The question of religion is an interesting one. What 'is' religion, what is its function for the individual, for a group, and for different people groups in different times and places. Your idea of what 'religion' is may be very different from someone else's. We can argue all day long about what religion is, what one should believe in, where one goes after death, and so forth and never come to a conclusion. Religion, ultimately, is a matter of faith, isn't it.
But when we want to know about a group of people in antiquity, and what their religion was, then 'our' opinion must be put on hold. Our opinion does not count any more, because we want to gain facts, and facts can not be 'colored' by what we 'wish' those people were doing, to suit our own needs and practices today. Anthropologists and Historians operate this way. They don't care if their findings support a particular religion in question. Instead, they want the facts...'just' the facts.
In regard to what religion the Ancient Celts were, let's look at their history and see if we can find the 'facts'.
"Developing out of the late-Neolithic (proto-Celtic) Beaker peoples, the diverse cultures of the Celts covered most of Europe from during the Ancient era before, but by tenth century AD they had evolved and merged with others so much there were no 'Celts' left." (http://europeanhistory.about.com/od/celts/Celts.htm)
Between 10,000 B.C. to around 2,000 B.C, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic), the Celts existed across Europe but had various cultures, which were different from one another, much like English culture is different from American culture. They were the 'same' people, but did things 'differently'. While they most certainly had a religion, Archeologists and Historians have little information on what that was. Of course we know certain things based on their funerary sights, but we have no written documents to tell us exactly what they celebrated (holidays), what kind of religious rites they performed (such as baptisms, or bar-mitzvahs in our modern world), or what moral restrictions they may have honored (dietary restrictions, required rites of passage, etc.). In other words, we know almost nothing about the Ancient Celts in regard to their religion. This is further complicated by the fact that even if a whole culture has a majority of individuals who claim to adhere to a particular religion, we still do not know how any one individual thinks about certain things about it, or what particular details they observe at home. Compared to our own culture, we might look at the Yule Tide season, a.k.a. Christmas. Most people put up a tree, decorate it, and put wrapped gifts under it. Why people do this is very individual. Some believe in Christianity; Some believe in Paganism - two very different faiths. Some wrap the gifts, others do not. Some cook big, festive meals, others travel and don't bother to decorate their own homes. And then there are those who would never dream of setting up a Christmas tree in their homes - some Christians believe it's 'to Pagan'....some Jews and Muslims might give the tradition a try, but most will not observe this regularly, and some Pagans will participate, but with very different religious sentiments than their Christian neighbors. In our large culture, we have great diversity. As we can see, observing even one aspect of a modern cultural and religious observance, where we 'can' ask the people who celebrate and observe such a thing, can vary greatly from house to house. The Celts also had a very expansive culture that lasted for several THOUSAND years. Thus to put 'one' label on what they did or believed is impossible. Over this much time, there must have been many different beliefs systems that came into and out of their culture. And those who adhered to one belief system or another, often would have observed their beliefs in individualized ways. Just look around our modern world - the 'western' world of Europe, Canada and America. Its a large region where 'western' people live. Can we say that everyone in 'western' culture is the same religion? No. If they were, would we be able to say they practice this religion 'the same way'? Absolutely not. Just take your care out and drive around your own neighborhood, and look for different churches, synagogues, and temples. The first thing you will notice is that, in regard to just the Christian religion, there are many 'takes' on it - Catholic, and several kinds of Protestant, ranging from Presbyterian, to Baptist, from Methodist to Mormon. Ever denomination has a drastically different idea of what the one religion should mean, how it should be practiced, and even severe differences in how to interpret different portions of that one singular faith. If Celtic peoples living 10,000 years ago and on to around 2,000 B.C. were 'thinking people' (and they must have been), they certainly would have formed groups that disagreed with other groups. Did they have massive, cultural religions? They may have, since they built huge burial mounds and the remains of temples seem to tell us so. Did they argue over doctrine as we do today? If they are people, they did. It's human nature to do so. Further, we do not know what or who influenced different groups of Celts in regions where they lived.
We don't know much about the ancient Celts. But what we 'can' know we gain from pre-Christian Roman writers about them. We know they believed in 'transmigration of the soul' (reincarnation), and in an afterlife. We know they may have believed in a human-sacrifice type system. We know they honored their dead, and that their culture observed the solstices and equinoxes as most cultures in the ancient world also did.
When did the Celts 'stop' being Celts? apparently, they had been inter-mixed with other people groups beginning around 2000 B.C. across Europe and the only Celtic people groups that remained were those in upper Britain - Scotland, Ireland, Wales, etc. And we do have specific cultural activities, religious ideals, and festivals that we honor. Of course the greatest and most well known of our fests is Samhain, (a.k.a. Halloween). See here for a History Channel documentary on Halloween, which is much better said than I can type it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CWZsH9Wras
Modern people 'want' to restore Celtic antiquity. This is a noble desire, and a difficult task. By continuing on with the 'one' Feast Day that we all 'know' is of Celtic Origin, we are carrying on a very ancient Feast Day. We must never let this day cease. It is 'our' day. It is our Culture. It is the only things we know, for certain, that the Celts going back into deep antiquity, celebrated. It is the only Feast we have that we know the ancient beliefs, and can also the modern transformation to our current culture. In Halloween, is ensconsed our religious beliefs, and whether a Celtic person is a Christian or a Witch, or something in between (or a combination of both), matters not. Halloween envelopes all these beliefs into one. This really is the night of the Celts. It is the night of Traditional Witches. It is 'our' day. Related to this day are Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh - these are the four Traditional Celtic Feast Days. (The others were brought in from the Germanic culture). To be 'purely Celtic' one would only observe these four days.
How shall we observe these days together as a people, when we are so far from one another? Light a candle. Remember our people. We may not know what they did in times past, but we can connect with them by this simple rite.
To observe these days simply, try this out:
HALLOWEEN/SAMHAIN SEASON: Put up a display of 13 black candles surrounded by a wreath of orange-y autumn leaves. Keep them lit from October 31st, until the end of November when they should be burned out.
IMBOLC SEASON: Put up a display of 1 white candle surrounded by a branch wreath, which has been sprayed with silver-glitter spray. This represents how new life and new chances sprouts from winter's earth.
BELTANE SEASON: Put up a display of brilliant colored candles the colors of fruits and flowers. Surround them with a wreath of beautiful flowers as well. Represents that what was planted finally comes to be.
LUGHNASADH: Put up a golden and wine colored candles surrounded by a wreath made from shafts of wheat and grapes. This represents that what the fields gave us are now for our use, and fallow fields will prepare to bring forth our sustenance again in the future - it is a time to look forward, just as Lugh's mother did when she died preparing the grain fields for the future.
We need to remember as well that the Celts were and are a diverse people when it comes to considering the many religions that the Celts embraced over their/our long history. Instead of drawing a line in the sand to say, "He's Pagan, She's Christian", we need to remember, we are all Celts, cut from the same cloth, and our religion is only a little part of our culture. We are still family. As the Celtic world moves forward in time, we must remember to remain true to ourselves and our Celtic heritage, and not let religion divide us. Because up to now, it has not.
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