THE PATH OF APPROACH

The Celts are the people of the end of the world. Just as the tip of the Cornawall
peninsula is called Land’s End, so too has Ireland been regarded since ancient days as the
last stop before the mysterious otherworld located over the waters. Today that sense of
mystery has been lost by knowledge of global geography – a traveler leaving the British
Isles heading west arrives not at Tir na nOg but rather comes to Boston or New York. But
if we insist on approaching Celtic wisdom with a purely materialistic sense of things,
then we run the risk of missing out on the glory and grandeur of their mystical sensibility.
Britain and Ireland and Brittanny may no longer be the ends of the physical earth, but
they can still represent for us a final stopping place before that immense and mysterious
journey to the stpiritual world that lies just beyond the reaches of the senses.

Who are the Celts? Are they simply the people of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the
Isle of Man, and Brittany (with Galicia thrown in for good measure)? Or does the Celtic
world include anyone who can trace his or her ancestry back to one of these lands? For
that matter, may we suppose that the Celtic experience also embraces anyone who come
sto live in a Celtic land, or even anyone (of any ancestry or ethnicityO) who feels called
to explore the wisdom and spirituality of this ancient family of cultures and languatges?
Maybe the question needs to be put another way. What makes the Celtic world Celtic?
What separates Celt from Saxom, or Roman, or Slav? Ah. But these are not the questions
to be asking. Celtic wisdom (and spirituality) invites us to come together, not be
separated off from one another. The Celtic way is the way of hospitality and of conviavial
fellowship – worrying about the impertinent details of life that separate us can wait for
another day.
So if we need a definition of theCeltic world, let’s leave it at the world that has its roots
in languages such as Gaelic, Irish, Welsh, Breton, Cornish, and Manx. But although the
Celtic experience begins with language, it doesn’t end there. Cutlture, nature, a sense of
place and tradition, and a deep love for spirit all contribute to forginging theCeltic
identity.

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How can we approach Celtic wisdom today? Expecially for those of us who live far away
from the islands of our ancestors, what does it mean to walk a celtic path? There is no
single of straightforward answer to a question like this. The Celts are not so much
philosophers as poets, not so much architects as artiss. Celtic lore invites us to discover
meaning through myth and symbol and dream; to celebrate life through the crashing of
wave on rocks of the whisper of a winter wind. There can be no “Point A to Pont B” logic
behind following the Celtic way. Surely, we can study the bards and the druids and the
sainbts, learn their stories, and consider how their lives illuminate our own. Indeed, no
better way to embrace Celtic wisdom exists, at least as far as I can tell. But keep in mind
that you or I can hear the same stories or ponder the sqame legends and draw quite
different conclusions about the heart of the path we are called to walk. This is a s it
should be. For the Celtic path is not one of corporate standardization, but rather
celebrates the same kind orf abundant diversity that characterizes the natural world.