The Weird and Wonderful Religious Practices and Beliefs of Pre-Christian Britain

1. There is a theory that Buddhism may have established itself in British before Christianity

Two thousand three hundred years ago, the Mauryan king, Ashoka became a Buddhist convert and zealously began to practice his new faith. The previously warlike king abandoned conquest and began to establish free water, aid and hospitals to his people- a fledgeling welfare state. However, Ashoka was also determined to spread the message of Buddhism. So he began to send out missionaries-some of whom made it to Ireland and Britain.

According to David Mackenzie, Ashoka’s missionaries reached Britain before even Julius Caesar. The religion did not dominate the island as Ashoka may have hoped. However, this was probably because it blended with pre-existing druidic beliefs. The Celtic god, Cernunnos absorbed certain attributes of the Hindu Buddhist god Virupaksha – such as the horned snakes both gods are depicted holding. In addition, both religions held the common belief in reincarnation.

In this way, Buddhism could have survived in Britain. Its legacy may even have been felt in Celtic Christianity. Celtic Christianity was a moderate Christianity, more concerned with compassion than winning theological arguments. Until Rome banned it in the seventh century, Celtic Christianity was the Christianity of the surviving Romano British population, successfully blending the old religious beliefs and the new.

Where do we get this stuff? Here are our sources:

Constantine and Augustine, BBC: Christianity in Britain, April 27, 2011.

Prehistoric Brits Ate People and Then Turned Their Bones Into Art, Jen Viegas, Seeker, September, 8, 2017

An Upper Paleolithic engraved human bone associated with ritualistic cannibalism, Silvia M. Bello, Rosalind Wallduck, Simon A. Parfitt, Chris B. Stringer, PLOS One, August 9, 2017

Earliest Directly-Dated Human Skull-Cups, Silvia M. Bello, Simon A. Parfitt, Chris B. Stringer, PLOS One, February 16, 2011

The secrets of Paviland Cave, Stephen Moss, The Guardian, April 25, 2011

First Britons, Lisa Hendry, Natural history museum,15 November 2016

Prehistoric Britons mummified their dead like the ancient Egyptians, research reveals, The Independent, October 1, 2015

Mummification in Bronze Age Britain. T.J. Booth, A.T. Chamberlain and M. Parker Pearson. Antiquity. Vol. 89, October 2015.

The Practice of Human Sacrifice, Dr Michael Parker Pearson, BBC History, February 28, 2011

Encyclopedia of Mysterious Places: The Life and Legends of Ancient Sites around the World, Robert Ingpen and Philip Wilkinson, Viking Studio Books, 2000

An Introduction to Prehistoric England (Before AD 43), English Heritage.