Celtic Reconstructionist NeoPaganism

How's that for a title?

In thinking about the dark side of spirituality, I was wondering if the ancient Celts were violent, and if so, why that isn't part of an honest attempt to honour those traditions.

It doesn't take much hunting to find the ancient celts were violent, patriarchal and practiced human sacrifice, as documented in The Religion of the Ancient Celts
By J. A. MacCulloch (1911) and other places http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/rac/rac19.htm

The Semites are often considered the worst offenders in the matter of human sacrifice, but in this, according to classical evidence, they were closely rivalled by the Celts of Gaul. They offered human victims on the principle of a life for a life, or to propitiate the gods, or in order to divine the future from the entrails of the victim.

Reading further in the chapter just quoted reveals a way of life that seems incredibly bloodthirsty, eg

Among the Celts of Britain human sacrifice still prevailed in 77 A.D. Dio Cassius describes the refinements of cruelty practised on female victims (prisoners of war) in honour of the goddess Andrasta--their breasts cut off and placed over their mouths, and a stake driven through their bodies, which were then hung in the sacred grove. Tacitus speaks of the altars in Mona (Anglesey) laved with human blood.

It was a culture of violence, human sacrifice, head collecting (the houses of chiefs and kings were decorated with possibly hundreds of human heads) and cannibalism.

Yet modern Celtic reconstructionists do acknowledge this.

eg, in the very good introduction http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=uswa&c=trads&id=6645

CR makes no claims to being a True and Authentic Survival of any Celtic tradition. We acknowledge fully and openly that what we practice are a set of modern creations, based in and inspired by early Celtic beliefs. We follow our inspiration while remaining as true as we can to the guidelines we find in early texts, the work of scholars and archaeologists, and the practical aspects of what works well for us.

...

Most of the founders of CR ... [from the mid 70s to late 80s] worked to gather enough material to create the groundwork for a modern Celtic tradition that respects the ancient sources while rejecting those components of early Celtic religions that are inappropriate for modern worshippers, such as human sacrifice, slavery, and other strongly patriarchal elements of those early societies. Ethical concepts were sought out, sorted through for relevance, and applied to daily lives.

My question is: In rejuvenating even a modern 'version' of an ancient religious system, how honest is it to pick and choose among the elements we choose to 'bring back'? Is this not disrespectful of the culture and the gods we claim to revere? Is there an ethical system from outside Celtic culture being followed here? And if so, where does that ethic come from?


listening to more Bassnectar