Devotions of the Celtic Tribe_Boutet.pdf (original) (raw)

2019, Devotions of the Celtic Tribe

At first glance, the polytheistic pantheons of the Indo-Europeans, and in particular those of the Celts, seem desperately encumbered and confused. This is just an outsider’s impression. Gods were not just ranked according to their importance or for pre-eminence, but again, according to function, essence and nature, and were seen as projections of the personal triune Godhead. That there is an ethical ranking order here made according to gender, quality, and number, is not to be questioned. The prototype for this multiplication of godly entities originates well within the original construct of the common Indo-European pantheon. It was theologized that from the three manifestations of the Supreme Being, separate entities were declined as spirit projections and emitted in sets of three. This complex indexing of gods could not have been conceptualized without the work of theologians and philosophers druids, who were called diuiciacoi and adgnatioi in the Old Celtic sacred nomenclature. Let it also be said, that the devotions of the third social function were varied and were expressed according to the various cults and lines of discipline. Therefore, the gods of other related peoples could be indexed in preference according to the rankings of the Roman pantheon, which, according to Caesar’s list, went as follows: Mercury, Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. All other deities are but manifestations or hypostases of these entities.