The religion and cult of the ancient peoples, both northern and those who lived in southern Europe, could not rise from the cult of nature to the idea of a single spiritual principle and were originally a crude worship of nature and especially its destructive and inexplicable, based on the level of natural science of that time, the phenomena that inspired people of that era, horror and reverent sacred awe, forcing them to humbly kneel in the hope that these mysterious and frightening forces will show them mercy and condescension (as one of the most colorful examples illustrating this, one can recall the worship of cosmic and atmospheric phenomena found in many ancient religions of the world).
Then, after the mysterious and powerful forces of nature, its amazing diverse manifestations began to endow with anthropomorphic features, separate sets gradually began to enter the circle of religious ideas, personifying these forces and phenomena or even being their root cause.
So, in the pantheon of Celtic deities, Taranis was considered the god of the sky, the lord of fire, thunder and lightning, and therefore, like the Scandinavian Thor, a destructive, death-bringing god of war.
Belenos was a beneficent sun god. As the creator of the plant kingdom, giving herbs healing power, he is at the same time a representative of the medical art.
Theutatus was the patron saint of arts, crafts, trade and communications, as a result of which the Romans compared him to their Mercury. Somewhat related to him is iOgma - the good god of eloquence, the art of writing and sciences.
Along with the more or less enlightened views of the priests on the true essence of Celtic mythology and religion, belief in spirits and demons reigned among the common people. Earthly, water and forest spirits, ghosts of the day and night, male or female, good or evil in their intentions towards humans, "maidens-mothers" weaving the thread of the life and fate of mortals, as well as numerous dwarfs, elves and fairies - all these mythical characters, the Celts believed, exerted their positive or negative influence on the destinies of countries, peoples, and individuals.
The Celts performed their divine services either under the shade of impenetrable oak forests, or on elevated round platforms surrounded by rough stone fences, among which were burial mounds and pillars.
Springs, lakes, rocks, and especially islands were considered sacred abodes of the gods and therefore were favorite places of worship, worship and various religious rites and rituals. Such are the islands of Sain, Jersey, White, Maine, Anglesey - the real centers of Druidry.
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The most important features of the Celtic beliefs were an extraordinary belief in miracles and some kind of brutal cruelty, which demanded human blood during the sacrifices, as the most sure way to propitiate the gods.
The unfortunate captives were usually sacrificed to the God of War: they were driven in masses into huge cages woven from branches, which were given the shape of a human body, and then burned.
Special sacrifices were made during the years of severe disaster. They consisted of mass executions of criminals sentenced to death, carried out in a solemn atmosphere. An extraordinary redemptive power was attributed to such sacrifices, since the death of the perpetrators mitigated the anger of the gods, caused by their crimes, directed against the community. This ceremony was accompanied by special ceremonies. Dressed in white and crowned with an oak wreath, the priest stood at the altar, and in a religious trance followed the sun with all his movements. The victim, condemned to death, was dealt a fatal blow with a sword, and by the way he fell, he fought in his dying convulsions, by the way his blood flowed, the priest recognized and predicted the will of the deity.
But, the priests could foreshadow the future in less bloody ways: by the flight and cry of birds, by natural phenomena, by dreams, based on observations of heavenly bodies or, in special cases, entering into a mystical intercourse with the spirits of great folk heroes, asking them for advice and help for yourself and others.
