The Druids, a
mystical order of people, have spurred legends and stories of magic, human
sacrifice, and ancient rites. Couple that with the believed magic of the standing
stones that pre-date written history and it seems like a match made in heaven!
The earliest
references to Druids are in the writings of Julius Caesar. He cited Greek and
Roman texts from 200 BCE. These lost writings depicted the Druids as wise Celtic
elders. The responsibility of these elders was to memorize the history and
knowledge of their tribe and pass the information on to the next generation to ensure
the future of their society.
Druids were
an elite group. Their training, done in secret caves and forests, prepared them
for the role of leader and lifelong position of judge and made them revered by
their people. Their leadership,
herbalist expertise, and later development of the Ogham alphabet, associated
with the Celtic lunar tree calendar, may have led to the idea that Druids were
strongly linked to nature. There is no doubt that the Druid’s vast knowledge gave
them unequaled power over their people.
They met
annually at a sacred place in a region owned by the Carnute tribe in the heart
of Gaul. Gaul was a large area in Western Europe that is now France,
Luxembourg, Belgium, as well as parts of Switzerland, Northern Italy, the
Netherlands and Germany. Without any written history, it is difficult to know the
ritual, political and clerical practices. However, if we look at documented
Celtic history we could make some assumptions.
The ancient Druids
were priests, teachers, physicians (herbalists), legislators, astronomers,
chemists, musicians, poets, theologians, philosophers, diviner, and judges of
their time. Their insight was highly respected and their religious, judicial,
and scholastic authority was absolute. Viewed as the conduit between the people
and the gods, they handed down their knowledge orally from generation to
generation.
Druid philosophies
focused on the supreme power of the universe and the belief that the soul was
indestructible/ immortal and after death passed on to another. The expansive
and diverse geography and number of tribes and cultures making up the Celts
explains why there are a variety of gods. This is one of the strongest factors
in supporting the theory that Druids did not teach religion but rather taught
their philosophy which gave order to the many different structures, instilled
morals, virtues and ethics. Kings and aristocrats admired the Druid as leaders
and teachers. They sought out Druids to teach their children.
Because the
common people held the Druids in such high regard, the Romans feared them. It
was the Druids that help lead the people and led them to successfully hold off Caesar’s
first invasion of Briton in 55 BCE. After Caesar won the second invasion in 54
BCE he ordered the extinction of the Druids. Caesar claimed the Druids
sacrificed criminals by burning them in a wicker effigy, the wicker man. But
other authorities claim Caesar’s information was all propaganda to demonize the
Druid and justify his move to eradicate them. While almost successful a few
Druids survived by hiding or converting to Christianity.
As with any
invading and winning army, the Christian church absorbed the Celtic religion.
Many of the pagan gods and goddess had new life as Christian saints with many
sites that held spiritual significance becoming locations of cathedrals. By the
7th century CE, Druidism was all but destroyed or had gone into hiding.
In medieval
tales from Ireland, the Druids were portrayed as sorcerers with super natural
powers. In the 18th and 19th centuries, fraternal groups
and neo-pagan organizations revitalized the ideas held by the Druids resulting
in a resurgence in Druidic beliefs. Today, modern Druidism is one of the pagan
religions which include Wicca, Asatru, Shamanism.
I was drawn to the romance and magic of the Druids and based my series, The Druid Knights, on them.
If you are
wondering about the picture at the top of this month’s blog, I couldn’t find a compelling picture of a Druid but I found Gerard Butler from the movie 300 *sigh* If you find a picture of a Druid, please send
it along.
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