ABC… A Basic Compendium.
by Jon Grundy.
The 400 or so gods and goddesses of British and Gaulish (including Irish) tradition
This is designed to be a searchable tool to enter your names and keywords and search. That function is not yet and may never be fully implemented, but in the meantime the text list is available on these pages.
Trigger warning: Within the foreword that precedes the listings and after each description, historical Bronze and Iron Age sacrifice traditions, including human, are explained and detailed. Those short mentions can be uncomfortable to read. The Romans claim to have abolished the practice, but this work clarifies how and why that really stopped. Modern practice has entirely spiritual communion that can involve offering artefacts and acts as a gesture of commitment. The end of the foreword discusses how the historical observances can be rendered into meaningful modern practice and each entry suggests a gesture of devotion commensurate with today’s commitment to the sanctity of all life.
A word of explanation: I am an animist – I believe that all things have a spiritual component, life, and that, together, all things make up a whole. That ‘whole’ is not ‘a god’, it is The All, of which we, animals, plants, objects, spirit creatures and the gods, are parts. This outlook is reflected in the below. I also believe that Druidry emerged out of an evolution of beliefs going back into the Palaeolithic era. There were gradual developments and sudden leaps, encounters and exchanges with other belief systems, up to the Iron Age, the collision with Rome and beyond. From the carvings, images and artefacts left, it seems that the faith had four spiritual and physical realms – the Earth, the Sky, the Ancestors and, not mentioned much as it is obvious, us here and all in our daily lives – the Living. The triple spirals were carved, depicting what is seen in a corridor of four doors when looking out through one of them. Also, a wind of inspiration, an eternal breath of life and a breeze of ever-forwards positive purpose. When we die, we are reborn, in many forms, always forgetting the previous life, but able to commune with its memories through particular techniques and in special places. Your core beliefs may vary so, to save your ire, I refer to this understanding of Druidry as “The Ancient Way”, that you may indulge me.
Thank you – Jon Grundy, “Green Raven”, November 2022
[editor: this extensive article has been cut into sections, and it is strongly recommended they are read through in order before diving into the list entitled The Role Call.]