Religion in Ireland. Religion of Ireland - the interweaving of paganism and Christianity Protestantism in Ireland

In social organization, as well as in many phenomena of material culture, the Irish for a long time retained many ancient features that had long since disappeared among other peoples of Europe. Back in the 19th century. in Ireland one could find remnants of the old clan system of the ancient Celts - the clan system, which is of significant interest for studying the general course of development of clan society in Europe. The Irish clan, as one of the classic examples of the clan system, was mentioned by F. Engels in his work “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State,” noting the extreme vitality of the clan system among the Celts. Many remnants of clan institutions (collective clan ownership of land, the power of a leader or clan elder, remnants of matriarchy, the custom of adoption, etc.) were repeatedly noted by travelers who observed the life of the Irish in the 18th - early 19th centuries. Engels wrote that the rural population is so alive to the ideas of the clan system that “the landowner from whom the peasant rents the land seems to the latter to still be a kind of clan leader, obliged to dispose of the land in the interests of everyone” 1 . However, in the 19th century. England crushed the clan system, seeing in it the support of the Irish struggle for freedom. The development of capitalist relations contributed to the disappearance of the remnants of the clan system even in the backward areas of Connaught. Echoes of it are preserved in the addition of ancient clan names to surnames, as well as in the custom of beginning a surname with the prefixes “Mae”, as in Scotland (only the Irish spell Ms), or “O” (for example, O’Brien, which previously meant “ grandson of Clan Brian").

R XVII-XVIII centuries. rural communities existed everywhere in Ireland. Some remnants of it survived into the 19th century. Each peasant independently rented a certain plot of land from the landlord, but then the community members connected the plots and divided them among themselves, taking into account the quality of the land of each plot. Swamps and pastures were in common use. Redistributions were carried out from time to time. Land owners were bound together by adherence to certain land use rules. Sowing, driving livestock to mountain pastures and free grazing of livestock on arable land after harvesting were timed to firmly fixed traditional dates. The community carried out a number of agricultural works together. They worked together to build houses; the participation of all community members in family rituals, holidays, etc. was obligatory.

The short-term rental system that spread during the agrarian revolution and the expulsion of previous tenants from the land led to the almost complete disappearance of the rural community among the Irish. The currently existing close economic and social ties between farmers living in the same district can be considered only weak echoes of communal relations. Small farmers cannot live completely isolated from their neighbors; they are often forced to resort to mutual assistance in a number of agricultural works, harvesting crops, peat extraction, building a house, etc. Small farmers often lend each other agricultural tools and equipment. Often behind this mutual assistance lies the exploitation by wealthier farmers of their poor neighbors, who work for them in return for loans of cars, horses, etc.

The connection between neighboring farmers exists not only during agricultural work, but also in organizing their leisure time and holding various holidays together. In winter, old people gather together on someone's farm near the hearth. This custom goes by the old Gaelic name " coirling ».

For farmer youth, the main entertainment available at any time of the year is dancing, and in the summer, national sports games. The most popular game is hurling (a type of hockey). The Irish play it not only in winter, but also in summer, on a special lawn. Irish girls also play hurling. Gaelic football enjoys no less love, the rules games its rules are somewhat different from ordinary football. The wealthier layers of rural and urban residents also engage in other sports - polo, tennis, golf.

A Sunday trip to the nearest city or village - to church and, especially, to periodic fairs - adds variety to the life of rural residents. Traditional fairs for the sale of large and small livestock, sheep and horses take place in February, May, August and November. The streets and squares of provincial towns, deserted at normal times, are these days filled with a noisy crowd of surrounding farmers. On fair days, sports competitions are held, games, dancing, cinemas are open, pubs are open. Fortune tellers, magicians, acrobats, violinists, ballad singers, etc. perform at the fairgrounds.

The recently improved bus service between cities makes it possible for farmers to visit cities more often on ordinary days, visit cinemas and stadiums. Despite a certain isolation that is generally characteristic of farm settlements, farmers cannot be considered cut off from outside life. Newspapers and radio connect even such remote areas as the Aran Islands with the outside world.

The range of entertainment for industrial workers is in many ways similar to that of rural workers: the same dances, the same sports games(harling, football, etc.*), only, perhaps, more frequent visits to the cinema and theaters. Street life and the cafe network are not as developed as in many other European countries.

The social life of the population is closely connected with the political life of the country. The dominant position in Irish politics is occupied by two bourgeois parties - Fianna Fáil and Fine Gal. The latter represents the extreme right wing of the Irish big bourgeoisie. These parties, attracting other, smaller bourgeois groups to their side, are fighting for power.

Among the workers, the influence of the Irish Labor League, which since 1962 began to be called the Irish Labor Party, is increasingly growing. Its program states that the main goal of the labor movement is to build socialism. The Irish Labor Party seeks to unite the workers of the north and south, whose common interests have already been determined by their participation in a united trade union movement for all of Ireland.

Ireland has strong traditions of the national liberation movement of the 19th-20th centuries.

The Irish carefully preserve the relics of past battles and celebrate the anniversaries of the most outstanding events of the liberation struggle. Thus, in 1961, a solemn parade of troops in Dublin marked the 45th anniversary of the 1916 uprising - one of the largest uprisings of the Irish against English rule.

Religion

The vast majority of Irish people profess the Catholic religion (76% islandwide and 94% in the Irish Republic). Most Protestants live in Ulster. They belong chiefly to the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and to the Church of England. During the famine of 1847, the British, taking advantage of the plight of the Irish, converted them to Protestantism for a little help in food or money, and for a long time their Catholic neighbors contemptuously called such Protestants “soupers.” Religious strife was especially strong in Ulster. It was this discord that England exploited when dividing Ireland. Now there is no acute hostility between workers of different religions, but it still manifests itself among the petty bourgeoisie. Mixed marriages are common among workers, and the wife does not always accept the faith of her husband, or vice versa, the husband does not always accept the faith of his wife; Often they each remain faithful to their own religion.

The Irish people are still religious, although among young people, especially in the working class, there are large numbers of atheists and even more passively religious. Catholic priests everywhere still have influence over the people of their parish. Through Sunday schools, the church seeks to influence the younger generation. The influence of the Catholic Church is to a certain extent explained by the fact that for a number of centuries the Irish saw in it an ally and support in their struggle with Protestant England.

Catholics celebrate holidays in honor of Catholic saints. St. Patrick's Day has become a national holiday for the Irish and is also popular among Protestants. Saint Patrick is considered the founder of the Christian Church in Ireland. In many cities on this day (March 17), magnificent processions and folk festivities are organized. Like other European nations, the biggest Christian holidays for the Irish are Christmas and Easter.

Among Irish Protestants, like the English and especially the Scots, it is not customary to work, have fun, or travel anywhere on Sundays; They try to spend this day with their family. Many of the old beliefs of the ancient Celts were intertwined among the Irish with Christian religious ideas. Thus, the cult of sacred springs and wells was widespread among the ancient Celts. The Church supported this cult, attributing the healing effects of the springs to the patronage of some saint. And now on certain days there are processions led by a Catholic priest to especially revered holy springs. Particularly interesting is the so-called source of oblivion on the Aran Islands, the water of which, according to legend, helps to drown out homesickness. People came to him before leaving for America.

In the 19th century The Irish still retained many remnants of ancient beliefs about fairies and elves having a beneficial or evil influence on human affairs, about sorcerers who spoil livestock, about witches, etc. Echoes of these ancient beliefs can be found in folklore.

Data from a sociological survey conducted among Protestants and Catholics at the end of the twentieth century on the question of whether the region of Northern Ireland belongs to Great Britain or Ireland showed that 44% of the country's population are Protestants, another 44% of the population are Catholics, and the remaining 2% are atheists or adherents other religions.

Religious practices

The Catholic Church has four ecclesiastical provinces that cover the entire island. The Archbishop of Armagh in the North is the pinnacle of Ireland's clergy. The diocesan structure, in which there are one thousand three hundred parishes, falls under the control of four priests.

There are approximately twenty thousand people serving in the various Catholic religious orders. The combined Catholic population of Ireland and Northern Ireland is a total of 3.9 million. The Church of Ireland, which has twelve dioceses, is the Autonomous Church in the world of the Church of England.

Rituals and holy places

This predominantly Catholic country has a number of ecclesiastical holy sites, most notably in the area of Knock, in County Mayo, the site where the apparition of the Mother of God was recorded. Traditional holy places, such as sacred wells, attract local people in all seasons, although many are associated with specific days, saints, rituals and holidays.

Inland pilgrimages to places such as Knock and Croagh Patrick (mountains in County Mayo associated with St Patrick) are important aspects of the Catholic faith, often reflecting an integration of formal and traditional religious practices. The holy days of the official Irish calendar of the Catholic Church are celebrated as the country's national holidays.

Death and life after death.

Funeral customs are inextricably linked with various Catholic Church religious rituals. While wakes are still held in homes, the practice using funeral homes and parlors is growing in popularity.

Oh Ireland! How many colors are hidden in this Northern European state located on the island of Ireland. The edge of European territories, then only the endless expanses of the Atlantic Ocean. On the eastern side, the coast of the island is washed by what in antiquity was called the Iberian Ocean, as well as the Northern and St. George straits.

Where is Ireland

Ireland is located in the north of the European part of the continent. It has access to three - the southern side, the Irish and North Sea - the eastern side. Next to the North Sea is St. George's Channel. The republic is divided into 26 counties: Longford, Carlow, Meath, Limerick and others.

Dublin is the capital of Ireland. The city is famous for its cultural attractions. For example, the distillery museum, the old Jameson distillery, the ancient castle in Dublin, the leprechaun museum, the Cathedral of St. Patrick and St. Finbarr.
A patterned shearling sweater, pewter souvenirs, a shamrock and strong whiskey are all right where Ireland is located.

The latest figures put the country's population at 4,593,100, with about a quarter of the people living in Dublin.

Historical roots of religion in Ireland

The history of religion in Ireland is divided into two eras: pre-Christian and Christian. Pre-Christian religion - Druidism. Druids are a class of priests of the ancient Celts who were engaged in science, medicine and judging. The first mentions of them are contained in the texts of the traveler Pytheas. It was believed that their main role was the transmission of heroic legends and myths to the younger generation by word of mouth. In the IV-V centuries. they lost their status as priests, turning into village healers. In the twentieth century, the teachings of the Druids were revived and received the name neo-Druidism.

Now the religion of Ireland is represented by two main branches: the Catholic and Protestant churches.

Christianity, according to Prosper's Chronicle, originated in the 4th-5th centuries. ad. It began to gain increasing popularity among the nobility against the background of the decomposition of the primitive communal system. The activities of Patrick, who was later canonized, were of great importance.

Pope Celestine sent Palladius to Ireland as the first Christian bishop. It is assumed that Christian communities existed even before 431, their importance was great, which is why the Pope sent a bishop there.

Protestantism in Ireland

Protestantism came to the state in the 17th century and is associated with the resettlement of colonists from Britain. Initially, a small community formed. However, after a short amount of time in the northeastern counties, the number of Protestants increased markedly and exceeded the number of Catholics. All this led to discrimination on religious grounds, since most of the leadership and ruling positions were occupied by Protestants.

Religion is an integral part of everyday life; it greatly influences people's lives and their worldview. Therefore, almost four centuries later, the consequences of religious schism are still felt in the lives of the Irish. It occurred at the end of the 17th century, and its echoes are heard to this day. The split was caused by the enslavement of Ireland by England. However, until 1801 there was a parliament, which was destroyed soon after the union, and the country came completely under the authority of the English crown.

An interesting feature is that green symbolizes Catholics, orange symbolizes Protestants, and white symbolizes peace between them.

Religion in the country today

Nowadays the country is considered one of the most religious in Europe, but recently the church in Ireland has been marginalized in the everyday life of citizens, especially among the younger generation.

The Irish constitution and universal rights have incorporated the religious beliefs of Catholics since 1937. This phenomenon can be traced if we look at constitutional documents. Until the 50s, divorce proceedings were prohibited, until the 70s there was a ban on the use of contraception, and there was also an amendment asserting the special role of the Catholic Church. The majority of the population adheres to Catholicism of the Latin rite; Protestantism is also common. The ideas of atheism and agnosticism are steadily spreading among the Irish; according to the census in 1926, the number of Catholics accounted for more than 90% of the population. 65 years after the census, it was found that about 3% of the population were not adherents of the faith at all.

The abandonment of faith is becoming increasingly widespread. This affected the demographic situation in the country. In the mid-90s, every fourth child was born out of wedlock. There has been an increase in the number of divorces, single parents and cases of refusal to live together.

Who are Roman Catholics?

Roman Catholicism is a Catholic church that is known as the Roman Catholic Church. It is the largest and oldest Christian church in the world. The name “Catholic” comes from the Greek “καθ όλη”, which means universal, whole. The Catholic Church is often called the “Universal Church.” Christianity dates back to the preaching of Jesus Christ in the 1st century AD. His idea is that God has three faces: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In 1054, the Great Schism occurred, as a result of which Christianity was divided into two branches: the Western Church, centered in the Vatican, and the Eastern Orthodox Church, centered in Constantinople.

Conclusion

According to the latest census, which took place in 2006, there are about 3.6 million Roman Catholics in Ireland, 125.6 thousand Protestants, 32.5 thousand Muslims, approximately 20 thousand Orthodox and Presbyterians each. There are not so many atheists , but still they exist and they are mostly young people aged 27-29. In total, according to the 2006 census, about a thousand people lived in Ireland who did not believe in God. In 2012, the KNA agency published a report in which it indicated that the number of atheists had increased by 45% in six years, reaching 269,800 people. Religion in Ireland, one of the most religious countries, is gradually fading into the background in the life of society.

The famous Russian poetess Zinaida Gippius once upon a time, although she had never seen Ireland, called it “a foggy country with sharp rocks.” Now the island of Ireland, on which, in fact, the Republic of Ireland is located, is called the “Emerald Isle”, because The trees and plants there are green almost all year round. However, tourists in Ireland will be interested not only in nature, but also in numerous medieval castles, as well as other attractions, traditional festivals and local alcoholic drinks (Irish whiskey, beer and ale).

Geography of Ireland

The Republic of Ireland is located on the island of Ireland, in northwestern Europe. This country shares a land border only with Northern Ireland, which is part of Great Britain. The island of Ireland is washed on all sides by the Atlantic Ocean (the Celtic Sea in the south, St. George's Channel in the southeast and the Irish Sea in the east). The total area of this country is 70,273 square meters. km. The highest peak in Ireland is Mount Caranthuill, whose height reaches 1041 m.

Capital

The capital of Ireland is Dublin, whose population now numbers about 550 thousand people. Historians claim that a Celtic settlement on the site of modern Dublin existed already in the 2nd century AD.

Official language of Ireland

Ireland has two official languages – Irish and English. However, only 39% of the Irish population speaks Irish.

Religion

About 87% of the inhabitants of Ireland are Catholics belonging to the Roman Catholic Church.

State structure

According to the Constitution, Ireland is a parliamentary republic, the head of which is the President, elected for a 7-year term.

Executive power belongs to the bicameral Parliament - the Oireachtas, consisting of the Senate (60 people) and the House of Representatives (156 people).

The main political parties are the Labor Party, Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, the Labor Party of Ireland, and the Socialist Party.

Climate and weather in Ireland

The climate in Ireland is determined by the Atlantic Ocean and the warm Gulf Stream. As a result, the climate in this country is temperate maritime. The average annual air temperature is +9.6C. The warmest months in Ireland are July and August, when the average air temperature reaches +19C, and the coldest months are January and February (+2C). Average precipitation is 769 mm per year.

Average air temperature in Dublin:

January - +4C
February - +5C
March - +6.5C
April - +8.5C
May - +11C
June - +14C
July - +15C
August - +15C
September - +13C
October - +11C
November - +7C
December - +5C

Seas and oceans

The island of Ireland is washed on all sides by the Atlantic Ocean. In the south, Ireland is washed by the Celtic Sea, and in the east by the Irish Sea. In the southeast, the St. George's Canal divides Ireland and Great Britain.

Rivers and lakes

Many rivers flow through Ireland. The largest of them are Shannon, Barrow, Suir, Blackwater, Bann, Liffey, and Slaney. As for the lakes, the following should be mentioned first of all: Lough Derg, Lough Mask, Lough Neagh, and Killarney.

Note that Ireland has an extensive network of canals, most of which were built more than 100 years ago.

Story

The first people appeared on the island of Ireland 8 thousand years ago. Then, during the Neolithic period, Celtic tribes from the Iberian Peninsula arrived in Ireland. The spread of Christianity in Ireland is associated with the name of St. Patrick, who arrived on this island around the middle of the 5th century.

Since the 8th century, Ireland has been subject to a century-long Viking invasion. At this time the country is divided into several counties.

In 1177, a significant part of Ireland was captured by English troops. In the middle of the 16th century, the British tried to impose Protestantism on the Irish, but they were never able to do it completely. Thus, to this day, the inhabitants of the island of Ireland are divided into two religious concessions - Catholics and Protestants (in the Republic of Ireland the majority of the population is Catholics).

In 1801, Ireland became part of Great Britain. It was not until 1922, after the Irish War of Independence, that most of Ireland seceded from Great Britain, forming the Irish Free State (but which was part of the Commonwealth of Great Britain). It was not until 1949 that Ireland became truly independent. However, Northern Ireland, where the majority of the population is Protestant, is still part of Great Britain.

In 1973, Ireland was admitted to the EU.

Irish culture

Despite the fact that the British tried for many centuries to include Ireland in their empire, the Irish still managed to preserve their national identity, as well as traditions and beliefs.

The most popular festivals in Ireland are the St. Patrick's Day Festival and Parade, Galway Oyster Festival, Cork Jazz Festival, Bloomsday Festival, and the Dublin Marathon.

Kitchen

Traditional products in Ireland are meat (beef, pork, lamb), fish (salmon, cod), seafood (oysters, mussels), potatoes, cabbage, cheese, dairy products. The most famous Irish dish is Irish stew, which is made from lamb, potatoes, carrots, parsley, onions and caraway seeds.

Another traditional Irish dish is boiled bacon with cabbage. Ireland is also famous for its traditional soda bread and cheesecake.

Everyday non-alcoholic drinks in Ireland are tea and coffee (think of the famous Irish coffee, which contains whiskey, brown sugar and whipped cream). As for alcoholic drinks, the Irish prefer whiskey, beer and ale.

Sights of Ireland

Even though Ireland is a small country, it still has a lot of interesting attractions. The top ten of them, in our opinion, include the following:

Cities and resorts

The largest cities in Ireland are Cork, Limerick, and, of course, Dublin. The largest of them is Dublin, which is now home to about 550 thousand people. In turn, the population of Cork is more than 200 thousand people, and Limerick is about 100 thousand people.

Souvenirs/shopping

Tourists from Ireland usually bring traditional Irish sweaters from the Aran Island (we recommend buying white Aran sweaters rather than colored ones), Waterford Crystal glassware, tweed suits, linen, Irish music CDs, fishing tackle, and, of course, Irish whiskey

Opening hours

Banks: Mon-Fri: 10:00-16-00 (Wednesdays - 10:30-16-30).

Some shops in Ireland are open until 21:00 on weekdays. Some supermarkets are open 24 hours a day. Bars and pubs in Ireland open at 10:00 (Mon-Sat) and close at 23:00 (Mon-Thu), at 00:30 on Friday and Saturday, and on Sunday at 23:00.

Visa

To enter Ireland, Ukrainians need to obtain a visa.

Currency of Ireland

Ireland is a member of the European Union, which means that the euro is used as currency in this country. All major credit cards are widely accepted in the country, including Visa, MasterCard and American Express.

Customs restrictions

You can import foreign currency into Ireland without restrictions, but you can export no more than what was declared upon entering the country. Customs regulations in Ireland are the same as in other EU countries.

Religion of the Celts. Ireland and the Celtic religion

We have already said that of all the Celtic peoples, the Irish are of particular interest, because their culture has preserved and brought to us many features of the culture of the ancient Celts. And yet, even they did not carry their religion through the gap that separates us from antiquity.

They didn't just change their faith; they renounced it completely, so that no mention remains. Saint Patrick, himself a Celt, in the 5th century. who converted Ireland to Christianity, left us an autobiographical account of his mission, an extremely interesting document, representing the first written evidence of Christianity in Britain; however, he does not tell us anything about those teachings over which he triumphed. We learn much more about Celtic beliefs from Julius Caesar, who perceived them solely as an outside observer. The vast corpus of legends recorded in the form known to us in Ireland between the seventh and twelfth centuries, although they often clearly go back to a pre-Christian source, does not contain, apart from references to belief in magic and the existence of certain official rituals, any information about religious or even moral and ethical system of the ancient Celts. We know that individual representatives of the nobility and bards resisted the new faith for a long time, and this confrontation was resolved in the 6th century. in the battle of Moreau, but no traces of polemics, nothing that would indicate a struggle between two teachings, which is reflected, for example, in the descriptions of the disputes between Celsus and Origen, has reached us. As we will see, the literature of medieval Ireland contains numerous echoes of ancient myths, there appear the shadows of beings who in their time were undoubtedly gods or embodiments of the elements; but the religious content of these stories has been emasculated, and they have turned into simply beautiful stories. And yet, not only Gaul had, as evidenced by Caesar, its own developed creed; as we learn from the same source, the British Isles represented the center of the Celtic religion, were, so to speak, Celtic Rome.

Let's try to describe this religion in general terms before moving on to talk about the myths and legends generated by it.

Celtic folk religion

But first it should be emphasized that the religion of the Celts, of course, was a complex formation, and it cannot in any way be reduced to what we call Druidism. In addition to the official doctrine, there were beliefs and superstitions that arose from a source deeper and more ancient than Druidry, which were destined to long outlive it - and to this day cannot be said to have completely disappeared.

Megalith people

The religions of primitive peoples for the most part grow out of the rites and practices associated with the burial of the dead. We do not know the name or history of the oldest known people who inhabited the “Celtic” territories in Western Europe, but, thanks to the numerous surviving burials, we can say quite a lot about them. These were the so-called megalithic people, who built dolmens, cromlechs and mounds with burial chambers, of which there are more than three thousand in France alone. Dolmens are found in the south of Scandinavia and further south along the entire western coast of Europe up to the Strait of Gibraltar and on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. They were also found on some of the western islands of the Mediterranean Sea and in Greece, namely in Mycenae, where an ancient dolmen still stands next to the magnificent burial at Atreidae. Roughly speaking, if we draw a line from the mouth of the Rhone north to the Varangerfjord, then all the dolmens, with the exception of a few Mediterranean ones, will be west of this line. To the east, as far as Asia, we will not meet one. However, having crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, we find them along the entire North African coast, as well as in the east - in Arabia, India and even Japan.

Dolmens, cromlechs and mounds

It should be explained that a dolmen is something like a house, the walls of which are upright, uncut stones, and the roof is usually a single huge stone. The plan of the structure is often wedge-shaped, and hints of some kind of “porch” can often be found. The original purpose of the dolmen was to serve as an abode for the dead. A cromlech (which in everyday language is often confused with a dolmen) is, in fact, a circle of standing stones, in the center of which a dolmen is sometimes placed. It is believed that most, if not all, known dolmens were formerly hidden under a mound of earth or smaller stones. Sometimes, as, for example, in Carnac (Brittany), individual standing stones form entire alleys; Obviously, in this area they performed some kind of ritual and liturgical function. Later monuments, like, say, Stonehenge, may be made of processed stones, but, one way or another, the roughness of the structure as a whole, the absence of sculptural and any decorations (besides ornaments or just individual symbols carved on the surface), a clear desire to produce the impression due to the accumulation of huge blocks, as well as some other features that will be discussed later, bring all these buildings together and distinguish them from the tombs of the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and other more developed peoples. Dolmens in the proper sense eventually give way to huge mounds with burial chambers, as at New Grange, which are also considered to be the work of the Megalithic people. These mounds arose naturally from dolmens. The first dolmen builders belonged to the Neolithic era and used tools made of polished stone. But in the mounds they find not only stone, but also bronze and even iron tools - at first, obviously, imported, but then locally produced items also appear.

Origin of the Megalithic People

The language spoken by this people can only be judged by its traces in the language of the conquerors - the Celts. But the distribution map of the monuments irrefutably indicates that their creators came from North Africa; that at first they did not know how to travel by sea over long distances and went west along the coast of North Africa, after which they moved to Europe where the Mediterranean Sea at Gibraltar narrows to

The dolmen at Prolik, Ireland, measures a narrow strait only a few miles wide, and from there they spread throughout the western regions of Europe, including the British Isles, and in the east they passed through Arabia to Asia. It should, however, be remembered that, although initially, without a doubt, a special race, over time the people of the megalith no longer possessed racial, but only cultural unity. This is clearly proven by the human remains found in the tombs, or more precisely, by the variety of shapes of their skulls. Archaeological finds characterize dolmen builders in general as representatives of a highly developed civilization for their time, familiar with agriculture, cattle breeding and, to a certain extent, sea voyages. The monuments themselves, often of impressive size, requiring deliberate and organized efforts in their construction, clearly indicate the existence at that time of a priesthood that took care of burials and was able to control large groups of people. The dead, as a rule, were not burned, but were buried intact - impressive monuments apparently mark the burial places of important persons; no traces of the graves of ordinary people have reached us.

Lowland Celts

De Jubainville, in his sketch of the ancient history of the Celts, speaks of only two main tribes - the Celts and the Megalithic people. But A. Bertrand, in his excellent work “The Religion of the Gauls” (“La Religion des Gaulois”) divides the Celts themselves into two groups: the inhabitants of the lowlands and the highlanders. The Lowland Celts, according to his view, left the Danube and came to Gaul around 1200 BC. e. They founded lake settlements in Switzerland, the Danube basin and Ireland. They knew metal, knew how to work with gold, tin, bronze, and by the end of the period they learned to process iron. Unlike the Megalithic people, they spoke a Celtic language, although Bertrand seems to doubt that they belonged to the Celtic race. They were rather Celticized without being Celts. This peaceful people of farmers, cattle breeders and artisans did not like to fight. They burned their dead rather than burying them. In one large settlement - in Golasecca, in Cisalpine Gaul - 6,000 burials were found. Everywhere, without any exception, the bodies were previously cremated.

This people, according to Bertrand, did not break into Gaul as conquerors, but gradually infiltrated there, settling in free areas in the middle of valleys and fields. They passed through the Alpine passes, setting off from the environs of the Upper Danube, which, according to Herodotus, “is born among the Celts.” The newcomers peacefully merged with the local inhabitants - the people of the megalith, and at the same time none of those developed political institutions that are born only with war appeared, but it is possible that it was these lowland tribes that made the main contribution to the development of the Druidic religion and the poetry of the bards.

Celts of the mountains

Finally we come to the third, actually Celtic, tribe, which followed on the heels of its predecessors. At the beginning of the 6th century. its representatives first appeared on the left bank of the Rhine. Bertrand calls the second tribe Celtic, and this one - Galatian, identifying them with the Galatians of the ancient Greeks and with the Gauls and Belgae of the Romans.

As we have already said, the second tribe is the Celts of the plains. Third - the Celts of the mountains. For the first time we meet them among the ridges of the Balkans and Carpathians. Their social organization was something like a military aristocracy - they lived off tribute or plunder from the subject population. These are the war-loving Celts of ancient history, who devastated Rome and Delphi, mercenaries who fought in the ranks of the Carthaginian and later Roman armies for money and for the love of battle. They despised agriculture and crafts, their fields were cultivated by women, and under their rule the common people turned almost into slaves, as Caesar tells us. Only in Ireland the pressure from the military aristocracy and the sharp divisions that arose in connection with this are not so clearly visible, but even here we find a situation in many ways similar to the situation in Gaul: here there were also free and unfree tribes, and the ruling elite acted cruelly and not fair.

And yet, although these rulers had vices generated by the consciousness of their own power, they were also distinguished by many beautiful, worthy qualities. They were stunningly fearless, fantastically noble, keenly aware of the charm of poetry, music, and abstract reasoning. Posidonius indicates that around 100 BC. e. they had a thriving college of poet-bards, and about two centuries earlier Hecataeus of Abdera reports musical festivals held by the Celts on a certain western island (probably in Great Britain) in honor of the god Apollo (Luga). They were Aryans of the Aryans, and this was their strength and ability to progress; but Druidism - not in a philosophical, scientific sense, but because of the power of the priesthood, which subjugated the political structure of society - turned out to be their curse; they bowed to the Druids, and this revealed their fatal weakness.

The culture of these mountain Celts was markedly different from the culture of their lowland counterparts. They lived in the Iron Age, not the Bronze Age; they did not burn their dead, considering it disrespectful, but buried them.

The mountain Celts conquered Switzerland, Burgundy, the Palatinate and northern France, part of Britain in the west and Illyria and Galatia in the east, but small groups of them settled throughout the Celtic territory, and wherever they went, they occupied the position of leaders.

Caesar says that Gaul in his time was inhabited by three tribes, and "all of them differ from each other in language, institutions and laws." He calls these tribes Belgae, Celts and Aquitani. He places the Belgae in the northeast, the Celts in the center, and the Aquitani in the southwest. The Belgians are the Galatians of Bertrand, the Celts are the Celts, and the Aquitani are the Megalithic people. All of them, of course, came under Celtic influence to a greater or lesser extent, and the difference in languages which Caesar notes was hardly particularly great; and yet it is worth noting - a detail that is quite consistent with the views of Bertrand - that Strabo claims that the Aquitani were noticeably different from the others and resembled the Iberians. He adds that the other peoples of Gaul spoke dialects of the same language.

Magical religion

Traces of this triple division were preserved in one way or another in all Celtic countries, which should certainly be remembered when we talk about Celtic thinking and Celtic religion and try to evaluate the contribution of the Celtic peoples to European culture. Mythology and art seem to have originated among what Bertrand calls the inhabitants of the lowlands. But these songs and sagas were composed by the bards in order to entertain the proud, noble and warlike aristocrats, and therefore they cannot but express the ideas of these aristocrats. But in addition, these works colored the beliefs and religious ideas born among the Megalithic people - beliefs that are only now gradually receding before the all-pervading light of science. Their essence can be expressed in one word: magic. We should briefly discuss the nature of this magical religion, for it played a significant role in the formation of the corpus of legends and myths that will be discussed further. In addition, as Professor Bury noted in his lecture given at Cambridge in 1903: “In order to study the most complex of all problems - the ethnic problem, in order to appreciate the role of a particular race in the development of peoples and the consequences of racial mixing, it must be remembered that the Celtic civilization serves those gates that open the way for us to that mysterious pre-Aryan pre-world, from which, perhaps, we, modern Europeans, have inherited much more than we now imagine.”

The origin of the term "magic" is not precisely known, but it probably arose from the word "magi", the self-name of the priests of Chaldea and Media in pre-Aryan and pre-Semitic times; these priests were typical representatives of the system of thought we are considering, which combined superstition, philosophy and scientific observations. The basis of magic is the idea that all nature is permeated through and through with invisible, spiritual energy. This energy was perceived differently than in polytheism - not as something separate from nature and embodied in some divine beings. It is present in nature implicitly, immanently; dark, boundless, it inspires awe and awe, like a force whose nature and boundaries are shrouded in impenetrable mystery. Initially, magic was, as many facts seem to indicate, associated with the cult of the dead, for death was considered a return to nature, when spiritual energy, previously invested in a specific, limited, controlled and therefore less frightening form of the human personality, now acquires endless power and uncontrollable. However, not completely uncontrollable. The desire to control this power, as well as the idea of the means needed for this purpose, were probably born from the first primitive experiences of healing. One of the most ancient human needs was the need for medicine. And it is likely that the ability of known natural, mineral or plant substances to produce a certain effect, often frightening, on the human body and mind, was perceived as an obvious confirmation of that understanding of the Universe, which we can call “magical”. The first magicians were those who learned better than others to understand medicinal or poisonous herbs; but over time, something like witchcraft science appeared, partly on the basis of actual research, partly on poetic imagination, partly on the art of clergy. Knowledge of the special properties attributed to any object and natural phenomenon was embodied in rituals and formulas, tied to certain places and objects, and expressed in symbols. Pliny's discussions of magic are so interesting that it is worth citing them here almost in full.

Pliny on magical religion

“Magic is one of the few things about which a long conversation is necessary, and only because, being the most deceptive of the arts, it has always and everywhere enjoyed the most unconditional confidence. Let us not be surprised that it acquired such a wide influence, for it united in itself the three arts that most excite the human spirit. Originally emerging from Medicine, which no one can doubt, it, under the guise of caring for our body, took the soul into its hands, taking on the guise of a more sacred and profound spiritual healing. Secondly, promising people the most pleasant and seductive things, she attributed to herself the merits of Religion, about which there is no clarity in human minds to this day. And to crown it all, she resorted to Astrology; after all, everyone wants to know the future and is convinced that such knowledge is best received from heaven. And so, having shackled the human mind in these triple fetters, she extended her power over many nations, and kings of kings worship her in the East.

Of course, it originated in the East - in Persia, and Zoroaster created it. All knowledgeable people agree on this. But is it only Zoroaster?... I have already noted that in ancient times, and at other times, it is not difficult to find people who saw in magic the pinnacle of learning - at least Pythagoras, Empedocles, Democritus and Plato crossed the seas and, being exiles rather than travelers sought to study magical wisdom. When they returned, they extolled magic and its secret teachings in every possible way.<…>Among the Latins in antiquity one can find traces of it, for example in our Laws of the Twelve Tables and in other monuments, as I have already said in the previous book. In fact, only in 657 from the founding of Rome, under the consulate of Cornelius Lentulus Crassus, did the Senate prohibit human sacrifice; this proves that even up to that time such terrible rites could be performed. The Gauls carried them out to this day, for only the Emperor Tiberius called the Druids and the entire horde of prophets and healers to order. But what is the use of issuing bans on art that has already crossed the ocean and approached the very borders of Nature? (Historia Naturalis, XXX.)

Pliny adds that, as far as he knows, the first person to write an essay on magic was a certain Ostgan, a comrade of Xerxes in the war with the Greeks, who sowed “the seeds of his monstrous art” throughout Europe wherever he went.

Magic, as Pliny believed, was originally alien to the Greeks and Italians, but was widespread in Britain; the system of rituals here is so developed that, according to our author, it seems as if the British taught this art to the Persians, and not the Persians taught them.

Traces of magical beliefs remaining in megalithic monuments

The impressive ruins of religious buildings left to us by the Megalithic people tell us a lot about the religion of their creators. Take, for example, the curious mound at Man-et-Oyc, in Brittany. Rene Gall, who examined this monument in 1864, testified that it was preserved intact - the earthen cover was untouched, and everything remained as it was when the builders left the sacred place. At the entrance to the rectangular chamber there was a stone slab on which a mysterious sign was engraved - probably the totem of the leader. Just beyond the threshold of archeology, a beautiful pendant made of green jasper, approximately the size of an egg, was discovered. In the center of the room on the floor lay a more intricate decoration - a large, slightly elongated ring made of jadeite and an ax, also made of jadeite, the blade of which rested on the ring. The ax is a well-known symbol of power, often found in Bronze Age rock art, Egyptian hieroglyphs and Minoan reliefs, etc. A short distance away were two large jasper pendants, then a white jade axe, then another jasper pendant. All these objects were placed exactly along the diagonal of the camera, directed from northwest to southeast. Axes made of jadeite, jade and fiberboard were stacked in one of the corners - 101 samples in total. Archaeologists did not find any remains of bones or ashes or a burial urn; the structure was a cenotaph. “Isn’t a certain ceremony based on magical practices being revealed to us here,” asks Bertrand?

Palmistry in Le Havre-Inis

Regarding the burial at Le Havre-Inis, the curator of the Museum of Ancient Peoples, Albert Maitre, made a very interesting observation. There were found - as in other megalithic monuments in Ireland and Scotland - many stones decorated with an extremely unique design of wavy and concentric circles and spirals. If the strange patterns on the human palm at the base and on the tips of the fingers are examined under a magnifying glass, it will be discovered that the patterns on the stones are very reminiscent of them. The lines on the palm are so distinctive that they are known to be used to identify criminals. Could the similarities found be coincidental? Nothing similar to these patterns is found in any other places. Shouldn't we remember here about palmistry - a magical art that was widespread in ancient times and even today? The palm as a symbol of power is a well-known magical sign, even included in Christian symbolism: just remember, for example, the image of a hand on the back of one of the crossbars of Muiredach in Monasterbojk.

Stones from Brittany with carved symbols of two feet, axes, handprints and fingerprints

Stones with holes

Another interesting and as yet unexplained feature of many of these sites, from Western Europe to India, is the presence of a small hole in one of the stones that make up the chamber. Was it intended for the spirit of the deceased, or for offerings to him, or was it a path through which revelations from the world of spirits could come to a priest or magician, or did it combine all these functions? It is well known that stones with holes are the most common of the relics of ancient cults, and they are still revered and used in magical practices associated with childbirth, etc. Obviously, holes should be interpreted specifically as a sexual symbol.

Worship the stones

Not only the heavenly bodies, but also rivers, trees, mountains and stones - everything became an object of worship for this primitive people.

Dolmen in Tri, France

The veneration of stones was especially widespread and is not as easily explained as the veneration of living and moving objects. Perhaps the point here is that the huge individual blocks of unprocessed stone looked like artificially created dolmens and cromlechs. This superstition turned out to be extremely tenacious. In 452 AD e. The cathedral of Arles condemned those who “worship trees, springs and stones,” a practice condemned by Charlemagne and numerous church councils until very recent times. Moreover, a drawing made from life by Arthur Bell and reproduced here testifies that in Brittany there are still rituals in which Christian symbolism and ritual serve as a cover for the most complete paganism. According to Mr. Bell, the priests are very reluctant to take part in such rites, but they are forced to do so by the pressure of public opinion. Holy springs, the water from which is considered to have healing properties, are still quite common in Ireland, and as a similar example on the mainland, mention should be made of the sacred waters of Lourdes; however, the latter cult is approved by the church.

Dolmens in Deccan, India

Pits and circles

In connection with megalithic monuments, it is necessary to recall another curious ornament, the meaning of which is still unclear. Round depressions are made in the surface of the stone, and they are often framed by concentric lines, and one or more radius lines extend from the hole beyond the circles. Sometimes these lines connect the depressions, but more often they extend only slightly beyond the widest of the circles. These strange signs are found in Great Britain and Ireland, in Brittany and here and there in India, where they are called mahadeos. Also, I discovered a curious pattern—or at least it appears to be—in Dupois' Monuments of New Spain. This illustration is reproduced in Lord Kingsborough's Antiquities of Mexico, vol. A furrow is drawn through all these circles to the very edge. This pattern is very reminiscent of typical European patterns of pits and circles, although it is executed more accurately. There can hardly be any doubt that these ornaments mean something, and, moreover, wherever they are found, they mean the same thing; but what remains a mystery. We would venture to guess that this is something like a plan of a tomb. The central recess marks the actual burial site. The circles are the standing stones, ditches and ramparts that usually surround it, and the line or groove running from the center outwards is the underground passage into the burial chamber. From the figures below, this “passage” function that the groove performed becomes obvious. Since the tomb was also a shrine, it is quite natural that its image is among the sacred signs; perhaps his presence indicated that the place was sacred. It is difficult to say to what extent this assumption is justified in the case of Mexico.

Pits and circles from Scotland

Mound at New Grange

One of the most significant and largest megalithic monuments in Europe is the great mound at New Grange, on the north bank of the Irish River Boyne. This mound and others adjacent to it appear in ancient Irish myths in two qualities, the combination of which is in itself very curious. On the one hand, they are considered the dwellings of the Sidhe (in modern pronunciation shi), or the fairy people - this is probably how the deities of ancient Ireland began to be perceived, and on the other hand, according to tradition, the high kings of pagan Erin are buried here. The story of the burial of King Cormac, who supposedly became a Christian long before Patrick began to preach it on the island, and who ordered that he should on no account be buried near the Boyne, since it was a pagan place, leads to the conclusion that New Grange was the center of a pagan cult, which was by no means limited to the veneration of royalty. Unfortunately, these monuments in the 9th century. were found and plundered by the Danes, but enough evidence has been preserved that these were originally burials performed according to the rites of the ancient religion. The most important of these, the mound at New Grange, has been carefully examined and described by Mr. George Caffey, Keeper of the Collection of Celtic Antiquities in the National Museum, Dublin. From the outside it looks like a large hill overgrown with bushes. Its diameter at its widest point is slightly less than 100 meters, its height is about 13.5 meters. It is framed by a circle of standing stones, of which there were apparently thirty-five originally. Inside this circle there is a ditch and a rampart, and on top of this rampart there is a border of large stone blocks, laid on an edge, from 2.4 to 3 meters in length. The hill itself is actually a cairn, now overgrown, as already mentioned, with grass and bushes. The most interesting thing is inside the cairn. At the end of the 17th century. workers who were removing stone from the hill to build roads discovered a corridor leading inside; They also noticed that the slab at the entrance was densely dotted with spirals and rhombuses. The entrance faces exactly southeast. The walls of the corridor are made of upright blocks of rough stone and covered with the same blocks; its height varies from approximately 1.5 to 2.3 meters; its width is slightly less than 1 meter, and its length is about 19. It ends in a cruciform chamber 6 meters high, the vaulted ceiling of which is made of large flat stones inclined inward and almost touching at the top. They are covered by a large slab. At each of the three ends of the cruciform chamber stands what appears to be a huge, crude stone sarcophagus, but there is no sign of burial.

Symbolic patterns at New Grange

All these stones are completely unprocessed and were clearly taken from the bottom of the river or somewhere else nearby. On their flat edges there are drawings that are of particular interest. If you do not take the large stone with spirals at the entrance, it is unlikely that these drawings should have served as decoration, except in the most crude and primitive sense. In these drawings there is no desire to create a decor that matches the size and shape of the surface. Patterns are scratched here and there on the walls.

Varieties of pits and circles

Their main element is a spiral. It is interesting to note the similarity of some of them with the supposed "fingerprints" at Le Havre-Inis. There are also triple and double spirals, diamonds and zigzag lines. At the western end of the chamber, a design resembling a palm branch or fern leaf was found. The design is quite naturalistic, and it is hardly possible to agree with Mr. Kafi's interpretation - that it is part of the so-called "fishbone" pattern. A similar palm leaf, but with veins extending at right angles from the stem, was found in the neighboring mound at Dout, near Lugcru, and also - in combination with the sign of the sun, the swastika - on a small altar in the Pyrenees, sketched by Bertrand.

Ship symbol in New Grange

In the western section of the chamber we find another remarkable and rather unusual pattern. Various researchers saw in it a mason's mark, an example of Phoenician writing, a group of numbers; and finally (and no doubt correctly) Mr. George Caffey suggested that it was a rough representation of a ship with sails set and people on board. Note that directly above it there is a small circle, which is obviously an element of the picture. A similar image is available in Dauta.

Solar ship (with sail?) from New Grange, Ireland

As we will see, this figure can clarify a lot. It was discovered that on some of the stones of the Locmariaquer mound in Brittany there are many similar designs, and on one of them there is a circle in the same position as in the drawing at New Grange. This stone also depicts an ax, which the Egyptians considered a hieroglyph of divine nature, and in addition, a magical symbol. In Dr. Oscar Montelius's work on the stone sculpture of Sweden we find a sketch carved in stone of a rude representation of several ships containing men; above one of them is a circle divided into four parts by a cross, no doubt an emblem of the sun. The assumption that ships (as in Ireland, drawn so conventionally symbolically that no one would see a specific meaning in them, unless the clue was given by other, more complex pictures) is accompanied by a solar disk only as a decoration, seems to me implausible. It is unlikely that the tomb, at that time the center of religious ideas, would be decorated with meaningless, empty drawings. As Sir George Simpson so well said, “Men have always connected sacredness and death.” Moreover, there is no hint of decorativeness in these scribbles. But if they were meant to be symbols, what do they symbolize?

Solar ship from Lokmariaquer, Brittany

It is possible that here we are faced with a complex of ideas of a higher order than magic. Our assumption may seem overly bold; nevertheless, as we will see, it is quite consistent with the results of some other studies concerning the origin and nature of the megalithic culture. Once accepted, it will provide much greater certainty to our ideas about the relationship of the Megalithic people with the inhabitants of North Africa, as well as about the nature of Druidry and related teachings. It seems to me quite obvious that such a frequent appearance of ships and the sun in rock paintings in Sweden, Ireland, and Brittany cannot be accidental. And looking, for example, at an image from Holland (Sweden), no one will doubt that two elements clearly make up one picture.

Ship with a sail(?) from Rixo

Solar ship from Holland, Sweden

Image of a ship (with a sun symbol?) from Skåne, Sweden

Ship symbol in Egypt

The symbol of the ship, with or without the image of the sun, is very ancient and is often found on Egyptian tombs. He is associated with the cult of Ra, which was finally formed in 4000 BC. e. Its meaning is well known. This is the barge of the sun, the vessel in which the solar god makes his voyages - in particular, when he sails to the shores of another world, carrying with him the blessed souls of the dead. The solar god, Ra, is sometimes depicted as a disk, sometimes in another form, hovering above or inside a boat. Anyone who goes into the British Museum and looks at the painted or carved sarcophagi there will find many paintings of this kind. In a number of cases, he will see that the life-giving rays of Ra are pouring out onto the boat and those sitting in it. Further, on one of the rock carvings of ships in Bakka (Boguslen), given by Montelius, a boat with human figures is drawn under a circle with three descending rays, and above another ship there is a sun with two rays. It may well be added that in the mound at Dowth, near New Grange, and belonging to the same period, as at Loughcrew and other places in Ireland, circles with rays and crosses within are found in abundance; In addition, it was possible to identify the image of the ship in Daut.

Egyptian solar barque. XXII Dynasty

Egyptian solar barque; inside the god Khnum and his companions

In Egypt, a solar barge sometimes carries simply an image of the sun, sometimes a figure of a god with accompanying deities, sometimes a crowd of passengers, human souls, sometimes a body lying on a stretcher. In megalithic drawings, the sun also sometimes appears, and sometimes not; Sometimes there are people in the boats, and sometimes there are not. Once accepted and understood, a symbol can be reproduced with any degree of convention. Perhaps in its full form this megalithic emblem should look like this: a boat with human figures and a sun sign at the top. These figures, based on our interpretation, depict the dead heading to another world. These are not deities, for anthropomorphic images of gods remained unknown to the megalithic people even after the arrival of the Celts - they first appear in Gaul under Roman influence. But if these are the dead, then we have before us the origins of the so-called “Celtic” doctrine of immortality. The drawings in question are of pre-Celtic origin. They are also present in places where the Celts never reached. Nevertheless, they are evidence of precisely those ideas about another world that, since the time of Caesar, have become accustomed to being associated with the teachings of the Celtic Druids and which clearly came from Egypt.

Egyptian solar barque; inside the solar disk - the god Ra holds the ankh cross. XIX dynasty

In this regard, I would like to draw the reader’s attention to the hypothesis of W. Borlas, according to which a typical Irish dolmen should have depicted a ship. In Minorca there are buildings called simply “navetas” - “ships” because of this similarity. But, adds W. Borlas, “long before I knew of the existence of caves and navetas in Minorca, I had formed the opinion that what I previously called the “wedge shape” goes back to the image of a boat. As we know, real ships were found several times in Scandinavian burial mounds. In the same territory, as well as on the Baltic coast, in the Iron Age, a ship very often served as a tomb.” If Mr. Borlas's hypothesis is correct, we have strong support for the symbolic interpretation I have proposed for the megalithic sun-boat paintings.

Ship symbol in Babylonia

We first encounter the ship symbol around 4000 BC. e. in Babylonia, where each god had his own ship (the barge of the god Sin was called the Barque of Light); Images of gods were carried during ceremonial processions on a stretcher in the shape of a boat. Jastrow believes that this custom dates back to the times when the holy cities of Babylonia were located on the coast of the Persian Gulf and celebrations were often held on the water.

Stop symbol

There is, however, reason to think that some of these symbols existed earlier than any of the known mythologies, and different peoples, drawing them from a now unknown source, mythologized them in different ways, so to speak. An interesting example is the symbol of two feet. According to a famous Egyptian myth, the feet were one of the parts into which the body of Osiris was cut. They were a kind of symbol of power. Chapter 17 of the Book of the Dead says: “I came to earth and took possession of my two feet. I am Atum." In general, this symbol of feet or footprints is extremely widespread. In India we find the footprints of Buddha; the image of two feet is present on dolmens in Brittany and becomes an element of Scandinavian patterns on stone. In Ireland there are stories about the footprints of St. Patrick or St. Columba. What is most surprising is that this image is also present in Mexico. Tyler, in his “Primitive Culture,” mentions “the Aztec ceremony at the Second Festival in honor of the sun god Tezcatlipoca; they scatter flour of maize before his sanctuary, and the high priest looks at it until he sees the divine footprints, and then exclaims: “Our great god has come to us!”

Two feet symbol

"ANH" as part of rock paintings

We have further evidence of the connections of the Megalithic people with North Africa. Sergi points out that the signs on the ivory tablets (probably having a numerical value) discovered by Flinders Petrie in the Naquadah burial are similar to the designs on European dolmens. Among the designs carved on megalithic monuments are also several Egyptian hieroglyphs, including the famous "ankh" or "crux ansata", a symbol of vitality and resurrection. On this basis, Letourneau concludes "that the builders of our megalithic monuments came from the south and are related to the peoples of North Africa."

Cross ankh

Language evidence

Considering the linguistic side of the issue, Rees and Brynmore Jones found that the assumption of the African origin of the ancient population of Great Britain and Ireland is quite justified. It was also shown that the Celtic languages, in their syntax, belong to the Hamitic, and specifically Egyptian, type.

Egyptian and “Celtic” ideas about immortality

Of course, the facts that we currently have do not allow us to build a coherent theory of the relationship between Western European dolmen builders and those who created the amazing religion and civilization of Ancient Egypt. But if we take into account all the facts, it becomes obvious that such relationships took place. Egypt is a country of classical religious symbolism. He gave Europe the most beautiful and most famous images - the image of the divine mother and the divine child. It seems that from there the deep symbolism of the journey of souls led to the World of the Dead by the god of light came to the first inhabitants of Western Europe.

The religion of Egypt, to a greater extent than other developed ancient religions, is built on the doctrine of a future life. The tombs, impressive in their splendor and size, complex rituals, amazing mythology, the highest authority of the priests - all these features of Egyptian culture are closely connected with ideas about the immortality of the soul.

For the Egyptian, the soul, deprived of a body, was not just a ghostly likeness of it, as classical antiquity believed, no, the future life was a direct continuation of earthly life; a righteous person who took his place in the new world found himself surrounded by his own relatives, friends, workers, and his activities and entertainment were very similar to his previous ones. The fate of the evil one was to disappear; he became the victim of an invisible monster called the Soul Eater.

And so, when Greece and Rome first became interested in the ideas of the Celts, they were struck first of all by the doctrine of the afterlife, which, according to the Gauls, was professed by the Druids. The peoples of classical antiquity believed in the immortality of the soul; but what are the souls of the dead in Homer, in this Greek Bible! Before us are some degenerate, lost creatures, devoid of human appearance. Take, for example, the description of how Hermes leads the souls of the suitors killed by Odysseus to Hades:

Ermiy, meanwhile, the god of Killenia, killed men

He summoned souls from the corpses of the insensible; having yours in hand

Golden rod...

He waved them, and, in a crowd, the shadows flew behind Ermiy

With a squeal; like bats in the depths of a deep cave,

Chained to the walls, if one breaks away,

They will fall to the ground from the cliff, screaming, fluttering in disarray, -

So, shrieking, the shadows flew after Ermiy; and led them

Ermiy, patron in troubles, to the limits of fog and decay...

The ancient writers felt that the Celtic ideas about the afterlife represented something completely different, something at once more sublime and more realistic; it was argued that a person after death remains the same as he was during life, maintaining all the previous personal connections. The Romans noted with amazement that a Celt could give money in exchange for a promise to receive it back in a future life. This is a completely Egyptian concept. Such an analogy also occurred to Diodorus (book 5), for he had not seen anything similar in other places.

The doctrine of the transmigration of souls

Many ancient writers believed that the Celtic idea of the immortality of the soul embodied Eastern ideas about the transmigration of souls, and a theory was even invented according to which the Celts learned this teaching from Pythagoras. Thus, Caesar (VI, 14) says: “The Druids try most of all to strengthen the belief in the immortality of the soul: the soul, according to their teaching, passes after the death of one body into another.” Also Diodorus: “...the teaching of Pythagoras is popular among them, according to which the souls of people are immortal and some time later they live again, since their soul enters another body.” (Diodorus. Historical Library, V, 28). Traces of these ideas are indeed present in Irish legend. Thus, the Irish leader Mongan is a historical person whose death was recorded in 625 AD. e., argues over the place of death of a king named Fotad, who was killed in a battle with the legendary hero Finn Mac Cumal in the 3rd century. He proves that he is right by calling from the other world the ghost of Kailte, who killed Fotad, and he accurately describes where the burial is located and what is inside it. He begins his story by saying to Mongan: “We were with you,” and then, turning to the crowd: “We were with Finn, who came from Alba...” - “Hush,” says Mongan, “you must not reveal the secret " The secret, of course, is that Mongan is Finn's reincarnation. But in general, it is obvious that the teachings of the Celts did not at all coincide with the ideas of Pythagoras and the inhabitants of the East. The transmigration of souls was not part of the natural course of things. It could happen, but usually didn't; the deceased received a new body in that world, and not in this world, and as far as we can establish from ancient texts, there was no talk of any moral retribution here. This was not a doctrine, it was an image, a beautiful fantastic idea, which should not be openly proclaimed to everyone, as evidenced by Mongan's warning.

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