Emerys Somerled

What is ‘Celtic Wicca’?

The reason I call myself a Celtic Wiccan is quite simple - my tenants of beliefs center mainly around the Celtic pantheon, but I also include Wiccan rituals and redes into my ‘religion’

I know there are those that feel you can’t be both….well that just isn’t so! I mean after all, that is one of the basic ideals of the Pagan religions - Your beliefs are about who you are, to work within your own individuality - we are after all, individuals. Don’t let others dictate what is the ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ way to honor the gods. To me that smacks of fundamentalism - and that is what brought us to our struggles and witch-hunts over the past millenia in the first place!!!

There are some basic Celtic beliefs in what Gerald Gardner incorporated into the neo-Wiccan tradition that he and others created back in 1954. However, that doesn’t necessarily in of itself make Wicca a Celtic tradition. There are many facets mixed together to make the Gardnerian tradition what it is. Western mysticism (the Golden Dawn), Carl Jung’s Karmic teachings, Egyptian, the Kabbala and of course…Witchcraft.

In my tradition, Celtic Wicca, or what I call Celtic Witchcraft, I hold certain Celtic pantheons as my own:

The Number Three

Three, and multiples of three (three, six, nine, twelve, etc.) were held as very potent figures. The triskele for instance; three curving lines ending in a counter-clockwise spiral representative of the three worlds

The Three Worlds

• Sky:   The equivalent of heaven, or the Upperworld or (Summerland) the world of    the Gods and higher spirits (Gwynfyd)
• Land: The Earth, or this world (Annwn) Where the physical world is manifest
• Sea:   The Underworld (Abred) where life ends and is reborn

I have incorporated many Celtic worlds into my beliefs, Irish, Welsh, Breton and Scottish. For instance, in the Mabinogian there are many stories of Pwyll and his adventures with the Celtic Gods and Goddesses. The understanding of how the world came to be, and how one attains spirituality from this life into the next, and the ‘Circle of Being’:

In this system, two primary existences are contemplated. God, or the Great Sprit, and Cythrawl. God representing the principle of energy and life, Cythrawl representing the principle of destruction and nothingness. Cythrawl, is also better known as Annwn; Chaos. God, as the Great Spirit - Order. Yin and Yang if you will. Yes, that’s an Eastern philosophy, but bear with me…

In the beginning there was nothing but Great Spirit and Annwn. Great Spirit spoke Its name out loud which created the ’spark’ of life, or the Manred - the primal substance of the universe. All was conceived as the microcosm, or the atoms from which all matter is and that Great Spirit is a part of - the All. The totality of being is now what this is represent, by three (there’s that three again!) concentric circles. The innermost circle is where life itself sprang forth from Annwn, known as Abred. This is the stage of struggle and evolution - the life experience itself. The next outer circle is called Gwynfyd - Purity. This part of life is pure, rejoicing and all knowledgeable, having attained a spirituality over ‘evil’ - in other words the spiritual plane. The final, outermost circle is called Ceugant, or Infinity, or the All. This area, although a part of all the worlds and the other circles is inhabited by Great Spirit, or the All, alone. Since the All is part of everything that is, we are all a part of Great Spirit, but do not attain the same level as Great Spirit since the energy manifest in All is to great to be comprehended all at once on any plane.

This brings me to the God and Goddess aspects. They are a manifestation of the All, so that we may work with and communicate with the All as one would use the telephone system to reach greater distances. I also honor my ancestors as in the Celtic tradition, which includes my family and ancient ancestral roots.

Confused yet? Well. I am still putting this all together myself, and bringing myself closer to an understanding of the ‘ways of the universe’. But for me, this fits right into what I have thought about Great Spirit for over 20 years, now. It wasn’t until about 11 years ago that my indoctrination into the Craft finally tied it all together for me!

• Abred - This world (Land, Earth) - where all life is manifest, the struggles and the experiences of the physical lane
• Gwynfyd - The Summerland where all that has been learned, and the purity of the spirit attains its position with the Gods
• Ceugant - The All - The totality of everything in the Universe as a whole

Summary

I believe that all paths that bring the divine are valid. Most religions that practice a loving, caring way of life are on the right paths to deity, IMHO, and the good in all of us. I do not hold to the belief that my way or any other way is the only true path to follow. No proper Wiccan should. We all find our ways to the Goddess/God that best fits us. They know our hearts, our minds, our souls….and our intent. That is the key word…intent!I believe that all paths that bring the divine are valid. Most religions that practice a loving, caring way of life are on the right paths to deity, IMHO, and the good in all of us. I do not hold to the belief that my way or any other way is the only true path to follow. No proper Wiccan should. We all find our ways to the Goddess/God that best fits us. They know our hearts, our minds, our souls….and our intent. That is the key word…intent!

The Celtic Code of Ethics

• Respect for Nature and all its creatures
• Honour (as defined by the community)
• Truth 
• Service to the Community
• Loyalty to friends, family, and community
• Hospitality
• Justice
• Courage

“May my feet always walk the path of Honour.
May my lips always seek to speak the Truth.
May my hands always serve the People.”

The Three Seasons of the Physical Plane

In addition to the three worlds, there are three seasonal wheels of the year that range from the local four seasons to Gaian (Global) seasons to the Universal seasons.

The local or physical four seasons that we celebrate throughout the year, Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn with which we are already familiar. The Gaian seasons also follow a Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn but on a much grander scale.  Thus, one of the main reasons we experience Global Warming as of right now.

Some eight-thousand years ago or so, Mother Earth was in what scientists have called the “Ice Age”.  As the colder climates retreated and the ice and glaciers melted, Gaia moved into a “Spring”.  At this time, there was a great flood which resulted from the excess of moisture in the air and rain swollen clouds from the Spring thaw.  Many cultures, not just Christian beliefs, have a “flood myth” (read Gilgamesh).

In present day, the Earth has become much warmer globally, and is well into Her Summer season.  Modern scientists admit, that there may yet be another ice age on the horizon, though not in our lifetime.

This brings us to the Universal seasons.  How are they manifest?  As many scientists believe, the Universe is expanding at a tremendous rate.  They theorize that eventually the Universe will slow down and begin to collapse in on itself, finally reaching the point where another “Big Bang” will occur.  Let us look at the Dopplar effect:

• Objects moving away from us are seen as red
• Objects coming towards us are seen as blue
• There are more red objects than blue, and there are more stars being born and dying than ever recorded.
• The resulting effect has “heated” the Universe, thereby continuing expansion and creating a summer-like effect.

As we are familiar, Winter is known as death, the end of life and the return of the cold weather.  Spring is a renewal of life and the warming return of the Sun and plants.  Summer, the green and fertile planet, hot sunny days and time for high energy.  Autumn begins the cooling period and slow death of plant life, bathing the trees in red and brown hues as the leaves turn colors before silently drifting to the base of the tree.

Here is a comparison of Local, Gaian and Universal seasons: 
 

	Local	Gaian	Universal
Winter	Cold, Snow, Bare trees, long nights	Ice Age, Glaciars, Cold weather	Universe collapses and dies, new Big Bang forming
Spring	Renewing of plants, seeds, weather is warmer and rainy	Heavy rains, Mother Earth warming, storms	After Big Bang, Universe grows and warms
Summer	Hot weather, long days green grass and abundant plant life, high energy	Global warming is at its peak, greenhouse effect	Hot matter is forming and changing into planets and stars
Autumn	Cooler weather, plantlife loses its leaves and begins to die off	Global cooling, polar regions extend, climate changes	Universe stops expanding, planets and stars stop forming, beginning of collapse

 

Much of this as science, and beyond science into metaphysical, was based on information I have experienced, received and discovered. Now of course this is just a theory and not to be taken as gospel, but it is food for thought.  After all, “As Above, So Below”.