Celtic Polytheism, sometimes known as Celtic Paganism, refers to the religious beliefs and practises of the ancient Celtic peoples of western Europe prior to Christianisation.
Celtic polytheism, as its name suggests, was polytheistic, believing in a number of different deities, and was also animistic, believing in spirits
existing in natural objects such as trees and rocks. Religious beliefs
and practises of the Celts varied throughout the different Celtic
lands, which included Ireland, Britain, Celtiberia, Gaul, areas along the Danube river, and Galatia; however there were commonalities shared by all.
Celtic religious practices bear the marks of Romanization following the Roman Empire's conquest of certain Celtic lands such as Gaul (58–51 BCE) and Britain (43 CE), although the depth and significance of Romanization is a subject of scholarly disagreement.
Celtic polytheism declined in the Roman Empire period, especially after the outlawing of one form of it, Druidism, by the emperor Claudius
in 54 CE. It persisted somewhat longer in Britain and Ireland, where it
gradually disappeared during Christianization, over the 5th to 6th
centuries.
Celtic religion was polytheistic, believing in many deities, both gods and goddesses.
The most notable of these were pan-Celtic, being worshipped across much
of the Celtic world, albeit under various regional names and with
different associations. Despite the notability of these pan-Celtic
deities, they make up only a tiny percentage of Celtic gods; out of the
roughly 300 Celtic deities that we know about, only around 60 can be
found in more than one region, and of those, only about 20–30 are
pan-Celtic.
The Celts were also animists,
believing in deities existing in most aspects of nature, such as in
trees and streams, who were often venerated at local shrines.
According to classical era sources, the Celts worshipped the forces of nature and did not envisage deities in anthropomorphic terms as other pagan
peoples such as the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians did. This appeared to
change as the classical peoples grew in influence over the Celtic
cultures, as the Celts did begin to give their deities human forms, and
they moved from a more animistic-based faith to a more Romanized
polytheistic view.
Several of these deities, including Lugus and Matrones, exhibited triplism, being found in a set of three.
Insular Celts swore their oaths by their personal
or tribal gods, and the land, sea and sky; as in, "I swear by the gods
by whom my people swear" and "If I break my oath, may the land open to
swallow me, the sea rise to drown me, and the sky fall upon me."
Various Neopagan groups claim association with Celtic polytheism. These groups range from the Reconstructionists, who work to practice ancient Celtic religion with as much accuracy as possible; to new age,
eclectic groups who take some of their inspiration from Celtic
mythology and iconography but place little significance on any sort of
historical precedent, the most notable of which is Neo-druidry.