Abstract

Any explanation of numbers and numeric occurrences in Celtic tradition (myths, imagery, schemes, realia, lore) requires an analysis of the whole context, for in no manner are they relevant of a kind of numerology. Most of these figures are deeply rooted in cosmological, seasonal, cyclic patterns, with analogical and metaphorical values in different fields (theories of wisdom, war, body politics), so that we can explain them by the inherited experiences of Indo-European culture, requiring then a periodization. The Divine Twins, the twofold sovereignty, the Three Skies and the Three functions, the four provinces and the fifth, the festivals, the voyage to the Otherworld with its special time and calendar implications, are relevant of this conception. Here we are dealing with some numeral occurrences in relation with the year as a rythmical image of power.