Experts on the Celts are quick to point out that the religious practices and the revered Celtic deities were not consistent throughout the vast territories populated by the Celts. Indeed, the gods of the ancient Celts were often localized deities of the tribe or the geographic region. Gerhard Herm quotes Celtic researchers in reporting that some 374 names of Celtic deities have been identified in Europe, and that only sixty-nine of these appear in more than one geographic area. This claim is bolstered by Barry Cunliffe who asserts that although there were more than 200 Celtic gods and goddesses, their recognition was not consistent or unchanging across Europe.

The Celtic gods had much to do with nature and its cycles, especially in the earlier periods of Celtic history, before human characteristics were deified. Gods and goddesses were often connected with sacred springs, rivers, groves, or tribal shrines in the outdoors. Celts approached their gods for help with healings, fertility, bountiful crops, and other forms of good fortune. Julius Caesar commented that the Celts were "superstitious," and that they offered many sacrifices and amends for justice to appease their gods.

Most likely, the mainland Celts did not give human form to their gods and goddesses until later in the Iron Age, perhaps in the first or second century BC According to Simon James, only a few religious statues have been found dating to the early Celtic period. Then there is an interesting story about the Celts' attack on Delphi, Greece in 279 BC Diodorus Siculus reports that the Celtic leader Brennus the Younger mocked statues of the Greek gods at the temple--"when he came only upon images of stone and wood he laughed at them, to think that men, believing that gods had human form, should set up their image in wood and stone."

But once the Celts had greater interaction with the Etruscans, Romans, and Greeks, the Celtic gods began to take human form. By the first century A.D., the Roman writer Lucan reports that Celtic woodcarvers created statues that were "grim-faced god-images, coarsely hewn from rough tree-trunks, bleached by the weather." It is possible that the Celtic deities of the European mainland became quite anthropomorphic, with many human characteristics. This was clearly the case in Ireland and in Britain, as told by the mythic literature. But such Celtic mythic tales were not written down in mainland Europe, so we don't know a great deal about the traits and stories of their gods. (Many of us end up trying to extrapolate based on Irish and Welsh mythology.)

Intermediaries of the Gods.... A discussion of the Celtic gods should offer a few words about the men who stood between the gods and mankind--the druids. This figure in Celtic society was highly educated (for twenty years), oversaw the religious rituals, and made pronouncements on faith and morals. According to Greek geographer Strabo, the bards were associated with the druids, as were diviners and seers called vates (in modern times called ovates).

The druids were holders of secret knowledge, and it is presumed that they oversaw the Celtic lunar calendar, which was important for crops and pastoral concerns. (The Coligny Calendar, dating from the first century BC, has been found in Burgundy, France; it used Roman letters to express about forty Celtic words in formulating a lunar calendar with assessments on which months were auspicious.) The word "druid" was Celtic for "wise man of the oaks." And the oak tree was quite important to the druids and the Celts. Important religious ceremonies took place in oak groves. Votive statue offerings were often made of oak wood. Even as far away as the Celtic province of Galatia in present-day Turkey, the religious gathering place was called Drunemeton or "oak sanctuary."

Caesar reports that in Gaul (present-day France), the druids had a an annual council in the center of that region, and that this "Council of Gauls" was presided over by a sort of chief druid, one who had the most prestige among the many. Major decisions affecting all the tribes were settled at the council. This meeting was held on Lughnasa (August 1), a festival along with Beltaine listed on the Coligny Calendar. Caesar also claims that the druids of Gaul often received their training in Britain, and gave much honor to the druids there.

Because the Celts believed in the immortality of the soul, whatever the druids said was of utmost importance (given that the druids knew the path towards a happy afterlife). Even in modern times new interest has been invested in the druids. In 1908, Winston Churchill accepted membership in the Albion Lodge of the Ancient Order of Druids. And present day druidic orders are enjoying increased applications for inclusion.