This is another reformed recon question. Sorry for the 20 questions, reformed recon just seems like a cool idea and Im curious. Hopefully I wont share the fate of the cat sating my curiosity with these posts!
Given the christian nature of the lit. and the christian origin of the half formed pantheons in the narrative of the early Irish lit we have, should we use the lit. and how much? Or should we strike out on our own completely?
Someone quoted the Reese brothers version of a pantheon to me on a forum the other day and it is a rationalisation of the narrative invasions from 'the book of invasions'. Everyone knows today that the narrative is a complete fiction constructed to fit Ireland into the world chronicle but its a good example of how pantheons can be influenced by the lit. Not to be disrespectfull to anyone, everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, go diversity! but I would say the Reese version is an example of taking the lit. too literally (puntacular
)having a negative impact on the religion.
James
There are some good points brought up here, because paganism in pre-Christian Ireland was tribal. There was no codified state religion, therefore no equivalent for the 12 Olympians or anything, with deities being ancestral, and regional to tuatha and cúige. Tuatha Dé Danann and Lebor Gabála Érenn are both complete Christian literacy creations. Tuatha Dé Danann were invented from an older designation known as simply Tuatha Dé, using separate regional deities in an invented pantheon. Here for instance, Ulster has it's own distinct patron deities&entities, which survived in place names. It wouldn't be traditional to make an offering to Brighid at Emhain Mhacha for example. This sense of tribalism has remained a part of Gaelic culture. One only needs to go to a GA match somewhere as simple as bordering counties like Kerry&Cork to get a sense of it
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