Celtic Traditions: Christian Roots

“I wouldn’t mess with that if I were you” said a man in the Christian bookstore looking over my shoulder at the CD of ‘Celtic’ Christian music I was considering buying. He went on to explain how Celtic is pagan and has nothing to do with Christianity. His comment however probably shows what many people think of when they hear the term ‘Celtic Spirituality’. Some see the same intricate knot-work on a Celtic cross as the jewelry the Goth kids at the mall are wearing and decide Celtic does indeed simply mean pagan, or witch craft. Others might look at Celtic Christianity and wonder what in the world does the church have to do with that Boston basketball team. If you are a fan of Celtic music, listening to the folk tunes of Ireland and Scotland on public radio’s Thistle and Shamrock, you might be surprised to find out that these lands produced as inspiring saints as well as talented musicians.

So what is Celtic Spirituality? The Celts were a group of tribes, who shared a common family of languages (Gaelic or Celtic) and who lived in Europe since before the time of Christ. They gave their name to one of the regions that was home to a group of Christians who received a letter from St. Paul – The Epistle to the Galatians. In fact, we as Cumberland Presbyterians have our own etymological link to these tribes. Cumberland was a region in Britain meaning ‘land of the Cumbra’ or the ‘Cymry’ which is the name one Celtic nation (the Welsh) call themselves. Over time the Celts migrated into the more remote, rural areas such as Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

Spirituality refers to the way we live out our faith through our belief, and worship and spiritual disciplines. It should also be noted that we are speaking specifically of Celtic Christian Spirituality for there are indeed contemporary attempts to revive Celtic paganism and witchcraft – many bookstores will have many ‘Celtic’ works in the New Age section but none in the Christian.

Christian missions followed the Roman Empire into Britain as early as the 2^nd Century. The Church in these lands grew and became strong enough to send delegates to church councils and begin their own missions. St. Patrick, a British born Christian took the Gospel to Ireland around 435. The Romans abandoned their forts and cities in Britain, leaving the Church there cut off from Christians on the rest of the continent. These Celtic Christians continued to hold to the faith in isolation from the western church, and especially the growing authority of the Church at Rome.

In 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent missionaries to Britain. They were surprised to discover that the Church was already there and thriving. But in their separation the Celtic Christians had developed in a different way from the rest of the Church. Actually, the Church in Britain and Ireland had continued to practice an older way of doing things while Rome had changed (for example, the Celts still calculated the date of Easter according to an older system.) These differences led to conflict and the meeting of the Synod of Whitby in 664 which decided that the Church in Britain and Ireland should conform to Roman practice, of course many Celtic traditions survived for years.

One thing that distinguishes Celtic Spirituality is its monastic roots. Since the rural areas of the British Isles were served by local monastic communities more than the structures of the church hierarchy, the spiritual practices of monks and nuns became basic to Celtic spiritual practices: singing the psalms, meditation on scripture, the mixture of prayer and daily work as well as some extreme forms of aestheticism such as praying while standing in the cold ocean waters for extended periods of time. Additionally, the importance of the monasteries gave the Abbots, or heads of monasteries, more authority than the usual leadership of the Bishop.

Related to this was the practice of having an anamchara, or ‘soul friend’ – someone to share your spiritual journey with, giving counsel and accountability. St. Brigit said, “Anyone without a soul friend is like a body without a head.” Some have seen in this a more egalitarian view of the church, since the idea of an anamchara is based on mutual sharing rather than an authoritative director. Similarly, some have noted the less restrictive roles for women in the life of the Church due to the greater equality they had in Celtic legal systems compared to Rome.

A few theological emphases should be noted; while each part of these truths are affirmed, Celtic Spirituality tends to stress part more than other Christians, paying attention to these might help us regain a balance. First, Celtic Spirituality tends to emphasize God’s immanence, or presence in creation rather than just His transcendence, or God’s being above and beyond us. Of course, that does not mean that they thought God was part of creation, simply that He is present to us. Second, the Celtic Christians tended to emphasize God’s Trinitarian nature. Again this did not mean that they denied that God was one, but they structured prayers and blessings in ways that reminds us that this One God is in essence Father, Son and Holy Sprit.