A bit o' Celtic history

The Celtic people ("keltoi") can be traced back through writings of the Greeks and some archaeological finds to centuries before the Christian era. They once ranged across the southern and central European continent and parts of Turkey and Asia Minor. Over many centuries other tribes, as well as the Roman imperial troops,  pushed them westward and northward until they settled in the British Isles. According to a Professor John T. McNeill, Plato described the keltoi as indifferent to danger as well as given to drunkenness. (per Richard Woods, The Spirituality of the Celtic Church in Spirituality Today, Fall 1985, Vol 37 No. 3, pp 243, 255. ) St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians in the Christian New Testament is thought by some scholars to be to a community with Celtic roots. Legend has it that Joseph of Arimethea was one of the first to carry the story of Jesus Christ to the Celts in the British Isles! Many other noted saints and scholars roam through the Celtic-Christian story.

I place these efforts to expand appreciation for the Celtic worldview under the name Brigid for several reasons. Brigid--other spellings include Brigit,Bride,Bridget, etc--has referred to both a pre-Christian goddess and a highly revered Christian saint in Celtic history. The goddess Brigid was linked with fire, the hearth, and poetry, among other vital  aspects of human life. After the arrival of Christian beliefs in the British Isles, there arose a holy woman named Brigid noted for her compassionate concern for the least fortunate. ("What is mine is theirs," is one attitude attributed to Brigid.) She became the founder of a monastery of both men and women at Kildare in Ireland, and legend has it that she was abbess of that monastery in the 5th century AD when she was also ordained a bishop. In Celtic spirituality--both before the arrival of Christians and afterward--the name Brigid carries a deep appreciation for the Divine as imaged in Woman.

Bridget Mary Meehan, D.Min., and Regina Madonna Oliver, D.Min.,have co-authored an inspiring book called Praying with Celtic Holy Women. Their book aptly describes some essential aspects of the Celtic Soul (pp.4-10):  a communal appreciation and adaptability; an independence of spirit; a highly intuitive capacity, and an imaginative, playful approach to life that sees the Divine in the everyday, and in all of nature. The Christian Celts deeply valued the Gospel of John, the Psalms, and a eucharistic sense of Christ present in the enfolding moment. They saw all with eyes of faith as they contemplated and celebrated earth's beauty and the dance of life. Celts have a love of learning! The lived in spiritual communities that valued egalitarian structures!

I am spending time with this faith-filled vision of the Divine goodness at the heart of all creation because it seems so sorely needed in our world today. Many of us humans, including myself, seeing all the brokenness and pain in our world, ache for such a vision to prevail. I find that when I can focus on the essential goodness and beauty in all that is, much healing can happen.