New Age and the Celtic Tradition

Over the last thirty years or so there has been a renewed interest in the beliefs of the ancient world. In the 1970s young people were disechanted with the religion of their parents' generation and turned to the religions of the East, to Buddhism and Hinduism.

With the growth of the feminist movement there was also a renewed interest in the old fertility religions such as the Goddess movement and the Wicca movement. Numbers of women joined these fertility cults as a reaction to what they saw as the oppressive nature of partriarchal religion.

In more conventional terms there has also been a return to some of the ancient traditions of certain forms of Christianity. There has been a particular interest in the Christianity of the Celts. This is evident not just in changing belief structures but in modes of dress and personal decoration. In most jeweller's windows you can see Celtic style earrings and brooches. Some followers of the tradition go even further as a result of interest in Celtic Tattoos an increasing number of people have tattoos of the Celtic Cross or of the Sun on their arms. Sometimes this is the result of a firm belief in that tradition and sometimes it is done because a person likes the designs. Either way there is a renewal of interest in these areas.