concept of death

[cathal]

I didn't know where else to post this....

However I am going to be putting together an article for the Samhain installment of the Gaol Naofa newsletter. I wanted to get a variety of opinions on this matter. The question at hand is what are your opinions on the concept of death within Celtic Reconstructionism. The answers can be as varied as what you think happens after death, or what you think happens at the actual time of death. But I would like to get to know what each person feels about the concept of death within Celtic Reconstructionism.

Thanks in advance.

[Fool Coyote]

Jun 10, 2008 18:51:12 GMT -5 cathal said:

I didn't know where else to post this....

However I am going to be putting together an article for the Samhain installment of the Gaol Naofa newsletter. I wanted to get a variety of opinions on this matter. The question at hand is what are your opinions on the concept of death within Celtic Reconstructionism. The answers can be as varied as what you think happens after death, or what you think happens at the actual time of death. But I would like to get to know what each person feels about the concept of death within Celtic Reconstructionism.

Thanks in advance.

I feel that we simply pass from one life to the next. The Celts believed according to some Classical scholars that death was but a pause in a long life. Many Classical scholars reported on their belief in a "reincarnation". Life can take many forms, and time isn't an issue. It can take the form of a lake on a plain, a mountain, or tree, or it can be as short as a scream in the night, a fly, a thought in the mind of poets. There is little difference between a long life and a short one, they are both only seconds in time. The individual spirit requires these many forms of experience, what are we if not an active part of the creation of the universe? Pain, happiness, taste, smell, growth, all a part of the experiences that the many forms life can take.

[diarmuid]

I have a mix of beliefs between the idea of an afterlife I describe as Tir Na nOgh and reincarnation, though different from some views in the sense that I believe it stays within the species. In other words, we stay human in our incarnations. I remember discussing with someone this same subject and their view was that we live a life here, die, then we are born in Tir Na nOgh as infants, live and die, and then come back here. I would almost agree, though I don't know how I feel about a nonstop routine existence like that. It disturbs me a little that we would have no hope for relief from the hardships of life.

But, I don't really know and usually just concentrate on what is happening now, rather than what is going to happen to me when I die.

I look forward to reading the newsletter, by the way, just joined Gaol Naofa a little while ago.

[cathal]

Jun 13, 2008 22:17:50 GMT -5 diarmuid said:

I have a mix of beliefs between the idea of an afterlife I describe as Tir Na nOgh and reincarnation, though different from some views in the sense that I believe it stays within the species. In other words, we stay human in our incarnations. I remember discussing with someone this same subject and their view was that we live a life here, die, then we are born in Tir Na nOgh as infants, live and die, and then come back here. I would almost agree, though I don't know how I feel about a nonstop routine existence like that. It disturbs me a little that we would have no hope for relief from the hardships of life.

But, I don't really know and usually just concentrate on what is happening now, rather than what is going to happen to me when I die.

I look forward to reading the newsletter, by the way, just joined Gaol Naofa a little while ago.

The thing about your description though is, that in every source I have read, the land of the dead is not Tir Na n'Ogh, but rather Tech Duinn. I could be wrong about this, but that is where I always thought that the reincarnation cycle occurred. However I was of the opinion that under some particularly unique circumstances, a persons soul could be taken off of the cycle of Reincarnation for a period of time, and be allowed to live in the land of youth or another of the Celtic Otherworlds. This is of course all contingent on the process occurring within the Irish tradition of life after death.

I would still love to hear other peoples ideas on this matter. So thank you both for your responses ;D

[diarmuid]

Jun 15, 2008 20:49:25 GMT -5 cathal said:

The thing about your description though is, that in every source I have read, the land of the dead is not Tir Na n'Ogh, but rather Tech Duinn. I could be wrong about this, but that is where I always thought that the reincarnation cycle occurred. However I was of the opinion that under some particularly unique circumstances, a persons soul could be taken off of the cycle of Reincarnation for a period of time, and be allowed to live in the land of youth or another of the Celtic Otherworlds. This is of course all contingent on the process occurring within the Irish tradition of life after death.

I would still love to hear other peoples ideas on this matter. So thank you both for your responses ;D

I have come to believe that the House of Donn was just where the dead gathered until they moved on to Tir Na nOgh. I will have to research it more thouroughly, I suppose.

[cathal]

Jun 18, 2008 16:04:33 GMT -5 diarmuid said:

Jun 15, 2008 20:49:25 GMT -5 cathal said:

The thing about your description though is, that in every source I have read, the land of the dead is not Tir Na n'Ogh, but rather Tech Duinn. I could be wrong about this, but that is where I always thought that the reincarnation cycle occurred. However I was of the opinion that under some particularly unique circumstances, a persons soul could be taken off of the cycle of Reincarnation for a period of time, and be allowed to live in the land of youth or another of the Celtic Otherworlds. This is of course all contingent on the process occurring within the Irish tradition of life after death.

I would still love to hear other peoples ideas on this matter. So thank you both for your responses ;D

I have come to believe that the House of Donn was just where the dead gathered until they moved on to Tir Na nOgh. I will have to research it more thouroughly, I suppose.

interesting theory...

As of the moment I am putting this on hold... I am still interested in hearing peoples opinions on this topic. But unfortunately I have dropped out of Gaol Naofa because of a difference of opinion between me and the founder of Gaol Naofa.