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Life And Death From The Celtic Perspective
Death to the Irish has always been looked on as completion of the circle of life, this circle is illustrated in Celtic crosses within in Celtic artwork, it is shown by the three connected spirals, as displayed in Newgrange, symbolising birth, life, death. Circles have always fascinated the Celtic world and they are constantly present in Irish myths and legends. Time was circular, rather than linear, winter gave way to spring, and the cycle began again.The period of mourning that is winter is immediately followed by spring and rebirth. The next worlds and this world are inextricably linked, it was not a sealed border, but liable to be crossed at anytime but especially at key dates such as Samhain, from which the modern Halloween festival came from. People dressed up in costumes so as to confuse the spirits of the dead, who crossed from their side to ours. Indeed within the Irish tradition, this crossing was not feared but respected, people wore costumes so that the spirits would not get lost in this world.
The departed have always been considered still close to this world in the memorial tradition, it is common for people to say before they pass on, that they have seen a loved one who has gone before them. It is also not unusual for this death to be pre-Informed. Death in Irish is called “Bas”; it is not something that just occurs, but rather an entity that you receive. Signs were traditionally, three knocks on the door, the cry of a banshee, animals coming in to your house. There are many different ways, but all were signs of “Bas” on the way.
When it occurred, it was not a sad time, but when you entered the eternal life and left pain and suffering behind. As it says in a traditional prayer, about death “ I am going home with thee, to thy home of Autumn, spring and summer.” The cold, sleeping season of winter, no longer exists. The body once the burial began, was only seen as a shell. This was the reason behind the Irish wake, a “party” that symbolised the soul being set free from its physical bounds. It also meant that the soul was not alone, while the soul began its departure from the body, it should be amongst friends and family