For the Celt the year began in November, so that its second half-year commenced with the first of May.

The idea to which Caesar refers, that the Gauls believed themselves descended from Dis, the god of the lower world, and began the year with the night, counting their time not by days but by nights, points in the same direction, namely that the darkness of the earth had a greater hold on the mind than the brightness of the sky.

The Welsh terms for a week and a fortnight, _wythnos_ (eight nights) and _pythefnos_ (fifteen nights) respectively confirm Caesar's statement.

To us now it may seem more natural to associate religion with the contemplation of the heavens, but for the Celtic lands at any rate the main trend of the evidence is to show that the religious mind was mainly drawn to a contemplation of the earth and her varied life, and that the Celt looked for his other-world either beneath the earth, with her rivers, lakes, and seas, or in the islands on the distant horizon, where earth and sky met.

This predominance of the earth in religion was in thorough keeping with the intensity of religion as a factor in his daily pursuits.