Because much of the context has been lost or the commentary has come from outsiders, these sources present certain difficulties. Female druids and seers are mentioned in Irish sources and druidic imagery clusters significantly around some of them. The description hints that the sacrificial victim was chosen in this way, because the account notes that the victim was jostled. The MCU Changed The Ancient One's Another story shows Arjuna transformed into a woman and taking part in a mystical dance that men aren't allowed to join. [80] Torcs (neck rings) are found in graves of important men and women up to about 350 BC, after that they are usually restricted to male graves. 6079 (Cardiff, 2002). Therefore, be sure to refer to those guidelines when editing your bibliography or works cited list. Ancient Celtic Baby Names Her marriage was arranged by her male relatives, divorce and polygyny (the marriage of one man to several women) were controlled by specific rules. Between the third and sixth century ce, Christianity was introduced to Gaul, Britain, and Ireland. Because each style has its own formatting nuances that evolve over time and not all information is available for every reference entry or article, Encyclopedia.com cannot guarantee each citation it generates. WebThe Celtic renaissance really got off the ground upon James Macpherson's publication of the Ossianic poems in 1762-3, which he claimed to be translations of rediscovered works of a poet from the third century. As Bustexplains, Aphroditus was a fertility god, with the appearance and silhouette of a woman but with phallic genitalia. Irish literature features female figures with supernatural powers such as the Morrgan, Eriu, and Danu, who may be late reflexes of Celtic land or sovereignty goddesses. Classical authors give information on religion and gender roles, but they often used Celtic behavior to comment on themselves. As their child, Hermaphroditus inherited their beauty from both parents, as a divine fusion of masculine and feminine characteristics. Within the Cite this article tool, pick a style to see how all available information looks when formatted according to that style. Caesar[20] stresses the "power of life and death" held by husbands over their wife and children. Gauls Celtic names are used as unisex too, both for boys and girls. It derives from a Greek workshop and is 1.6 m high, weighs over 200kg and has a volume of 1100 litres, making it the largest metal vessel to survive from the ancient world. In Western society, there is a rigid binary older than time itself. [84] Among the Celtiberian women a structure, which consisted of a choker with rods extending up over the head and a veil stretched over the top for shade, was fashionable. [68], Palaeopathological research based on bone samples and, in the best-case scenario, on mummified corpses indicates illnesses found among the ancient Celts. As a Fedhelm from the Ulster cycle (seventh to eleventh centuries ce) studied in Alba, a reflection of the druid's long apprenticeship as mentioned in classical sources, and appears with the sole purpose of uttering prophesies. The social position of women differed by region and time period. 27 Apr. The abbot and saint Adomnan of Iona produced the legal work Cin Adomnin (The Canon of Adomnan) or Lex Innocentium (The law of the innocents) on the property of women (especially mothers) and children. Reliefs and sculptures of Celtic women are mainly known from the Gallo-Roman culture. women in househol, Maya The cult of the holy well has been the focus of much speculation on pre-Christian survival, but even here there is little direct archaeological evidence for continuity between pagan deities and later saints. They were probably added to the tombs of women who were killed violently, to protect the living. Then, copy and paste the text into your bibliography or works cited list. [31], In later times, female cultic functionaries are known, like Celtic/Germanic seeress Veleda[32] who has been interpreted by some Celtologists as a druidess.[33]). Translated from German translation by Josef Weisweiler: Frank Siegmund in the SWR-Interview from the series, Verlag der sterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ancient_Celtic_women&oldid=1144616343, Articles containing Ancient Greek (to 1453)-language text, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from June 2019, Articles containing explicitly cited English-language text, Articles containing Transalpine Gaulish-language text, Articles containing Old Irish (to 900)-language text, Articles containing Old Welsh-language text, Articles containing Old High German (ca. Nearly all of the following legal matters seem to have been similar, with some regional variation, both on the mainland and in the British Isles. Its a similar scene at Butser Ancient Farms eclectic Beltane Celtic Fire festival in Hampshire. An essay by archaeologist Caroline Seawrightexplains that in Mayan mythology the gods weren't as clearly defined as in cultures around the ancient Mediterranean. The deity Hermaphroditus is where the word hermaphroditecomes from. Women exercised considerable power and influence in early Christian foundations in Ireland and Wales, although here too it is not clear how much of this carried over from pagan structures and how much was the result of increased status introduced by the new religion. [57], The ancient authors regularly describe Celtic women as large, crafty, brave and beautiful. [34], On the lead Curse tablet from Larzac (c. 100 AD), which with over 1000 letters is the longest known text in the Gaulish language, communities of female magic users are named, containing 'mothers' (matr) and 'daughters' (duxtr), perhaps teachers and initiates respectively. According to Suetonius, Caesar spent a lot of money on sexual experiences in Gaul. The motif in Fon culture of two seeming opposites combining to work in harmony is a motif that is shared by the culture of many other peoples across the world. Marion Zimmer Bradley depicted a matriarchal reinterpretation of the stories of King Arthur, Lancelot and the Holy Grail in The Mists of Avalon (1987), which were dominated by the female characters. Encyclopedia.com. The book "Gender and Identity around the World"discusses how the Serpent is referred to variously as genderless, androgynous, transgender, or genderfluid. Most online reference entries and articles do not have page numbers. The organization of religion in other areas such as Galatia or Celt-Iberia is less well known. The Scottish journalist and folklorist Lewis Spence popularized the idea of Celtic religion as benevolent and magical nature worship in which women played an important role. The links of this chain-belt could be round, figure-8 shaped, with cross-shaped or flat intermediate links, doubled, tripled, or more with enamel inlays (see Blood enamel). Women appear elsewhere in religious roles. Trauma from violence was more common among men. In total, the data indicates a society which, as a result of poor hygiene and diet, suffered from weak immune systems and a high rate of illness. The issue of gender, and how this shaped concepts of sacredness in the religious behavior of the Celts, has been a topic of discussion since the late nineteenth century, and ideas of Celtic pagan and Christian spirituality have played a prominent role in alternative spirituality movements since the second half of the twentieth century. 6991 (Exeter, U.K., 2000). The dispute between Medb and her husband Ailill mac Mta over the wealth brought into the marriage by each of them is the indirect trigger for the Tin B Cuailnge (The Cattle Raid of Cooley). 1221 (Oxford, 1992), help to clarify the issues and define the parameters of the argument. [89] Examples from Ireland include Macha and Medb, from Wales, Rhiannon. In addition, in families of higher social standing, there was an institution of foster parentage (Old Irish: aite [foster father] and muimme [foster mother], similar to the Gothic atta [dear father], German Mama and English mummy), in which children of household were given away. The Greek writer Plutarch (before 50after 120 ce) mentions Camma, wife of a Galatian ruler and priestess of a goddess identified with Artemis who shared a poisoned drink with a suitor to avenge her husband's death. Pomponius Mela (first century ce) mentions an island on which a male deity sleeps while nine women priests attend a perpetual fire under a cauldron. People we'd recognize today as trans women and trans men were called kurgarra and galatur, created by the gods to be neither male nor female. Alastair. The boldly patterned dresses seen on vases from Sopron in Pannonia were cut like a kind of knee-length maternity dress from stiff material with bells and fringes attached. Tanken Japanmentions that Inari is a shape-shifting spirit who is also paid respect by Japanese Buddhists. Aphroditus would later become known as Hermaphroditus who, as Theoiexplains, was a winged love deity, one of many known as Erotes. Behind her came her husband, who drove her into battle with a fence post. [74], In the British Isles during the Iron Age, ring-headed pins were often used in place of fibulae on dresses and for fixing hairdos in place. [35], Slave women were mostly war booty, female property given up by insolvent debtors,[36] or foreign captives and could be employed within the household or sold for profit. They After these three days, the ordinary punishments would apply to both in the event of injury or murder. Fittingly, festivals of Aphroditus usually involved men and women swapping both their clothes and their gender roles. [90] Possibly the display of the vulva was meant to have an apotropaic power, as in the Irish legend in which the women of Ulster led by Mugain the wife of King Conchobar mac Nessa unveil their breasts and vulvae in order to prevent the destruction of Emain Macha by the raging C Chulainn.[91]. [56], In the Trencheng Breth Fne (The Triad of Irish Verdicts, a collection of writings dating from the 14th to the 18th centuries) the three female virtues were listed as virginity before marriage, willingness to suffer, and industriousness in caring for her husband and children. "An Anthology of Ancient Mesopotamian Texts,", Department of Archaeology, Classics, and Egyptology, "Old Norse Religion in Long-term Perspectives", Journal of the Savigny Foundation for Legal History, Southeast Asia Queer Cultural Festival 2021. "Gender and Religion: Gender and Celtic Religions The other, from medieval Ireland, claims that the site of Saint Brigid's Church at Kildare incorporated a pre-Christian sanctuary where women tended a sacred flame. A similar fluidity can be seen in gender roles. Celtic Religion, overview article. There is no overall scholarly study of gender in Celtic religion from the ancient to modern period; however, Philip Freeman's WarWomen and Druids: Eyewitness Reports and Early Accounts of the Ancient Celts (Austin, Tex., 2002) makes useful comments on the relevant classical references. The female figures named in the local Irish sagas mostly derive from female figures of the historically unattested migrations period, which are recounted in the Lebor Gabla renn (Book of the Taking of Ireland). Inari is also notable for their strong association with foxes. However, he also describes the financial role of the wives as remarkably self-sufficient. Issues of gender in Celtic religion and in early Christianity have been informed by the revival of interest in Celtic culture since the end of the nineteenth century. One story talks about how he was born male, dressed in women's clothes in adolescence, and later rejected any gender identity at all. A full version of the Philippine creation story is recounted by The Aswang Project, although unfortunately most surviving documentation about pre-colonial Philippine mythology was written by the Spanish colonizers themselves. Another example of a richly furnished female grave is a grave chamber of the necropolis of Gblingen-Nospelt (Luxembourg), containing an amphora of fish sauce (garum fish sauce from Gades was a widely popular food seasoning), a bronze saucepan with strainer lid, a bronze cauldron, two bronze basins with a bronze bucket, a Terra sigillata plate, several clay cups and jugs, a mirror and eight fibulae. Eunuchs have important roles in many cultures. As Britannica explains, this was a mystery cult, a secret community into which people could be initiated if they wanted a break from the usual societal bounds. However, as a chapter in the book "Ancient Maya Women"explains, there's good reason to believe that Mayan society recognized a third gender, and the Maize God is seemingly a big part of this. [45] Thus they received only a seventh of the weregild if a child was killed and the male relatives had a duty to seek vengeance for the deed. These rules were binding for Celtic noblewomen, but they may have been less strictly binding on the lower classes. Mawu-Lisa, as a paper in the Journal of Religion in Africaexplains, is a fusion of two gods, the male god Lisa, associated with the Sun, and the female god Mawu, representing the moon. A rape had to be atoned for by the culprit by handing over the sort of gifts customarily given at a wedding and paying a fine since it was considered a form of "temporary" marital tie.[46]. Sexuality/Queerness in Ancient Ireland and Irish Polytheism? Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni in Britain around 60 BC is described as wearing a torc, which might reflect her exceptional circumstances as a war leader or be an embellishment of the Roman chronicler.[82]. The idea of a non-binary creator deity is a concept that recurs over and over in human culture. Archaeology has revealed something of the Celtic woman through artefacts (particularly grave goods), which can provide clues about their position in society and material culture. Our knowledge of the situation of Celtic women on the European mainland is almost entirely obtained from contemporary Greek and Roman authors, who saw the Celts as barbarians and wrote about them accordingly. [71] According to his report, normal clothing of Celtic men and women was made from very colourful cloth, often with a gold-embroidered outer layer and held together with golden fibulae. Exploring the history of gender expression - UCOP It is women who fortune or misfortune give. A "temporary marriage" was also common. Loki also seems rather more enigmatic than other Norse Gods,with no evidence of a cult of followers, and no places named after him. The Hallstatt-period limestone statue of a Celtic woman found at the entrance to the tomb of the "Lady of Vix" wears a torc and sits on a throne. Theres a commonly accepted third category of mixed gender people called muxes. In 2014, India's Supreme Court officially recognised a third gender - and eunuchs (or hijras) are seen as falling into this category. [42], Matrilineality (the transmission of property through the female line) is not attested for the Celts either. Among later historians, there is also Gerald of Wales who was born to a Cambro-Norman family in the 12th century and composed an important account of the history and geography of the British Isles. Far from seeing it purely as a curse, Arjuna uses this magical transition as a disguise while he is in exile, wearing women's clothes, taking the name ofBrihannala,and becoming a teacher of music and dance. [46], Describing the Celtic expansion into southern and southeastern Europe around 600 BC, Livy claims that the two war leaders Bellovesus and Segovesus elected by the army were the sons of the sister of Ambicatus, king of the Bituriges. To create the world, Mawu-Lisa worked together with another god known as Da. [51] The resulting children would be assigned to whichever man was willing to marry the woman. The Philippines is one of the friendliest countries in Asia for the LGBTQ+ community. As Overly Sarcastic Productionsexplains, his story and characterization gradually changed throughout the history of the ancient world. (April 27, 2023). Polyandry (the marriage of one woman to several men) was unusual, although some Celtologists conclude that it sometimes occurred from the Irish saga Longas mac nUislenn (The Exile of the Sons of Uislius). Thus, according to Tacitus, the Brigantes "goaded on by the shame of being yoked under a woman"[29] revolted against Cartimandua; her marital disagreement with her husband Venutius and the support she received from the Romans likely played an important role in her maintenance of power. Her hair is mostly straight, but coiffed at the back. However, the date of retrieval is often important. [37], According to Caesar, favorite slaves were thrown on their masters' funeral pyres and burnt along with their corpses. The lives of Celtic women two thousand years ago can teach us a lot about equality today. However, as Autostraddlepoints out, Dionysus' gender-bending identity wasn't universally accepted there either, and perhaps that may have been the entire point. The Sheela-na-Gig was a common grotesque sculpture which presented an exaggerated vulva. Possibly the first non-binary figure in written history comes from ancient Mesopotamia, one of humanity's first civilizations. Astrid - Old Norse for "super strength." Tight-waisted skirts with bells in the shape of a crinoline are also depicted. [41] Ingeborg Clarus attempted in her book Keltische Mythen (1991) to reduce the Celtic sagas of Britain to a battle between the sexes, as part of her theory about the replacement of a matriarchy by a patriarchy. [18] Plutarch[19] names the women of Cisalpine Gaul as important judges of disputes with Hannibal. The grave goods of female inhumations indicate cultural exchange with southern Europe, especially the North Italian Este and Villanovan cultures. Refer to each styles convention regarding the best way to format page numbers and retrieval dates. The view of a slain Celtic woman and her child"mother's blood and milk streaming over"on the battlefield, shocked his mother so much that she forced her son, by fasting, to compose this law book and to present it to the princes. [49], In British Celtic law, women had in many respects (for instance marriage law) a better position than Greek and Roman women. [69], Skeletal finds in graves provide the following age statistics for the ancient Celts: the average age at death was 35 years old; 38 for men and 31 for women. The "Lady of Vix" was a young Celtic woman of exceptionally high standing, who suffered from pituitary adenoma and otitis media. As Oxford Referencementions, this original god is named Nana Buluku, and they were the one who created the creator! [73] The chain around the waist had hooks for length adjustments, the leftover chain was hung on a chain-link in a loop. the historical perspective In the mythology of the British Celts almost no goddesses are present. https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/gender-and-religion-gender-and-celtic-religions, "Gender and Religion: Gender and Celtic Religions Since the middle of the twentieth century, women have become an important force in modern druidry and in the move toward a more inclusive spirituality. The two are twins, and the two combining in harmony represents order in the universe. Third Gender: A Short History. From ancient Greece to modern Pakistan, the political and cultural emergence of a complex, controversial term. Social convention says there are two types of people: male and female. Celtic women of this time wore winged caps, felt caps in the shape of upturned cones with veils, cylinder-shaped fur caps, bronze tiaras or circlets. In the law and proverb collections Crth Gablach ('The split cow') and Bretha Crlige ('Decisions concerning blood guilt'), the wergeld[not a Celtic term?] Although the drink of milk and honey had underworld associations and the rite took place in the temple where Camma was a priestess, the passage emphasises her loyalty as a wife, rather than her religious role. The suggestion that Irish women used this knowledge for birth control, sometimes drawn from this is questionable. The position of ancient Celtic women in their society cannot be determined with certainty due to the quality of the sources. They are one of the most important Kami in Shinto and, as Japan Guideexplains, there are thousands of shrines to Inari across Japan, including the famousFushimi Inarishrine in Kyoto. The contents of these sagas were falsely presented related to the reality of the relationship between the sexes.[26]. The concubine (Irish: adaltrach, cf. Encyclopedia.com. A striking occurrence of bnas brictom (Gaulish, meaning "women of magic") is inscribed on a lead curse tablet from Larzac in France (c. 90 ce). The Greeks and Romans commonly referred to areas under Celtic rule as or Celticum. The main sources for information about Celtic religion come from archaeological evidence, the testimony of classical writers, and narrative material preserved by western Celtic groups, such as the Irish, Welsh, and Scots. However, a bronze statuette of a veiled woman from South Shields (Tyne and Wear), a naked bronze female dancer from Neuvy-en-Sullias (Loiret), and a wooden image of a veiled woman wearing a torc from Chaumelires (Puy-de-Dme) are associated with Gaulish or British religious sites and could depict devotees or officials. Anthropology: Third Genders in Indigenous Societies. In these, women are seldom depicted bare-headed, so that more is known about headcoverings than about hairstyles. Tagalog Langexplains that Bathala was considered the highest deity of the Tagalog pantheon, and the creator of the world. Her significance - ultimately as a fertility symbol - is debated and her dating is uncertain. 2019Encyclopedia.com | All rights reserved. In Ireland, Celtic culture remained dominant for even longer. Two utter spontaneous prophecies to two emperors, whereas the emperor Aurelian (c. 215275 ce) consults Gaulish druidesses directly. In the context of religion, writers mention druids, and a few suggest the presence of female druids. The ancient authors regularly describe Celtic women as large, crafty, brave and beautiful. Diodorus and Suetonius, in particular, describe the sexual permissiveness of Celtic women. According to Suetonius, Caesar spent a lot of money on sexual experiences in Gaul. An overdress with a V-shaped cut which was fixed at the shoulders with fibulae was found in Noricum. Difficulty in interpreting the past can even happen when studying ancient writings. There were four hands, feet, and ears, and the two faces stared in opposite directions from each other. Rulers of Mayan society, both male and female, would show off divine power by impersonating the Moon-Maize god, gender and all. However, it is possible to infer some ritual significance from the placement of burials, such as the woman interred within a ritual enclosure at Libenie in Bohemia (fourth century bce) or two distinctive female burials from Wetwang Slack in Yorkshire (third century bce)one buried with an elaborate chariot and the other with a sealed bronze box. [85], The hair was often shaved above the oiled forehead. Usually referred to as a man, the Tonsured Maize God is depicted as eternally young and attractive, ornamented with jade, and with long flowing hair like corn silk. Transgenderism in Ancient Cultures - LGBT Health and WebErgi: The Way of the Third by Raven Kaldera Being Ergi by Lydia Helasdottir The Tale of a Transsexual Norse Pagan Spirit-Worker by Linda Rite of Passage for an Ergi Child by Written evidence is first transmitted by the Greeks: the historian and geographer Hecataeus of Miletus (Periegesis), the seafarer and explorer Pytheas of Massilia (On the Ocean) (both of these works survive only in fragments), the geographer and ethnologist Herodotus (Histories) and the polymath Poseidonius (On the Ocean and its Problems). It's important to be cautious when interpreting ancient cultures, as modern concepts like LGBTQ+ don't necessarily apply. Some were, as the song goes, born this way. There were three kinds of marriage: that in which the woman brought more than the man, that in which both brought about equal amounts and finally that in which the woman brought less. Other Greek writers include Diodorus Siculus (Bibliotheke), who used older sources, Plutarch (Moralia), who took a position on the role of women, and Strabo (Geography), who expanded on the work of Polybius (Histories) through personal travels and research. It is more difficult, therefore, to argue for Pan-Celtic deities or long-term continuance of religious behavior. [4], Female burials are associated with specific grave goods, such as combs, mirrors, toiletries (nail cutters, tweezers, ear spoons[5]), spinning whorls (flywheel of a pindle, a tool for making yarn,[6]) pottery vessels, necklaces, earrings, hairpins, cloak pins, finger rings, bracelets and other jewellery. [84] Unlike married women, unmarried women usually wore the hair untied and without a headcovering. Some are tricksters who change genders at will. The study of gender in Celtic religion is linked to general attitudes to the Celts and to the concept of Celtic Christianity. [27], British female rulers, like Boudicca and Cartimandua, were seen as exceptional phenomena; the position of king (Proto-Celtic *rig-s) - in Gaul mostly replaced by two elected tribal leaders even before Caesar's time - was usually a male office. [73] Bound shoes made from a single piece of tanned leather tied together around the ankle are often only detectable in graves from the metal eyelets and fasteners which survive around the feet. [75], On a first century AD Celtic gravestone from Wlfnitz[de], a girl is depicted in Norican clothing. Religion was an aspect of public life open to women in the ancient world, and other continental iconography depicts women, either as devotees or officials, worshipping at altars or in processions. Specifically, the Tonsured Maize God (also known as the Foliated Maize God) was a figure from Mayan mythology, depicted across Central America, as World History Encyclopediaexplains. Claims made by some Celtic scholars, that traces of Celtic culture are already visible in the second millennium BC, are controversial. A number of mythological narratives are preserved as later written texts, but the time gap between them and a more ancient past means that themes in medieval texts cannot be assumed to reflect the survival of ancient religious practices. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Among Native Australians, theappearance of a rainbow in the sky is said to be the Serpent traveling from one water hole to the next. In the La Tne period they expanded, through migration and cultural transmission, to the British Isles, northern Iberia, the Balkan peninsula and Asia Minor. In Norse mythology, Loki often appeared alongside Thor and Odin, sometimes as an ally and sometimes as an antagonist, in a characterization that will be familiar to comic fans.