Celtic Polytheism - Burial and Afterlife

Burial and Afterlife

Celtic burial practices, which included burying food, weapons, and ornaments with the dead, suggest a belief in life after death.

The druids, the Celtic learned class which included members of the clergy, were said by Caesar to have believed in reincarnation and transmigration of the soul along with astronomy and the nature and power of the gods.

A common factor in later mythologies from Christianised Celtic nations was the otherworld. This was the realm of the fairy folk and other supernatural beings, who would entice humans into their realm. Sometimes this otherworld was claimed to exist underground, whilst at other times it was said to lie far to the west. Several scholars have suggested that the otherworld was the Celtic afterlife, though there is no direct evidence to prove this.