Origins
Overview of the story of origin: Through time eternal there have been the four forces in the universe. These forces are personified as the Gods Fire and Wind, and the Goddesses Earth and Water. These forces are in constant conflict with each other. Since all are equal none can ever be victorious without the help of another (which would never come). Finally, the Earth decided it was time; she would try to force peace upon the others. She would combine something from all into one form, to show that peace could exist. From Water she created our bodies, from Wind she gave them breath, with Fire she gave them a soul and of herself she gave a place to live and grow. When the other forces discovered what had happened they became even angrier and began fighting with renewed enthusiasm. Rather than create peace Earth had brought a new living dimension to the war. And so; while the forces are in conflict there can never be true peace in the world.
The Legend of Creation
The legend of creation specifies that only a limited amount of souls were created and that all animals (yes humans are animals too) possess one. The belief is that for one to be born another must pass the soul onto them.
There is no difference between the soul of an animal, bird, insect or human and souls can pass from one to another. No “upward or downward movement” should be associated with the movement of the soul from one type of body to another. The type of body is not determined by the actions in this life or a past life; it is determined by the needs of the soul itself. Each soul will continue to pass through life until everything that can be experienced has been experienced, after which it will finally have the knowledge to pass on to the next level of existence.
Celtic belief from other Faiths
Something that distinguishes Celtic belief from other faiths is the lack of interest shown by the gods, and goddesses. Once created there have been no directives issued by any deity, no commandments to follow and no specifics on how to worship. This is unique to the belief due in part to the nature of worship. Followers of the belief attempt to gain a balance of the forces within themselves. The accepted way to do this most attempt to bring all the forces together and meditate (see sections on worship/holidays). Anyone can do this at any time; no structured religion is required, thus no one trying to maintain power over those not as close to God/Goddess.
The ongoing conflict between the forces can easily be seen in current events from around the world. Every day there is rape, killing, abuse and other forms of violence performed on one person or group to another. All creatures use other creatures, often in violent ways, for one reason or another. This “using” weather for food, entertainment, tools, companionship or shelter is a direct result of the original conflict between the forces. Even the elements here on planet earth are in constant conflict. Until peace is achieved between the forces there is no real hope to achieve peace on the planet; all we can hope for is to achieve a balance so chaos doesn’t reign.
