Celtic Reconstructionism aims to bring the beliefs and practices of pre-Christian Celtic cultures into a modern context, using historical, archaeological, and academic sources, as well as folklore and traditions that may survive to this day. Celtic Reconstructionism can be regarded as an umbrella term, because recons generally focus on a particular Celtic culture in their practices.

Scottish Reconstructionism is a form of Celtic Reconstructionism which focuses on the area of Britain now called Scotland. This was previously subject to influences from three Celtic cultures:

• The Brythonic people (in the south)

• Irish Gaelic settlers known as Dal Riadan’s (in the west)

• The Picts (largely in the east of the country)

Since very little is known about Pictish beliefs, and the Brythonic people had relatively very little influence on the development of Scotland as a whole, most Scottish Reconstructionists tend to focus on the Dal Riadan legacy and Scots Gaelic culture. Some Scottish Recons may also incorporate Norse practises that are attested from the later Norse settlers in history, and what is known of Pictish or Brythonic culture and belief, especially if these cultural influences are relevant to a particular area of interest.

Basic Beliefs

As a rule, like Irish Reconstructionists, Scottish Reconstructionists incorporate the following beliefs:

• Hard polytheism - seeing the gods as distinct individuals rather than along the lines of "all the gods are one god…"

• Animistic - recognising that places and objects have a spirit, or spirits, which are acknowledged and honoured in our practices

• Reverence of our ancestors - along with the gods and spirits of the place, our ancestors form a sort of triad which are honoured an acknowledged in ritual

• Cosmology of the three realms of land, sea and sky as opposed to the Classical four elements as the basis of the world around us, along with nine (or more) elements

• The bile and the sacred well - the sacred tree and well as representative of this world’s connection to the Otherworld, our relationship with the gods

• Traditional values such as hospitality, courage, valour, honesty, generosity, judgement and the importance of kin and family

In addition to this, my personal practices regard the hearth as the sacred centre of the home, around which daily life revolves. This isn't necessarily unusual in CR, but different paths may lay a different emphasis on such a view as I do.

Gods

Given the Irish influence from the Gaelic Dal Riada people, Irish gods form the primary pantheon, although some of these gods are more relevant to Scotland than others. These include:

Bride (Brigid/Brigit…), who seems to have been an extremely influential goddess in Ireland. Evidence suggests that she then became associated with a saint of the same name (though it's not entirely certain if such a person actually existed, historically) and was incredibly important in Irish and Scottish Christian tradition.

Cailleach Bheur, related to the Cailleach, or The Old Woman of Beare in Irish myth, can be found portrayed as the spirit of winter in Scottish legend, who imprisons Bride and uses her as a slave. Bride is eventually freed and falls in love with Oengus (Angus), a son of the Dagda, and her freedom brings spring along with it. The legend is likely to be a much later evolution of the traditions surrounding Bride and the Cailleach, who is likely to have originally been an Irish sovereignty goddess, but their role in the seasonal year can form a focus of specifically Scottish Reconstructionist practice.¹

Manannán mac Lir, who lends his name to the Isle of Man is also relevant to Scotland, and might appear in Scottish lore in the guise of Shony. (See Offerings).

Placenames also suggest influence from Irish gods such as Banba possibly lending her name to Banff.² Localised deities are also suggested from river names such as Clutha/Clota, who may lend her name to the river Clyde (which would be Brythonic, in this case).³

Practices

These are based on observing daily devotions and celebrating the cycle of the year according to the seasonal festivals, the Cross Quarter Days:

• Samhainn - November 1

• Latha Feill Bhride - February 1

• Bealtainn - May 1

• Lúnasdal - August 1

Other festival days might also be observed, which aren't necessarily directly from pre-Christian practices, but have become incorporated into cultural observances. On the Isle of Man, it was traditional to pay the rents to Manannán on June 25, whereas in Scotland, March 25 observed Lady Day – the day on which spring was officially said to have sprung, and the Cailleach Bheur finally admitted defeat and gave up her struggle (which began at Latha Feill Bhride, February 1st) with Bride until she took up the reins at Samhuinn and ruled the winter period once again.⁴

Midsummer and Michaelmas celebrations (roughly corresponding with the summer solstice and autumn equinox, on June 25th and September 25th), along with Lady Day (roughly corresponding with the spring equinox and formerly marking the start of the New Year in Scotland, until this was moved to January 1st in 1600) and the Yule celebrations on December 25th (which obviously correspond with the winter solstice) are also celebrated by some Celtic Reconstructionists. While these are probably not directly related to specifically Celtic festivals, at least some of them are likely to be from pre-Christian practices of other cultures, especially Norse or Anglo-Saxon, which have had obvious influences in the development of Scottish culture as a whole. Since they form part of the cultural continuum of Scotland, and often contain practices that may have been shifted from the traditional Quarter Day festivals, some recons feel it's appropriate to observe these days as festivals as well.⁵

In the case of Yule in particular, which has become heavily mixed in with Scottish Hogmanay (New Year's Eve) celebrations that still form a huge part of Scottish culture today, this period may be especially celebrated by Scottish Reconstructionists. 

Sacred Texts

There are no sacred texts, as such, in Scottish Recontructionism. Myths form an integral part of understanding the beliefs and practices of the pre-Christian Irish and Scots, giving us an insight into the gods and who they are. They aren’t sacred, per se, because although they relate to sacred matters, the myths as we have them are often corrupted by time and the people who recorded them. Irish myth, placename lore and later Scottish legends and lore form the main basis of study in this respect.

Language

Language is an integral part of culture and so most reconstructionists feel it is important to learn (or try to learn) the language of the culture being focused on. Obviously in this case the language to learn would be Scots Gaelic. However, some reconstructionists feel that learning the language of the primary sources the myths are preserved in is also relevant - if not more so - since understanding the language they were written in gives us an insight into the many nuances words can have, which in turn helps us get a better understanding of the gods and pre-Christian beliefs. In this case, the relevant language would (usually) be Old Irish.

That said, few recons actually do speak the languages they say are so important, yet, with any fluency (myself included, regrettably). This is partly due to the fact that few people have the time to live their life, devote time to practising and studying, and learn a language. Perhaps the main problem is lack of resources. There are relatively few people who can learn a language from a book or tapes alone, and while the internet helps fill in the gap, a lot of people find that the most effective way to learn a language is to speak it with other people…and there are relatively few of those around too.

References