Why Wicca Is Not Celtic v.3.

by Iain Mac an tSaoir and Dawn O'Laoghaire

The following is by no means an indictment of the religion called Wicca. Wicca

is indeed a valid and powerful path for those who truthfully walk it and
understand it. However, there is a body of people who believe that Wicca is the
descendant of the religious ways of the Gaelic or other Celtic peoples (or 'Celts'
as a general nomenclature). This simply is not the case.
The following is a brief comparison of the Wiccan religion and Celtic religion.
The purpose of this exercise is to dispel the notion that Wicca is Celtic, or derived
from Celtic religion. It is by no means to be taken as an in depth survey of either
religion. There are a great many questions that could be answered for people if
they would visit with the elderly people in the rural areas of the Old Countries, or
at least read books written by solid academians instead of profit oriented, new
age writers. We will place at the end of this article the sources that can be used to
substantiate what is said herein. I encourage you to investigate each source
given, to check the veracity of the statement for yourselves.
When we talk about Celtic religion, we must define what we are talking about.
Precisely put, we are talking about religious beliefs, practices and worldviews
that existed in Gaelic and other Celtic cultures, as these developed as natural
manifestations within the cultures. While this would include Celtic Christianity,
for this article we are addressing Classical (pagan) Celtic theology. The pagan
methodology and understandings of Gaelic spirituality survived the coming of
Christianity and have continued to this day within the ways of people who are by
and large nominally Christian. This is however, where Gaelic Traditionalists, both
pagan and Christian, look when establishing their beliefs and methodologies.
An example of what existed in Classical times, when compared with what
began afterward, is the use of the Maypole. Prior to importation by Germanic
invaders, the Maypole was not in use in Gaelic lands. The High Days, which were
fire festivals, saw people gather at the local river to make votive (in an
anthropological sense) offerings, as well as light bonfires on the hilltops. It wasn't
until the coming of the Saxon that the Maypole came to Gaelic lands, and even
then the use of the Maypole stayed in the areas where there was a Germanic
population, and was not adopted by the indigenous Gaels.
The spirituality of the various Celtic peoples has not changed. The Gaelic
peoples still recognize that there are spirits of the Sky, the Sea and the Land (X).
It is only in their official methodologies concerning the Upper Realm that
concepts and methodologies have changed. The Three of Power can still be
found in prayers and incantations such as recorded by Alexander Carmichael at
the early part of the 20th century. Yet there are a great many who claim that
things that have never been a part of the Celtic paradigm are Celtic. Wicca seems
to be a religion that is particularly prone to this. The people who make the
statement that Wicca is Celtic are usually of two sorts. These are the new people
who either for their own reasons truly believe this to be the case, or they have
fallen prey to some unscrupulous teacher who uses the allure of things "Celtic"
to draw in new students or ensure profits. In both cases the problem is
exacerbated by the fact that solid information is not easily accessible to the
general public. The people who fall for the antics of the unscrupulous teacher
usually do not have access to the information it takes to refute the falsehood. All
religions have these types, and the fact that these will also exist within Wicca
should not serve as a reason to condemn that path.
People who, with utter conviction, state that Wicca is a Celtic path usually
have derived this idea by one of two common arguments (taking for granted that
they haven't been misinformed). The first is conveyed by the person stating
something to the effect of, "... _____ (usually Gardner is named) drew upon Celtic
lore when putting it together... ." The second statement used is, "...it just *is*
Celtic, it's always been Celtic, it's always been in places like Ireland and
Scotland." Both of these arguments are easily disproved. The following shall go
toward that end.
Traditional Celtic religions, as is the case with all religions, are cultural
manifestations. In tribal based cultures, or even those still based on tribal ideals
until quite recently, the people's spirituality is part of their identity and
worldview. Gaelic Traditionalism, for example, holds within the Gaelic culture.
This just as a Traditionalist Lakota would remain faithful to their culture.

In the Gaelic experience, though regional variants of the name would exist, the
Mother of the Gods is Danu, and her mate is Bile. From that union came Dagda
and Bride, who themselves are described in some articles of lore as mates. From
texts and folklore we see that the Gods were born of that union. The Gods are the
First Ancestors of the people, and are individuals. Scholars have noted that when
Celtic culture entered an area, the Celtic gods of the Upper Realm went in with
them. These then intermarried with the local goddesses of the land (the
goddesses of sovereignty). Extant genealogical texts chart how the ancient Gael
believed that they originated with those unions. Hence, the very Gods of the
people are their First Ancestors.
The various ideas surrounding the ancestors manifest in a host of customs,
such as the Feast of the Dead. Also, such concepts as that of the dead
reincarnating through blood lines, in conjunction with the customs of the Gaelic
peoples, provide a sense of continuity and identity that cannot be missed.
Just as Traditionalists hold steadfastly to their own culture, Wicca tends to
draw from various cultures and ideologies. What allows the practitioners of Wicca
to put elements from various religions together is the modernist ideology that has
at its root the Jungian concept of archetypes. Wiccans tend to work heavily in the
idea of archetypes -- "All goddesses are the face of the Goddess". They focus on
the traits which various deities share, much the same way a Jungian would focus
on the shared traits of heroes in a Jungian analysis. Wiccans also speak heavily
on the subject of masculine and feminine dualities (anima and animus), which
are central to Jungian theories of personality. Some Wiccans focus on claiming
the shadow side, or "dark" side of individuals, which is a straight lift from
Jungian theory.
The concepts that are traditionally part of Celtic religions reject this type of
analysis and state that the Gods are individuals. Furthermore, as stated,
traditional Celtic beliefs hold that the Gods are tied to the people by familial links.
As an example, a Gaelic Traditionalist might agree that your mom and their mom
(or your tribe's Mother Goddess and their tribe's Mother Goddess) share some
traits by virtue of both people being moms. However, it is a mistake to say that
just because both people are moms, that they are interchangeable. To the
perspective of a Gael, the basic fallacy of extending Jungian analysis too far is
this - your mom isn't their mom, no matter how mom-like both people are.
Needless to say, one can't hold an archetype relationship to either the God or the
Goddess and a direct and intimate personal relationship to your people's gods at
the same time. The two ideas contradict each other.
Another of the signs telling of the Jungian foundation in Wicca is the
propensity to constantly 'borrow' concepts, icons and sacred relics from other
cultures and their religions. This causes a great deal of friction to exist between
people of other cultures and Wiccans. This friction manifests itself in such
passive things as traditional peoples separating themselves and establishing
communities aside from the general pagan one. It also manifests in such things
as the literal Lakota Declaration of War against those who "steal" (words the
spiritual leaders of that People used) that culture's spirituality. The unanimous
opinion of the people in the various traditional forms of spirituality is that Wicca
and Wiccans spend too much time "borrowing" everything under the sun and
throwing it all together. Yet, to be fair, from Wicca's archetypal-based viewpoint,
that's both okay and logical.
From a traditional Gaelic viewpoint, and traditionalists of other cultures say
the same things, these practices dishonor the ancestors, distort the fundamental
truth ("your mom ain't my mom"), and interfere with the duty that traditional
people generally feel to preserve and restore traditional cultures. This is because,
to them, Wicca creates a distraction that sidetracks people looking for the
traditional ways, as well as sucks up the time, interest and energy of people who
might otherwise be helping to find ways to preserve their culture. Wiccans also
often present themselves as the "true" Celtic religion, thus preventing some
people from ever finding their way back to the path of the ancestors, which
would, in the view of a traditional person, honor the gods properly (meaning, as
individuals and as the 'First Ancestors'). What most traditionalists find deplorable
is that many Wiccans embrace the misinformation regardless of fact and refuse
to deal with conflicting ideas or views when faced with facts.
Having established the Jungian foundation that allows for misinformation to
remain unchecked in the Wiccan community, let's start dispelling some of the
fallacious notions that exist. The first notion to be addressed is, 'Wicca is what
the Celts of old practiced.' Toward dispelling this idea, let's state some things that
are fairly well established as fact because of the preponderance of evidence. The
first is that modern neo-paganism is highly impacted by, and reflective of,
Gardnerian Wicca and its derivatives. The second is that, when Gardner was
putting his creation together he drew upon Eastern philosophies, Egyptian
ideologies and Judaic ceremonialism, in addition to Celtic lore.
This easily becomes confusing, but when something is made up of
components, the whole mechanism is not solely of any one of those components.
To state such denotes a severely faulty argument. Let me demonstrate this. For a
great many years American Motors Corporation (AMC) put out a whole line of
automobiles. These automobiles very often had Chrysler engines, Ford
transmissions, Chrysler brakes, Ford seats and, I believe in one instance, even
General Motors instrumentation. All of those components, motors, transmissions,
seats, etc, were fixed into a body made by AMC. Yet the complete car wasn't a
Ford because it had a Ford engine, nor was it a Chrysler because it had their
transmission. It was an AMC, a creature all its own. The same is true about Wicca.
It has a Hindu engine, an Egyptian torque converter and a Celtic transmission.
These things were set in a ceremonial body that, while reflective of the bodies
used by the Hermetic Orders, is Wiccan alone. It is a creature unto itself.
Concerning the second argument they use, I direct your attention at two areas.
These two areas will suffice nicely in dispelling the false notion that Wicca just
*IS* Celtic. The first area is the theology of the two systems.
The two systems, Wicca and Celtic, and in particular Gaelic, contradict each
other on several points. These contradictions are enough, as a whole, to form a
severe dissonance between the two religions. In Celtic religion, there are three
basic spheres. These are the Sky, the Sea and the Land. Each of these has a
ruling body. For the Sky, the Sun, for the Sea, the Moon and for the Land, the
Earth.
By careful study of the ancient texts, as well as the language itself, we see that
the Sun and the Moon are feminine. They are sisters to each other. Though, in
some lore, there are traces of evidence that some people believed that, while the
Sun was feminine, the Moon was masculine. In Gaidhlig the names of both
luminaries are feminine, and in invocations and spells they are both addressed as
feminine beings. Yet they can change gender according to which of their
attributes is brought to the fore. The nurturing, warm Sun who promotes growth
is feminine, the light, as personified by Lugh, is masculine, and the scorching
Sun just before Harvest is represented by Balor. This contrasts sharply with
Wicca, which is based wholly on a Feminine Moon and Masculine Sun.
Wicca is a religion whose philosophical foundation is Neo-Platonic dualism
with a Goddess and a God as archetypes. Not only is Celtic religion vastly
different in that it is truly polytheistic, totemistic, animistic, and zoomorphic, but
the very processes of reason upon which the whole of the Celtic worldview is
based is founded on a tripartite cosmology. In Celtic understanding the world has
three independent and free spheres, Sky, Land and Sea. The three realms are
both the legs of the cauldron of the world, as well as the three parts of the Tree of
the World.
The next area of difference regards ethics. The basic ethical statement of
Wicca is called 'the Rede.' The Wiccan rede states, "An It Harm None, Do As Ye
Wilt." The nature of the Rede is untenable to Celts. The whole morality of Wicca is
"harm none". While it is a theoretical statement, it is one with little real life
practice. This is because it's a rule that must be broken just to survive and, as a
result, leaves interpretation and application to individuals, and common sense,
isn't.
Such statements as are typical of the Rede are not a part of the Celtic paradigm,
in which we find a heroic morality. In real life, the term "harm none" is typified by
the moralities of Wicca, Christianity, and others where the primary imperative is
to not hurt others. Heroic is typified by the Celtic and Norse religions primarily,
though other examples exist. Heroic morality is summed up by the Gaelic hero
Caelte as, "truth in our hearts, strength in our arms and fulfillment in our
tongues". Heroic morality is rooted in concepts of personal honor, responsibility
and fulfillment of duty. These are all traits of the Heroic morality, but like the
Tao, it is an intangible concept that cannot truly be adequately defined.
Because Wicca and traditional Gaelic spirituality arise out of different
analytical perspectives, their moralities -- the "scripts" they create for their
adherents -- are radically different. Wicca is a religion that is based on a logical
extension of Jungian analysis (and yes, Jung was big into religion) -- thus its sole
ethic "Harm none and do what thou wilt" tends to reflect a personal,
individualistic practice. Traditionalist Celts living a "heroic" morality focus on
heroism, personal honor, tribal honor and duty to the tribe and "Do what you wilt"
is the last thing on their mind. That which honor and duty call for is at the
opposite end of the spectrum from that which the individualistic bent of Wicca
would call.
The vision conceived and portrayed by Wicca, of what comes after this life, is
limited and vague. Celtic religion, on the other hand, has a complex and intricate
conceptualization of the otherworld. In fact, OtherWorld's interaction in this world
is, in many ways, the pivot point of Celtic religion.
Wicca is primarily an invocatory/ecstatic religion that revolves around special
rituals. The 'formularies' used by Wicca can be traced back through the lodges of
ceremonial magic, and especially the work of Alister Crowley. In Celtic religion,
the tenets are votive in nature and stress ethics and morality, only secondary
importance is placed on ritual. To Celts, life itself is ceremony, with every
thought, word and deed being spiritually significant and magical.
The very foundation of Gaelic culture was the home. The hearth was the
cornerstone of the spirituality of the people. In Gaelic religions great emphasis is
placed on the sanctity of the home, and strength of the family. Families, to
traditional Celtic peoples, include people who have adopted each other. The
individuals are encouraged to walk in strength and to fulfill their responsibilities
to their families. These components are not found in Wicca.
In Wicca, sacred space is ritually 'created.' To traditional Celtic sensibilities,
both blessing the salt and not blessing the salt are superfluous arguments. This
is because, to the Celtic mind, humankind can make neither the Gods, nor Their
creations, any more or less perfect.
In traditionally based Celtic religions all space is sacred. The Land is the
Goddess of Sovereignty, the Mother of the peoples living there, and holy unto
Herself. Sacred space is omnipresent, it is the history of a place or some other
distinguishing thing that causes certain places to see different religious uses.
What is done at a site depends on the natural predisposition of an area or its
history. That the ancestors saw things in this way is established through such
literary evidence as the Dindsenchas (a book of place histories).
Related to the concepts of the land is that, the Gods that Celts took with them
into a new land (Sky Gods/Gods of the People), mated with the Land Gods
already in that land. Out of those unions came the oldest Gaelic families, out of
which came later Gaelic families. What this means is that the Celts saw the Gods
as their relatives. Hence we see one of several manifestations of ancestor
veneration. Wicca has no component for venerating or developing a relationship
with the ancestors, or the Goddess of the land or other land spirits of the lands in
which a people live. These are big items in traditional Celtic religions.
Wicca is an initiatory mystery religion. Gaelic and other traditional Celtic
religions are inclusive, with very few initiatory elements. Within Wicca there are
various degrees and levels, each having its own mystery, each mystery being
revealed by someone in authority. While the scope of this article is not designed
to explore religious functionaries in pre-Christian Celtic cultures, in Celtic
religion, the declarations of the Gods are found in the Order of Nature. The
revelations are from the Gods themselves, and in general, each person with
sincerity seeks to understand the natural world (which includes the
"supernatural" world) around them and their place in it. There is also the concept
of interacting with the natural world as co-inhabitors of the world.

As briefly touched on earlier, Wicca uses the classical elements as a

fundamental concept. Celtic religions traditionally do not use the classical
elements (air, fire, water and earth) in any way. Some point to the inclusions of
the four mythical cities of the Tuatha De Danaan, as recounted in the Lebhar
Gebhala Erenn as proof of, or a model of, the use of the elements of the later
Greek elements. These folk attribute the four treasures that came from those
cities as symbols for those elements. However, those four treasures were simply
symbols conferred on new kings at their vesture. There were only three used at
any one time, that of Lughiadh having replaced that of Nuadh. Each of the
treasures was a symbol of one of the three functions of the social order. Scholars
tend to think that these may have been included as they were by later Christian
monks, Classicists, to bring things more into line with the Roman concepts as
typified by the Roman Vulgate.
Some will argue that the floor plans of sacred sites support the concept of the
use of directions in conjunction with the four elements. First, such associations
would be speculation only. Secondly, these floor plans are of the square temples
that are found primarily on the continent. This floor plan was carried over to the
isles with the Romans, and is found as a part of Romano-Celtic culture. The
majority of insular temples were round. Typical of this genre is the important
ritual structure at Emain Macha. Archaeological diggings has shown that the site
was based on five concentric rings (perhaps associated with the same five circles
placed around a newborn) of oak posts, with an opening to the west. Circular
sites aren't plagued with such concerns as which side faces which direction.
Indeed, the sitting arrangement of the five kings at Tara, indicate an association
with the directions, but these need to be addressed within the framework of the
culture. This framework would be winds, or 'airts', not the four Greek elements.
The airts are still to this day what are associated with the directions, as shown by
some of the incantations recorded in the Highlands by Carmichael. The Greek
elements were only associated with the Four Treasures in the late 1800's, by the
work of the Golden Dawn, of which Yeats was a member.
If we want to address the Four Treasures, we must recognize exactly what is
being stated in the texts. Of those treasures, one was the Sword of Nuada and the
other the Spear of Lugh. Lugh did not come with the Tuatha De Danann when
They came into Ireland. Lugh showed up later on, just prior to the second battle
of Maig Tuired. According to the lore, Lugh's Spear was forged by Goibiu. In that
battle Nuadh was killed, and it was after the battle that Lugh took the kingship.
Hence, by seeing that Nuadh was gone, and Lugh ascended, Nuadh's solar
symbol (the sword) was replaced by Lugh's solar symbol (the spear). This helps
us to see that the significant number involved is 'three'.
Also as stated, in Celtic culture there are the basic spheres of Sky, Sea and
Land. These three realms are three parts of the cosmology of most Indo-
European peoples, and are not the equivalents of "earth, wind, fire and water" of
the Hellenistic Greek world that has filtered down to the modern era through the
ceremonial magical lodges.
The Sky, which is related to Fire, is the realm of the gods of culture,
light/enlightenment, order, permanence, purity, and the skills (The Tuatha De
Danann). The Sea, which is the realm of the watery Underworld, is associated
with chaos, decay, and death through which comes renewal and rebirth (the
Fomorri). Regarding water proper, it is through the sacred wells (direct conduits
to OtherWorld), from the Waters of Heaven (which maintains during the rule of the
truthful king), that the water that encircles the Earth, sustains and maintains the
people of the Land. It is here on the Land where humans physically exist, living in
contention on the 'plain of sorrow', caught betwixt the above and the below.
The closest thing to an elemental system amongst the Gaelic Celts is what are
called the dhuile, as such is defined as 'elements' in Gaidhlig. These are
anywhere from seven to eleven, usually nine, items. These range from sun to
lightning to rock. The dhuile are a way of understanding the relationship of the
person to the cosmos, with each item found in the cosmos relating to a part of
the person. Wicca has nothing along these lines. In addition, the fertility nature of
Wicca addresses the land Gods almost exclusively. When Gods of the other
realms are named, they are usually outside of the place held for them in their
traditional pantheons. In Celtic theology, each is held and venerated in their
traditional capacity. As far as the directions are concerned, the overwhelming
evidence shows that in traditional celtic religion, the directions have always been
associated with the winds. Not only is evidence found in texts which record
folklore and custom, such as the Carmina Gadelica, but also in texts far more
ancient such as the Senchus Mor, the Saltair Na Ran, and the Hibernica Minora.
(X)
Wicca places little emphasis on mythology. Yet in Celtic religion, mythological
stories are a central feature. These, in fact, form the core of magical practice,
teaching and what ritual exists (manifested commonly in 'passion plays'). In
Wicca there is no clear teaching of what is required to break past the cycles of
rebirth. In fact, within Wicca there is no such concept at all. Yet in Celtic religion,
the requirement can be clearly and concisely stated. To fulfill one's duty, to
always be honorable and to stand for the truth come what may, while
understanding *why* what is honorable is considered so. Students of Aristotle
can clearly see the concepts of "personal excellence" within materials from
various celtic cultures.
Wicca is a relatively recent addition to the religious paths of humanity. There
is a lot of mis-information bandied about regarding it. It is sad that a great many
of its followers have to do the religion such a disservice by claiming a lineage
that doesn't exist. I would point out the now tired joke about Wiccan grand mums.
Celts tend to discount initiation, or any other device through which validity is
gained through some person or agency. To a Celt, that one exists is proof of their
validity. The only generally recognized 'initiations' are those afforded by the
process of life itself, with the two most important being birth and death, with
marriage, parenthood and grand-parenthood coming along in a close second
place.
Some well known writers have claimed a great antiquity for Wicca. Yet, if it has
any age to it at all, then it is through the Wicce, which were Saxon in origin, and
patriarchal from the start. These are thought to have been members of the
Lodges of Cunning Men. They have nothing to do with the mythological Druids (a
product of the British Revival effort of the 18th century). The Wicce have even
less to do with the historical Draoi. Such histories, as have connected the two
groups of people, are in fact pseudo-histories, or as Margot Adler calls such
ideas in her book, Drawing Down The Moon, "myths".
 These same writers state that the word Wicca derives from the Saxon word,
Witan. However, the Witan was the proto-parliament of old Saxon England. If one
wishes to twist etymology in this way, it would be more correct to trace the word
witch, back to the word 'wicga', which is Old English for the insect known as the
earwig, and which literally means "creepy-crawly".
These same writers state that Wicca was practiced in the Celtic lands, and
specifically name Gaelic lands, where these practices were supposedly called
"Witta". Yet, from the Gaelic language itself we can see the truth that Wicca is not
descended from the Gaelic Celts. The simplicity of this fact is seen in that that
there isn't even a 'W ' in the Gaelic language, so neither Wicca nor Witta as a
derivation could be Gaelic. As concerns the Gaelic language, the sound [w] does
exist in Gaelic, or at least in Old Irish, as a lenited /m/ or /b/, like the [w] in the
current pronunciation of Samhain [sawhIn - that's a capital I]. But that never
occurs at the beginning of a word. Even in Gaidhlig (Scots Gaelic) the sound is
rather like a "wide mouthed 'V' sound" [as in Samhain - SHA-vin].
In technical speak the 'w' does not exist in the language, nor is [w] ever its own
phoneme, just an allophone of /m/ or /b/ (depending on the word). Since lenition
is rare at the beginning of a word though, it is extraordinarily unlikely that any
native Gaelic word would have a [w] at the beginning, and thus 'Wicca' is
practically impossible in Gaelic even transliterated into the Roman alphabet.
Likewise, a similar argument exists to show that Wicca did not descend from
the Welsh (the representative of the P-Celt branch of the linguistic family). While
the alphabet character 'W' does exist in the Welsh language, it does not express
the same sound as the English 'W' (white, wig, Wicca, Witta). Instead, within
Welsh language, the 'W' expresses the "oo" sound. Thus, within the Welsh the
letter W can be pronounced either as found in the English "put" (short) or "soon"
(long); or the Welsh "twp" (short) and "rhwd" (long).
The truth is that modern Wicca, as it is most commonly practiced, is a fairly
modern construction, dating from the middle part of this century. This was best
summed up by Dr. Marilyn Wells, PhD, Anthropology Department, Middle
Tennessee State University, who has referred to modern Wiccans as Neo-
Wiccans. In other words, there is little to no connection between Gardner's
creation and the Wicce of the middle ages, and no connection to the Celts; except
for what modern Wiccans have borrowed and incorporated. As a matter of fact, if
the veracity of The Pickengill Papers is complete, as many Gardnerians have
vouched, then the Lodges of Saxon Cunning Men stood in the place of adversary
to the Celtic Wise Women, which also goes to support this essay.
More evidence supporting this can be found in a body of religious laws called
the "Law of the Craft". While there are a great number of groups operating who
do not use the set of laws that Gardner wrote, these do, however, usually use
some derivation. "The Law of the Craft" as it was created by Gardner, and
forwarded by a great many people who received it from their grandmothers (a bit
of humor), at the least shows the attitude present in the creators of this religion.
The undertones still reverberate. There are printed copies of this body to be
found in the public domain, in such books as Lady Sheba's Grimoire and The
King of the Witches by June Johns. There is also to be found on the Internet, a
work comparing several versions of that body of law. There are three items of
note, where that law is concerned. They are:
#1 The uniform appellation given to modern Wicca, as a "brotherhood."
#2 The quote,"... as a man loveth a woman by mastering her...".
#3 The quote,"...let her(the high priestess)ever mind that all power is lent...from
him(the priest)..." (Her power is absolute in Circle only, and even then lent from
the Him [the priest figure]) -parentheses added by author-
All three of these items fly in the face of how women were viewed by pre-
Roman Gaelic people. Even the Wiccan law demanding that mature, experienced
priestesses step aside for someone younger, soley because of youth, should
raise questions as to the motives of the author of these laws. It should also raise
questions about their foundation in tradition. The fact is, our ancestor's views
towards women were quite progressive for the times, and were close to being on
par with modern views. Much to the chagrin of other powers of the time, namely
the Romans, women had the right to possess and disburse property. They
possessed the right to inheritance, and to chose their mates. They possessed
ascendancy to the throne, in some places, above the right of men to do so. They
possessed the right to keep and bear weapons, and let it be noted that
subjugating an armed populace is indeed a difficult thing to do. It was not until
Christianity was firmly implanted that women lost these rights, and the equality of
the law concerning women came into question.
An argument can be made by Wiccans that their religion has evolved since
Gardner created it. That however only shows more conclusively how far removed
Wicca is from anything Celtic. Yet the point must be made that as much of
Gardners laws involve liturgy and ritual format, as long as those things are found
in Wicca, then even those groups that have put aside Gardners laws are still
abiding by them by default.
Other corollary evidence comes from Wiccan statements about themselves. Of
the Druids, all that can be agreed upon, based on evidence, was that they were
intimately involved in sacrifices. Yet, many Wiccans state that they "..are the
priestcraft for the pagan people...". They are even "training clergy". Yet, within
Gaelic/Celtic culture all people were considered capable of, and responsible for,
the mediation of the Gods on their own behalf. Celtic regard for personal
responsibility is amply abundant. This is particularly true as regards to mediating
the Gods on ones own behalf, and is so obvious and well known that even pop
culture books such as The Celtic Tradition by Caitlin Matthews tell of this truth.
This has even been commented on by respected celtophiles such as Peter
Berresford-Ellis as being a part of the mindset of the Gaels unto this day. None of
this mentions at all the “insta-priesthood”, that abounds in Wicca and Wiccan
influenced neo-paganism. In their milieu, everyone is a priest or priestess, and
they elect for themselves to teach as and what they wish. Whereas in Celtic
culture, whether Classicalist or Christian, those who perform(ed) religious
functions were chosen by their communities, studied for decades to serve their
peoples religious needs, and carry(ied) on the traditions entrusted to them by
their Gaelic speaking community. Priests were and are not “kept” people, but are
servants to the people. Even the Triads of our people show where the redactor's
hands slipped on occasion, and let go expressions of the feeling among our
forebears, that kept priests were an abomination. The idea was, evidently, that the
first place we give up our personal power over our lives is to priestcrafts. From
there on out, it is one piece of our lives at a time, until we are veritable slaves.
Slavery is not a position taken with grace by our people.
This is not to deny the fact that certainly after the coming of Christianity, and
probably before, that there were probably orders of Monks dedicated to the
service of one or a number of deities. This is only to say that just as there were
not temples of the Greek and Roman type, neither were there sacredotes or
"clergy", whose functions were to mediate and/or intercede with the Gods on the
behalf of other people. The sacrifices that these officiated over were not to
appease angry deities. Indo-European sacrifices were for the renewal of the
world, which itself according to Indo-European thought was created from the
primordial sacrifice of a deity.
In fact, traditional Celtic religion was and is votive/sacrificial in nature.
Concepts of votive offerings and world renewing sacrifice, though central to
Celtic religion, have no position in Wicca. When I was asked to write this essay, I
was also asked to keep it as short as possible, yet not neglecting thoroughness.
This should be enough though, to establish the premise quite securely, that
Wicca is not descended form our Gaelic/Celtic ancestors.

Sources:
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Myths and Symbols of Pagan Europe, H.R. Ellis-Davidson, Syracuse University

Myth, Legend and Romance - An Encyclopedia Of The Irish Folk Tradition, Dr.
Daithi OhOgain, Prentice Hall
A History of Pagan Europe, Prudence Jones and Nigel Pennick
Celtic Goddesses, Miranda Green, Braziller
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The Tain, Thomas Kinsella, Oxford
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Clannada na Gadelica, "A Tripartite World and Triune Logic", Iain MacAnTsaoir,
1997
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Bann pub.
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Dictionary of Word Origins, John Ayto, Arcade, c. 1990
Celtic Women, Peter Berresford Ellis, Eerdmans Pub, c. 1995,
The Women of the Celts, Jean Markale, Gordon Cremonesi, c. 1975
A HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT-Sorcerers, Heretics and Pagans, Jeffrey B. Russell,
Thames and Hudson
Drawing Down The Moon, Margot Adler
The Pickengill Papers, W.E. Liddell
The Celtic TraditionCaitlin Matthews, Element Books
The Celtic World, Miranda Green
Merlin : Priest of Nature, Jean Markale
Some parts of this essay were based on an article by Lughaid MacRoberts, who
encouraged the author of this article to utilize his paper, which was copyrighted
in 1988.
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