This was written by Lugaid and is agreed upon by most Neocelts.

Wicca has no significant apparent connection with Celtic traditions. It *may* have some connection with North Italian folk traditions, but there is very little evidence for this.

Wicca has several theological conflicts with Celtic tradition, which, taken together, form a severe dissonance between the two religions.

1) Wicca assigns the sun to a male deity, the moon to a female. Celtic religion is less positive of the genders of the two. (There is a moongod, and references in the Carmina Gadelica to a female moon. There is a [possible] sun goddess, and references in the CG to a male sun.)

2) Wicca is (originally and primarily) duotheistic. Celtic religion is polytheistic/animistic.

3) Wicca has a "harm none" morality. This is not true of Celtic religion, which has a "heroic" morality. (My terms: "harm none" is typified by the stated moralities of Wicca, Xianity, Hinduism , etc. where the primary imperative is to not hurt others. "Heroic" is typified by Celtic and Norse religions primarily, though other examples exist. "Heroic" morality is summed up by Diogenes Laertius as the teaching that"the gods must be worshipped, and no evil done, and manly behavior maintained", and by the hero Caelte as "truth in our hearts, strength in our arms and fulfillment in our tongues". "Heroic" morality is rooted in concepts of personal honor.)

4) Wicca has a limited conceptualization of the otherworld. Celtic religion has a complex and intricate conceptualization of the otherworld, and in fact, the otherworld (or, more specifically, its interaction with the mundane world) is in many ways central to the Celtic religion.

5) Wicca is primarily an invocatory/ecstatic religion. In Celtic religion, these experiences are secondary to ritual and morality.

6) Wicca creates sacred space. Celtic religion finds and demarcates sacred space, or, alternately, sees sacred space as omnipresent. (Note: this distinction is subject to debate, and I am not certain that it is universal. I include it because it is a difference I have seen in my [admittedly limited] experience of Wicca.)

7) Wicca is an initiatory religion. Celtic religion is inclusive, with initiatory elements. (Note: this *could* indicate that Wicca was an initiatory segment of Celtic religion, but I do not believe so, based on all of the other differences.)

8) Wicca uses the classical elements as a fundamental concept. Celtic religion does not seem to use the classical elements in any significant fashion, and does not seem to have any direct parallel to the Wiccan use of those elements (though the internal Cauldrons may have some significance here...)

9) Wicca places little emphasis on mythology. Mythological stories are absolutely central to Celtic religion, forming the core of magickal practice, ritual and teaching.

Slán,
Lugaid