By studying the culture and history of the Celts, both ancient and traditional, one can see that the Word of Gd can indeed change one’s culture in drastic and beautiful ways.
The tribe of the Celts began somewhere around 800 – 450 BC, being the original Gauls from Wales. The Celts were an easily distinguished and ethnic group, from dress to fighting styles, which is often the reason for the resurgence of Celtics and Neo- Paganism. Sadly, these people often overlook the fact that the Celts were for much of their existence a highly Christian tribe, more orthodox than the Roman Church.
The Celts were a rich culture, from tomb to shrine to dress. Skilled in metal working, the Celts usually wore much of their jewelry as a sign of wealth and because of this, men wore more jewelry than women. Although their signature knot work was perfected later in their history, the Celts always wore their hair intricately knotted and designed jewelry and weapons in the design of the knot and whorl.
Warriors, druids, and bards were considered the noble class, often in places of leadership under the kings or chieftains of small cities or people groups. Warriors were the life of the clans because they were the protectors of the land and were often the richest members of society, due to plundering cities during their raids. In order to instill fear into their enemies in battle, Celtic warriors fought naked, painting themselves with blue woad, and liming their long hair into spikes. They also honed the skill of frightening enemies in battle by sound. The Celts would beat their shields, scream in high pitched voices, and use drums to wreak mental and emotional havoc in enemy warriors. Often, even women were warriors. Although they did not always accompany the men to battle, the women were trained in the ways of war so that they could defend their towns and children when men were away. Druids were the priests of ancient Celtic paganism whose main symbol of worship was the oak. Bards were closely related to druids, a class of refined poet musicians who accompanied war bands everywhere, and who lived with the people, singing courage into everyday life.
Christianity came to the Celtic people around the year AD 400 or 500 by missionaries, mostly under Saint Patrick. One of the main missionaries was Saint Boniface, who amazed even the fearless Celts with his bravery. While druid priests were worshipping a holy oak, Saint Boniface came and cut down the holy tree. The pagans were so amazed by his forwardness that when Boniface built a chapel using the wood their sacred tree, they became Christians and were baptized in Boniface’s chapel.
During the development of Celtic Christianity between 400 and 1200, there occurred an early medieval renaissance of Celtic art. This is the time period in which the Celtic style of crosses, knots, and intricate whorls became more apparent and refined. Also during this period of Celtic Christianization, the Celts war-mongering behavior was almost completely done away with. Formerly, the Celts traditionally pillaged cities for no apparent reason. This practice was called head- hunting, because the head was the greatest prize that a Celt could obtain from war. A man’s worth was determined by how many heads he had collected. Often, the pagan Celts would dip their most prized skull in gold and use it as a drinking cup. Christianity stopped these horrific practices. Because of these people’s backgrounds in pagan Celtic mythology, they were able to convert many Druids and people who still clung to their pagan beliefs, because they could show how the Light of Christ had improved their own lives. Celtic Christianity, as opposed to Roman Christianity was much friendlier to women in the church and in community leadership. The Book of Kells and the Ardagh Chalice are some examples of the art that has come from the Celtic Renaissance.
By the example of the Celts, we can see how only a few men can an entire culture. Only a few missionaries were able to turn around the mentality of the Celts from a culture of death to a culture of life. These men did not introduce Christianity and completely change the identity of the culture, but Christianity brought out the beauty of the Celt’s ethnicity through the Light of Christ. Christianity made the Celts a beautiful and glorious people, though often little recognized. The Celts could have been completely defeated, but when Christianity came to them, they lasted for a few hundred more years, making the Celts last for over 1000 years. This is how the Gospel of Christ can change a culture, giving beauty instead of ashes and death.
Jan16
