The Celtic Gauls: Gods, Rites and Sanctuaries
Jean Louis Brunaux
(tr. Daphne Nash)
B.A. Seaby Ltd., London, 1988
154 pp.

I decided to tackle this book despite the fact that it wasn’t on the recommended list and I hadn’t gotten permission from the Preceptor to include it; I plan to re-read and review Rees & Rees’ Celtic Heritage: Ancient tradition in Ireland and Wales which is on the approved list so that shouldn’t cause any difficulties. As the title implies, however, the Rees’ book focuses on insular Celtic traditions, and it’s the continental Celts that I’m intrigued by; a Celtic Reconstructionist website I was reading recommended this title by Jean Brunaux, a French researcher, and as my library had a copy and it looked like a quick read, I picked it up.

I’m glad I did. Brunaux examines what we can know of pre-conquest Gaulish religion through the remains they’ve left us: he focuses on the archaeological remains and supplements minimally with the accounts of the Roman historians in the course of their conquest of Gallia. As the Gaulish culture relied on oral tradition, we have no pre-conquest accounts from the Gauls’ point of view; Brunaux’ focus on archaeology, while it limits what we can know about their religious beliefs and practices, is sounder than relying on the say-so of the Roman writers, who approached their soon-to-be subjects with Roman eyes and minds. After acquainting the reader with the geopolitical worldview of the Gauls, Brunaux begins examining the elements which make up any religious system: the way they demarcated their sacred spaces, their conceptions of time, the way Gallic society manifested Dumezil’s tripartite functions, and of course the Celts’ rites, gods, and the priesthood that served them. Regarding sacrifices, Brunaux does not shy away from the historical reality of human sacrifice but places it in context in such a way that, while not detracting from the revulsion we rightly feel for these sacrifices today, minimalizes the sensationalism that sometimes creeps into even academic discussion of these practices.

The connections between many of the ritual practices that embody ADF orthopraxis and the Gaulish practices that Brunaux postulates from the evidence are quite clear. The offerings of the Gaulish Celts are echoed in many of our own offerings, for the same reasons now as then; thinking back to my experiences in the nemeton at Tredara, the offering shaft there is the equivalent to the pits found in sacred spaces across Gaul, with allowances for the realities of scale in a modern context. I believe one purpose of the Dedicant’s study of applicable hearth cultures is to find ways of integrating ADF practices and the practices of an historical Indo-European culture so that a personal hearth religion can develop that satisfies the needs of each practitioner. I found this book an excellent introduction to the beliefs and practices of the Celtic Gauls that allows for a great deal of such practical development.

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