There have been many changes in our attitude to ancient gods and goddesses in the last hundred years: until the nineteenth century they were almost entirely considered to be aspects of a classical scholar's Greek or Roman education, fit for poets but not for worship. Three hundred years or so earlier, the Renaissance revived a flood of classical Greek and Roman pagan material but, apart from very specific and often secret esoteric traditions or magical arts, the was generally assembled within an overall Christian context and a Christian orthodox society. Many of the confused modern attitudes to classical pagan mythology may be traced back to the enthusiasm and vivid imagery of Renaissance artists and writers.

Many of the beliefs and customs of the acient Celtics persist even today in western culture. Even when the repressive straitjacket of decayed Christianity was unfastened in the twentieth century, acient Celtic gods and goddesses were still considered to be "variants" of the classical pantheon. Today we have an extreme swing in the opposite direction, in which modern neo-pagan claim to worship and establish satisfactory relationships with ancient god and goddess form" this revoution is particularly strong in its emphasis of the feminie powers, those of goddesses or the Godess.

How effective such paganism may be in the improving our lives or in changing modern society constructively is impossible to estimate at present, but it seems likely that modern revivals often shoot wide of the mark when they aim at restoring ancient forms and techniques of worships.  In this context we should obviously exclude the more absurd lunatic elements, and consider only serious and, hopefully, well-researched efforts at offering alternative forms of worship, wonder and fruit for the imagination in a materialist culture.

Increasing understanding of Celtic tradition began throughout nineteenth-century reappraisal of Celtic literature, a powerful movement which led to a paraell understanding in modern archaeology. Today Celtic gods and godesses are accepted by academic authorities as true and complex entities, rather than obscure curiosities vaguely related to classical pantheons; and increasingly they are understood as genuine magical religious and social forces in the ancient world. But exactly how the gods and goddesses of the Celts interacted with each other and with their worshippers is a matter that has given various and often contradictory interpretations. The Victorian scholars, to whom we owe a great deal, liked to generate inclusive rational systems, into which they then tried to fit or even force Celtic myths, legends and deities. Such systems do not always help us to approach and understand the inner nature of Celtic religion, mythology and magic.