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The religions in Europe evolved magnificently. In this concern, the research paper is intended to explore two different religions and their beliefs in Europe. Also, the main concepts and practices of religion will also be elaborated in the research paper to explain the phenomena of Wiccan and Druid’s religion.
Wiccan Religion
Wiccan religion is founded on a system of belief and conviction that are dependent on the re-enactment of the pre-Christian way of life originating in Europe (Sabin 67). Wiccan religion is considered as a westernised religion that became popular in Europe in the year 1951. The religion is based on archaic laws founded on witchcraft. For this reason, it could be stated that the followers of the Wiccan religion typically tend to have a belief in bewitchment and black magic. It is considered that the Wiccan Religion is closely connected to Alexandrians. The religion was first published by Gerald Gardner in England.
Wiccan religion has got no central authority (Sabin 87). The particular religion has no traditional or core beliefs. Its practices are grounded and have no central authority. Its traditional core beliefs, principles and practices are originally outlined by Gardner and Doreen Valiente. Traditionally, the followers of Wiccan religion view the moon as Goddess. Therefore, they celebrate different events that originated from rituals of blood sacrifice during the event of the full moon. At first, the followers were practising these rituals secretly. However, with the passage of time, they published their practices.
Wiccan religion is characteristically duotheistic. The divinity of Wiccan religion can be defined in a henotheistic manner. Wiccan followers also celebrated the cycles of the moon. The respective traditional event is known as Esbats. It is directly connected with the God of Horned. It is also notable that Wiccan religion believes in black magic.
A Wiccan religion is related to the spiritual system which has the ability to cultivate the perception and will of the person by persuading them to learn and comprehend the nature of earth (Sabin 89). The main conviction of Wiccan religion is entirely based on the concept that people should practice specific rituals in order to gain power, competency, and money as well. It is apparent that in many cases Wiccan followers have also been accused of killing a human being to obtain their blood. In fact, the religion has also been associated with Paganism. The followers also have temples and churches where they worship and acknowledge the lunar phases and cycles of nature to worship the divine and celebrate the spirituality of Wiccan religion.
Wiccan believes in the concept that the fortitude of a single entity, God, or Goddess exists in the natural world. For instance, they consider trees, flowers, water pious. It proves that the attempt to respect and honour nature in its entire manifestations. The followers of Wiccan religion also become skilled at worshipping the blessings of nature from the celestial establishment by celebrating the seasons. On the other hand, the darker side of the religion demonstrates that Wiccan religion is following a secretive route to take help from the evil spirit to empower themselves
Druid Religion
Neo- Druidry or Neo-Druidism is a form of spiritual religion that is most commonly referred to as Druidry that promotes worship and harmony of nature, and in respect to all beings that also includes the environment (Kendrick 42). There are many forms of modern Druidry and Neopagan religion. However, some other forms are philosophical in nature. The Druidry originated in Britain in the eighteenth century. It is a noticeable fact that Druidry was originally a cultural movement that later became a religion with spiritual connotations during the nineteenth century.
The fundamental principle of Druidry is veneration and respect of nature. Also, it often involves environmental movement participation. From the evolution romanticism movement in Britain during the nineteenth century, a group of ancient Celtic peoples in the Iron Age was glorified. At that time, Neo-Druids aimed to imitate priests of those Celtic peoples and were later named as Druids. Also, there was little accurate information about them and has no direct connection of those ancient priests with contemporary Druidic movement.
At the end of the eighteenth century, some contemporary Druids established fraternal organisations that were modelled on Freemasonry (Kendrick 71). They employed some romantic figures of Bards and Druid British. Furthermore, they were employed as symbols of aboriginal British Spirituality. Moreover, it is also observable through different literature that some of those groups were purely cultural, fraternal, and created traditions from Britain. In the early twentieth century, some of the contemporary movements that include naturism and physical, cultural movement merged with them.
Some of the most prominent gods and goddesses of druids include Aine, the goddess of sovereignty, summer, and love, and Amaethon, the god of animal husbandry and agriculture. Other significant gods and goddesses include Arwan, Arianrhod, Blodeuwedd, Brigit, Cailleach, Cernunnos, and Danu. These gods and goddesses were also related to nature that includes god or goddess of disease, flowers, beauty, poetry, knowledge, magic, arts, warriors, and burning fire.
Celtic religion
The Celtic religion was formed in the Iron Age; the Celtic people worship many gods. The people of that time worshipped their gods and goddess by scarifying their belongings (Ritari and Bergholm 77). Moreover, it was their thought that these sacrifices of their belongings keep their gods happy. Only valuable things are not sacrificed in order to make their gods happy, but they killed animals and human beings too. In addition to this, they sacrificed their weapons before their gods by throwing them into lakes or rivers. They believe that human heads are respectable. According to historians and archaeologists, the Celtic people cut down their ancestor’s head, not only did they do this with their enemies and then worshipped the skulls.
This religion is all about nature because the Celtic people understand that lakes, bushes, and rivers are sacred places where they can worship gods. The sun, the moon, and the stars are an important tool for them, and they thought that these creatures have supernatural powers that may have a constructive impact on their lives.
It can be concluded that many new and contemporary religions have surfaced in the Western Europe. In this concern, the research paper has managed to provide an overview of the three different religions known as Wiccan, Druid, and Celtic to explain the main conceptual beliefs, celebration, and holy events of these religions in Europe.
- Kendrick, T. D. Druids and Druidism. Courier Corporation, 2003.
- Ritari, Katja and Alexandra Bergholm. Understanding Celtic Religion: Revisiting the Pagan Past. University of Wales Press, 2013.
- Sabin, Thea. A Teaching Handbook for Wiccans and Pagans: Practical Guidance for Sharing Your Path. Llewellyn Worldwide, 2013.