Druid and/or Celts anyone?

I could research some of the major gods/goddesses for you, seeing as I'm pretty interested in Celtic mythology, but I'm not writing about them myself. What you'll have to remember is that most of the feasts and deities integrated themselves pretty well into Christianity later on when the Roman invasion was finally really successful at wiping the Celts out. Before, the Romans influenced the way Celts viewed their deities in the sense that their deities became more anthropomorphic/humanoid. Celts previously linked most of their deities to animals and the like. However, most of the sources we have on this time in history are Roman (and therefore biased) in nature... so we can't always say for sure that the Celts themselves saw it this way.

hope is more than a postponed disappointment.

There is an awful lot on that subject online. Just research and take lots of notes!

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"If you can't spread a little sunshine then give a little moon." BSS

For the Romans: Theoi
For the Celts: CELT

Things to keep in mind:
There was no one Celtic culture - or pantheon, for that matter. There were at least six to my knowledge, of which around four survive and of those there aren't many. Celtic cultures are closed, in that you cannot take aspects of them and understand them without the context of those cultures. The Romans would no doubt have taken deities out of context and "understood" them in their own way. Whether the Celtic peoples would have found this offensive one can only guess. Modern Celtic peoples, those who still participate in Celtic cultures, do find this sort of thing offensive. ;)

Are you going with the Gauls? They're a good bet for Roman integration and you can make Asterix jokes ;)

ETA: I should mention, as well, in case there is misunderstanding... the Druids were a learned caste of the Celtic peoples. They served as priests, but also chiefly as lawmakers, lawyers, judges, lore-keeperes, doctors and teachers. I think Ronald Hutton has a good book on the Druids, but that's heresay; I haven't read it.

Gee, my name sounds masculine. I'm actually a woman.

2007: Sick Bacchus (won!)
2008: Nocturne (won!)
2009: Like a Drug

'Druids' by Morgan Llywelyn covers the same time period and sort of the events going on the whole time while also integrating Celtic culture and society and religion really well; all in the form of a story told from the point of view of the MC. It'd definitely be something I'd recommend you to read. Besides being a good resource, it's also an amazing piece of writing.

I'm sort of writing about Celts, as well. But it's more of a sci-fi story.

check out Druidry.org for some information. Books... I like the Druidry Handbook by Greer for some even handedness. Also the Matthews (Caitlin and John) have some good material.

MD

Good for modern "druids", but the OP is seeking historical information ^_^ Blending the two will only perpetuate the misunderstandings of the ancient Druids.

Gee, my name sounds masculine. I'm actually a woman.

2007: Sick Bacchus (won!)
2008: Nocturne (won!)
2009: Like a Drug

Well, the reason I recommended it was that I feel that the intro and 1st chapter helps sort out what "information" came from where. If you know what your sources are then you can evaluate them better.

For example, the "ancient" druids didn't write anything down. So any source claiming to be from "Anciend Druidical Writing" would be immediately suspect. Also contemporary or near contemporary Roman accounts are speculative because some of the authors had not direct contact and they also had a social/cultural bias about their subject.

At Druidry.org I found some of the latest archaeological finds relating to that culture, so that adds some information for the writer to play with.

Unfortunately there isn't any reliable single source of information, but it does help if you know what information gaps you are up against.

MD

I recommend Jean Markale's books. The Celts. The Druids. Women of the Celts.

Im celtic Im completly christian and in no way support the celtic gods and goddesses but thier are over 5000 gods and goddesses do to the fact that the celts belived that every living thing including plants had spirits thier are a few major ones and WAY to many minor ones The major ones include Epona, Cerrnunos(spelt it wrong not gunna look it up) Tristian, Kazan,
and a few others you may want to look this up also. Oh dont belive anything that says thier is a celtic god of death thier isnt

ALL HAIL BRITTANIA!!!!!!!!

To the OP:

I'm a practicing modern druid, specifically tied into the Welsh pantheon more than anything else. I may be able to help you out with more specific questions - Celtic mythology is very much a hobby of mine, has been for quite a long time. My own NaNo is actually an alternate historical fiction set before/during/after the invasion of Julius Caesar on the island, so there's a fair amount of research I've done to supplement what I already knew from my family and faith. Feel free to get a hold of me on NaNoMail!

Pots of tea consumed: 4
Hours slept: 112
Hours worked: 109
WW won / total: 14 / 24
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Parts completed: 1.25 / 5
Daily count max: 9000
[[as of day 17]]

Overachiever Goal: 75,000 words