Where the Celts Came From - Article Based on "The Old Religion"
To look at the origin of the Old Religion from the Celtic perspective it is necessary to give a sense in which the terms Celtic and Old Religion are being used in. It is being used as a reference to those places which during historical times were of mainly Celtic speech. It follows, that there were certain districts that existed and spoke a Celtic dialect that was not of the same genetic lines of which is being spoken of here.
Evidence clearly establishes that in Britain, man had lived for ages before any introduction of any Indo-European speech was spoken. It would hold plausible that this would have been true for the whole of the Western and Southern parts of Europe. It is also clear that the dialects of Indo-European speech, known now as Celtic, are closely related to the Italic family (which of course is within the Latin family of languages).
Therefore, in looking for the natural center of dissemination of Celtic language it is natural to look for the center of Italic languages as well. It is in looking for this common center we follow the conquests and commercial intercourse of the tribes which spoke Celtic to the various districts that these tribes occupied over the course of historic times. It is of logical thought, the common centers radiated from the districts of Noricum and Pannonia. The Celts and Italians joined together forming an aristocracy that extended the range of the language and beliefs into India and Persia, Armenia, and Greece including the areas where the original speakers of the Teutonic and Slavonic tongues may have originated from.
It is generally an accepted theory that from this center the Indo European language could have radiated eastwards and westwards. In the district between Carpathia and the Steppes, some form of kindred dialect of communication was established. As the tribes migrated and penetrated in Central Europe with conquests and trade, a variation of the speech was derived.
The dialect deviation is not uniform in any country or district, therefore the amount of Celtic blood or Old Religion heritage lines vary greatly and is spread out vastly across the lands. The result being that a majority of language and dialects of Europe today are a variation of the Indo European type. Although, it does not necessarily follow that just because the language dialect migrated that all the religious idea's and artistic beliefs to the Indo European speaking tribes. Much of the origin of the nameless divine is convoluted by regional adaptation.
Further, critical investigation clearly distinguish a defined line between the developmental factors of life which evolution of human kind and their belief system followed more or less independent lines outside the influence of other tribes.
The physical history of race forms is a problem by itself to be studied both by anthropological and ethnological methods. Language has often spread along lines other than those of race. Investigation shows the material civilization followed neither by racial or linguistically lines. Archaeologist are also studying the ancient trade routes to see what the impact of trade may have been on the influence of ideals. Similarly, the spread of religious idea and thought is something which seems to have advanced along lines all of its own accord. As with linguistically, the religious ideology should be conducted by comparative studies in theology.