Difference between revisions of "Druid" - New World Encyclopedia

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[[Image:Archdruid in his Full Judicial Costume.PNG|thumb|200px|Charles Knight, "Arch-Druid in his full Judicial Costume" etching from ''Old England: A Pictorial Museum'' (1845)]]
  
[[Image:Two Druids.PNG|thumb|Two Druids, from an 1845 publication, based on a bas-relief found at [[Autun]], France.]]
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'''Druid''' denotes the priestly class in ancient [[Celts|Celtic]] societies, which existed through much of [[Western Europe]] north of the [[Alps]] and in [[Great Britain |Britain]] until they were supplanted by Roman government and, later, [[Christianity]]. Druidic practices were part of the culture of the tribal peoples called "Celtae" and "[[Gauls|Galli]]" by Romans, which evolved into modern English "Celtic" and "[[Gaulish language|Gaulish]]."
'''Druid''' denotes the priestly class in ancient [[Celts|Celtic]] societies, which existed through much of [[Western Europe]] north of the [[Alps]] and in [[great britain |Britain]] until they were supplanted by Roman government and, later, [[Christianity]]. Druidic practices were part of the culture of the tribal peoples called "Keltoi" and "[[Galatia|Galatai]]" by Greeks oe "Celtae" and "[[Gauls|Galli]]" by Romans, which evolved into modern English "Celtic" and "[[Gaulish language|Gaulish]]." They combined the duties of priest, [[arbitrator]], healer, scholar, and [[magistrate]]. The earliest records of the name ''Druidae'' ''(Δρυΐδαι)'' are found on the works of Greek writers such as [[Sotion]] of Alexandria, who was cited by [[Diogenes Laertius]] in the second century B.C.E.<ref>[[Diogenes Laertius]], ''[[Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers]]'' Introduction, Chapters [http://classicpersuasion.org/pw/diogenes/dlintro.htm#1] & [http://classicpersuasion.org/pw/diogenes/dlintro.htm#5 5] ([http://www.mikrosapoplous.gr/dl/dl01.html Book A 1 & 6] in the Greek text).</ref>
 
  
The Druids were [[polytheist]]s who also revered elements of nature, such as the sun, the [[moon]], and the [[star]]s, looking to them for "signs and seasons." They also venerated other natural elements, such as the [[oak]], certain [[Sacred grove|groves of trees]], tops of hills, [[stream]]s, [[lake]]s, and even plants, especially [[mistletoe]] and [[holly]]. Fire was regarded as a symbol of several divinities and was associated with the [[sun]] and cleansing. Their calendar year was governed by the lunar, solar, vegetative and herding cycles. The four main holidays include [[Imbolc]] (Imbolg) to denote the first signs of spring, [[Beltane]] (Beltain) to recognize the fullness of life after spring, [[Lughnasadh]] to celebrate the ripening of first fruits and the many-skilled deity [[Lugh]], and [[Samhain]] to recognize the end of harvest and the lowering of the barrier between the world of the living and that of the dead.  
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The Druids were [[polytheism|polytheist]]s who also revered elements of nature, such as the sun, the [[moon]], and the [[star]]s, looking to them for "signs and seasons." They also venerated other natural elements, such as the [[oak]], certain [[Sacred grove|groves of trees]], tops of hills, [[stream]]s, [[lake]]s, and even plants, especially [[mistletoe]] and [[holly]]. Fire was regarded as a symbol of several divinities and was associated with the [[sun]] and cleansing. Their calendar year was governed by the lunar, solar, vegetative and herding cycles. The four main holidays include [[Imbolc]] (Imbolg) to denote the first signs of spring, [[Beltane]] (Beltain) to recognize the fullness of life after spring, [[Lughnasadh]] to celebrate the ripening of first fruits and the many-skilled deity [[Lugh]], and [[Samhain]] to recognize the end of harvest and the lowering of the barrier between the world of the living and that of the dead.
  
The timing for these four festivals would have been determined by the presence of a full moon and the seasonal changes in the natural world. Imbolc would thus be celebrated at a full moon roughly halfway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox, Beltane between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, Lughnasadh between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox, and Samhain between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. This is contrary to popular "New Age" beliefs about Druidism that celebrate a given holiday according to the [[Julian calendar]], which of course did not exist at the time of the formulation of these holidays. In modern times, Imbolc has been transformed into [[Groundhog Day]], elements of ''Beltane'' have been absorbed into [[Easter]], and ''Samhain'' has become Halloween (or All Hallows' Eve and All Saint's Day).
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The Druids' influence was as much social as religious. They not only performed roles similar to modern [[priest]]s, but were often the [[philosopher]]s, [[scientist]]s, lore-masters, [[teacher]]s, [[judge]]s, and counselors to the [[monarch|king]]s. They were suppressed in Gaul and Britain after the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] conquests, but retained their influence in Ireland until the coming of Christianity.
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Some traditional druidic religious practice may still survive in practices like decorated Christmas trees, [[Halloween]] observances, [[corn dollies]], harvest rituals, and "lucky" or "unlucky" plants or animals. In modern times, Imbolc has been transformed into [[Groundhog Day]], elements of ''Beltane'' have been absorbed into [[Easter]], and ''Samhain'' has become Halloween.
  
 
Modern attempts at reconstructing or reinventing Druidism are called [[Neo-druidism]].  
 
Modern attempts at reconstructing or reinventing Druidism are called [[Neo-druidism]].  
  
 
==Etymology==
 
==Etymology==
The word "Druid" is derived from the Latin ''druides'' and is associated traditionally wit ''drus'', meaning "[[oak]] tree," together with the suffix ''-ides'' meaning "the son of."
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The earliest records of the name ''Druidae'' ''(Δρυΐδαι)'' are found on the works of Greek writers such as [[Sotion]] of Alexandria, who was cited by [[Diogenes Laertius]] in the second century B.C.E.<ref>[[Diogenes Laertius]], ''[[Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers]]'' Introduction, Chapters & [http://classicpersuasion.org/pw/diogenes/dlintro.htm#5 5]. ''classicpersuasion.org''. ([http://www.mikrosapoplous.gr/dl/dl01.html Book A 1 & 6 (greek text)]. ''www.mikrosapoplous.gr''. All retrieved October 18, 2007. </ref>
  
Greek and Latin "druides" bear comparison with Old Irish ''druídecht'', which yields the Modern Irish ''draoiocht'' (pron. /{{IPA|'driː.oxt}}/), "magic." The [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''dryw'' (/{{IPA|drɨu}}/ meaning seer) may also be related to these words.
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The word "Druid" is derived from the Latin ''druides'' and is associated traditionally with ''drus,'' meaning "[[oak]] tree," together with the suffix ''-ides'' meaning "the son of."
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Greek and Latin "druides" bear comparison with Old Irish ''druídecht,'' which yields the Modern Irish ''draoiocht'' (pron. /{{IPA|'driː.oxt}}/), "magic." The [[Welsh language|Welsh]] ''dryw'' (/{{IPA|drɨu}}/ meaning seer) may also be related to these words.
  
 
Some research done on the ancient Indian scripture Rig Veda, suggests a parallel between the Druids and the ''[[Druhyus]]'' referred therein. This may represent a common [[Proto-Indo-European religion|Proto-Indo-European religious]] heritage for the tradition.
 
Some research done on the ancient Indian scripture Rig Veda, suggests a parallel between the Druids and the ''[[Druhyus]]'' referred therein. This may represent a common [[Proto-Indo-European religion|Proto-Indo-European religious]] heritage for the tradition.
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===Roman sources===
 
===Roman sources===
====Caesar====
 
[[Image:Julius caesar.jpg|thumb|125px|Gaius Julius Caesar, author of the ''Gallic Wars'']]
 
 
[[Julius Caesar]]'s ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' gives the fullest account of the Druids. Caesar notes that all men of any rank and dignity in Gaul were included either among the Druids or among the nobles, indicating that they formed two classes. The Druids constituted the learned priestly class. As guardians of the unwritten ancient customary law they had the power of executing judgments, among which exclusion from society was the most dreaded. Druids were not a hereditary caste, but they enjoyed exemption from military service as well as from payment of taxes. The course of training to which a novice had to submit was protracted.
 
[[Julius Caesar]]'s ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' gives the fullest account of the Druids. Caesar notes that all men of any rank and dignity in Gaul were included either among the Druids or among the nobles, indicating that they formed two classes. The Druids constituted the learned priestly class. As guardians of the unwritten ancient customary law they had the power of executing judgments, among which exclusion from society was the most dreaded. Druids were not a hereditary caste, but they enjoyed exemption from military service as well as from payment of taxes. The course of training to which a novice had to submit was protracted.
  
 
All Druidic instruction was communicated orally, but Caesar reports that for ordinary purposes, the Gauls had a written language in which they used Greek characters. However by the time of Caesar, [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] had moved from the Greek to the Latin script.
 
All Druidic instruction was communicated orally, but Caesar reports that for ordinary purposes, the Gauls had a written language in which they used Greek characters. However by the time of Caesar, [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] had moved from the Greek to the Latin script.
  
"The principal point of their doctrine," says Caesar, "is that the soul does not die and that after death it passes from one body into another:"
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"The principal point of their doctrine," says Caesar, "is that the soul does not die and that after death it passes from one body into another." They also "hold various lectures and discussions on [[astronomy]], on the extent and geographical distribution of the globe, on the different branches of natural philosophy, and on many problems connected with religion." (''De Bello Gallico'', VI, 13)
 
 
{{quote|"With regard to their actual course of studies, the main object of all education is, in their opinion, to imbue their scholars with a firm belief in the indestructability of the human soul, which, according to their belief, merely passes at death from one tenement to another; for by such doctrine alone, they say, which robs death of all its terrors, can the highest form of human courage be developed. Subsidiary to the teachings of this main principle, they hold various lectures and discussions on [[astronomy]], on the extent and geographical distribution of the globe, on the different branches of natural philosophy, and on many problems connected with religion".|Julius Cesar, "De Bello Gallico," VI, 13}}
 
 
 
This observation led several ancient writers to the unlikely conclusion that the Druids may have been influenced by the teachings of the Greek philosopher [[Pythagoras]], or even by Buddhist missionaries sent by the Indian king [[Ashoka]].<ref>"Buddhism in pre-Christian Britain," Donald A.Mackenzie, p.21</ref> Caesar also notes the druidic sense of the guardian spirit of the tribe, whom he translated as ''Dispater,'' with a general sense of ''Father [[Hades]].'' However, linguistically ''Dis Pater'' is related to [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]] (Jovis Pater), from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] word [[Dyeus]].
 
 
 
Caesar noted that Druids punished members of the society by a form of excommunication, by preventing them from attending religious festivals. As these religious festivals were common and well-attended, this was an effective means of excluding punished persons from society.
 
 
 
====Other writers====
 
Writers such as [[Diodorus]] and [[Strabo]], with less firsthand experience than Caesar, were of the opinion that the Celtic priestly order or class included Druids, [[Bard]]s and [[Vates]] ([[soothsayer]]s).
 
  
It was also claimed by Roman writers that a general assembly of the order was held once every year within the territories of the [[Carnutes]] in Gaul.
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Caesar noted that Druids punished members of the society by a form of excommunication, preventing them from attending religious festivals. As these religious festivals were common and well-attended, this was an effective means of excluding punished persons from society.
  
====Pomponius Mela====
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[[Image:Two Druids.PNG|thumb|left|Two Druids, from an 1845 publication, based on a bas-relief found at [[Autun]], France.]]
[[Pomponius Mela]] is the first author who says that the Druids' instruction was secret, and was carried on in caves and forests. Certain groves within forests were sacred, and the Romans and Christians alike cut them down and burned the wood. [[Human sacrifice]] has sometimes been attributed to Druidism. While this may be Roman propaganda, human sacrifice was an old European inheritance and the Gauls may have offered human sacrifices, whether of criminals or, to judge from Roman reports, of war captives.
 
  
====Cicero====
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[[Cicero]] (106-43 B.C.E.) remarks on the existence among the Gauls of [[augur]]s or soothsayers, known by the name of Druids, saying that he had made the acquaintance of one [[Diviciacus (Aedui)|Diviciacus]], an [[Aedui|Aeduan]] also known to Caesar.<ref>[[Cicero]], ''[[De Divinatione]]'' [[Wikisource:On divination/Book 1#41|1.41]]</ref>
[[Cicero]] remarks on the existence among the Gauls of [[augur]]s or soothsayers, known by the name of Druids; he had made the acquaintance of one [[Diviciacus (Aedui)|Diviciacus]], an [[Aedui|Aeduan]] also known to Caesar.<ref>[[Cicero]], ''[[De Divinatione]]'' [[Wikisource:On divination/Book 1#41|1.41]]</ref>
 
  
====Diodorus====
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Writers such as [[Diodorus]] and [[Strabo]], though with less firsthand experience than Caesar, reported that the Celtic priestly order or class included Druids, [[Bard]]ism and [[Vates]] ([[soothsayer]]s). It was also claimed by Roman writers that a general assembly of the order was held once every year within the territories of the [[Carnutes]] in Gaul.
[[Diodorus Siculus]] asserts, on unnamed sources, that a sacrifice acceptable to the Celtic gods had to be attended by a Druid, for they were the intermediaries. He also claims that before a battle they often threw themselves between two armies to bring about peace.
 
  
Diodorus remarks upon the importance of prophets in Druidic ritual: ‘These men predict the future by observing the flight and calls of [[bird]]s and by the sacrifice of holy animals: all orders of society are in their power… and in very important matters they prepare a human victim, plunging a dagger into his chest; by observing the way his limbs convulse as he falls and the gushing of his blood, they are able to read the future.’ These [[Greco-Roman]] comments are supported to some extent by archaeological excavations. At Ribemont in [[Picardie|Picardy]], [[France]], there were revealed pits filled with human bones and [[thigh]] bones deliberately fixed into rectangular patterns. This shrine is believed to have been razed to the ground by Julius Caesar while he was subduing Gaul. At a bog in [[Lindow Common|Lindow]], [[Cheshire]], [[England]] was discovered a body which may also have been the victim of a druidic ritual, but it is just as likely that he was an executed criminal. The body is now on display at the [[British Museum]], [[London]].
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[[Pomponius Mela]] (c. 43 C.E.) is the first author who says that the Druids' instruction was secret, carried on in caves and forests. [[Human sacrifice]] has also sometimes been attributed to Druidism. While some see this as Roman propaganda, human sacrifice was an old European inheritance. Executions may also have been conducted as sacrifices, whether of criminals or, to judge from Roman reports, of war captives.
  
====Imperial decrees====
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[[Diodorus Siculus]] asserts that a sacrifice acceptable to the Celtic gods had to be attended by a Druid, for they were the intermediaries. He also claims that before a battle the Druids often threw themselves between two armies to bring about peace. Diodorus remarks upon the importance of prophets in Druidic ritual: "These men predict the future by observing the flight and calls of [[bird]]s and by the sacrifice of holy animals: all orders of society are in their power… In very important matters they prepare a human victim, plunging a dagger into his chest; by observing the way his limbs convulse as he falls and the gushing of his blood, they are able to read the future."
Druids were seen as essentially non-Roman: a prescript of [[Caesar Augustus|Augustus]] forbade Roman citizens to practice Druidical rites. Under [[Tiberius]] the Druids were suppressed by a [[decree]] of the Senate, but this had to be renewed by [[Claudius]] in 54 C.E..
 
  
====Strabo====
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These comments are supported to some extent by archaeological excavations. At Ribemont in [[Picardie|Picardy]], [[France]], there were revealed pits filled with human bones and [[thigh]] bones deliberately fixed into rectangular patterns. At a bog in [[Lindow Common|Lindow]], [[Cheshire]], [[England]] was discovered a body which may also have been the victim of a druidic ritual, but it is just as likely that he was an executed criminal. The body is now on display at the [[British Museum]], [[London]].
In [[Strabo]], we find the Druids still acting as arbiters in public and private matters, but they no longer dealt with cases of murder.
 
  
====Tacitus====
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Druids were seen as essentially non-Roman. A prescript of [[Caesar Augustus|Augustus]] forbade Roman citizens to practice druidical rites. Under [[Tiberius]] the Druids were suppressed by a [[decree]] of the Senate, but this had to be renewed by [[Claudius]] in 54 C.E.
[[Tacitus]], in describing the attack made on the island of Mona ([[Anglesey]] or ''Ynys Môn'' in Welsh) by the Romans under [[Suetonius Paulinus]], represents the legionaries as being awestruck on landing by the appearance of a band of Druids, who, with hands uplifted to the sky, poured forth terrible imprecations on the heads of the invaders. The courage of the Romans, however, soon overcame such fears, according to the Roman historian; the Britons were put to flight, and the sacred groves of Mona were cut down.
 
  
====Late Roman====
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After the first century C.E. the continental Druids disappeared entirely from the historical record and were referred to only on very rare occasions. Druids continued to be a presence in the British Isles, however, for several centuries.
After the first century C.E. the continental Druids disappeared entirely and were referred to only on very rare occasions. [[Ausonius]], for one instance, apostrophizes the rhetorician Attius Patera as sprung from a race of Druids.
 
  
 
===Medieval sources===
 
===Medieval sources===
The story of [[Vortigern]] as reported by [[Nennius]] provides one of the very few glimpses of Druidic survival in Britain after the Roman conquest: unfortunately, Nennius is noted for mixing fact and legend in such a way that it is now impossible to know the truth behind his text. For what it is worth, he asserts that, after being excommunicated by [[Germain of Auxerre|Germanus]], the British leader Vortigern invited twelve Druids to assist him.
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The story of [[Vortigern]] as reported by [[Nennius]] provides one of the very few glimpses of Druidic survival in Britain after the Roman conquest: unfortunately, Nennius is noted for mixing fact and legend in such a way that it is now impossible to know the truth behind his text. He asserts that, after being excommunicated by [[Germain of Auxerre|Germanus]], the British leader Vortigern invited 12 Druids to assist him.
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[[Image:LastDruids.jpg|thumb|Artist's conception of a Druid and his student]]
  
In Irish literature, the Druids are frequently (and reliably) mentioned, and their functions in the island seem to correspond fairly well to those they performed in Gaul (the Modern [[Irish language|Irish]] word for "magic," ''draíocht'', derives from [[Old Irish]] ''druídecht'').
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In Irish literature, the Druids are frequently mentioned, and their functions in the island seem to correspond fairly well to those they performed in Gaul. The most important Irish documents are contained in [[manuscripts]] of the [[twelfth century]], but many of the texts themselves go back as far as the [[eighth century|eighth]]. In these stories Druids usually act as advisers to [[king]]s. They were said to have the ability to foretell the future ([[Bec mac Dé]], for example, predicted the death of [[Diarmait mac Cerbaill]] more accurately than three Christian saints, but there is little reference to their religious function. They do not appear to form any corporate body, nor do they seem to be exempt from military service.
  
The most important Irish documents are contained in [[manuscripts]] of the [[twelfth century]], but many of the texts themselves go back as far as the [[eighth century|eighth]]. In these stories Druids usually act as advisers to [[king]]s. Once again legendary elements crept in: they were said to have the ability to foretell the future ([[Bec mac Dé]], for example, predicted the death of [[Diarmait mac Cerbaill]] more accurately than three Christian saints) and there is little reference to their religious function. They do not appear to form any corporation, nor do they seem to be exempt from military service.
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In the [[Ulster Cycle]], [[Cathbad]], chief Druid at the court of [[Conchobar mac Nessa|Conchobar]], king of [[Ulaid|Ulster]], is accompanied by a number of youths who are desirous of learning his art. Cathbad is present at the birth of the famous tragic heroine [[Deirdre]]. He prophesies what sort of a woman she will be and predicts the strife that will accompany her, although Conchobar ignores him.
  
In the [[Ulster Cycle]], [[Cathbad]], chief Druid at the court of [[Conchobar mac Nessa|Conchobar]], king of [[Ulaid|Ulster]], is accompanied by a number of youths (100 according to the oldest version) who are desirous of learning his art. Cathbad is present at the birth of the famous tragic heroine [[Deirdre]], and prophecies what sort of a woman she will be, and the strife that will accompany her, although Conchobar ignores him. The following description of the band of Cathbad's Druids occurs in the epic tale, the ''[[Táin Bó Cuailnge|Táin bó Cuailnge]]'': The attendant raises his eyes towards [[heaven]] and observes the [[cloud]]s and answers the band around him. They all raise their eyes towards heaven, observe the clouds, and hurl spells against the elements, so that they arouse strife amongst them and clouds of fire are driven towards the camp of the men of Ireland. We are further told that at the court of Conchobar no one had the right to speak before the Druids had spoken.
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Before setting out on the great expedition against Ulster in ''Táin Bó Cuailnge,'' [[Medb]], queen of [[Connacht]], consults her Druids regarding the outcome of the war. They hold up the march by two weeks, waiting for an auspicious [[omen]]. Druids were also said to have magical skills: when the hero [[Cúchulainn]] returned from the land of the [[fairy|fairies]] after having been enticed there by a fairy woman or goddess, named [[Fand]], whom he is now unable to forget, he is given a potion by some Druids, which banishes all memory of his recent adventures and which also rids his wife [[Emer]] of the pangs of jealousy.
  
Before setting out on the great expedition against Ulster in ''Táin Bó Cuailnge'', [[Medb]], queen of [[Connacht]], consults her Druids regarding the outcome of the war. They hold up the march by two weeks, waiting for an auspicious [[omen]]. Druids were also said to have magical skills: when the hero [[Cúchulainn]] returned from the land of the [[fairy|fairies]] after having been enticed there by a fairy woman or goddess, named [[Fand]], whom he is now unable to forget, he is given a potion by some Druids, which banishes all memory of his recent adventures and which also rids his wife [[Emer]] of the pangs of jealousy.
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More remarkable still is the story of [[Étaín]]. This lady, later the wife of [[Eochaid Airem]], [[High King of Ireland]], was in a former existence the beloved of the god [[Midir]], who again seeks her love and carries her off. The king has recourse to his Druid, Dalgn, who requires a whole year to discover the haunt of the couple. This he accomplished by means of four wands of yew inscribed with [[ogham]] characters.
  
More remarkable still is the story of [[Étaín]]. This lady, later the wife of [[Eochaid Airem]], [[High King of Ireland]], was in a former existence the beloved of the god [[Midir]], who again seeks her love and carries her off. The king has recourse to his Druid Dalgn, who requires a whole year to discover the haunt of the couple. This he accomplished by means of four wands of yew inscribed with [[ogham]] characters.
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In other texts the Druids are able to produce insanity. [[Mug Ruith]], a legendary druid of [[Munster]], wore a hornless bull's hide and an elaborate feathered headdress and had the ability to fly and conjure [[storm]]s it was said.
  
In other texts the Druids are able to produce insanity. [[Mug Ruith]], a legendary druid of [[Munster]], wore a hornless bull's hide and an elaborate feathered headdress and had the ability to fly and conjure [[storm]]s.
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In the lives of saints and martyrs, the Druids are represented as magicians and diviners. In [[Adamnan]]'s ''vita'' of Columba, two of them act as tutors to the daughters of [[Lóegaire mac Néill]], the [[High King of Ireland|High King]], at the coming of [[Patrick|Saint Patrick]]. They are represented as endeavoring to prevent the progress of Patrick and Saint [[Columba]] by raising clouds and mist. Before the battle of Culdremne (561 C.E.) a Druid made an ''airbe drtiad'' (fence of protection) round one of the armies, but what is precisely meant by the phrase is unclear. The Irish Druids seem to have had a peculiar tonsure.
  
==Social and religious influence==
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===Later Druids ===
The Druids' influence was as much social as religious. They not only performed roles similar to modern [[priest]]s, but were often the [[philosopher]]s, [[scientist]]s, lore-masters, [[teacher]]s, [[judge]]s, and counsellors to the [[monarch|king]]s. The Druids linked the Celtic peoples with their numerous gods, the [[lunar calendar]] and the sacred natural order. They were suppressed in Gaul and Britain after the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] conquests, but retained their influence in Ireland until the coming of Christianity. The Druids' roles were then assumed by the [[bishop]] and the [[abbot]], who were usually not the same individual, however, and might find themselves in direct competition.
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There is some evidence that the Druids of Ireland survived into the mid- to late-seventh century. In the ''De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae'' of [[Augustinus Hibernicus]], there is mention of local ''magi'' who taught a doctrine of [[reincarnation]] in the form of birds.<ref>Augustinus Hibernicus. "De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae." '' King of Mysteries: Early Irish Religious Writings'' edited by John Carey. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000.</ref>
  
Nevertheless, much traditional rural religious practice can still be discerned from Christian interpretations and survives in practices like [[Halloween]] observances, [[corn dollies]] and other harvest rituals, the myths of [[Puck (mythology)|Puck]], [[woodwose]]s, "lucky" and "unlucky" plants and animals and the like. Orally transmitted material may have exaggerated deep origins in antiquity, however, and is constantly subject to influence from surrounding culture.
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The people of the [[Low Countries]] were Christianized in the seventh century, through the efforts of [[Saint Eligius]]. One of the best glimpses of late Druidic practices comes from the ''vita'' of Eligius written by [[Ouen|Saint Ouen]], his contemporary and companion. Ouen reports that Eligius denounced "sacrilegious pagan customs" in [[Flanders]]. In particular, he denounces the consultation of "magicians, diviners, [[sorcerer]]s or incantators," [[augur]]ies, and superstitions related to the moon. He refers to "devotion to the gods of the [[Trivia (mythology)|trivium]], where three roads meet, or the rocks or springs or groves or corners" as idolatrous customs, and he frowns on [[Yule]] [[Midsummer]] celebrations. Other pagan customs enumerated by Eligius include "lustrations or incantations with herbs" and "passing cattle through a hollow tree or ditch" and "shouting when the moon is obscured" and adoration of or swearing by the sun or moon, and "diabolical games and dancing or chants."
  
==Druidic sites==
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[[Image:Collinaditara.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Hill of Tara in County Meath, Ireland, legendary seat of the High Kings.]]
[[Image:Collinaditara.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Hill of Tara in County Meath, Ireland, legendary seat of the High Kings.]]
 
 
Sites associated with Druidry include:
 
Sites associated with Druidry include:
 
*The Isle of [[Anglesey]]
 
*The Isle of [[Anglesey]]
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*[[Tara, Ireland|Tara]]
 
*[[Tara, Ireland|Tara]]
  
The association of Druids with [[Stonehenge]] was hypothesized in the sixteenth century in attempts to explain the mysteries of Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument that was abandoned long before any Druids came to Britain. There is no evidence whatsoever that it was ever used by authentic Druids in ancient times. Nevertheless, it has become an important site for modern movements calling themselves druidic.
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The association of Druids with [[Stonehenge]] was hypothesized in the sixteenth century in attempts to explain the mysteries of Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument that was abandoned long before any Druids came to Britain. There is no evidence that it was ever used by authentic Druids in ancient times. Nevertheless, it has become an important site for modern movements calling themselves druidic.
 
 
==In Christian literature==
 
In the lives of saints and martyrs, the Druids are represented as magicians and diviners. In [[Adamnan]]'s ''vita'' of Columba, two of them act as tutors to the daughters of [[Lóegaire mac Néill]], the [[High King of Ireland|High King]], at the coming of [[Patrick|Saint Patrick]]. They are represented as endeavoring to prevent the progress of Patrick and Saint [[Columba]] by raising clouds and mist. Before the battle of Culdremne (561) a Druid made an ''airbe drtiad'' (fence of protection?) round one of the armies, but what is precisely meant by the phrase is unclear. The Irish Druids seem to have had a peculiar tonsure. The word ''druí'' is always used to render the [[Latin]] ''magus'', and in one passage St Columba speaks of Christ as his Druid. Similarly, a life of St [[Beuno]] states that when he died he had a vision of 'all the saints and druids'.
 
 
 
Once the public ordination of Christian bishops in strongly Druidic territories was possible, it was essential for a fourth-century bishop to demonstrate comparable powers. [[Sulpicius Severus]]' ''Vita'' of [[Martin of Tours]] relates how Martin encountered a peasant funeral, carrying the body in a winding sheet, which Martin mistook for some Druidic rites of [[sacrifice]], "because it was the custom of the Gallic rustics in their wretched folly to carry about through the fields the images of [[demon]]s veiled with a white covering."
 
 
 
So Martin halted the procession by raising his pectoral cross: "Upon this, the miserable creatures might have been seen at first to become stiff like rocks. Next, as they endeavored, with every possible effort, to move forward, but were not able to take a step farther, they began to whirl themselves about in the most ridiculous fashion, until, not able any longer to sustain the weight, they set down the dead body." Then discovering his error, Martin raised his hand again to let them proceed: "Thus," the hagiographer points out," he both compelled them to stand when he pleased, and permitted them to depart when he thought good."<ref name = "Hagiogr">[http://www.users.csbsju.edu/~eknuth/npnf2-11/sulpitiu/lifeofst.html#tp  Hagiography].</ref>
 
 
 
''This account partly depends on information from the ''Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1911'' and the ''Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908''.''
 
 
 
==Late Druidic survivals==
 
===Ireland===
 
There is some evidence that the druids of Ireland survived into the mid- to late-seventh century. In the ''De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae'' of [[Augustinus Hibernicus]] (f. 655), there is mention of local ''magi'' who teach a doctrine of [[reincarnation]] in the form of birds. The word ''[[magus]]'' was often used in [[Hiberno-Latin]] works as a translation of ''drui''.<ref name = "Hibernicus">Augustinus Hibernicus. "De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae." '' King of Mysteries: Early Irish Religious Writings'' edited by John Carey. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000.</ref>
 
 
 
===Low Countries===
 
The people of the [[Low Countries]] were Christianized in the seventh century, through the efforts of [[Saint Eligius]]. One of the best glimpses of late Druidic practices comes from the ''vita'' of Eligius written by [[Ouen|Saint Ouen]], his contemporary and companion. Ouen drew together the familiar admonitions of Eligius to the pagans in [[Flanders]]. "It does not represent anything he said in a particular day in order" Ouen cautioned, "but is a digest of the precepts which he taught the people at all times."
 
 
 
Eligius in his sermons denounced "sacrilegious pagan customs." The following excerpted quotes from Ouen's ''vita'' of Eligius are instructive, for the negative description they offer of some late pagan practices in [[Flanders]]. In particular, he denounces the consultation of "magicians, diviners, [[sorcerer]]s or incantators," [[augur]]ies, and superstitions related to the moon. He refers to [[:wikt:vetulas|vetulas]] and "[[Deer (mythology)|little deer]]s" and [[iottico]]s, and to the invocation of (in the [[interpretatio romana]]) [[Neptune]], [[Orcus (mythology)|Orcus]], [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]], [[Minerva]], ''Geniscus'' and as well as "devotion to the gods of the [[Trivia (mythology)|trivium]], where three roads meet, [cf. [[Hecate]]], to the [[:wikt:fane|fanes]] or the rocks or springs or groves or corners" as idolatrous customs, and he frowns on [[Yule]] [[Midsummer]] celebrations. Further, he prohibits the wearing of [[:wikt:phylactery|phylacteries]], "even if they are made by priests and it is said that they contain holy things."
 
 
 
The translator noted that ''vetulas'' was a reference to [[corn dolly|corn dollies]]. Other pagan customs enumerated by Eligius include  "lustrations or incantations with herbs" and "passing cattle through a hollow tree or ditch" and "shouting when the moon is obscured" and adoration of or swearing by the sun or moon, and "diabolical games and dancing or chants."
 
 
 
[[Image:Archdruid in his Full Judicial Costume.PNG|thumb|200px|Charles Knight, "Arch-Druid in his full Judicial Costume" etching from ''Old England: A Pictorial Museum'' (1845)]]
 
  
 
==The Druidic Revival==
 
==The Druidic Revival==
 
In the [[eighteenth century]], England and Wales experienced a revival of interest in the Druids, inspired by the antiquaries [[John Aubrey]], [[John Toland]] and [[William Stukeley]]. The poet [[William Blake]] was involved in the revival and may have been an Archdruid; the [[Ancient Druid Order]], which existed from 1717 until it split into two groups in 1964, never used the title "Archdruid" for any member, but credited Blake as having been its Chosen Chief from 1799 to 1827.
 
In the [[eighteenth century]], England and Wales experienced a revival of interest in the Druids, inspired by the antiquaries [[John Aubrey]], [[John Toland]] and [[William Stukeley]]. The poet [[William Blake]] was involved in the revival and may have been an Archdruid; the [[Ancient Druid Order]], which existed from 1717 until it split into two groups in 1964, never used the title "Archdruid" for any member, but credited Blake as having been its Chosen Chief from 1799 to 1827.
  
John Aubrey was the first modern writer to connect [[Stonehenge]] and other [[megalith|megalithic monuments]] with Druidry, a misconception that shaped ideas of Druidry during much of the nineteenth century. Some modern Druidry enthusiasts claim Aubrey was an archdruid in possession of an uninterrupted tradition of Druidic knowledge, even though Aubrey, an uninhibited collector of lore and gossip, never entered a corroborating word in his voluminous surviving notebooks. [[John Toland]] was fascinated by Aubrey's Stonehenge theories, and wrote his own book about the monument without crediting Aubrey. Toland founded the Ancient Druid Order in [[London]] in 1717.
+
John Aubrey was the first modern writer to connect [[Stonehenge]] and other [[megalith|megalithic monuments]] with Druidry, a belief that shaped ideas of Druidry during much of the nineteenth century. [[John Toland]], founder of "neo-Pantheism, was fascinated by Aubrey's Stonehenge theories and founded the Ancient Druid Order in [[London]] in 1717.
  
Druids began to figure widely in popular culture with the first advent of [[Romanticism]]. [[François-René de Chateaubriand|Chateaubriand]]'s novel ''Les Martyrs'' (1809) narrated the doomed love of a Druid priestess and a Roman soldier; though Chateaubriand's theme was the triumph of Christianity over pagan Druids, the setting was to continue to bear fruit. [[Opera]] provides a barometer of well-informed popular European culture in the early ninettenth century: in 1817, [[Giovanni Pacini]] brought Druids to the stage in [[Trieste]] with an opera to a libretto by [[Felice Romani]] about a Druid priestess, ''La Sacerdotessa d'Irminsul'' ("The Priestess of [[Irminsul]]").  
+
Druids began to figure widely in popular culture with the first advent of [[Romanticism]]. [[François-René de Chateaubriand|Chateaubriand]]'s novel ''Les Martyrs'' (1809) narrated the doomed love of a Druid priestess and a Roman soldier; though Chateaubriand's theme was the triumph of Christianity over pagan Druids, the setting was to continue to bear fruit. [[Opera]] provides a barometer of well-informed popular European culture in the early ninteeenth century: in 1817, [[Giovanni Pacini]] brought Druids to the stage in [[Trieste]] with an opera to a libretto by [[Felice Romani]] about a Druid priestess, ''La Sacerdotessa d'Irminsul'' ("The Priestess of [[Irminsul]]").  
  
 
The most famous Druidic opera, [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]]'s ''[[Norma (opera)|Norma]]'' was a fiasco at [[La Scala]], when it premiered the day after Christmas, 1831, but in 1833 it was a hit in London. For its libretto Felice Romani reused some of the pseudo-Druidical background of ''La Sacerdotessa'' to provide color to a standard theatrical conflict of love and duty that was related to [[Medea]], as it had recently been recast for a popular Parisian play by [[Alexandre Soumet]]: the ''diva'' of ''Norma'''s hit aria, "Casta Diva," is the moon goddess, being worshipped in the "grove of the [[Irmin]] statue."
 
The most famous Druidic opera, [[Vincenzo Bellini|Bellini]]'s ''[[Norma (opera)|Norma]]'' was a fiasco at [[La Scala]], when it premiered the day after Christmas, 1831, but in 1833 it was a hit in London. For its libretto Felice Romani reused some of the pseudo-Druidical background of ''La Sacerdotessa'' to provide color to a standard theatrical conflict of love and duty that was related to [[Medea]], as it had recently been recast for a popular Parisian play by [[Alexandre Soumet]]: the ''diva'' of ''Norma'''s hit aria, "Casta Diva," is the moon goddess, being worshipped in the "grove of the [[Irmin]] statue."
  
[[Image:Druidess.jpg|thumb|left|A Victorian imagining of a Druidess, with sickle and misteltoe.]]In the nineteenth century, some dubious figures arose with outlandish claims and forged documents they claimed were historical. A central figure in this Druidic reinvention, inspired by [[Henry Hurle]], is Edward Williams, better known as [[Iolo Morganwg]]. His writings, published posthumously as ''The Iolo Manuscripts'' (1849) and ''Barddas'' (1862), are not considered credible by contemporary Druidic movements. Williams claimed to have collected ancient knowledge in a "[[Gorsedd]] of Bards of the Isles of Britain" he had organized. Many scholars deem part or all of Williams's work to be fabrication, and purportedly many of the documents are of his own fabrication, but a large portion of the work has indeed been collected from meso-pagan sources dating from as far back as 600 C.E. Regardless, it has become impossible to separate the original source material from the fabricated work, and the documents are considered irrelevant by most serious scholars.
+
In the nineteenth century, Edward Williams, also known as [[Iolo Morganwg]], supposedly collected ''The Iolo Manuscripts'' (1849) and ''Barddas'' (1862). Many scholars deem much of Williams' work to be fabrication.
  
An unfortunate result of the reinvention, which took place, ironically, just as modern archaeological and historical methods were being developed, is that it has shaped public perceptions of historical Druidry and continues to shape some modern forms of it. The [[British Museum]] website is suitably blunt:
+
[[Image:Druids, in the early morning glow of the sun.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Modern Druids in the early morning glow of the sun]]
:"Modern Druids have no direct connection to the Druids of the Iron Age. Many of our popular ideas about the Druids are based on the misunderstandings and misconceptions of scholars 200 years ago. These ideas have been superseded by later study and discoveries."[http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/explore/highlights/article_index/d/the_druids.aspx]
 
  
== Modern Druidism ==
+
Some strands of modern "Druidism" (also known among some groups as Modern Druidry), such as the [[Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids]] (OBOD), are a continuation of the eighteenth-century revival and thus are built largely around writings produced in the eighteenth century and later. Some are [[monotheism|monotheistic]]. Members of other Neo-druid groups may be [[Neopaganism|Neopagan]], [[occultist]], [[Polytheistic reconstructionism|Reconstructionist]], or non-specifically spiritual.
[[Image:Druids, in the early morning glow of the sun.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Modern Druids in the early morning glow of the sun]]
 
{{Main|Neo-druidism}}
 
  
Some strands of modern "Druidism" (also known among some groups as Modern Druidry), such as the [[Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids]] (OBOD), are a continuation of the eighteenth-century revival and thus are built largely around writings produced in the eughteenth century and after. Some are [[monotheism|monotheistic]]. Members of other Neo-druid groups may be [[Neopaganism|Neopagan]], [[occultist]], [[Polytheistic reconstructionism|Reconstructionist]], or non-specifically spiritual.
+
An unfortunate result of the reinvention of Duidism, is that it has shaped public perceptions of historical Druidry and continues to shape some modern forms of it as well. The [[British Museum]] declares: "Modern Druids have no direct connection to the Druids of the Iron Age. Many of our popular ideas about the Druids are based on the misunderstandings and misconceptions of scholars 200 years ago. These ideas have been superseded by later study and discoveries." <ref>[http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/explore/highlights/article_index/d/the_druids.aspx Druids] ''www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk''. Retrieved October 16, 2007.</ref>
  
 
==Notes==
 
==Notes==
Line 144: Line 105:
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
*Ellis, Peter Berresford. ''A Brief History of the Druids'', Carroll & Gaf, 2002. ISBN 978-0786709878  
+
* Ellis, Peter Berresford. ''A Brief History of the Druids.'' Carroll & Gaf, 2002. ISBN 978-0786709878  
*Green, Miranda J. ''The World of the Druids'', Thames & Hudson, 2005. ISBN 978-0500285718
+
* Green, Miranda J. ''The World of the Druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson, 2005. ISBN 978-0500285718
*Markvale, Jean. ''The Druids: Celtic Priests of Nature'', Inner Traditions, 1999. ISBN 978-0892817030
+
* Hibernicus, Augustinus, ed. John Carey. "De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae." ''King of Mysteries: Early Irish Religious Writings.'' Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000. ISBN 978-1851825721
*Piggott, Stuart. ''The Druids'', Thames & Hudson, 1985. ISBN 978-0500273630
+
* Markvale, Jean. ''The Druids: Celtic Priests of Nature.'' Inner Traditions, 1999. ISBN 978-0892817030
 
+
* Piggott, Stuart. ''The Druids.'' London: Thames & Hudson, 1985. ISBN 978-0500273630
==External links==   
 
*[http://www.lugodoc.demon.co.uk/Druids/DRUIDS.htm Lugodoc's Guide to Druids]
 
*[http://altreligion.about.com/library/graphics/bl_druids.htm Images of Druids]
 
  
  
 
[[Category:philosophy and religion]]
 
[[Category:philosophy and religion]]
 
{{Credit|154115067}}
 
{{Credit|154115067}}

Latest revision as of 09:43, 15 January 2023

Charles Knight, "Arch-Druid in his full Judicial Costume" etching from Old England: A Pictorial Museum (1845)

Druid denotes the priestly class in ancient Celtic societies, which existed through much of Western Europe north of the Alps and in Britain until they were supplanted by Roman government and, later, Christianity. Druidic practices were part of the culture of the tribal peoples called "Celtae" and "Galli" by Romans, which evolved into modern English "Celtic" and "Gaulish."

The Druids were polytheists who also revered elements of nature, such as the sun, the moon, and the stars, looking to them for "signs and seasons." They also venerated other natural elements, such as the oak, certain groves of trees, tops of hills, streams, lakes, and even plants, especially mistletoe and holly. Fire was regarded as a symbol of several divinities and was associated with the sun and cleansing. Their calendar year was governed by the lunar, solar, vegetative and herding cycles. The four main holidays include Imbolc (Imbolg) to denote the first signs of spring, Beltane (Beltain) to recognize the fullness of life after spring, Lughnasadh to celebrate the ripening of first fruits and the many-skilled deity Lugh, and Samhain to recognize the end of harvest and the lowering of the barrier between the world of the living and that of the dead.

The Druids' influence was as much social as religious. They not only performed roles similar to modern priests, but were often the philosophers, scientists, lore-masters, teachers, judges, and counselors to the kings. They were suppressed in Gaul and Britain after the Roman conquests, but retained their influence in Ireland until the coming of Christianity.

Some traditional druidic religious practice may still survive in practices like decorated Christmas trees, Halloween observances, corn dollies, harvest rituals, and "lucky" or "unlucky" plants or animals. In modern times, Imbolc has been transformed into Groundhog Day, elements of Beltane have been absorbed into Easter, and Samhain has become Halloween.

Modern attempts at reconstructing or reinventing Druidism are called Neo-druidism.

Etymology

The earliest records of the name Druidae (Δρυΐδαι) are found on the works of Greek writers such as Sotion of Alexandria, who was cited by Diogenes Laertius in the second century B.C.E.[1]

The word "Druid" is derived from the Latin druides and is associated traditionally with drus, meaning "oak tree," together with the suffix -ides meaning "the son of."

Greek and Latin "druides" bear comparison with Old Irish druídecht, which yields the Modern Irish draoiocht (pron. /'driː.oxt/), "magic." The Welsh dryw (/drɨu/ meaning seer) may also be related to these words.

Some research done on the ancient Indian scripture Rig Veda, suggests a parallel between the Druids and the Druhyus referred therein. This may represent a common Proto-Indo-European religious heritage for the tradition.

History

Historical knowledge of Druids is very limited, for they left no written records. Druidic lore reportedly consisted of a large number of verses learned by heart and it has been claimed that 20 years were required to complete the course of study. There was an advanced Druidic teaching center at Anglesey (Ynys Môn) centered on supposedly magical lakes. Druids came there from all over Europe to learn their secrets, but what was taught there, or at other centers, is conjecture. Of the Druids' oral literature (sacred songs, formulas for prayers and incantations, and rules of divination and magic), not one verse has survived, even in translation. Nor is there even a legend that can be called purely Druidic, without a Roman and/or Christian overlay or interpretation.

Roman sources

Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico gives the fullest account of the Druids. Caesar notes that all men of any rank and dignity in Gaul were included either among the Druids or among the nobles, indicating that they formed two classes. The Druids constituted the learned priestly class. As guardians of the unwritten ancient customary law they had the power of executing judgments, among which exclusion from society was the most dreaded. Druids were not a hereditary caste, but they enjoyed exemption from military service as well as from payment of taxes. The course of training to which a novice had to submit was protracted.

All Druidic instruction was communicated orally, but Caesar reports that for ordinary purposes, the Gauls had a written language in which they used Greek characters. However by the time of Caesar, Gaulish had moved from the Greek to the Latin script.

"The principal point of their doctrine," says Caesar, "is that the soul does not die and that after death it passes from one body into another." They also "hold various lectures and discussions on astronomy, on the extent and geographical distribution of the globe, on the different branches of natural philosophy, and on many problems connected with religion." (De Bello Gallico, VI, 13)

Caesar noted that Druids punished members of the society by a form of excommunication, preventing them from attending religious festivals. As these religious festivals were common and well-attended, this was an effective means of excluding punished persons from society.

Two Druids, from an 1845 publication, based on a bas-relief found at Autun, France.

Cicero (106-43 B.C.E.) remarks on the existence among the Gauls of augurs or soothsayers, known by the name of Druids, saying that he had made the acquaintance of one Diviciacus, an Aeduan also known to Caesar.[2]

Writers such as Diodorus and Strabo, though with less firsthand experience than Caesar, reported that the Celtic priestly order or class included Druids, Bardism and Vates (soothsayers). It was also claimed by Roman writers that a general assembly of the order was held once every year within the territories of the Carnutes in Gaul.

Pomponius Mela (c. 43 C.E.) is the first author who says that the Druids' instruction was secret, carried on in caves and forests. Human sacrifice has also sometimes been attributed to Druidism. While some see this as Roman propaganda, human sacrifice was an old European inheritance. Executions may also have been conducted as sacrifices, whether of criminals or, to judge from Roman reports, of war captives.

Diodorus Siculus asserts that a sacrifice acceptable to the Celtic gods had to be attended by a Druid, for they were the intermediaries. He also claims that before a battle the Druids often threw themselves between two armies to bring about peace. Diodorus remarks upon the importance of prophets in Druidic ritual: "These men predict the future by observing the flight and calls of birds and by the sacrifice of holy animals: all orders of society are in their power… In very important matters they prepare a human victim, plunging a dagger into his chest; by observing the way his limbs convulse as he falls and the gushing of his blood, they are able to read the future."

These comments are supported to some extent by archaeological excavations. At Ribemont in Picardy, France, there were revealed pits filled with human bones and thigh bones deliberately fixed into rectangular patterns. At a bog in Lindow, Cheshire, England was discovered a body which may also have been the victim of a druidic ritual, but it is just as likely that he was an executed criminal. The body is now on display at the British Museum, London.

Druids were seen as essentially non-Roman. A prescript of Augustus forbade Roman citizens to practice druidical rites. Under Tiberius the Druids were suppressed by a decree of the Senate, but this had to be renewed by Claudius in 54 C.E.

After the first century C.E. the continental Druids disappeared entirely from the historical record and were referred to only on very rare occasions. Druids continued to be a presence in the British Isles, however, for several centuries.

Medieval sources

The story of Vortigern as reported by Nennius provides one of the very few glimpses of Druidic survival in Britain after the Roman conquest: unfortunately, Nennius is noted for mixing fact and legend in such a way that it is now impossible to know the truth behind his text. He asserts that, after being excommunicated by Germanus, the British leader Vortigern invited 12 Druids to assist him.

Artist's conception of a Druid and his student

In Irish literature, the Druids are frequently mentioned, and their functions in the island seem to correspond fairly well to those they performed in Gaul. The most important Irish documents are contained in manuscripts of the twelfth century, but many of the texts themselves go back as far as the eighth. In these stories Druids usually act as advisers to kings. They were said to have the ability to foretell the future (Bec mac Dé, for example, predicted the death of Diarmait mac Cerbaill more accurately than three Christian saints, but there is little reference to their religious function. They do not appear to form any corporate body, nor do they seem to be exempt from military service.

In the Ulster Cycle, Cathbad, chief Druid at the court of Conchobar, king of Ulster, is accompanied by a number of youths who are desirous of learning his art. Cathbad is present at the birth of the famous tragic heroine Deirdre. He prophesies what sort of a woman she will be and predicts the strife that will accompany her, although Conchobar ignores him.

Before setting out on the great expedition against Ulster in Táin Bó Cuailnge, Medb, queen of Connacht, consults her Druids regarding the outcome of the war. They hold up the march by two weeks, waiting for an auspicious omen. Druids were also said to have magical skills: when the hero Cúchulainn returned from the land of the fairies after having been enticed there by a fairy woman or goddess, named Fand, whom he is now unable to forget, he is given a potion by some Druids, which banishes all memory of his recent adventures and which also rids his wife Emer of the pangs of jealousy.

More remarkable still is the story of Étaín. This lady, later the wife of Eochaid Airem, High King of Ireland, was in a former existence the beloved of the god Midir, who again seeks her love and carries her off. The king has recourse to his Druid, Dalgn, who requires a whole year to discover the haunt of the couple. This he accomplished by means of four wands of yew inscribed with ogham characters.

In other texts the Druids are able to produce insanity. Mug Ruith, a legendary druid of Munster, wore a hornless bull's hide and an elaborate feathered headdress and had the ability to fly and conjure storms it was said.

In the lives of saints and martyrs, the Druids are represented as magicians and diviners. In Adamnan's vita of Columba, two of them act as tutors to the daughters of Lóegaire mac Néill, the High King, at the coming of Saint Patrick. They are represented as endeavoring to prevent the progress of Patrick and Saint Columba by raising clouds and mist. Before the battle of Culdremne (561 C.E.) a Druid made an airbe drtiad (fence of protection) round one of the armies, but what is precisely meant by the phrase is unclear. The Irish Druids seem to have had a peculiar tonsure.

Later Druids

There is some evidence that the Druids of Ireland survived into the mid- to late-seventh century. In the De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae of Augustinus Hibernicus, there is mention of local magi who taught a doctrine of reincarnation in the form of birds.[3]

The people of the Low Countries were Christianized in the seventh century, through the efforts of Saint Eligius. One of the best glimpses of late Druidic practices comes from the vita of Eligius written by Saint Ouen, his contemporary and companion. Ouen reports that Eligius denounced "sacrilegious pagan customs" in Flanders. In particular, he denounces the consultation of "magicians, diviners, sorcerers or incantators," auguries, and superstitions related to the moon. He refers to "devotion to the gods of the trivium, where three roads meet, or the rocks or springs or groves or corners" as idolatrous customs, and he frowns on Yule Midsummer celebrations. Other pagan customs enumerated by Eligius include "lustrations or incantations with herbs" and "passing cattle through a hollow tree or ditch" and "shouting when the moon is obscured" and adoration of or swearing by the sun or moon, and "diabolical games and dancing or chants."

Hill of Tara in County Meath, Ireland, legendary seat of the High Kings.

Sites associated with Druidry include:

  • The Isle of Anglesey
  • The Isle of Man
  • The Isle of Arran
  • Wistman's Wood on Dartmoor
  • Newland's Corner in Surrey
  • Iona
  • Tara

The association of Druids with Stonehenge was hypothesized in the sixteenth century in attempts to explain the mysteries of Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument that was abandoned long before any Druids came to Britain. There is no evidence that it was ever used by authentic Druids in ancient times. Nevertheless, it has become an important site for modern movements calling themselves druidic.

The Druidic Revival

In the eighteenth century, England and Wales experienced a revival of interest in the Druids, inspired by the antiquaries John Aubrey, John Toland and William Stukeley. The poet William Blake was involved in the revival and may have been an Archdruid; the Ancient Druid Order, which existed from 1717 until it split into two groups in 1964, never used the title "Archdruid" for any member, but credited Blake as having been its Chosen Chief from 1799 to 1827.

John Aubrey was the first modern writer to connect Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments with Druidry, a belief that shaped ideas of Druidry during much of the nineteenth century. John Toland, founder of "neo-Pantheism, was fascinated by Aubrey's Stonehenge theories and founded the Ancient Druid Order in London in 1717.

Druids began to figure widely in popular culture with the first advent of Romanticism. Chateaubriand's novel Les Martyrs (1809) narrated the doomed love of a Druid priestess and a Roman soldier; though Chateaubriand's theme was the triumph of Christianity over pagan Druids, the setting was to continue to bear fruit. Opera provides a barometer of well-informed popular European culture in the early ninteeenth century: in 1817, Giovanni Pacini brought Druids to the stage in Trieste with an opera to a libretto by Felice Romani about a Druid priestess, La Sacerdotessa d'Irminsul ("The Priestess of Irminsul").

The most famous Druidic opera, Bellini's Norma was a fiasco at La Scala, when it premiered the day after Christmas, 1831, but in 1833 it was a hit in London. For its libretto Felice Romani reused some of the pseudo-Druidical background of La Sacerdotessa to provide color to a standard theatrical conflict of love and duty that was related to Medea, as it had recently been recast for a popular Parisian play by Alexandre Soumet: the diva of Norma's hit aria, "Casta Diva," is the moon goddess, being worshipped in the "grove of the Irmin statue."

In the nineteenth century, Edward Williams, also known as Iolo Morganwg, supposedly collected The Iolo Manuscripts (1849) and Barddas (1862). Many scholars deem much of Williams' work to be fabrication.

Modern Druids in the early morning glow of the sun

Some strands of modern "Druidism" (also known among some groups as Modern Druidry), such as the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD), are a continuation of the eighteenth-century revival and thus are built largely around writings produced in the eighteenth century and later. Some are monotheistic. Members of other Neo-druid groups may be Neopagan, occultist, Reconstructionist, or non-specifically spiritual.

An unfortunate result of the reinvention of Duidism, is that it has shaped public perceptions of historical Druidry and continues to shape some modern forms of it as well. The British Museum declares: "Modern Druids have no direct connection to the Druids of the Iron Age. Many of our popular ideas about the Druids are based on the misunderstandings and misconceptions of scholars 200 years ago. These ideas have been superseded by later study and discoveries." [4]

Notes

  1. Diogenes Laertius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers Introduction, Chapters & 5. classicpersuasion.org. (Book A 1 & 6 (greek text). www.mikrosapoplous.gr. All retrieved October 18, 2007.
  2. Cicero, De Divinatione 1.41
  3. Augustinus Hibernicus. "De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae." King of Mysteries: Early Irish Religious Writings edited by John Carey. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000.
  4. Druids www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk. Retrieved October 16, 2007.

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Ellis, Peter Berresford. A Brief History of the Druids. Carroll & Gaf, 2002. ISBN 978-0786709878
  • Green, Miranda J. The World of the Druids. London: Thames & Hudson, 2005. ISBN 978-0500285718
  • Hibernicus, Augustinus, ed. John Carey. "De Mirabilibus Sacrae Scripturae." King of Mysteries: Early Irish Religious Writings. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2000. ISBN 978-1851825721
  • Markvale, Jean. The Druids: Celtic Priests of Nature. Inner Traditions, 1999. ISBN 978-0892817030
  • Piggott, Stuart. The Druids. London: Thames & Hudson, 1985. ISBN 978-0500273630

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