and measure units for every stone. These stones served in sale and in purchase of goods (iron ore, charcoal, iron ingots and transported animals).
They were found on ancient trade channels.
Certain stones have the form of a head dressed by a hair crown (it is the origin of the halo represented above the head of the Saints and of God and resumed by the Christian Church).
It is probable that these stones are the ancestors of our actual currencies. (On the ancient currencies of the Antiquity, amongst other things the head of emperors was also represented).
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