Fortress of Avalon

It’s good to live but it’s also good to know that someday you’ll die. There’s no avoiding it. A short albeit glorious and impactful life nonetheless is valuable even in the face of longer, overarching lives. Born Setanta, CuChulainn lived a glorious life with fame lavished upon his shoulders for the great skill he showed in sport and battle, the blood of Lugh coursing through his veins. He met his end after slaying his beloved battle brother Ferdiad in a battle rage and having been weakened by trickery and lies, he met his end finally by a stone that was his only true defense. When a spear ripped through his skin he tied himself to the stone so by his belt and guts he hung. He fought to the end and a great light escaped his decapitated head when his killers went to claim their prize. Live long if you must, die gloriously if you can, all in service to the greatest war of all: the battle for our survival.

Bronze anthropomorphic sword-hilt found in Ballyshannon Bay, in county Donegal, Ireland; 1st century B.C. 🇮🇪 Celtic Europe - channel link (please share!): https://t.me/CelticEurope

It's the 7th of July, the holiday Fled Goibnenn, the Feast of Goibhniu. Known by many names and titles, the smith-god of the Tuatha de Danann was also a hospitaller, a beer brewer, an owner of the Cauldron of Plenty and the Grey of Goibhniu, a cow that never ran out of milk. With his great skill as a craftsman he could arm the army of the Tuatha de Dannan against whatever assailed them, revive fallen warriors with his food and drink, and his was the sacred duty to take in travellers that would come to his door. In ancient Ireland, a rich farmer could become a brigiu or Hospitaller who would offer food, drink and lodging to travellers and important figures that might cross his home. Today it's a dangerous proposition to open your home to strangers, especially when those strangers often look nothing like yourself and almost certainly have no good intent in coming to your door. But for those you know and trust, for those they too can trust, if you have the resources to spare an open door and a warm place to sleep can make all the difference especially in winter. Our Gods and our ancestors took hospitality very seriously, both in giving and taking. To abuse a hospitaller I imagine must have been a grave crime, and to refuse hospitality to someone in need likewise. Today, we could all use some hospitality. A warm fire (even if it's just on a TV screen), some decent food, and good company does more for the soul than all the slop in the world could ever hope to in an age of atomization. Today, enjoy some food with your family and friends, offer some food and drink to the Gods, and call on Goibhniu to join you for the day. The Gods could use some hospitality too, I'm sure.

Goibniu, Luchta, Credna Drawing by Ire

Celtic god Cernunnos flanked by Apollo & Hermes

The Small Isles, Rum and Eigg viewed from Muck, in Garmoran, Scotland. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Celtic Europe - channel link (please share!): https://t.me/CelticEurope

O Ogma, completely with comprehension O Sunny Faced, completely with the intelligent act, O Shining one, completely aloof, So handsome with your blond hair, as shiny as your golden mind, You always astonish me, With that bright understanding, With that heavy knoweldge, With those carved incantations, Merry Ogma! Such a golden appearance, to cast your bright knowledge, No teacher could surpass your education, I always hold you dearly and high, O bright outstanding one, I hope to be as half as well versed as you, I hope to he half as radiant as you, I hope to be half as booming with knowledge and voice as you, I will ask for these next things, To be a better man, One piece of your sunbeam, that I’d have a brighter mind, One speck of your dynamic tongue, that I’d say sweeter incantations, One true sight from your pensive mind, that I’d perceive falsehoods, If I can be so, O Stalwart Ogma, Then I’ll be a magic Gael, If you are as generous as you are clever, Then I’ll be a benelovent Gael. Drawing by me

CELTIC RELIGIOUS BELIEF:

“The perception of the supernatural as being present in the natural world penetrated all aspects of Celtic belief. Thus, the most popular, pan-tribal deities—the celestial gods and mother-goddesses—were linked to their respective functions as providers of light, heat and fertility. The great healing cults of Romano-Celtic Gaul and Britain were centered upon the natural phenomena of thermal springs. Many divinities—such as Epona, Arduinna, Nodens and Cernunnos—had a close affinity with animals: indeed the horned and antlered gods took on the partial personae of bulls or stags. The perception of spirits in the landscape is amply demonstrated by the names of gods on epigraphic dedications of the Romano-Celtic period, which betray their topographical character, as personifications of places: the identity of gods such as Glanis of Glanum and Nemausus of Nemausus, both in Provence, were merged inextricably with their locality.”

📚📖 The Celtic World, page 465-466

THE CELTIC OPPIDA:

The importation of goods from outside Celtic Europe are apparent at many of the centers … The Oppida of the final two centuries BCE were centers of commerce, as is apparent from the quantities of Roman imports recovered at them and in the growth of industries that operated for export trade. The manufacture of pottery, glass jewellery, sapropelite ornaments, bronze vessels and iron weapons seems to have been geared to some extend towards export trade in this late period. The major Oppida are characterized as market-places at which local and long-distance commerce were concentrated. Silver and bronze coinage may have developed to serve the needs of the large, commercially focused communities for a standard of exchange. Coins are good indicators of trade, because their places of origin can often be determined.

📚📖 The Celtic World, page 236