Denoting Celtic Deism?

Hey guys, tonight I happened by the Half Price Bookstore and, as often occures, I found a book that I've been wanting to add to my personal Library for a while, now: TGE Powell's "The Celts"! Anyway, he said exactly what other Celktic scholars have said: that the Celts had a type of inter-tribal religion whereby the singular male god of each tribe (personified by the chiftain, pressumibly) was mated to the tribal land-goddess, rather than having a polytheistic religion as so many Pagans often imagine. Hey, a later scholar (Barry Cunliffe) even used the exact same illustrative examples as he: Th Daghdha and The Morrighan. Moreover, based upon the evidence found in material culture, iconography, and medieval textual sources most (if not all) of the deities we have on record are merely different manifestations of epithets for each other. In other words (which is also based upon my research) The Morrighan is an identity (rather than merely associated with) Anu, as well as Challeach, Eire, Samain, and other named goddesses from the Continent who I can't think of right now.

So, I was wondering, is anyone present, aware of any theologically-based terms or denotations that can describe such a religious belief [examples of the sort of therms I'm after are: henotheism, polytheism, monotheism, et al.] ? I ask, of course, because if I describe it in these terms, and even seem to hint at (despite the evidence of my argument) a schema whereby "all gods are one god, and all goddesses are one goddess" I'd be pilloried as not only a "history revisionist", but a "Fluff Bunny" of the highest degree, because everyone has been told that such a schema is an invented fiction with no bases in ancient history that was advanced by we "Wiccans" (though I do not call myself by that title, because of it's "Fluffy" connotations, these days).

By the way, in re-reading many of my books by noted Celtic scholars (specialists in the field), I see that all of them are firm in their belief that the Insular lit. [the great Irish epics] represent and reflect the ancient Irish paganism to one extent or another, and are filled with evidence of gods and goddesses. But, when one reads Hutton's "The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles" he says with authoritarian zeal that these texts represent no pagan evidence nor present deities of any kind! How can he make these claims when they are no only so extremist, but atypical, and contrary to what actual specialists in the field of Celtic Studies are saying? Personally, I was also skeptical about his claim that he had Miranda Green read his sections on Celtic history when they were so far divorced from his actual views! One wonders what sections of his book she *actually* read? But, sadly, far too many Pagans uncritically cite Hutton, as though he is representative of all of academia (his authoritative voice is obviously detrimental in this regard; would it kill him to admit when he's speculating and use blatant qualifiers when a topic is still opoen to conjecture like European scholars are so fond of doing?!), when he's not--and they just don't understand that, I'm afraid. And, this is most worrisome of all!

Another thing that really bothers me about Pagans, as a whole, is their seemingly desperate NEED to pidgeon-hole certain so-called "Dark"-Goddesses, such as the Kali Ma and the Morrighan! As a result, if one doesn't define them as essentiually blood-thirsty, despite actual evidence to the contrary, they are labled with the upmost scorn! Kali is a primary example of this and contemporary Pagan ignorance to how She is factually worshipped! Unless one views Her as dangerous and threatening (even Deborah Lipp someone castigated me--as she is a Kali worshipper--for suggesting anything to the contrary, despite actual Hindu worship) in spite of the fact that Kali is generally not offered blood sacrifices (unless, of course, by the seeming fringe element) and in a great many districts (even in the US) she is viewed (even physically when Her statues are hewn) as compassionate and loving! But, we Pagans tend to remain ignorant of this evidence, and should we happen to hear it, we disregard it with blatant cavalear! But, my own goddess--The Morrighan--is another story.

In the following article: wicca.timerift.net/gods/morrigan.html The author sites one "historian" named TW Rolleston and goes on to claim that "historiants" (plural!) are against identifying the mother-goddess, Anu, with the Morrighan. But, how CAN they be when it's actually in the Irish epics where The Morrighan is listed as another identity OF (rather than a mere alternate "aspect" or association with) Anu! So, what "historians" is she talking about; and how can this Rolleston fellow be against this comperison when it's in black and white? I flipped through the book in question at the Half Price Bookstore, and Rolleston doesn't say; he just claims that another scholar identifies the two deities (as if they are seperate and entirely distinct personas), but he disagrees with such a position. Ugh... Crap like that makes me want to bash my red head in! LOL!

Okay, enough ranting from me, guys. ;o)