Do the Celtic Peoples still believe in forgiveness?

[bradjobborn]

This post is to ask a question... Do the Celtic peoples still believe in forgiveness? In my life I have done a few things in my life that I am not proud of. I have paid my debt to society by endouring a prison term that a group of 12 sentenced me to. Now that I am free I find that people are not as responsive to me as they once were. As tho I had not paid the price that was asked of me. Infact I still pay the price by living in less than squaller. I have tried to find a proper place to turn to ask for help and I keep getting doors shut in my face and rushed away with broomsticks. LOL. I find that I am not the only one that this has happened to and I would like to encourage them to find eachother and create a place for us to be. I hope that in time the mainstream pagans will allow us to partake of their festivals because we are not animals... We are of all the GODS' creation and I thank Them for all the lessons that I have had to learn... Whether they have been hard or easy. Thank you and I welcome any responses to this post. I live California and hope that those close to me really pay attention to the world that is around them. Best wishes and Blessed Be... Brad Jobborn

[Reyna]

Depends on what you did. Speaking for myself and the people I know we fully believe in forgiveness. We also believe in common sense and keeping our loved ones safe. We can forgive the dog for biting, but that doesn't mean we are going to run up and pet it.

[kytty]

Yes I believe the Celtic peoples DO have an affinity for forgiveness.

I have no personal knowledge of you or what you have done, only what you have written in this post and it leads me to ask the question...

Do you?

I agree with Reyna's point.

kytty

[Art]

Forgiveness was never arbitrary or without consideration but rather followed appropriate contrition on the part of the offender along with appropriate compensation and restitution to the victim(s). When you say:

I have paid my debt to society by endouring a prison term that a group of 12 sentenced me to.

It raises the question of whether you are laying blame on the part of the 12 or accepting responsibility for your own actions...regardless of what those actions happened to be. Thus it would appear that the sole responsibility for redeeming your own honour price rests in your own hands as demonstrated by the way in which you conduct your life from this point forward. I think that will be the hallmark of the degree of acceptance and forgiveness you receive in the community by Pagans and others alike.

[Twyrch]

Depends on what you did. Speaking for myself and the people I know we fully believe in forgiveness. We also believe in common sense and keeping our loved ones safe. We can forgive the dog for biting, but that doesn't mean we are going to run up and pet it.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Forgiveness doesn't have anything to do with religion or doing a favor for another person, it is about purification of your own soul. By not forgiving, you allow the hatred, anger and bitterness to fill you and poison you. While you may never forget what happened, and will never put yourself in that situation again, you can let it go and forgive, so you can move on with your own life.

[Badger Bob]

I have paid my debt to society by endouring a prison term that a group of 12 sentenced me to.

That isn't paying your debt to society, that is just the punishment. Celtic cultures and indeed most northern european cultures value deeds very highly, both in the past and today - a person is known by their reputation built through service. Your payment starts now in the form of service to the people around you, putting something back into the society that you hurt. It will take time but starting small and working your way up is a valuable lesson, nothing is easy and you only get out of life what you put in. These are rather trite stock phrases but they have more than a grain of truth. If you really work at being someone of value to people around you then eventually you will be able to hold your head up and be proud of yourself, and people around you will be proud to have you as part of their community. The first step is admitting that you have done wrong, now look around you and see what you can do right.

I wish you every success on your path.

[bradjobborn]

Thank You All... There have been many views on this and I am completely in agreement with most of them. I now must say that, NOW, I do not blame those that handed down my sentence. I only blame myself and I am working on the life long quest to make myself a better person for my community and myself. Thanks again to you all. I hope to hear from you again. There are so many different ways to look at this and I will listen to all views. Blessed Be.

[Gus]

Sorry but the question contains an absurd generalisation . Some celtic people believe in forgiveness some people dont . Personally I dont care what you've done just what you do now. its like saying "do Americans believe in forgiveness" - there's all sorts of people in every culture. As far as most countries that would be called celtic go - well they are mostly catholic or protestant and so yes belive in forgiveness, but to be honest there isn't really a "celtic " people - celtic is an umbrella term that includes a lot of different people. Do the Irish believe in forgiveness you could ask - well some do some dont - also depends what mood they're in !
One thing I can tell you though - in Ireland they used to have something called "Brehon law" this was a system of justice based on compensation not punishment. For example if you murdered somebody you would have to work to pay that family to replace the income lost by the loss of their loved one for the rest of your days. If you hurt somebody so they couldnt work you had to pay for their medical care and support their family till they were better.
Yuo have paid your debt to society - but really society should be getting you to pay the people you hurt. However prison is big business in the states I hear and has little to do with compensating the victims of crime - rather lining the pockets of those who benefit from the prison system.
I wish you the best in your new life - be the person you want to be.

[Gus]

Here is an ancient Irish story concerning crime, compensation and forgiveness :

http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/gafm/gafm06.htm

[Twyrch]

Forgiveness.jpg (20.9 KiB) Viewed 789 times

[Aoife]

Forgiveness.jpg

This just helped me immensely. Thank you.

Well, I thought it did...and it does. I've had several instances in my life where what was done to me has made me...so angry...I want to forgive...every time I think about it get mad though...I keep telling myself it's just freeing myself and I try to meditate on it...the only time I don't feel angry about it is when I'm out in nature or in my tree in my backyard. When I'm back in "society" I feel this rage towards them because nothing happened for their nefarious actions. (Sorry, not trying to steal the focus here)