Donald E. Meek takes it personally. Celtophiles (59) and plastic surgeons (190) are stealing his cultural heritage and religion. The elements that make him what he is. Meek’s account of the events are scholarly based, witty, ironic, and at times his anger is quite visible. His humor is wonderful, and from time to time, I laughed out loud, as I read through his description of contemporary Celtic Christianity. At one time I put the library book aside, grabbed my computer and ordered my own copy from amazon.com, thinking that this was one of the text books I had to own.
Yes, I liked Meek’s book, his meekness in the introductory chapter, his way of confronting the contemporary Celtic Christianity and the way he stands up against what he considers to be a theft of his own personal identity.
The value of the book is though not found in the fact I like it. The book is an important reminder that when addressing foreign cultures, when talking about the other, we are talking about human beings. Meek’s accuses the Celtic Christianity movement of ‘interpreting the natives’ instead of listing to them. Meek refers to Dr. John Drane and his suggestion that “expiation of guilt” is perhaps a driving force in the movement. The movement tries to correct the wrongdoings of the past by giving the oppressed some kind of glorified status. According to Meek, this is just another way of suppression “by imposing still another level of obfuscation and Anglocentric misinterpretation on what remains of the supposed ‘Celts’” (31-32).
Meek rightly rejects the notion that Celtic tradition is a static reality, flowing unchanged from the past to the present. In his overview of various revivals, renewals or reinterpretations of the past it was interesting to me personally to see the similarities to my own cultural history. In the 11th and 12th Century, at the same time the Icelandic Sagas where written to describe the great Vikings and their pagan heritage, we see in Ireland what Meek calls
great literary ferment, especially within the monasteries and the scriptoria. Indeed, the earliest manuscripts that we have of the sagas and poems from Ireland were written down in this period (203).
Meek claims that during this period, monasteries encouraged “the growth of indigenous learning and culture” (206). Meek even seems to hint that tolerance towards the indigenous pagan traditions increased after the kin-based monastic communities started to collapse, and the reorganizing of the church in 11th century (142-143, 204-205). This would seem to fit the Icelandic model but all literature of the glorified days of the pagan Vikings is written after Christendom had become the only lawful religion in Iceland.
Similarly, there are strong similarities between the renewal in the 18th century in the Celtic lands and in Iceland. While Alexander Carmichael (1832-1912) and others collected Gaelic folklore, Jón Árnason (1819-1888) collected stories in Iceland. It is probably anachronism to talk about their tasks as an attempt to strengthen nationalism in their respective constituency, but as Meek points out “the collecting movement of the time both contributed to, and derived energy from, a broader social and political effort to enhance the profile of Scottish Gaels” (60).
The late 20th century renewal of Celtic Christianity has also some similarities in the Iceland. However, the stark difference this time is that while native artists like Sigurros and Bjork lead the Icelandic cultural renewal. The contemporary Celtic renewal is, according to Meek at least, led by people that don’t speak Gaelic languages and have limited knowledge about the multifaceted past.
Meek points at various examples were the past has been mistranslated. One, being the glorified version of the anamchara or soul friend, brought to us by writers like de Waal, as a wonderful example of the spiritual guide of the 21st century. According to Meek, the anamchara was, however, the beginning of the private penance of the whole Western Christendom, with “extensive codification, by which lists of sins were compiled and penances prescribed for each” (97). The anamchara was not “a spiritual chum” to use Meek’s words, “but a stringent physician of the soul” (97). Similarly, Meek assumes that the image of the wandering Irish monk is not all that it seems.
It is all too common to encounter the view that ‘Celtic Christianity’ was, in essence, a constant process of journeying, involving peregrini (‘pilgrims’) who ‘popped off’ somewhat casually to undertake ‘spiritual journeys’ with which we today can readily identify. (171)
Meek claims that this practice of spiritual journeys was in fact “strictly regulated” and not seen positively by all abbots. Meek reminds us as well that not all “spiritual journeys” were without a purpose.
Irish monks were glad to travel to Rome, and to experience Peter’s great city. As a result, they reinforced their links with the Holy See, and brought home sacred souvenirs – relics and treasures which enhanced the status of their churches and monasteries. (171)
Here we have the third, common misconception of the contemporary Celtic Christianity. Even though there was tension about the date of Easter, it does not mean the Celts were isolated from the rest of the western world (113,139). One example is of course Pelagius, which by some is considered to have been very influential in the formation of “true” or perhaps “pure” Celtic theology, but he stayed in Rome for a while.
This contemporary renewal is in Meek’s opinion, different from earlier renewals, as it is not aimed at the needs of Celts, but an attempt of ‘others’ to identify with a meaningful past, that essentially is not theirs (58) but can be reconstructed at will to fit some unfulfilled needs.
Meek’s critic of contemporary Celtic Christianity is important. It is hard to reject his accusations about a stolen identity. However, I think we cannot ignore the fact that people are searching desperately for a meaning, and the concept, introduced as contemporary Celtic Christianity seems to fill some gap in people’s life. Understandably, Meek is not really interested in doing that. His writing is not an attempt to appease “celtophiles” and their followers, but claim back what he thinks is rightfully his.
Having said that, Meek actually gives some clues for the seekers when he asks why ‘Celtic’ devotees in England seem completely unaware of their own Christian culture (144), and when he tells us that abbots were not always happy with the pilgrims. Perhaps, Meek is using the abbots to address us when he quotes them saying “those who had not already found God at home in Ireland were unlikely to find him elsewhere” (171).
Meek, Donald E. The Quest for Celtic Christianity. Edinburgh: Handsel Press, 2000.