Now I actually read this last year, but I kept some notes because I thought at one stage I would make a video talking about the lessons of this book.
Now before I begin to elaborate on said book, I would like to aware you all of the fact that I've created a QA thread on Patreon and Subscribestars.
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Now anyway, on to the Celts.
And as it says, it's a brief history of the Celts.
It's not overly thick, it's quite concise and you know it gives a good introduction.
If you want to delve deeper into any particular area, there are of course plenty of other books, but this was recommended to me to give you know introduction to that time period.
And I have a few sections here in the book which I would like to elaborate on because I think that can it's a lesson from history that is applicable at our current stage in our civilization.
So first and foremost, in the chapter of Celtic Warriors, here you have Kernunnos.
I don't know if I even pronounced that correctly, but I posted actually this picture to Jotunheim Nutrition's Instagram page the other day.
If you're on Instagram, you can follow me there as well or follow the supplement company.
I try to post a bit about mythology, etc.
Primarily Nordic, but also Celtic and Slavic and you know interesting stuff.
So yeah, anyway, on to the quote.
To the Celts, warfare was a matter of honor, which could begin and end in a personal single combat.
It was often a matter of individual courage.
Generally, the Celts were not interested in central authority and discipline.
They thought and acted as individuals and were natural anarchists.
In modern times, these attributes are seen as laudable.
In ancient times, they were the reason for the downfall of the Celtic peoples.
Does this sound familiar to you?
It sounds very familiar to me.
You know, it's the curse of the Western man, this constant individualism.
Everyone wants to be his own boss, and no one wants to subjugate himself to a hierarchy or authority.
And, you know, in comes someone who works as a collective, completely demolishes the people at hand.
So he talks about the Roman invasion of Gaul, you know, Romans under the blasphemous Julius Caesar.
I don't like Caesar.
I will talk about this in a later video.
But briefly, I don't like him because of the way he treated Veresingetoriks.
I think it was completely unnecessary to treat Versingetoriks with the lack of respect.
You know, if you have won a great victory, you can show some humility, because then you can afford to, you don't need to humiliate a vanquished foe.
So basically, what happened was that when Vesingetorix surrendered to Caesar, he was brought to Rome and was held captive there until Caesar had completed his conquest of Gaul.
And upon the return of Caesar to Rome, when they had their triumph, they brought out Vercingetorix to be executed, basically.
So not a particularly glorious and honourable end.
If I had been Caesar, I would have perhaps executed him with honor directly or come up with some other solution.
But the way it was handled now is not something I can endorse.
That's another video, though.
Just throwing it out there.
I'm not a fan of Julius Caesar.
Now, anyway, point being, the Celts, the Gauls, fought, as it says, as individuals.
The Romans came in with their military hierarchy, military discipline, and conquered the Gauls.
So think of that today.
All libertarians.
At this moment in time, we can't afford to be all too individualistic.
We need to work as a collective if we are to overcome the challenges that our great civilization stands in the midst of.
So anyway, that was one worthy lesson.
Another worthy lesson, or something I thought was interesting at least.
So also the aforementioned Julius Caesar.
And I quote from the book here.
However, Caesar goes overboard when he says of the British Celts.
And this is a quote from Caesar then.
Wives are shared between groups of 10 or 12 men, especially between brothers and between fathers and sons.
But the offspring of these unions are counted as the children of the man with whom a particular woman cohabited first.
And then the author, so Peter Beresford Ellis, continues, This is a total misrepresentation of the polygamous society of the early Celts.
The Romans seemed preoccupied with the liberated attitude of the early Celts.
Dio Cassius comments on the fact that the Empress Julia Augusta criticized what you saw as a lack of morals in the way Celtic women were free to choose their husbands and lovers and did so openly without subterfuge.
The object of her criticism was the wife of a North British chieftain named Argen Tocoxos.
No idea if I pronounced that correctly, but yeah, a British chieftain at least.
The encounter took place early in the third century AD.
According to Dio Cassius, the wife of Argen Tokoxos turned to the Empress and replied with dignity.
We Celtic women obey the demands of nature in a more moral way than the women of Rome.
We consort openly with the best men, but you of Rome allow yourselves to be debauched in secret by the vilest.
It is not recorded how the Empress reacted.
So yeah, they're having a bit back and forth, the British Celtic women and the Roman women on who is more degenerate, basically.
And there is something to be said here about conquering others and finding it just cause for war, it just causes for colonization, etc.
And that is, if you have an immoral people, if you have a people who are degenerate, you know, as Caesar says, these Gauls, these Celts, they share wives between ten men, you obviously feel a disgust in your body as hearing that.
Now, Cicer lied.
It was not the case that the Celts had this sort of unnatural Family constellations, but he says this to justify his own conquest because no one likes promiscuity, basically.
And that is also used as an excuse to conquer a people.
So, if we take today's example, if you have Muslims on one hand who have maybe a stricter moral code than our contemporary Western liberals have, you know, it can be seen as a just cause to bring Islam or bring some more moral guideline to these degenerates.
Same thing here.
You know, they say the other side is more degenerate to prove their own moral superiority.
And if you have a moral advantage, you have a better claim to your own independence.
So it's almost like the Romans say you are degenerates, we need to conquer you.
The British say you and Rome are the true degenerates because you.
And I quote again, I thought it was a fun quote here: you allow yourself to be.
You allow yourself to be debauched in secret by the vilest.
And you know, the Romans were quite degenerate, especially towards the end of the Roman Empire.
So, yeah, important lesson: don't be degenerate.
Then I have another little thing I thought was interesting here.
So, another passage here: like their fellow Indo-Europeans, the Hindus, the Celts regarded water with veneration and they had their sacred rivers.
They bathed in them and offered votive gifts to the deities of the springs and rivers.
These offerings included wooden models of themselves or the affected part of their limbs, together with all manner of treasures.
Most Celtic river names are identified with goddesses.
The Marn, for example, comes from Matrona, which means mother.
So, yeah, I thought that was a nice little thing to know: the sacredness of waters and the shared similarities between ancient religions.
Now, of course, if any Indian men of power are watching this, you need to clean up your rivers.
It's sacrilegious to pollute them so much.
But anyway, this is not a video about such sad matters.
I'm just throwing it out there.
If you believe in a religion who views rivers, etc., as holy, you can't pollute them.
Now, on to the last thing in the book I thought was worthy of mentioning is the following.
And I quote from the book: They also noticed that the motions of the moon could, in some cases, affect men and women and their mental attitudes.
From these initial observations, there developed a belief that the motions of what were then thought of as stars influenced individuals and events on Earth.
So, what you're talking also about here is the moon.
And this, of course, correlates with something I have written about and talked a little bit about.
And I thought to yeah, tie it into what they're talking about here.
Full moon can alter your and this might be a bit-I don't have any exact scientific study.
I have looked at some studies that say that there are more violent crime during the full moon.
These were two British studies.
You can google them if you want.
So, here is one study titled Full Moon and Crime.
And you can see in the abstract here that the incidence of crimes reported to three police stations in different towns, one rural, one urban, one industrial, was studied to see if it varied with the days of the lunar cycle.
The incident of crimes committed on full moon days were much higher than on all other days.
I can link this in the description box below as well.
But anyway, I've noticed on myself that I am a bit stronger during full moon.
That I have, you know, prepared exactly the same.
I have actually tested this.
I did this last year.
So I did deadlifts on as many full moons as I could and compared it to the non-full moon deadlifting sessions.
And I noticed there was a difference.
I couldn't explain it in any other way than it was full moon.
Then of course it could have been a bit of a placebo as well.
That you know I thought now it's full moon so now I will be extra strong.
But there might be something in it.
There might be something that ties into the legends of werewolves as well.
You know that you have men transforming into werewolves during full moon because it alters your mentality a bit.
And you can think about this yourself.
Do you have problems sleeping during full moon?
You might be a bit more agitated.
I know I am.
I have a harder time sleeping in full moon.
So yeah, that is interesting to, you know, many different cultures have this relationship with the moon, with the full moon.
Something primordial.
Also, I will admit when I created the Varulsbrugde, which means werewolves brew, so the pre-workout it was intended to take during full moons.
Then of course you can take it every day if you want, just that it's quite high in caffeine.
So but yeah, I wanted to invoke that feel of you know you transform into a werewolf during full moon, come extra aggressive, have a really good session in the Temple of Iron, make the most out of the ancient knowledge we can derive from cultures and mythologies.
So full moon deadlift and I will make a wild hunt video on it, you know, where I encourage you to deadlift under during full moon.
But I will do it when the corona pandemic is over and we can all get back to the gym.
So anyway, that was just some thoughts I picked up while reading this.
