Introduction In todays New Age revival of mysticism and alternatives to organized religion, it is not surprising in the renewal of interest in Druids. This interest, however, is typically that of the “Visionary Celt,” that is, a romanticized view of Druids to suit the needs of todays New Age thinker. However, when looking at the written records, both Classical and the few Irish, we see the Druids in a different light. These sources are also not to be taken at face value either as both sources also coloured the Druids to suit their needs. Only the critical eye can remove the biases to see the truth underneath. In this essay I will attempt to uncover an idea of who the Druids really were.
The Druids - Defined
How the Classical authors saw the Druids
Since the Continental Celts (particularly those in Gaul) lived beside the Romans, it is not surprising that the Romans would have a lot to say about Druids. The main fascination of Greaeco-Roman historians for the Druids was their role in human sacrifice, an emphasis which may have been designed deliberately to disgust their readers as a practice typical of outlandish barbarians. Caesar on the Druids, for instance, must be seen in light of his deliberate embellishment of an alien priesthood for politico-propaganda purposes. Only weird and obscene rites such as head-hunting, human sacrifice, and divination by ritual murder, were curious and distasteful enough to be commented on in detail. Caesar on the respect afforded to the Druids:
They are concerned with religious matters, perform sacrifices offered by the state and by private individuals, and interpret omens. Many of the youth resort to them for education and they are held in high honour by the Gauls. They have the decision in nearly all the disputes that arise between the state and the individuals; if any crime had been committed, if any persons had been killed, if there is any dispute about a boundary, it is the druids who give judgment; it is they who settle the rewards and punishments. Any private person or any tribe refusing to abide by their decision is excluded from sacrifice. This is the heaviest punishment that can be inflicted; for those who so excluded are reckoned to belong to the godless and the wicked. All persons leave their company, avoid their presence and speech lest they should be involved in some of the ill-consequences of their situation. They can get no redress from injury and they are ineligible to any post of honour.
Caesar speaks of the rigorous training of the Druids, mainly the learning of the oral traditions by heart, which could go on as long as twenty years. He alludes to the Druids' interest in the natural world as well as religion. They taught that the souls of the dead underwent transmigration, apparently in order to prevent warriors from being afraid of death and thus make them more valour in battle. Caesar also remarks on the dedications of weapons and booty heaped on the ground in honour of the god of the winning side and of collecting the heads of the loser and proudly displaying them. However, Caesar also commented that the Gauls were a very religious people, and this is endorsed by the seeming presence of the gods everywhere - in rivers, mountains, and in each corner of Celtic territory- as well as by taboos and rituals.
Lucan said that the Druids worshipped gods in the woods without the use of temples; these groves were considered sanctuaries, sometimes sprinkled with human blood before certain rituals. In particular, on the island of Anglesy- where in a grim sacred grove, altars were drenched with human blood and entrails. Diodorus and Strabo describe the custom of stabbing victims and foretelling the future by observing the death-throes. Evildoers were imprisoned for five years and then killed by impaling; prisoners of war were used as sacrificial victims together, occasionally with their beasts; the victims could be burned alive in a huge wicker man-shaped image, or shot with arrows.
The Romans recorded that the Druids sacrificed condemned criminals. Judicial executions were no different elsewhere in Europe, including Saxony. The Romans wrote that such victims were tied into huge wicker man-shaped effigies and burned alive. There were also some forms of punishment in Celtic law deemed worse than death, such as banishment. Some mythologies describe one person's life being sacrificed so that a terminally ill noble would survive, thus indicating a belief in a cosmic balance of forces. The archeological record does reveal a number of sacrificial deaths, such as "triple-deaths", of which the most famous is the "Lindow Man", who was recovered from a bog near the border of Wales on 1st August 1984. He had been simultaneously strangled, drowned, and clubbed. The absence of any signs of struggle on the body seems to indicate that he did not resist the sacrifice but rather agreed to it willingly. To the Celts, death was not the frightening, final thing it is to most of us born in the 20th century and human sacrifice may not have been so immoral. Rather, it was a very special and powerful ritual, performed only in times of serious need.
Many of the writers writing about the Druids had never actually encountered any of them, but derived their material from a lost source by Posidonius. Again, although there has been some archaeological record of sacrifices and head hunting, it should be noted that the Classical authors also chose to ignore many of the good qualities of the Druids for their own needs and that their practices were different than theirs that they may have just ignored them.
How Celtic authors saw the Druids
It is well known that the Druids did not write their practices down; it is understandable then that the Celtic writers of the medieval period would rely mainly on the work of the classical writers. All that has been written was done so by Christian monks and so contains a Christian outlook and veneer. Their role in Irish myths appears mainly as wizards, masters of supernatural arts, instead of mearly learned men. The Druids of Caesar and other Classical writers play a large role in later literary works (The Tain and The Mabinogi) it is evident that medieval Irish and Welsh historians were fairly ignorant of the actual beliefs of the people about whom they wrote. However, these writers, being Christians did not like to be reminded too much of the pagan past.
There are a few examples contained in the Fionn cycle. Finn was reared by a Druidess, the Black Druid turns Finn's future wife into a swan, and, Eva, the stepmother of Lir's children, uses a Druidic wand to turn them into swans.
Probably the best source is from The Tain. He is seen as teaching one hundred students when Cuchulainn overhears Cathbad make a prediction about a warrior taking up arms for the first time. This prediction, mostly likely was based on the Coligny Calendar although the author of the Tain does not refer to it.
Contemporary Views
Nineteenth century romantics such as John Toland and Henry Hurle related the image of the white-garbed, bearded, male priest with a sickle. Romantic Druidism is the style of Druidism which developed in the early eighteenth century from the desire of mystically-inclined fraternal-order members (such as Freemasons) to develop an indigenous British mystical order. It is heavily influenced by fraternal-order occult groups such as Freemasons, ceremonial magicians, the Golden Dawn, and other similar groups, even to the extent of using Cabalistic ritual tools like the Enochian Key. Most of its claim to Celtic origin comes from the Arthurian myths, and the concepts of the Sacred King, the Grail Quest, and the Ordained Knight. It is characterized by a number of features that make it distinct from historical Druidism, although many Romantic Druids assert that theirs is the historically authentic Druidism. In some of their rituals they call upon the four classical elements, archangels, dragons, and non-celtic gods in ritual methods that resemble wizardly conjurations rather than otherworldly journeys. They often speak of the need for "shielding", as if all of nature's powers are malevolent and threatening, and it is the Druid's duty to subdue them. But these are somewhat exaggerated extremes.
Today, Druidic revival is coinciding with a Celtic culture and language revival. There are those who choose Druidism over other forms of neo-paganism. Perhaps a reason for that is because Druidism is not only a branch of neo-paganism, but also the subject of academic study. Druidism is often of interest to archaeologists, historians, and mythographers who don't necessarily consider themselves Druids, or even remotely pagan. Thus, there is a wealth of serious academic material available concerning the Druids, and many discover Druidism through it.
Finally, there are those who choose Druidism over more conventional Western religions that are more accepted and widespread, such as Christianity. An exploration of Druidism is for many people a revival of one of Western Europe's indigenous spiritualities. Many seek Asatru to revive Northern Europe's spirituality for much of the same reason. To those who feel alienated or harmed by Christianity, and there are many, and who still believe religion has a place in their lives, paganism is a viable, and healthy alternative.
However, some contemporary writers do not take the fanciful and romantic views of the Druids, nor the brutal, savage view of the Classical writers. One such writer, Morgan Llywelyn, in her novel The Druids, tried to balance all the evidence to give as accurate a view of the Druids that is possible with all the differing viewpoints. So, perhaps, it is possible to form an accurate picture of the Druids.
The Druids
Both Classical and Celtic writers agree on the three learned classes of Druids: Brehons, Vates, and Bards. However, it appears that there were also may subsections to the duties of each type.
Brehons: lawyers, judges, law interpreters and advisors, peacemakers, natural and moral philosophers, subsumers and consecrators of the land. They were a very revered class of Druids. They created and enforced laws on property, marriage, intertribal and intertribal conflicts, and international law. They also advised chieftains and Kings. Usually their laws were divinely given or based on precedent. The ignoring or disobeying of a Brehon law was considered a very serious matter and punishments (also prescribed by Brehons) were extreme.
Bards: poets, historians, guardians of sencha -ancient tradition and genealogy, satirists, speakers of a divine language (ritual incantations), and teachers. It was their duty to hold forth at ceremonial occasions, such as night vigils at holy wells; after religious services; at wakes, baby blessings, weddings, and house blessings; before battles; at the serving of ale; and at feasts and inheritances. Before the start of a voyage, before a court appearance, and before a hunt were also auspicious times for a tale. Bards were keepers of the heroic cycles and of rhymes, riddles, songs, prayers, proverbs, traditions, and genealogical lore.
Vates: astrologers, prophets, interpreters of lucky and unlucky days, conjurers, diviners, necromancers, physicians, protectors against evil, sacrificers, and tree diviners. As already mentioned, most Vates used stars, trees or entrails to make predictions. Most likely it was Vates who created the Coligny Calendar. Some Vates were also healers, mostly using herbs in basically the same way as today's homeopathic medicines.
We know from Pliny that the Druids were responsible for fertility rituals. He gives a graphic description a mistletoe-cutting ceremony which took place on the sixth day of each month and involved bull-sacrifices and invocations to the gods. Mistletoe thus harvested could make the barren fertile.
The Coligny Calendar with its evidence for auspicious and non-auspicious days, could be used to calculate the best times for planting and harvesting crops, slaughtering animals in winter, and sending them out to pasture in spring. Finally, insular evidence for the great Celtic festivals of Samain, Beltaine, Imbolc, and Lughnasad indicate an association with the various parts of the seasonal cycle.
The Druids had power to prevent warfare between tribes, for the legal authority of the Druids was greater than that of the chieftains, kings, or even the High King.
While most Druids did not keep written records, preferring remembering and reciting their information, some Druids, particularly Irish Druids, did have a form of writing known as Ogham. Each letter was represented by a particular tree and information was written by scoring the letters into wood and sometimes stone tablets.
The exact roles of Druids in Celtic society is still unknown, most of these are speculation from various sources, none of which are completely reliable.
Conclusion It is unfortunate that the Druids did not leave written records so that future generations could benefit from their teachings. It also makes trying to piece together an accurate picture them even more difficult from the barbarian views of Classical writers to the fanciful ones of contemporary writers. However, with growing academic and archaeological interest in Celts and Druids, perhaps one day, we will know the true wisdom of the Druids.
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