interrested in celtic deities

[Maria de Luna]

Ok so I have done a bit of research into the celtic deities, and have managed to confuse the pudding out of myself. I would like some info if anyone has any, otherwise I will be looking through the resource page... I feel like sometimes when I look through the info I have found like things don't always connect like all the deities have more than one "persona" or "life" really I'm not joking about the level of my confusion.

[anunitu]

Re: interrested in celtic deities

One thing when dealing with Celtic Gods and Goddess' is that Celt's were a tribal culture,and there were many tribes that had similar deities,but also sometimes quite different ones depending on the area that the tribes lived. Or as you said with many different names,but a similar description. Also many were effected by the Romans bringing in their Gods and Goddess's that may have mixed the different beliefs into a hybrid that changed the concepts and altered some "Myth" stories as well.

[Zephyranth]

Re: interrested in celtic deities

I'm trying to do research, too, and I also have no idea what's going on. However, I have found that the site www.godchecker.com has a bit of useful information, at least to get started. The deities that I have found fascinating, I've simply done further research on! Good luck!

[JamesByrne]

Re: interrested in celtic deities

My advise would be to ignore the names and pick a type of deity and go a huntin. Theyre all there.

Whats worth looking for in literature more then names are recurring motifs and toponyms around the names. Death Deities for example always have a sense of firstness about them. Whether they are the eldest, the first to die or first to be buried. They are always associated with the sea and they are always associated with betraying or being cursed by a goddess. When those things appear together in a story about one charactor you know regardless of the name used that its discussing what might have originally been a regional death deity.

If you explore the toponyms in the story you can usually give the deity a regional context. Looking at toponyms mentioned in association with the name either in the peoms or lit or in modern toponymy youll be able to locate a deity associated with a certain tribe by their territory. If youve an ancestral link or a prefered tribe thatll be handy. Even if youre not into any particular tribe its handy cos if there is no toponym or a made up one its usually proof the 'deity' is just a literary construct playing a role in the made up narrative of the story or something religious or political.

You can find lots of deities by looking at motifs. For example tutelary deities, light bringer deities, fisherkings and first ancestors are easy to spot in Medieval Irish lit.

[Celtic Tiger]

Re: interrested in celtic deities

Ok so I have done a bit of research into the celtic deities, and have managed to confuse the pudding out of myself. I would like some info if anyone has any, otherwise I will be looking through the resource page... I feel like sometimes when I look through the info I have found like things don't always connect like all the deities have more than one "persona" or "life" really I'm not joking about the level of my confusion.

Which Celtic culture's deities are you interested in? Or is it Celtic in general. I'm going to second James' advice, particularly if you are interested in Celtic deities in general.

[Jasmine]

Re: interrested in celtic deities

Ok so I have done a bit of research into the celtic deities, and have managed to confuse the pudding out of myself. I would like some info if anyone has any, otherwise I will be looking through the resource page... I feel like sometimes when I look through the info I have found like things don't always connect like all the deities have more than one "persona" or "life" really I'm not joking about the level of my confusion.

This is something I've had trouble with too. Celtic tribes are/were so varied that it's easy to get confused between say Irish and Welsh gods when you say 'Celtic.' I'm trying to stick to Welsh ones but it does seem like meanings change or there are multiple deities that do the same thing.

[Maria de Luna]

Re: interrested in celtic deities

Bits of my family are from Ireland so I'm more interested in Irish deities in general, the troubles are with 2 what seem like clearly different dieties are described as the same one, I imagine the problem stems from the celts being so widespread and stories changing drastically from place to place. I just feel like pinning one "entity" down as "this god" or "that god" feels a bit like nailing jell-o to a tree... it all kinda slips around and drives you crazy. It also seems like alot of the people doing the research, (I am unfamiliar with medieval irish lit and therefore unable to figure much of it out.) like to lump things together and arent looking for any sort continuity. I guess my problem is with the basics I suppose, am a linguistic moron and therefore bad at making certain connections within literature, so I have trouble going straight to literature. I'm interrested in a great many things but I lack the capacity to understand alot of it, so it all kind of gets jumbled, and then I get confused. I really don't mean to waste anyones time, I'm going to keep trying, and I shall indeed try and follow all of your advice. (I'm going to need to spend some time with a dictionary figuring out some of it but that won't stop me!)

[JamesByrne]

Re: interrested in celtic deities

Bits of my family are from Ireland so I'm more interested in Irish deities in general, the troubles are with 2 what seem like clearly different dieties are described as the same one, I imagine the problem stems from the celts being so widespread and stories changing drastically from place to place. I just feel like pinning one "entity" down as "this god" or "that god" feels a bit like nailing jell-o to a tree... it all kinda slips around and drives you crazy. It also seems like alot of the people doing the research, (I am unfamiliar with medieval irish lit and therefore unable to figure much of it out.) like to lump things together and arent looking for any sort continuity. I guess my problem is with the basics I suppose, am a linguistic moron and therefore bad at making certain connections within literature, so I have trouble going straight to literature. I'm interrested in a great many things but I lack the capacity to understand alot of it, so it all kind of gets jumbled, and then I get confused. I really don't mean to waste anyones time, I'm going to keep trying, and I shall indeed try and follow all of your advice. (I'm going to need to spend some time with a dictionary figuring out some of it but that won't stop me!)

You sound very intelligent to me Maria. Other people ignore things that dont mesh with what they want to be true
What do you mean when you say you can't find any continuity in peoples research?

[Maria de Luna]

Re: interrested in celtic deities

You sound very intelligent to me Maria. Other people ignore things that dont mesh with what they want to be true
What do you mean when you say you can't find any continuity in peoples research?

its not that there isn't any, but I may be concentrating too much on unimportant details. There are stories, for instance, that describe one figure as say the leader- but goes on to never mention this "figure" as actually leading in any way, so I guess it must come down to how they were percieved locally? I suppose there are different stories for different localities, so I think I need to find some translations of basic stories and do some of the crazy academic work myself, so I suppose at this point I should ask for resources, or specific helpful books, (was trying to avoid spending piles of money, cause I have to order books online) I checked the godchecker website, it has some really basic info, but I need to look past that sort of thing.

[JamesByrne]

Re: interrested in celtic deities

ToYouve noticed something good there imo Maria. Youre right that its an influence on the lit. all you have to do is find out why it happens and youre onto something I consider important anyway. Its why celtic myth is sometimes called medieval irish lit.instead. Id tell you but itd be robbing you of a bit of the joy of personal insight.

Donr worry about books, medieval lit is free online and the lists of books you see online are consumerisms influence on celtic paganism. Bibliophelia. Its not necessary tco buy books the best translations and the significant articles are online for free. The studu in celtic paganism isnt that heavy if you follow your nose out of personal interest youll get where you want to go. As long as you hold on to the critical thinkiand an interest in truth that youve got now.

The mary jones site and the homepage link on my profile are the best translations available you dont need to speak the language Theres a reason names arent translated in the lit. If youre looking for info ill get articles for you. Ive a stash of theme good, influential ir interesting ones online 'on the cloud' so I dont loose them and can get at them when im wandering