Celtic Christianity exists separately from Roman-influenced Christianity and is composed of contemplation, meditation, prayer, living by mild means, equality of the sexes and a personal relationship with God. The creative god force is personified by the union of a god and goddess allowing both women and men to be honored, thereby sacrilizing the marriage of masculine and feminine outside and within the Self. Human nature is deemed essentially divine, void of original sin and directed by personal will and choice.
Celtic Christian daily dedication centers around unifying the soul and everyday living with God. Each individual is responsible for his/her actions and is tasked with becoming a spiritual mentor or friend, anamchara, for others. Lifestyle and spiritual practice merge into a way of being that embraces simplicity, humility, modesty, community, nature, contemplative prayer, and listening with the heart.
The origin of Celtic Christianity began with Druidic, nature-centered ritual and mythology coupled with the idea that human and earth are one. Pagan gods and goddesses morphed, sometimes by fored conversion, other times by natural progression, into Christian saints whose iconic figures have been worshipped and painted as magnificent art forms dawning Celtic Christian images.
Celtic Christian art includes beautiful, numinous mandalas, standing stone carvings, and knotwork, each expressing a belief in the essential unity between all living things and God. Often the unified attributes of human and animal within God (and man) are depicted as humans with animal heads as seen in the famous Book of Kells and Lindisfarne Gospels. Celtic Christian monks and devotees equally reveal their love of God through music and poetry.
The Celtic Cross is the epitomal symbol of Pagan and Christian, masculine and feminine unity. The circle represents the feminine, divine force that gives birth as Mother Earth. The cross is the male force flowing in all directions. The two symbols "superimposed express the both ways state of being and becoming in harmony or balance." The cross is also a mandala or spiritual diagram and is an "essential symbol of the nothing and the all, in which man finds and loses himself."
In the United States where consumption, didactisism, and materialism have become the norm Celtic Christianity offers a momentary pause, a break, in the maelstrom to examine and feel our connection with God and the world around us. Whether dispelled onto an ancient isle or nestled within the comfort of a sacred home space, the respect and honoring of the whole person, the Self, with quiet, gentle contemplation offers a mending of spirit and person that works to heal all living beings.
© Copyright Paula Vaughan
Not to be reprinted without permission.
Cross of Abred, courtesy and copyright © Courtney Davis. All rights reserved.
References
The Art Of Celtia by Sir George Trevelyan, Courtney Davis, Sterling; Reprint edition 1995.
Celtic Mandalas by Helena Paterson, Courtney Davis, Sterling Publishing, 1997.
Resources for further study
House of Breathings: Carl McColman's Blog