Celtic Pantheon
- It's said something wild lurks in the heart of every soul, a space that thrills to the sound of geese calling at night, to the whispering wind through the pines, to the unexpected red of mistletoe on an oak - and it is in this space that the Celtic powers dwell.
They sprang from the brook and stream, their might heightened by the strength of the oak and the beauty of the woodlands and open moor. When the first woodsman dared put a name to the face he saw in the bole of a tree or the voice babbling in a brook, the powers forced themselves into being. Hidden in the darkest forest and the roaring sea of the Isle of the West, studying the magic of that prime-material paradise, and consorting with and bringing forth the creatures of faerie, the Tuatha De Danann (as the pantheon was called at the time) eventually came forward and declared their divinity to those who would recognize them.
The Celts have a reputation as a dark, and brooding pantheon, but they're more a collection of powers that love life, beauty, and knowledge. They revere strength, cunning, hospitality and song - a simple life, it seems, but one that's incredibly rich, with deep appreciation for the joys of creation. Sometimes they seem the very soul of humanity. It is from this combination that they draw their power.
The gods strive for excellence and perfection, true, but they're much more happy-go-lucky than most pantheons, and they extend this attitude to the folks who worship them (either that, or the devoted attribute this attitude to the deities). The Celtic powers never demand loyalty from their faithful, and thus, paradoxically, they tend to earn it. Sure, priests of the pantheon uphold the ideals of their gods, and therefore shoulder greater expectations from those gods, but the powers themselves preach freedom to their flock. Theirs is the freedom of the winds, of the hunt, of silver and spears, of the dark nights kept away by blazing fires.
Contrary to popular opinion, the faithful of the Celtic pantheon are not all blue-painted savages who indulge in human sacrifice. Truth is, most are gentle and civilized, inviting strangers into their homes and making all feel welcome. Granted, in battle the Celts are fearsome, screaming opponents (just ask any fiend who's tried to torch a Celtic village!), but that's an image they cultivate to weaken their foes' morale. Of all the bashers a body's likely to meet across the multiverse, a gentle hand and a kind word do more among the Celts than almost anyone else.
Tuatha De Danann (the Celtic Powers)
| Arawn | Life, death |
| Belenus | Sun, light, heat |
| Brigantia | Rivers, livestock |
| Daghdha | Weather, crops |
| Diancecht | Medicine, healing |
| Dunatis | Mountains, peaks |
| Goibhniu | Smithing, healing |
| Lugh | Excellence |
| Manannan mac Lir | Oceans, sea creatures |
| Math Mathonwy | Magic |
| Morrigan | Battle, war |
| Nuada | War, warriors |
| Oghma | Speech, writing |
| Silvanus | Nature, forests, druids |