Article Pages: 1, 2

The Metaphysic of the Cultural Tradition

by Iain Mac an tSaoir

"This people preserves an unbroken ancient tradition that goes back, perhaps long into pre-Christian times. Their variant of Celtic culture and language is lost in prehistory. Yet isolation here in the 'outpost of western Europe' has preserved it. Today the historian is in a better position to understand the history of all Europe because the Celtic past has survived latest here, outliving Roman and Christian inundation only here." Dr. Conrad M. Arensberg [1]

Most of us who are of Gaelic or some other Celtic heritage had our ancestors torn away from their homelands. Over time, the people who came to the New Worlds abandoned their Celtic cultures in order to succeed in their new environment. As a result the Celtic traditions are as foreign to their descendants as that of any other culture they weren't brought up in. Even in the Home Countries, many people have not had access to traditional culture due to the ravages of World Wars, flight to the cities, and technology. Still the traditions have remained alive in the areas that speak a Celtic language. Over the last few decades the governments of Ireland and Scotland have been trying to build new Gaelic speaking areas. Wales has been addressing their national heritage for many years. A miracle occurred in Kernow (Cornwall) and the language again lives. In most of these areas, the old customs have revived alongside of the language in an organic way. Generally speaking though, the Celtic soul has not been fed for a long time. The result has been a tremendous unrest felt by those of a Celtic extraction. This is especially true for the Celtic Diaspora, the Díchur in Irish. Those who seek to again be a part of the Celtic traditions have been hampered by many misnomers that have arisen from basic misunderstandings. These misnomers have created obstacles to understanding. Perhaps alleviating some of these is the place to start. Let's start with the word "Celt".

The word "Celtic" is one that inspires mental images of wise mages and bloodthirsty warriors, seductive maidens and fleeting fairy folk. Most images that come to mind today, however, are romanticized products of modern Western, typically American, culture. The word "Celt" is derived from the word "keltoi" which the ancient Greeks used to denote the European tribes north of them. The term "Celt" began being applied to living European people about 300 years ago. For the Greeks and for modern scholars as well, the words distinguish a distinct culture. The word "Celtic" refers to culture. Celtic cultures do still exist. For something to be Celtic means that it developed in a culture that speaks a Celtic language.

There are two main branches of the Celtic family. These branches are represented in six Celtic countries. They are considered Celtic because some portion of their populations still speaks a Celtic language. The first branch is the Gaelic found in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man. In their native languages they are called Eriu, Alba, and Mannin respectively. The second is the Brythonic, which is found in Wales, Cornwall, and Brittany. In their languages they are, in order, called Cymru, Kernow, and Breizh. While they share a linguistic history they are different because each has a different history and evolutionary path in language and custom. As a whole though, their relativity to each other is very close indeed.

Stating that the term "Celtic" primarily denotes a linguistic family is sure to raise some eyebrows. Yet, outside of the academic understanding, which defines the word as a linguistic term, the label "Celt" has very little to no functional application. Let me demonstrate this. The labels "Irish" and "Breton" can refer to anyone who was born in Ireland or Breizh. They can also refer to anyone who is a descendant of a person from those places. The socio-political connotation aside, what does being "Celtic" mean if the term simply refers to one’s lineage? Nothing that has any reality, and certainly nothing that is going to address the difference in worldviews, customs, and languages. For two hundred years people who have lived in, or have ancestors from, the six Celtic countries have been referring to themselves as "Celts". Of itself, there is no problem in that. Where the problem begins is when people start talking about "Celtic religion", "Celtic spirituality", and "Celtic traditions" in a way that is not within the accurate use of the term "Celtic.

Again, "Celtic" is a cultural descriptor and the boundaries are established through linguistics. Thus, the first part of the metaphysic of a cultural tradition is linguistics. The only real meaning such a designation as "Celt" can have is the beliefs, spirituality, traditions, worldviews, etc. common to communities that speak Celtic languages. It is possible for someone of any heritage who has been brought up in an Anglo environment to claim his or her heritage. They may even make a claim to the group identity from their heritage. However, that person will not have the same worldview, or cultural perspective, as someone who grew up in the culture. The group identity that such terms express doesn't have to be based on culture; it can be political, religious, or any other. The result is the same. The term "Irish" is without a doubt correct to apply to people from Ireland, regardless of their culture. The bottom line though, is that it is easier for a Filipino who speaks Gaeilge to interact in an area that speaks Gaeilge than for an Irishman who doesn't speak Gaeilge. Of course it goes without saying that if one wants to gain a deeper understanding of a culture’s traditions, then they will go to someone who is fully immersed in the culture.

The terms Celtic, or Gaelic, or Brythonic do not refer to race. There's no such thing as Celtic "blood", or Gaelic "blood", or "Brythonic "blood". "Celtic" is a cultural label has nothing at all to do with one’s DNA. Using the Gaelic people as an example, there is no such thing as a "racially pure" Gael. There can be no such thing as a "racially pure" Gael. Long before the current era, people of various races, including Phoenicians, Semites, pre-Indo-European Europeans such as the Basques and Finns, as well as Greeks, Celts, and other Indo-Europeans, all came together in what is now the recognized Gaelic Home Countries. These intermarried, and each lent their own particular spice to what is Gaelic culture. Much later on, in the New Worlds, Gaelic people further intermarried with indigenous peoples, and those who were Diaspora from other cultures. The same can be said for each Celtic culture and it's people.

The huge boom in things Celtic can only be ascribed to the filling of a need on the part of people of Celtic extraction. It is a response to the aforementioned restlessness felt deep within the hearts of Celtic peoples. The restlessness that Celtic people have been feeling is a spiritual one. As the spirituality of a culture flows only from the culture, that restlessness is a cultural one. This call has been for a return to the Celtic traditions. Celtic traditions, like the traditions of any other culture, are expressions of the spirituality of the culture. Over the last few decades especially, people have been trying to heed the call that has resounded within their beings. The reason for this restlessness can be found in a phrase from an ancient Irish text that says, "Glaonn na duibheagáin ar a chéile le torann do chuid easanna." In English that is, "Deep calls unto deep at the roar of Your waterfalls." Unfortunately, most of the available information presenting "Celtic Spirituality" is not from any of the Celtic cultures. It is more often than not, selected cultural materials filtered through the eyes of the Post-Industrial West. Yet, using a nominative such as "Celtic" relates the matter specifically and entirely to a Celtic culture. It is undeniable that the terms relating spirituality to a particular culture imply a historical context for that spirituality. Statements that are at variance with that historical context are misleading at best. It isn't a question of whether someone's spiritual system works. It is a matter of calling something that which it is not.

To call a thing "Celtic" when it is not a part of a "Celtic" culture is cultural misappropriation. Likewise, to select materials from a culture and to divorce those from the rest of the culture is also gross cultural misappropriation. To be sure, "Celtic" religion is wholly dependent on Celtic culture. Likewise, the only way to understand the spirituality of a cultural tradition is to become a part of that culture. Being an active part of the culture is in fact the second part of the metaphysic. The power in anything comes from understanding, and without a first hand, first person experience of the culture there will not be a complete understanding. To the contrary, all that will be delivered is a fragmented and superficial understanding, and this would be based on one’s own selectivity and not the whole of the experience that cultural immersion offers. The end result of this can only be a continuation of that deep spiritual thirst and restlessness.

"Celtic religion" is nothing less than the religious aspect of communities that speak a Celtic language. Celtic religion is the customary expression of Celtic spirituality, and that is something that flows only from Celtic culture. It cannot be divorced from the culture. It is the Celtic cultures alone that define Celtic traditions. One can study the customs and lore, and make these a part of one’s living ways. Those are in fact a part of becoming a Gael, or a Briton, or other Celt. But making those a part of one’s life must be met with acquiring the language, and interacting with the larger extant Celtic communities. Only in this way can individuals both assimilate the culture into their beings, as well as be re-assimilated into the culture. Such reciprocal assimilation is a matter of becoming an individual embodiment of the culture. Before anyone can truthfully state that they are a Gael, a Briton, or even, a Celt, they must become a living embodiment of the living tradition. When one is living a Celtic tradition they are part of a continuum that has flowed for many millennia. Celtic traditions hold untold strengths and powers that can become ours. Because it has existed for so long, the inherent continuity and stability becomes ours, as individuals, families, and communities. The Wisdom of the Ancestors is the bubbles and nuts in the Well. That wisdom is the fabric of the ancestral Tradition. It is a living tradition. The returns on the effort made are incalculable.

Celtic spirituality is expressed in the customs of the culture. The religious methods of Celtic cultures are a matter of custom. To be concise, Celtic religion is a religion of custom. Cultural traditions are bound together with community culture. They do not consist of "statements of faith" that can be transmitted from one culture to another. The traditions of a culture are specific to that culture's experiences as a people. They are also heavily tied to the people's sense of identity as a group and as individuals. If the community culture disappears, the spiritual traditions do as well. Thus, it is impossible to fathom any culture’s spiritual system without gaining a first person experience in the culture. There is no reason to not assimilate into a Celtic community. Celtic speaking cultures are awesomely vibrant and alive. They have maintained not only their languages but also their beliefs and customs.

Because the customs that make up Celtic religion have survived in an unbroken line, there is no reason to put up false walls between those who are drawn to pre-Christian ways and those who are Christian. Christianity was consciously designed to avoid culture-specificity. Again, "Celtic religion" is simply the religious expression of Celtic culture. It can't be divorced from the culture because it's the way communities shaped by Celtic language have dealt with their religious aspect. The coming of Christianity did not see the demise of the old ways. Celtic peoples abandoned blood sacrifice when they became Christians. The Eucharist provided a form of the world-renewing sacrifice that made perfect sense within the Celtic world-view. Adopting the new religion eliminated the need for any further blood sacrifice. The original system remained intact from a Celtic point of view. Celtic Christianity incorporated the elder faith and its ways, altering only a little, and adding only a few teachings. To be concise, the elder faith of Celtic peoples became the foundation of Celtic Christianity.

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