Peace Day

Druids were always known as peacemakers. Now the earth became one, one day, on 21th of september to celebrate the Peace Day. One day of non-violence and cease fire.

Every one can make their own commitment visit PEACE DAY WEBSITE

Is there a soul at all?

I have been having a very interesting discussion in the OBOD message board, about the existance of the soul. Every single religion of the world, despite of the differences between beliefs, accept that there is something trascendental, call it soul, spirit, phsyche. That is not just part of the material world.

Materialist claim that feelings, emotions, and consciousness are just produced by the Brain. I reject that hypothesis because three main reasons:

1) As far as I know there’s no single experiment that can recreate the feelings of one person. We can’t artificially make a person to love another, we can’t make artificially to make a person hate another, etc, etc. And I'm not talking of reduced moments of anger or joy that could be artificially made, I'm talking about the feelings itself, everyone who had love can say that is not just a moment of biochemical joy, even when that effect is reached. We have reached a moment when we are able to understand and even recreate the effects of certain feelings in our body and our brain. We know what part of the brain are stimulated when we feel something, and the biochemical processes that are created because of that feelings; that only can demonstrate the effects of them, not its causes.

2) Even when some sensations are produced just as a reaction, and we can recreate them very accurately, they are the ones that do not involve consciousness, that is, the instincts. For example, if you put boiling water and make people touch it, they all will react in the same way, that is held apart the hand by instinct. How ever, with feelings and emotions is not that simple, the same scenario could create different feelings in different persons, what in a person could make to love other in another could create only indifference or even a negative feelings. They are not just a mechanical actions with predictable effects.

3) Claim that electric impulses can create something more that electric charges and electromagnetic fields; and therefore create something as consciousness, and therefore feelings and emotions, is going to far from effects to causes. There we are saying that something ordinary under specific and not proved circumstances have a propertie that can create something as our psyche; pretty much the same as when a child say that under specific and not proved circumstances their toys can speak to them, that’s an ordinary object to develop an extraordinary property as pshyche.

Now the second argument is, well if they are not created by the brain which is the “obvious” conclusion, then, where are the proofs of them be generated outside of the brain?. To answer that I’m going to tell a little story.

Back in 1957, Hugh Everett formulate a theory that states that every single decision that we make opens the way to a parallel universe, that is there is one universe for every single scenario that is possible, by the way, it was stated pretty much as the same in Borges tale The Garden of Forking Paths, but I'm digressing... Most of the scientific community reject that theory, because of the fact that will be impossible to prove it by experimentation, for them it sounds pretty much as when some people claim that there are other worlds where "fairies or spirits" live, so it was just filed away. After more than 30 years, some physics where investigating one of the more elusive forces of our universe, gravity. We know what its effects are, but we do not know its causes; and among the properties we understand of it, we know that this is one of the more weak forces of the universe. There have been no ways of know why.
Then they turn their heads to Everett’s theory and say, well, let’s have a look, let’s assume that parallel universes exists; and then they propose a hypothesis, the generation of gravity could be done in another universe, It was said that the reason for gravitational force being weak as compared to the other forces is that it is confined mostly to higher dimensions and that we feel only the effects of it in the known dimensions, somehow the idea doesn’t seems too bizarre, if we also compare it with other theories as the superstring ones; and even when some scientist still don’t see it as a good explanations another do. So basically a theory emerged based on a hypothesis that can not be proved, and is only assumed.

So basically we are now dealing with something similar, we haven’t been able to proof that consciousness is just the product of the fluxes of electricity in our brain, we can only assume that they are, with no single proof, and just a risky assumption to equal effects to causes; on the other hand we have the other theory, that assumes that consciousness is generated outside of the brain, by something that someone may call, soul, or spirit, or just psyche. Both theories make its final assumption based on no proofs, just that, an assumption; both trying to explain some observed phenomena, that we know it’s real, that it’s consciousness itself.

As with the gravitational weakness, we are not in position to say that the theory and its hypothesis are true, or dismissed, we can only see them as possible explanations. We can for certain agree or disagree with it, with some arguments; but we cannot possible say without any reasonable doubt that "that's the way the things are", in one way or another.

The fact that some scientist have been interested in support the “soul” theory, as with this two books: The God theory and Self-Aware Universe: How Consciousness Creates the Material World , that were written by scientist; prove that is not something just illogical or irrational, albeit not demonstrable at the current development of science. Is just a posibility, and until we have a sound proof that discard that theory, we can neglect it just "because".

For some it will be not of any importance to know that their beliefs are based on something rational, for me it is, and I have spend a lot of time thinking on the subject for many years. I have reach the conclusion that the lack of evidence do not implies that something is impossible or irrational.

New project started

I'm writing this post to let you know about a new project I have started, that is a website about Druidry in spanish language.

It's now published at http://www.losceltas.org

The name of the site is "La Arboleda Sagrada; An Garrán Beannaithe" (The Sacred Grove)


The site, came to my mind as a way to give information about Druidry to the spanish-speaker comunity on the internet, since there's not a lot of info on that language.

I have incorporated three basic sections

1) Tradición (Tradition) with articles about What is Druidry, the Beliefs, Ethics, Rituals and Festivals

2) Los Druidas hoy (The Druids today) with info about the activities of the contemporany druids, the orders, the ecologic campains.

3) Foro (Forum) an online forum in spanish language to discuss druidry and celtic paganism related topics, maybe a first step to begin an on-line druidry comunity on spanish language

4) Recursos (Resources) this is probably the section with higher expectations... the objective is to create an on-line library with texts and articles about Druidry and Celtic culture and history in spanish language. At the moment it has the translations of articles by some very wise people I have contact, and have granded their persmision to publish their articles; two articles of mine, based on some drafts I had put on my blog; some incantations as The Amergin song, and Amergin's invocation of Ireland, as well as Athair ar Neamh a beautiful prayer by Eithne Ni
Brahonain and the begining of a big project... the translation of ancient books, text, poems and incantations.

At the moment I have the translations of The boyage of Bran, The second battle of moytura, and the Galic wars of Caesar.

I'm now working on the translation of the following texts:

The Irish Triads, ed. Kuno Myer
Carmina Gadelica ed. Alexander Charmichael
The Cattle-Raid of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúalnge)
And the complete Irish mythology by Lady Augusta Gregory

As you can imagine these translations are going to take me months, since I have other things to do, and I'm working at the moment alone on this project, but I'll upload them little by little, as I get some parts finished. The process of the translation have been so inspiring, to find the right word to express the meaning, get me in a deeper involve of the texts themselves, meditating about them, learning about them.... it was just great!!!

Once these are translated and published, I'll follow with other texts and so on... It's an ambicious project, I know; I hope it doesn't get out of my hands. I also know that there's some danger in translating these texts, since I'm doing it from the english translation since I'm not fluent on
gaelic, nor a celtic scholar, nor a professional translator (If you know somebody who have that credentials and that also is fluent in spanish, I'll love to have him/her check the translations I'm working on) but I hope it helps the people who is really interest in celtic culture but for
several reasons (mostly about time and money) can't learn english (or gaelic) and/or access to the information that is available in printed and electronic books.

The articles published, listed here by last name alphabetic order, are as follows:

Phillip Carr-Gomm / OBOD:
The seven gifts of Druidry (los siete regalos del druidismo)
http://www.losceltas.org/sieteregalos.html
Ethic and values on Druidry (Ética y valores del druidismo)
http://www.losceltas.org/eticadruidismo.html
Eco-campaign (Campaña Ecológica)
http://www.losceltas.org/ecologia.html

Erynn Rowan Laurie:
Following a Celtic path (siguiendo un camino celta)
http://www.losceltas.org/caminocelta.html
The Truth vs the World (La verdad contra el mundo)
http://www.losceltas.org/verdad.html
An Essay on Sacrifice (Un ensayo sobre el sacrificio)
http://www.losceltas.org/sacrificio.html

Brendan Cathbad Myers:
Initiation and the Druid Secret Language (iniciación y el lenguaje
secreto de los Druidas)
http://www.losceltas.org/lenguaje.html

Kenneth Proefrock:
The Practice of medicine (la práctica de la medicina)
http://www.losceltas.org/medicina.html

Graeme K. Talboys:
The nine dimensions of the way of the Druid (las nueve dimensiones del
camino del Druida)
http://www.losceltas.org/nuevedimensiones.html

Loretta Wilson:
The Brehon Laws (Las leyes Brehon)
http://www.losceltas.org/brehon.html



Hope you like it!

Happy Bealtaine

Bealtaine Shona Daoibh!!

Bealtaine (pronounced Beeyaltineh) is the Celtic festivity that indicates the begining of the summer, it's hold in the middle between the spring equinox and the summer solstice, and even in modern Irish, the name of the month that we know as May is Bealtaine.

Is resembles the lights of Bilé, the sacred tree, the world tree who get togheter with Danna, in the form of the River Danube, as partners, they give life to The Dagda and the Tuatha dé Danna.

Bile also spelled Bel is a sun god, a fertility god; patron of cattle, since Bealtaine celebrates the fertility, as the beginning of the summer, and the growing season. The word "Bealtaine" literally means "bright" or "brilliant fire," and refers to the bonfire lit by a presiding Druid in honor of Bile.

The festival is hold in the eve of may 1, as known the day for the Celts begin at the sunset. This is a time of fertility, blossoming, creativity, union.

May it light your lifes!

Hard vs Soft polytheism

There have been some discussions about soft vs hard polytheism before, and as in all philosophical matters, it’s difficult to put rigid boundaries about what is one thing, what is another.

First, we shall take into account that speaking about deity (or deities) we only hope to understand a little, and that there’s plenty of interpretations of what, at the end, we can’t fully understand, prove or deny with absolute certainty anything.

Most of the ancient people that inhabited Europe were polytheist, as many others around the world (like the American inhabitants, for example) that kind of polytheism take into account personal and independent deities, with different characteristics, they may have a common genealogy, but equal status, comparable powers and even they tend to fight each other.

These entities were very local and they pick some people and tribes in their protection, and some ask for some forms of henotheism, that certain tribes only address to them, or mainly address to them. So there were cities, tribes and even nations dedicated to the veneration of one god or goddesses as their patron. We have just to remember the war of troy to see an example.


As time passes, these concepts were merging with a concept of one God (or Goddess) superior to the others, most of the times, they tend to refer to the top on the genealogy and give that attribute to the Father God or the Mother Goddess, as the king or queen of them all, with enough power to control every other god, and even attributes of creator of both, man and gods. That happened long before Christianity arises, so it was a natural evolution in pagan societies and philosophy.

The Celts were not the exception, and we can find that at different stages there was a king of Gods, or leader, that receive special veneration, as well as a Mother Goddess.

How ever, the speed on which the Mediterranean Pagans (Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, etc) merge to the idea of one God above all others, without question, was slower in the evolution of the religion of the Celts. But then, the invasions take place. First the Vikings, then the Romans, after that the Saxons, etc. and that obviously change in a certain way the cosmology of the Celtic people of the Islands, France and Spain.

But still, there are basic differences between the Mediterranean, Nordic and Celtic pantheon. One of the most significant is that the Celtic Gods are not limited to one mainly attribute, as for example, Mars God of War, Apollo God of the Sun, Athena, Goddess of the wisdom, or Aphrodite Goddess of Beauty. When first approaching the Celtic pantheon, as we have as reference the Greco-Roman pantheon learned in the schools, we tend to ask “who has the god of war for the Celts?” but there’s no answer to that, because there are various gods and goddesses associated to war, and battles, and the sun, etc.



Of course there are main attributes, and as in other religions as the Hindu and Egyptian, there were figures that merge in triads, with triple Celtic Gods and Goddesses.

Another great difference is that Celtic people view the Gods as their ancestors, they were all descendents of the mix between the Gods and the Men, the Thuatha dé Dannan and the Milesians, for example, and not created by them with only special characters know as demigods, as Heracles.

But even with the influence that invasions, commerce, etc give, one thing remains, every god has its individual and independent characteristics, personality and were separate entities. Even if the acknowledge of one above the others, one almighty and creator, their sons were creations but not parts of him/her, as we are different from our own parents.

Christianity take this concept from the beginning and early Christians had a pantheon of angels, demons and saints to address in specific occasions, all created by One God, even if that god take the form of a trinity, remains as an inseparable entity, and also separated of the other saints and angels, and of course of the demons, that were originally also angels.
Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican Churches today still keep that idea, meanwhile most of the Protestant Churches, some sects of Judaism and Islam, see this as a form of polytheism (which in my opinion it is) that has to be avoid.

But then, as time passes with the advent of the Christians and Christianity spread over Europe, there was a merging, as all we know, between the ancient gods/goddesses and the Christian Saints. But there was one figure that originates a new concept. Mary, the Virgin.

And this is a important entity, since in the form of Mary, many pagan Goddesses were put into the Catholic faith, usually the Mother Goddess, as Danna, Minerva or Coathlicue (in America) but, how the Catholic Church explain that they were all but the same, Mary, the mother of Jesus the Christ? Simply, they include a philosophical idea that it was risen by that times, no matter how many virgins there are, and their different attributes, they are all but different faces or manifestation of one, “the Mother of us all”.



When time passes, and the revival of pagan faiths, now know as neo-pagans, begin; that concept was introduced and extrapolate to the Gods also, so, the statement that “"All gods are one God, and all goddesses are one Goddess, and there is one Initiator” emerge. How ever is my understanding that the first published book that use that sentence is by the Sea Priestess by Dion Fortune, and it has been taken as a part of the teology of many pagan religions.

This concept is know as soft polytheism, where at the end all merge to just one male and one female principle, and all others but manifestation of that. Then, some neopagan faiths keep that concept and extrapolate it to One single entity, the Uncreated, The One, that has the male and female attributes merge in one.

Under this concept, even if we address to different names of gods and goddesses, we are addressing but to one (or two) entities, and just appealing to one of its (their) qualities.

My personal view is stick to the hard polytheism, but in its later form, I mean, I believe in The One, the creator, beyond and above all other gods, but independent of them, and the other gods, or powerful spirits of the universe (that’s my name for them) as independent entities, with their own area of influence, powers, characteristics, behaviour, and personality, never as faces of one single (or dual) entity.


Now, came the problems and questions. Myths talk about the relationship between this deities, and their areas of influence, as an example, Isis interact with the gods of mount Olympus, as well as Epona enter the Roman pantheon. Now we have another gods in other parts of the world, in America, in the near East and the far East, etc. How they interact? Is it okay to address to some in the area of the other?

I think, that some may have different names but are the same in different cultures, but others, shall be independent and local, how can we know the difference?

Well, these are my two pence about Hard vs Soft polytheism.