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11/30/2006: "Calling One's Reconstructionism What it is"
music: EDIE BRICKELL - What I ammood: Contemplative
There has been some debate as of late on the Live Journals and Yahoo groups devoted to Celtic Reconstructionism about whether a CR path should be pan-Celtic or more culturally specific, such as Irish, Welsh, etc.
Several have spoken out saying that this is not really CR, in fact the self professed "elders" of CR have stated in their "The CR FAQ" website that CR is not pan-Celtic and should, instead, be locally specific to Celtic speaking areas such as Ireland, Wales, Scotland, etc.
It is obvious that there is strong circumstantial evidence
supporting the existence of pre-Christian pan-Celtic deities such as Lugus and Brigindu. Yet those opposed to this still say that one should pick a specific culture and stick to it in developing their practice.
My question is "If you want to practice Irish polytheism or Irish reconstructionism specifically, why don't you call it what it is, Irish Reconstructionism?"
Why take a pan-cultural word like Celtic and apply it to specifics in a way it was never meant to be used? In my opinion, this only causes confusion. The word "Celtic" adds nothing substantial to the description of their path. If you are going ignore other aspects of pre-Christian pan-Celtic spirituality, why insist on continuing to use the broader term inefficiently?
In an interesting twist, these same people who use the CR moniker and deride pan-Celticism have no problem at times combining Irish and Scottish cultural specifics in their practice. But how does that differ in principle from the argument they use against pan-Celtic Reconstructionism?
Our path of Deiuokara is pan-Celtic in the sense that it endeavors to incorporate the basic spiritual themes common to Celtic cultures insularly and continentally and then study the specific cultures for more information that enlightens that commonality. We use some methodology that could be called Celtic reconstruction in some of our studies, though much of what we do does not.
Celtic Reconstructionism should refer to a pan-Celtic reconstruction of polytheistic spirituality, not refer to specifically Irish, Scottish, Welsh, etc., efforts.
This would go along way in clearing up the confusion many newcomers have when they begin developing their polytheistic spiritual path.