Shamanism is an ancient body of spiritual techniques for bringing us into personal and harmonious contact with the Sacred. If we already practice a religion, shamanism gives us the opportunity to know the God we serve on an individual level, to ask Him or Her for personal advice, bringing spiritual substance to rites that may have only been form for us before. Conventionally religious or not, the spirit journey gives us a view from above, a higher spiritual perspective on our day to day lives. Shamanism can end the loneliness we feel when we think we have no one to turn to. It takes the veil from our eyes and reveals the sanctity that always surrounds us. Celtic shamanism uses many of the same visionary techniques we see in shamanic cultures world-wide, framed by Celtic cosmology and philosophy.

The peoples we refer to as the ancient Celts came out of Eastern and Central Europe around 900 BC. They were a loose collection of migrating tribes, speaking related languages and sharing a similar material culture. One of their defining qualities was an expansiveness manifest in their passion for life, and love of personal freedom, which can still be seen in their various later descendants. Their migrations took them to distant places, and by 400 BC there were Celtic communities from Galacia in Turkey to the British Isles and Ireland. Their travels expanded them intellectually, artistically, and spiritually. Celtic art influenced and was influenced by that of other cultures like the Scythian and Etruscan. They took spiritual, artistic and social elements from others, making them their own, framed by a powerful, yet flexible, shamanic cosmology. The roots of the tradition aren't purely Celtic but go back long before the Celts themselves existed as a people. The Celts grew their own tree from ancient roots, in accord with their needs -- which often coincide with our own. Because the Celts continued to use shamanic techniques their spiritual tradition could evolve. Because they remembered and expressed their myths in ritual, they lived in a heroic mythic reality. Because they valued individual heroism and achievement, their tradition made them effective in the world. Because they saw generosity to others as the highest good, individual ambition was tempered by service. Because they knew the Divine moved through everything, their tradition worked in harmony with nature. Because they were migratory their tradition worked anywhere. Because they were a warrior culture, their tradition worked under any circumstances. All this makes it work as well today as it did then. Like the ancient Celts, we need a tradition that won't fail us at our darkest hour. We need a tradition we can practice wherever we live. We need a tradition that allows us to achieve in the world, yet also emphasises service to others. We need a tradition that honours the Earth and draws us into greater harmony with Her. We need a tradition that enables each of us to participate in mythic reality as heroes of our own lives. We need a flexible tradition, which can incorporate wisdom from the many sources available to us. We also need a tradition that enables us to transcend personal concerns and unite with the Sacred. Primal Celtic traditions are able to be as specifically focussed on attaining enlightenment as any of the currently popular Eastern schools. The Celtic tradition tends to see enlightenment as harmonising the self with the Sacred, rather than dissolving the self in the Sacred. In this view of enlightenment we retain our individuality, but are purified and harmonised with all creation. Many cultures, including the Celtic, tell in their mythologies how the advanced teachings dealing with enlightenment, spiritual philosophy, and high magic arrived with a group of wisdom bearers. In Irish Celtic tradition, they were called the Tuatha Dé, the Tribes of God.

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