One of the main tenets that drives me in terms of my personal philosophy is the connection that I feel to my ancestors. "Walkabout", in a more global-tradition sense, is precisely that: a practice of the Australian Aborigines where a young man goes into the wilderness and retreads the footsteps of his ancestors. One could easily compare the spiritual and philosophical journey that I've undertaken to the more literal version of the Aborigines, though certainly my process has been less physically grueling and environmentally challenging (though if there was an opportunity for me to do a true, walk-out-into-nature-for-six-months exercise, I'd be all for it).
A lot of the ideological split that started me on this path of dropping the baggage and seeking my own truth came from learning how the Celts were "converted" to Catholicism, and ultimately that's why I still chafe at Catholic traditions to this day (as well as other political and religious movements, for that matter). While I'm not fond of supporting any opposition to the theory of survival of the fittest (I'm a Darwinist at heart, regardless of spiritual philosophy, and I think in many ways most ancient cultures were, as well), I feel that I have to reject the means used to conquer such a proud people. Subversion and assimilation aren't just tools to integrate new people into a larger collective; they are weapons to eradicate what made an enemy who they are. This is why I cannot accept the Catholic preaching of respecting others and being proponents of peace -- they are and have always been proponents of war and destruction of other cultures.
That was what initially led me to drop the weight of Catholicism to the ground and seek out a new path. When I felt the call of the Celtic traditions, I knew that I was on the right track. Obviously, I'm not saying it's the right path for everyone -- that's something that each individual has to decide on their own -- but for me, looking back to what those traditional myths and legends represented and what those gods and goddesses brought forward was an important step. I also took a good, hard look at what was valued by the Celtic peoples. While much of the true nature of the Celts was indeed eradicated by the Roman Catholic empire's expansion, there are several notes that stand out above the rest: the Celts had a deep love of the arts, a deep love of storytelling, and a deep love for battle.
Naturally, those three things don't tell us much. Every culture appreciates the arts, otherwise we would have nothing left to visualize what those cultures were like. Every culture needed storytelling, as before written history, the oral tradition was all that we had. Every culture prized warfare, because that was the primary means of ensuring one's survival among the others. However, approached from the Celtic perspective, these things take on a different light. Celtic artwork has a certain affect, a certain character, to it that other cultures lacked. Celtic stories relate their world in an ever-so-slightly different manner from other cultures. Celtic warfare reflected the truth of the times, that battle was a primal, dangerous thing better met with ferocity than with regimented drills. While they may have met their ultimate end at the hands of the Holy Roman empire, the Celts were preserved as glimpses in the key holidays, which allowed for the Celtic Revival to occur centuries later. The Celts were survivors, and that in particular is something that I seek to emulate.
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