Read an Excerpt
Chapter 1
Irish Cosmology
and the Otherworld
This may seem a strange place to start, considering this is a book primarily
aboutSamhain(Samhuinnin Scotland andNos Galan Gaeafin Wales),
the ancient form of today’s Halloween. In truth, this is the only logical
place to start, as the festival ofSamhaincan only be fully understood
within the context of the pre-Christian cosmology and practices of the
ancient Irish – what is referred to as Druidism or Druidry.
Druidry has been revived in recent centuries, from the early 1700s
onwards, but this is a new form of Druidism, more correctly called
Neo-Druidry, as it has no continuous link with the religion/spirituality
of the original Druids. The arrival of Rome in Western Europe drove
Druidism into the ground except in Ireland and Scotland, but even there
it did not long survive the arrival of Christianity in the fifth century ce.
By all estimates it had more or less died out by the eighth century and
persisted only in social practices, folklore, stories and customs but not as
a viable religion that anyone could practise openly.
Despite the erosion of Druidism, first by the Roman Empire and
secondly by the Christian Church, much of the pre-Christian structure
and practices of Western Europe (and Ireland particularly) survived in a
thinly disguised or mutated form. The pre-Christian view of the world
and universe (or cosmology, if we choose to use a fancy term) survived
both in the written word and the folk practices of the Irish, Scottish,
Welsh, Breton and (to some extent) English peoples. It is to Ireland that
we must look for the most complete model of how the Druids understood
the world around them and what ways they celebrated the important
moments of their year.
The Irish year was divided into two halves – winter (geimhreadh) and
summer (samhradh), with winter preceding summer. We see the same
thing in Gaul, as demonstrated by the Coligny calendar, with three days
to celebrateSamionos(Samhain) – TRINVX SAMO SINIV or ‘the three
nights ofSamonios’. In the same way as the year, the day was divided into
two halves, with the night (from sunset) preceding the daylight. The year
itself was subdivided into eight parts of approximately six weeks, each
marked by a festival. These eight festivals began at the Celtic New Year,
which wasSamhain, summer’s end, which is considered the entry point
into the dark part of the year. The eight points of note are (in order)
Samhain, winter solstice,Imbolc, spring equinox,Bealtaine, summer
solstice,Lughnasadhand autumn equinox.
The equinoxes and solstices are universal, they have been celebrated
by humanity across the world for millennia but the four ‘Celtic’ festivals
are unique to Western Europe, although there are somewhat similar
traditions in many countries around the world. All eight of these pagan
festivals have managed to survive in Europe in a mutated Christianised
form, which has already been covered amply in many books, so I will not
discuss them here – it is sufficient to say that the placing of Christmas,
Easter, the beginning of spring, the beginning of summer, harvest festival
and All Hallows’ Day is no accident.
In Ireland and other countries around the world, there are ancient
sites of the Neolithic period (late Stone Age) that are very obviously
aligned to the equinoxes and solstices. In Ireland in particular there
are some ancient examples that stretch back to 4,000–3,000 bce, with
some, such asSlíeve na Cailleachshowing evidence of much earlier
constructions, that are now completely buried and invisible to the
naked eye. Ancient sites in Ireland are also associated with the other
festivals such asUisneach(Bealtaine), Loughcrew/Slíeve na Cailleach
(equinoxes), Tara (mid-summer), Listoghil (Samhainsunrise), Mound
of the Hostages at Tara (Samhainsunrise), Tara (Lughnasadhsunset),
Dowth (Samhain/Imbolcsunset), Newgrange/Brú Na Boínne(winter
solstice sunrise), Dowth (winter solstice sunset) plus many more
besides. The sunrise and moon rise atSamhainforms an alignment
fromTlachtgato the quartz standing stone in Cairn L of Loughcrew
(Slíeve na Cailleach/Slíeve Bearra) and Lambay Island (off the coast
of Dublin). Interestingly, with the Mound of the Hostages (at Tara)
also illuminated by the sunrise atSamhain,this alignment continues
west across the country, also intersecting ‘Lugh’s Seat’ at the end of the
volcanic ‘Pillars ofSamhain’ and the cairn of (goddess)Mór-Ríoghan
above the Keash caves.
So it is clear that in pre-Druidic or proto-Druidic times the people
of Ireland constructed sacred sites in stone to mark the astronomically
important times of the year, includingSamhain, the start of the Irish year,
during the pagan era. As well as solar festivals the Irish celebrated the
lunar events, with Knowth being clearly linked with lunar festivities for
the thirteen moons of the year.
Pagan festivities in Ireland were explicitly linked with the agricultural
cycle of the year and also with veneration of the gods, the ancestors, the
land itself and with the cycle of life and death. These festivals were not
just religious events and celebrations, they were social and governmental
events – often referred to as anóenach(modern Irishaonach), or assembly
– and still took place still a thousand years after Christianity was intro-
duced to Ireland.
In Ireland the world view was threefold but somewhat different
from the modern religious view of Heaven–Earth–Hell. The Irish (and
Welsh) pagans believed in three realms – the upperworld (Sky), middle-
world (Earth) and otherworld (Sea). The upperworld was the realm of
the gods and also spirits that we might liken to angels and demons. The
middleworld was the realm of physical existence where we live out our
everyday lives. The otherworld was the realm of the dead and also the
sidhe/aos sí(fairies andTuatha Dé Danann). Strictly speaking, the realm
of the dead was not under the sea but beyond the horizon in the west,
where the sun sets.
