I truly hope that you, Kathryn, know enough about me that you can pass such judgment.
Just a few things where I beg to differ:
The Celtic traditions in the Insular lands are very different from anything from the Alps. Do you know enough Alpine myth, lore, and folk customs that you can claim that to be true? Just be informed that a well established community of Druids find my research in that respect interesting and publishes it in their newsletter.
The Celtic traditions [...] have a significantly different spiritual feel from the Germanic ways. That is true in many aspects, yet I can quote three "spells" for the lack of a better word right from top of my head, a Scottish, Irish, and Saxon one, that use almost the same words to heal broken bones and ligaments. The difference between Celtic and Germanic tribes celebrated by so many are more and more being questioned.
I know that I can not call myself a Druid as of yet, and therefore don't, but hope sincerely that I am able to fulfill the requirements in learning to earn the privilege. Hence I use words like druidic and druidry, as a descriptive reference to the kind of work.
Again, a very different group of people will decide on me achieving that role in the future, not you.
The same group, BTW, that keeps it open for their students to call themselves Druids just by virtue of following the path, even before they reach the end of their studies. I choose not to, because I find it pompous.
The idea that the warlike tribes came from the Alps is only one of many theories, and never proven. What is easy to see, however, by comparing languages and material culture, is that the tribes that came from mainland Europe changed a great deal when they intermarried with the Gaelic and Brythonic tribes in the Isles
If they tribes from Europe intermarried with the Gaelic and Brythonic tribes, and changed considerable, then to say it is not proven is somewhat contradictory.
That there was a Celtic, or Keltoi, culture in the Alps is a proven fact. The Greek and Roman writers did misrepresent a lot in that regard, but we can definitely establish that these people called themselves Keltoi, and that they had Druids. What Cesar and Cicero wrote about the Druids, particularly one of the tribe of Aedui, is of course from their POV. Which does not negate their existence.
I would even go so far and pose the question, based on your claim that there is not prove that mainland Celtic tribes came to the British Isles, why would the people there call themselves Celts? But we both know that this would be silly.
Which has nothing to do with the pre-Celtic inhabitants of the BI not being Indo-European.
Celts don't have "The Goddess" - the ancient Celts, and modern ones, were/are polytheists, not Wiccans
I do not remember claiming that the Celtic people had only one Goddess. I hope you didn't just jump to this conclusion in eagerness to prove a point.
Alpine lore, early sacral art in remote Alpine valleys, and Alpine customs clearly indicate the worshipping of a Goddess trinity. Even many names of towns, rivers, wells, mountains, and names of land parcels bear the names of these Goddess.
That is not to say that other deities were worshipped, too, particularly Belenus, after whom several towns in Austria are named, and who's picture was found on coins and engraved in stone.
I know nothing about Wicca, so I can't say anything about what they believe or do.
In the recent and living traditions in the Six Celtic Nations, most notably in Gaelic cultures, it is usually seen as wrong to charge fees for services
The idea behind the “Six Celtic Nations” is troubling, for it represents the Celtic Fringe only and does not include the vast majority of what was Celtic once. To claim that their traditions ought to be the beacon of what Celtic people should and should not do is quite arrogant, actually. As you correctly write, the information is fragmented. It is flawed in regards to how the writers interpreted what they saw, but not in what they observed. Since there is no record positively stating whether the Druids and other spiritual healers in the Alps charged for their work or not, both claims, mine that they might have, and yours that they didn’t, is arbitrary.
It seems to me though that you take the Native American tradition of not charging and apply it to my Alpine tradition that you have no knowledge of, which I could claim is quite a Newager approach itself, the same methodology you so fiercely fight against.
In my blog and other writing I do not lump traditions into one, but state them next to each other, showing their similarities. When I quote traditions from the Celtic Fringe, it does not mean I use them in my own practice. I simply state them.
However, anything I have learned so far on my Druidic path, I will use when people come to me for spiritual counsel, if it is of help for them. I will not have anyone interfere with my clients' welfare in that matter.
As said earlier, two Roman writers mention a Druid from a tribe adjacent to the Alps. There are several Alpine legends describing men who's actions and behaviors are very similar to that of Druids as described in lore of the British Islands. They are just not called like that, mostly due to the meddling of the Christian church. So I feel quite confident that what I learn in Druidry, even though from British provenience, is applicable in the Celtic Cradle.
I don't practice Reiki or Chakra work any more, for the very reasons you are stating.
