Editing Celts (section)

===Ancient Celtic religion===
{{Main|Ancient Celtic religion|Celtic mythology|Proto-Celtic religion}}
[[File:Keltenfuerst Glauberg.jpg|thumb|The Celtic "Prince of [[Glauberg]]", Germany, with a [[leaf crown]], perhaps indicating a priest, {{Circa|500 BC}}.]]
Like other European Iron Age societies, the Celts practised a [[Ancient Celtic religion|polytheistic religion]] and believed in an [[afterlife]].<ref name="Cunliffe religion">{{cite book |last=Cunliffe |first=Barry |author-link=Barry Cunliffe |title=The Ancient Celts |date=2018 |orig-date=1997 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=275–277, 286, 291–296 |edition=2nd |chapter=Chapter 11: Religious systems}}</ref><ref>{{Cite thesis |type=undergraduate paper |last=Bell |first=Kristin |title=Death and the Afterlife in Ancient Celtic Culture |publisher=[[University of Georgia]] |via=Academia.edu |url= https://www.academia.edu/4956394 |url-access=registration}}</ref>{{unreliable source|certain=y|date=October 2024|reason=Undergrad papers are categorically unreliable.}} Celtic religion varied by region and over time, but had "broad structural similarities",<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> and there was "a basic religious homogeneity" among the Celtic peoples.<ref>Ross, Anne (1986). ''The Pagan Celts''. London: B.T. Batsford. p. 103.</ref> Because the ancient Celts did not have writing, evidence about their religion is gleaned from archaeology, Greco-Roman accounts, and literature from the early Christian period.<ref name="Green, The Celtic World">[[Miranda Aldhouse-Green|Green, Miranda]] (2012). "Chapter 25: The Gods and the supernatural", ''The Celtic World''. Routledge. pp.465–485</ref>

The names of over two hundred [[Celtic deities]] have survived (see [[list of Celtic deities]]), although it is likely that many of these were alternative names, regional names or titles for the same deity.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> Some deities were venerated only in one region, but others were more widely known.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> According to [[Miranda Aldhouse-Green]], the Celts were also [[Celtic Animism|animists]], believing that every part of the natural world had a spirit.<ref name="Green, The Celtic World" />

The Celts seem to have had a father god, who was often a god of the tribe and of the dead ([[Toutatis]] probably being one name for him); and a mother goddess who was associated with the land, earth and fertility<ref name="Koch religion">{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |author-link=John T. Koch |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |pages=1488–1491}}</ref> ([[Dea Matrona]] probably being one name for her). The mother goddess could also take the form of a war goddess as [[Tutelary deity|protectress]] of her tribe and its land.<ref name="Koch religion" /> There also seems to have been a male celestial god—identified with [[Taranis]]—associated with thunder, the wheel, and the bull.<ref name="Koch religion" /> There were gods of skill and craft, such as the pan-regional god [[Lugus]], and the smith god [[Gobannos]].<ref name="Koch religion" /> Celtic healing deities were often associated with [[sacred spring]]s,<ref name="Koch religion" /> such as [[Sirona (goddess)|Sirona]] and [[Borvo]]. Other pan-regional deities include the horned god [[Cernunnos]], the horse and fertility goddess [[Epona]], the divine son [[Maponos]], as well as [[Belenos]], [[Ogmios]], and [[Sucellos]].<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /><ref name="Green, The Celtic World" /> Caesar says the Gauls believed they all descended from a god of the dead and underworld.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> [[Triplicity]] is a common theme in Celtic cosmology, and a number of [[Triple deity|deities were seen as threefold]],<ref name="Sjoestedt">[[Marie-Louise Sjoestedt|Sjoestedt, Marie-Louise]] (originally published in French, 1940, reissued 1982). ''Gods and Heroes of the Celts''. Translated by Myles Dillon, Turtle Island Foundation {{ISBN|0-913666-52-1}}, pp. 16, 24–46.</ref> for example [[Matres and Matronae|the Three Mothers]].<ref name="Inse Jones 1995">Inse Jones, Prudence, and Nigel Pennick. ''History of pagan Europe''. London: Routledge, 1995. Print.</ref>

Celtic religious ceremonies were overseen by priests known as [[druid]]s, who also served as judges, teachers, and lore-keepers. Other classes of druids performed sacrifices for the perceived benefit of the community.<ref name="Sjoestedt5">Sjoestedt (1982) pp. xxvi–xix.</ref> There is evidence that ancient Celtic peoples [[Animal sacrifice|sacrificed animals]], almost always [[livestock]] or [[working animals]]. It appears some were offered wholly to the gods (by burying or burning), while some were shared between gods and humans (part eaten and part offered).<ref name="Green94-96">{{Cite book |last=Green |first=Miranda |author-link=Miranda Aldhouse-Green |title=Animals in Celtic Life and Myth |date=2002 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |pages=94–96}}</ref> There is also some evidence that ancient Celts [[Human sacrifice|sacrificed humans]], and some Greco-Roman sources claim the Gauls sacrificed criminals by [[Death by burning|burning them]] in a [[wicker man]].<ref name="koch687-690">{{Cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |author-link=John T. Koch |title=The Celts: History, Life, and Culture |date=2012 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-1598849646 |pages=687–690}}</ref>

The Romans said the Celts held ceremonies in [[sacred grove]]s and other [[Sacred natural site|natural]] [[shrine]]s, called [[nemeton]]s.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> Some Celtic peoples built temples or ritual enclosures of varying shapes (such as the [[Romano-Celtic temple]] and [[viereckschanze]]), though they also maintained shrines at natural sites.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> Celtic peoples often made [[votive offerings]]: treasured items deposited in water and wetlands, or in ritual shafts and wells, often in the same place over generations.<ref name="Cunliffe religion" /> Modern [[clootie well]]s might be a continuation of this.<ref>{{cite web |title='It's upset a lot of people': outrage after tidy-up of Scottish sacred well |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/30/upset-a-lot-of-people-outrage-tidy-up-of-scottish-sacred-well-clootie-offerings |date=30 January 2022 |website=The Guardian |access-date=20 May 2022 |archive-date=3 March 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220303160246/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jan/30/upset-a-lot-of-people-outrage-tidy-up-of-scottish-sacred-well-clootie-offerings |url-status=live}}</ref>