Sinnsreachd is a polytheistic religion that bases its core cultural, social, and religious doctrine off of the extant customs and superstitions of rural Ireland and Scotland combined with modern restorations of society, culture, and customary law gleaned through its practitioners’ research. While external observers may consider Sinnsreachd to be a "neopagan" religion, it’s practitioners find that term to be highly offensive.

Basics of Sinnsreachd-

Terminology

Sinnsreachd is a Gàidhlig (Scots-Gaelic) word that means, in this context, "Customs of the Ancestors"¹, and its Gaeilge (Irish-Gaelic) equivalent is Sinsearacht. Adherents to Sinnsreachd refer to themselves as Sinnsreachdaidh, Sinnsreachdaidhean plural, in Gàidhlig, and Sinsearaí, Sinsearaithe plural, in Gaeilge². The term Sinnsreachd has multiple meanings depending on context, including succession, ancestry, etc., but in this context it is used to refer to the customs of one’s ancestors and implies one is a follower of those customs.

Members of the Sinnsreachd faith do not accept the labels of "pagan" or "neopagan"³, preferring that their faith simply be called Sinnsreachd or Sinsearacht, depending on their linguistic base. They describe Sinnsreachd as a polytheistic cultural religion⁴, referring to Sinnsreachd’s many deities and the inseparable relation between the culture and religious beliefs they follow. While they do find the term "heathen" acceptable to some extent, they are quick to point out that this term is more accurately used today to describe Germanic and Norse polytheistic religions⁵.

The historical origins of Sinnsreachd are hard to pinpoint due to a variety of reasons, not the least of which being the initial lack of organizations or literature. Unlike similar Germanic religions such as Ásatrú, the practitioners of the Sinnsreachd faith did not organize or become a public entity until the early 1990’s⁶, and thus there is little to pinpoint the exact origins of the faith. It appears that Sinnsreachd evolved independently and along similar lines in many places, including Scotland, the United States, and Australia, from the late 1970’s onward⁷. Much of this seems to have been related to or inspired by the contemporary Germanic religious revivals that occurred at that time, though the Sinnsreachd movement was not a direct spin-off of these revivals.

Since Sinnsreachd is not a centralized faith, there is no single organized body to which one can turn to get an understanding of when it started and how. Practitioners of the faith state that their Gods inspired them to find their heritage and their faith⁸, while others state that it seems to have been a Gaelic-flavored version of the Germanic revivals occurring in the mid-to-late 20^th century⁹.

Sinnsreachd is a religion that involves secular cultural elements, though it is often stated to be a culture with religious elements entwined in it instead¹⁰. In objective review, it appears to be a roughly 60% culture, 40% religion split. There is no central body that oversees or dictates Sinnsreachd customs, culture, or religious beliefs, but the practitioners of Sinnsreachd recognize each other based on their adherence to cultural and religious doctrines that are along the same general lines.

Socially, the Sinnsreachd are a tribal faith, grouping into small to medium tribe-like family-based groups¹¹. The smallest of these groups is the household, called a teaghlach, teaghlaigh plural, comprised of a family of persons living under one roof or in one general household such as a farmstead. The next largest of these groups is the kin-group, or fine, finte plural (fineachan plural in Gàidhlig), which is comprised of everyone in a particular family group related by blood or marriage from a common ancestor. Different varieties of these kin-groups exist, but the most commonly seen version is the dearbhfine, dearbhfhinte plural (dearbhfineachan plural in Gàidhlig), which is all persons descended from a common ancestor out four generations¹².

The largest organizational body of the Sinnsreachd faith is called a tuath, tuatha plural, or clann, clanna plural. The tuath has been roughly equated to mean "tribe", and is considered to be all members of the Sinnsreachd faith in a cohesive body living in a particular geographical area¹³. It could be considered to be the Sinnsreachd equivalent to a diocese, but others would argue with that assertion.

Social organization of these bodies is comprised of hierarchal classes of persons, often referred to as castes. These castes are based around occupation and position within the tribe. Examples of such castes would include craftsmen, warriors, poets, religious functionaries, lore-keepers, farmers, etc. Leadership is comprised of a chieftain, called either a taoiseach or rí, and a form of tribal parliament made up of the heads of each kin group called a ceann fine, ceanna fine plural (cinn fineachan plural in Gàidhlig)¹⁴.

The origins of the theology, culture, mysticism, and customs of the Sinnsreachd faith come from a variety of sources, including family customs and superstitions¹⁵, traditions still found in the Gaelic communities of Ireland and Scotland¹⁶, customs and traditions recorded in the 19^th and early 20^th century in these countries¹⁷, as well as the Gaelic-speaking Diaspora populations in the Americas and Australia, customary laws found within the Fénechas (a.k.a. "Brehon Law")¹⁸, and from religious history and recorded lore found in the manuscripts of the Leabhar na Núachongbála (The Book of Leinster), Leabhar na nUidre (The Book of the Dun Cow), Leabhar Baile an Mhota (The Book of Ballymote), Leabhar Mór Mhic Fhir Bhisigh (The Great Book of Lecan), Leabhar Buidhe Lecain (The Yellow Book of Lecan), and the Leabhar Feirmoithe (The Book of Fermoy).

The members of the Sinnsreachd faith state that they compiled these elements through decades of research and compiled them into a cohesive faith, modernizing and de-Christianizing the laws, traditions, and the religious histories and customs found within the aforementioned manuscripts. The end result is a modern interpretation of Iron Age Gaelic culture and belief¹⁹.

The basics of the Sinnsreachd faith are universal, but many of the minor details may differ from organization to organization. These basics include veneration of the Gods of the Tuatha de Dannan, particularly the core deities Nuada, Lugh, an Mórríghan, Dana/Danu, Goibhniu, Manannan Mac Lír, Dian Cecht, an Dagda, Bríd (a.k.a. Brighid), and Bóann²⁰. Other universal aspects of the Sinnsreachd faith are the celebration of the four fire festivals- Samhain, Imbolc (or Oímelc), Bealtaine, and Lughnasadh- with feasts and tribal celebrations, the adherence to a code of ethics and morals spelled out in various poems called Triads, a belief in an afterlife and reincarnation, veneration of ancestor-spirits, and a recognition of the spirits of the three realms considered sacred by Sinnsreachd- land, sea, and sky²¹.

Sinnsreachd organizations have memberships which span the entire political spectrum of the nations in which they are found. Most practitioners are members of the aforementioned tribal groups and practice their faith communally. There are, however, a number of self-identified solitary practitioners who practice their religion alone with their family, often due to the lack of a nearby tribal group. Despite the wide divergence of beliefs and politics, the common denominators amongst adherents of Sinnsreachd are the goals of reviving and practicing the basics of the culture and beliefs of the pre-Christian Gael.

Sinnsreachd practitioners are generally tolerant about many issues, seeming to prefer a live-and-let-live approach, but have strong negative views of sexism (against either gender) and racism²². Sinnsreachd practitioners seem to make no bias one way or another in who they choose as leaders or for other positions based on gender²³. Likewise, while many critics have charged that the practitioners of Sinnsreachd are obsessed with blood lineage, there is no doctrine or stated stance held by any known Sinnsreachd group that excludes anyone not of a specific bloodline or even ethnic heritage. On the contrary, they state that culture matters more than blood, and that anyone who follows their culture is a part of it, regardless of ethnicity²⁴.

Tribal Groups