You know, it's always struck me that out of the ever-growing strands and subtypes of neopagan reconstructionism, Celtic Reconstructionists generally seem to be the flakiest. This could, of course, simply be an unfavourable impression garnered from the inside (familiarity breeding contempt, of course), but if you read a number of articles, blogs and sites (mainly written by Americans), it seems very much as if the spectre of that ghastly mythical creature, the Wild and Romantic Celt, is still haunting CR. It's all Tain and Tuatha de Danann, filid and fianna. Nobody seems all that bothered about communities or personal practice as they're all too busy buggering about in the countryside looking for imbas and being inspired by nature. Everyone wants to be a bard or a warrior, but nobody really fancies being a taeog. It seems that everyone has the Morrigan as their patron and nobody gives a shit about Moguns.
Now, if it seems that all Celtic Reconstructionists want to be bards, then what of the other reconstructionist groups? Asatruar obviously all want to be Vikings, and Hellenists are split between wanting to be philosophers or bacchants (or both.) Roman reconstructionists are a staid lot, and most I believe would secretly really like to be Cato the Elder. Adherents of Romuva, as far as I can tell, just want to be left alone.
It is Romuva that I have the greatest respect for.
This is why the whole thing just left me a bit cold in the end. Too interested in the Celts to be interested in Celtic Reconstructionism (and -ists.)
Also there's the complete disjunction between the translated basics of medieval Welsh and Irish literature (which is what every frumpy girl from Wisconsin called 'Cherish' half-reads) and the ever-growing archaeological and epigraphic evidence for Iron Age religious practice (which very few people read.) As a result when Cherish goes to college and changes her name to Rhiannon Mystweaver NicLyr (ugh), she is of course more interested in pretending she's been to Falias and back rather on the astral than trying to get into the religious mindset of a 1st century BC Gaulish peasant. Much less exciting, much less opportunity to wear your 'magickal' name in misspelled ogham on a bit of wood around your neck, much less scope for purple cloaks and bad henna dye-jobs. CR---it's all basically LARPing, for most people.