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History and Ideals of Gaelic Traditionalism v 1.6
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Festivals Part 1 - Preface v.1.1 by Iain MacAnTsaoir When establishing what the important times of the Gaels and other Celts were, it must be remembered that they were a pastoral people. The way they reckoned time was established by the importance of moving livestock from winter pastures to summer pastures and back. There are just as many fallacious notions surrounding the original ways of the Norse, as there are of the Celt. Before general conversion to Christianity, the Norse celebrated three major holidays. H. R. Ellis Davidson, in her book Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe states, "Similarly, in the thirteenth century, Snorri in 'Ynglinga Saga' mentions three main feasts in Scandinavia before the conversion: one at the beginning of winter when men sacrificed for plenty, one at mid-winter for the growth of crops, and one in summer for victory." This is also found echoed by Tacitus in Germanica 26. The dates for these holidays are approximately Decemeber 21st, for Yule; approximately June 21st, for Midsummer; and approximately October 14th for Winternight. It was only well after the conversion that people in Germanic lands broke the Wheel of the Year into an eight-fold plan, and only then in some areas, such as those held by the Saxons. The pagan Norse themselves never used this scheme. The original holidays were quite different. While the Norse cousins utilized a three-fold holiday system, the Celts celebrated four main festivals. The Celtic holidays have come down to us as Samhain, Imbolg, Beltaine and Lughnasadh. The festivals with their accompanying fairs held an important position within the social, economic and religious fabric of ancient Celtic society. The social life of the ancient Celtic peoples to a very great extent revolved around the various fairs and markets held during the festivals. This was true not only at the local tribal or clann level, but also all across Gaelic Celtic lands. The various gatherings had different titles, for example the feis was a feast of national significance to which only elected delegates from each region attended. The most notable one was, of course, the Feis Tara, which was referred to throughout the ancient Irish legends. There was the dal, which was a meeting of the tribes at district levels. There was also the mor-dal, or great assembly, of which the Tailltenn Fair is probably the most well known example. The important affairs of each district, region and province were taken care of at the mor-dal gatherings. There were council meetings held for the holders of the skills/knowledge, these were known as the cerd. The higher ranking cerd where those who had to varying degrees mastered poetry, these where called fili (At one time all skills were held, passed and worked in poetic form.). At the meetings of these people, new breakthroughs in various skills and crafts were shown and taught, and well as the laws of the people revised. Kings and Queens met to discuss peace and war. While certain responsibilities were fulfilled by those who held them, the fairs held during the festivals were in general a time of great merriment. Entertainment was always in abundance with poets, musicians, singers, storytellers, games and races. Also in abundance was food and drink. It was a time for everyone to enjoy themselves. The fairs saw traders who had traveled great distances, even from overseas, displaying their fine wares. The markets were vibrant places filled with buying and selling, bartering and haggling. The economic infusion into the local economy from these traders, as well as the redistribution of wealth by the generous gifts of the kings and queens were critically important to the economic health of the people. The summer fairs were of course the best time to trade because people usually had a little excess that they could afford to spend, unlike during the lean winter months. It was common for young people to find a marriage partner during the fairs. Such fairs were the mainstay of social life in ancient times. They also created opportunities for inter-tribal ties of friendship. The Brehon Law held that everyone must attend the festivals. To not do so was an insult to the Gods in whose honor they were held. These fairs were indeed ordained by the Gods themselves as being a necessary part of the social order. Besides, it was after all for Them, that the fairs came into existence in the first place. Whoever neglected to attend the fair was apt to receive this warning:
"There comes for the neglect of it Considering the sacred element of the festivals, those held during the times of the four great Fire Festivals were held to be particularly sacred. Not only did the Brehon Law mandate everyone be there, but it also proscribed strict codes of behavior. The most important of these rules was that no one could start a quarrel or a fight during the festival period. This offense was one of the very few in the old society that was punishable by death. An oft overlooked component of the fairs is where they were held (even to this day in some places). The sites themselves had great religious significance and were considered sacred. Under the guidance of the fili, the people came together to enact the passion plays, or re-enactments, of the mythical event which gave sanctity to the land. In Ireland, the ancient provincial centers where these festivals were held invariably stood on hills, where ancient burial mounds were dedicated to the memory of the founding ancestors who were buried there. More often than not, these founders were a Goddess or mythological queen. In the Celtic paradigm, all of the land was and is sacred. It is precisely those histories that makes certain places the sites of certain types of ceremony. As to the reckoning of the quarter days, Danaher says in Irish Folk Tradition and the Celtic Calendar, "...they are separated from each other by regular intervals, to be precise, by intervals of 92, 92, 92 and 89 days by our modern calendar reckoning; thus they divide the year into four even quarters which are recognized in popular tradition as the four seasons of the year." Danaher further states, "These four season days were the outstanding festivals of the Irish folk calendar, and that no others approached them in diversity of custom with the exception of the Easter cycle, which is of entirely Christian origin and introduction, completely unknown in pre-Christian Ireland, Christmas which is an inextricable tangle of the Christian celebration and old midwinter custom, all overlaid with more recent additions, and Midsummer, which was mainly marked by bonfires and their associated prayers and ceremonies." The Soltices and Equinoxes certainly had both Solar and Lunar aspects. These because they were held on the first New moon of the month in which they occurred. Those days were not generally celebrated by our Celtic ancestors. While those other days have a lunar aspect, this is not the case with the cross-quarter days which are the days of the festivals of our Celtic ancestors. Many people have asserted that there was a lunar aspect to these as well, but such is not the case." Danaher also says, "The old Irish four-season year comes entirely from solar reckoning, without any lunar influence whatever. It has a precisely divided solar year, not a year formed by the setting together of a number of lunar months and requiring frequent correction and intercalation. It must be noted that in Irish folk tradition there is no reckoning of time by the moon." Regarding any lore about the Moon, there are only scant amounts. This is in sharp contrast to the tomes of lore about the Sun. Before this can be construed to be any kind of proof that the Celts were harsh patriarchs, I must at this time point out that amongst our ancestors the Sun was feminine. This is evidenced even by one of the names by which the Sun was referenced, which is still carried in modern Irish, Griann. Bride is also considered by many scholars to be the Sun. Danaher's conclusion, which is shared by many other scholars, was that while the continental Celts reckoned time by both solar and lunar alignments in their calendar (as illustrated by Coligny Calendar) such was not true for the insular Celts who make up the Gaels. The Coligny Calendar has no relevance to Gaelic Celts. Yet the festivals which our ancestors celebrated were also celebrated by continental Celts. Also like our ancestors, neither did the continental Celts celebrate the solstices and equinoxes. (A custom which suports the solar reckoning of the days is the still extant practise of lighting wheels in the shape of solar crosses and tossing them repeatedly in the air.) There were definite customs which were common at all four Quarter Days. The Need Fire, or communal bon-fire was ritually kindled, though on only two of the Quarter days were household fires extinguished and re-lit from the need-fires. The need fires themselves were built with nine sacred woods, which were ignited by an oak bow and rod. There are several places where these lists can be found. in the Silver Bough Vol.1, by MacNeill, we find the following.
While MacNiells list, is incomplete, in regards to specifying the tree directly there is another source. That source is the 13th century Irish poem called, " Song of the Forest Trees". In this poem there are trees specified as not to be burned, as well as to be burned. The following is is extracted from that poem:
Burn Ye Not The quarter days were when the sick or barren visited the Holy Wells. On these days too, those who were particularly adept at spells and charms were careful to rise before the sun to ensure no ill was coming their way. In some places, young women made careful note of the first male they met, for it was believed that the surname of the first man they met on a Quarter Day would be the surname she would take when she married. The first Monday (moonday) of the new quarter was believed to be a particulaly good day. This day was also held to be amongst the best for a form a augury called frith. A common custom dating back to our traditional ancestors was the baking of the bannock. This was a piece of bread which was prepared in a specific way. It was in a very real way, a form of communion enacted in individual hearths - between the people of that hearth and the Gods. Each of the Festival Days had a bannock that was named for it. Bannock Bride, was for Imbolg; Bannock Bealtain for Beltain; Bannock Lunastain for Lughnasadh; as well as Bannock Samhain for Samhain, were the names. In many places these were given a Christian veneer and were practiced even into the modern era. Unlike modern paganism, with it's emphasis on Judaic ceremonialism and ecclectic practices and holidays, the traditional ways were votive in nature, and at four specific solar events. Instead of deep mysteries withheld from the people, all of the people would assemble on the sacred hills and sing hymns to the sun. It began just prior to daybreak, with an incantation by the king or queen. Then all of the people would sing together, rejoicing and giving thanks. According to many sources there are still places in the old countries where things have not changed. Both Ann Ross and Nora Chadwick before her told of whole communities, who in their isolation had held onto peculiar customs that harkened back to ealier times. This is also the theme of another book, Twilight of the Celtic Gods, by Clarke and Roberts. There are tomes of anthropological works, as well as unending lists of anecdotal evidence to show this. Prior to the High Day great preparations have always been made. The home and hearth was thoroughly cleaned as were all of the clothes that a family owned, it is still so today. In later times, whole communities went about repairing, cleaning and white washing the town. Of particular significance is that even in these days, there are places where the tall upright standing stones are white washed as well. The symbolisms regarding these phallic symbols should not be lost on anyone. The primiere event of the festival was the feast itself, with great amounts of merry making before during and after the feast. In these days, neighbors congregate at a house, feast and then go about the other events of the High day. A custom that has survived to this day is the creation of a dolly, which on the feast day is presented, or introduced, with great fanfare. After the feasting, the dolly is taken to a hill top and burned in a bonfire (need-fire), truely a shadowing of the previous acts of sacrifice. There are still places where family bonfires are lit on these days, and they are still never extinguished. rather they are allowed to burn themselves out completely. Sometimes, particularly at Bealtinna, visits are still made to the local River which is seen in some places to be the creative source. On Bealtinna, the people gather, no small task in itself in these days, and throw flowers and other things into the river in tribute. In some places, the old or infirm are said to throw themselves in as the tribute. Yes, these things happen to this day. After the burning of the dolly, the people disperse and find their own solitude in the hills and dale, whether by themselves or in little family units. In these remote places they wittness, in the early hours of the pre-dawn, the turning of the wheel of the year. The evidence tells us this is the way it has always been amongst the Gael and other celtic peoples. No where is there the ceremonial magical ritual forms that have been accredited to these festivals since the British Revival Period. It's all very personal and familial.
Sources: prepared by Ian MacAnTsaoir |
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