Celtic Wicca – Myths and Secrets Explained | Welcome To Wicca Now

If you want to know more about Wicca and becoming Wiccan check out these posts about what Wicca actually is, how to become Wiccan, a post on what Wiccan beliefs are, the Wiccan Rede and this post discussing the Wiccan Gods, Goddesses and Deities.

Celtic Wiccan Beliefs – Is Wicca What the Old Celts Practiced?

Two questions we often get asked are “what’s the difference between Celtic paganism and Wicca” and “are Wiccan and Celtic paganism the same religion”? To be honest, when I first started learning about Wicca and Celtic religions, I found myself asking the same questions because the two religions do seem to share quite a lot of common aspects. In order to find the answers to your questions, let’s take a closer look at what similarities the two religions share and what differences set them apart.

Although there are a number of people who claim that Celtic paganism and Wicca are basically the same religion, I beg to differ. Celtic paganism is an ancient religion which existed during the Gaelic period. Wicca, in contrast, is a fairly new religion which was developed during the first half of the 20th century by, amongst others, Gerald Gardner. Because Gardner (one of the so-called founders of the Wiccan religion) drew heavily from Celtic lore when putting together his Wiccan ideology, some people assume that this means that  Wicca is a modern offshoot of Celtic paganism. Again, I beg to differ and offer the following explanations:

1. Because tradition Celtic religions were cultural manifestations, the local people’s spirituality was closely tied to their cultural identity. The celts considered the Gods to be ancient ancestors, this meant that they believed that their first ancestors were born of a union between the Gods and the men and women of the time. Hence, the Gods were literally the first ancestors. The various Celtic beliefs surrounding the idea of the ancestors can be seen in a host of Celtic customs such as the feast of the dead. Wiccan religion, on the other hand, draws its deities and customs from a wide range of differing ideologies and customs. The idea of an ancestral god in the literal sense is not customary within the Wiccan religion. 
2. Wiccan religion separates God and the Goddess into distinctive masculine and feminine roles. The God and the Goddess are understood to embody an archetypal form of the masculine and feminine which is then mirrored by humanity. The Celts, on the other hand, did not see the Gods and Goddesses as being symbolic of a greater archetype (such as the archetypal male or female) but rather, they understood their Gods and Goddesses to be absolute individuals. The Jungian idea of the ‘archetype’ which flows through Wicca, is not present within Celtic lore.
3. Wicca draws its inspiration from a whole spectrum of different religions and spiritual practices, be it Eastern philosophies, Egyptian ideologies and, Judaic ceremonialism as well as Celtic lore. It would, therefore, be incorrect to define Wicca as a reinterpretation or continuation of traditional Celtic paganism. Whilst Wicca certainly draws from Celtic lore, it also combines ideas and beliefs from many other religious and spiritual practices and as such, Wicca is a wholly new religion in its own right.
4. Wiccan and Celtic ethics are incompatible. The basic Wiccan rede “An It Harm None, Do As Ye Will” would have been untenable to the Celts. The Celtic notion of heroic mortality which places its focus squarely on heroism, duty to the tribe, tribal honour and personal honour is in stark contrast to the Wiccan Rede.
5. In Wicca, sacred space is created through ritual and can be located anywhere. For the Celts, sacred space was mostly static and clearly defined. The sacred space for the Celts was often the home, more specifically the hearth, which functioned as the cornerstone for family and spirituality.  
6. Some people claim that the word ‘Wicca’ stems from a Gaelic word ‘Witta’ thus proving that Wicca is a continuation of ancient Celtic traditions. As concerns the Gaelic language the sound (W) does not exist in Gaelic or in Old Irish. Thus ‘Wicca’ is practically impossible in the Gaelic language and it is false to believe that the word Wicca should find its origins the Gaelic language.
7. Wicca places little emphasis on mythology. In contrast, mythological stories form a core part of the Celtic religion.
8. Wicca uses the four elements (earth, water, fire and air) as a fundamental concept. Celtic religion does not prescribe to the concept of the four elements in the same way.