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At the height of their society at around 300 B.C. there were hundreds of independent Celtic tribes. Each tribe had fixed borders but held the forest and agricultural land as common ground. Some of the land was worked in common for the sick and the poor (5). The social structure was based on democratic idealism. Every person had his or her place in the tribe and officials were elected yearly. The majority of tribal business was conducted at annual assemblies where land disputes were decided, petty criminals were tried and officials were elected (2,5). The common link between all the tribes was the Druid priesthood. The Druid priests had authority over every tribal chief and could move wherever they wanted. They were the arbitrators between the tribes. Their purpose was to preserve the common culture, religion, history, laws, scholarship and science of the Celtic people A Druid would begin training at age 5 and continue for 20 years. He or she would be taught in a large group by a few Druid teachers and would be educated in astrology, magic, and in the powers of plants and animals. All of the instruction was oral and hands-on (1,2,3,4). The training was also very physically demanding. A Druid had to master and understand his or her body because it was the soul’s link to nature and life. It is believed that the students would live in the sacred oak forests for long periods of time. There they would learn to communicate with nature and understand its mysterious ways. They would also learn magic based on the powers of nature. A student had to always be open and observant. A student could train to be a Priest, a Bard or an Ovate. The Bards were the keepers of tradition through oral art. After basic training they would study grammar for twelve years. They would memorize hundreds of stories, poems, and philosophical proverbs. They would keep the history of the Celtic people and were considered to be The Ovates were the sorcerers of the Druid order. They were the healers of the Celtic people. They specialized in divination, conversing with the spirits and prophesising the future. They practiced magic through the powers of nature. The most advanced Ovates were said to be able to control the weather, levitate various objects including themselves, and change their shape into something else, most commonly a The Priests formed the professional class of Celtic society. They were the teachers, the ambassadors, the astronomers, the philosophers, the theologians, the scientists, and the judges. They led all public rituals, which were held within fenced groves of oak trees. They were not mediators between man and god. They served as guides of wisdom and directors of ritual. Each Celtic person has his or her own Women were allowed to become Druids as well. The female Druids were held in the same regard as the male Druids. In Celtic society, women could own land and rule a tribe. The ancestry was traced maternally and women were able to divorce their husbands. The strength of the Celtic women can be seen in Boudicca. She was one of the first people to lead a revolt against the Romans in Britian (3,4). Druid magic is the result of an in-depth awareness of nature, and the spirits and gods who live in nature. A Druid must be able to understand the language of nature and absorb its ever flowing wisdom. All other wisdom follows from that. The main principle behind their magic was to appeal to the gods for a particular service in return for an The Druids believed in a spiritual other world that paralleled our world. This other world is made up of many gods, spirits and powers. They believed in a continuity between life and death. Death was viewed as a transition phase in the course of a long, even eternal, life. There is no true division between this world and the other world. The gods that live in the other world are neither good nor evil (1,5) Reincarnation was believed to occur in one form or another after death. The advanced Druids would be reborn in the other world, while the common people would most likely be reborn in this world (2,3). There was the practice of holding one’s debts off until payment in the afterlife. It said that because the Celts believed so strongly in the immortal soul they would fight in war without any fear of death (5). This caused many problems for the Romans as they tried to invade the British Isles. Fire was believed to be one the most powerful substances in the Druid religion. There were four annual fire festivals every year. Fire was considered a spiritual force unto itself possessing the magical properties of both destructiveness and cleansing. It is the force behind the creation of civilization, and therefore it is sacred. Fire was used in almost all of the Druid rituals. It was used in healing and communicating with the gods The gods that the Druids worshiped were believed to be created from one mother goddess. She is the deity Danu. She is represented by the oak tree and she is ever eternal. There is no existing creation myth of Danu or of the world. What is known is that every god and goddess is inseparable from the aspect of nature that they represent. Dogda was the father of most of the gods and he carried a club that could heal the dying and kill the living. Morrigu was the goddes of war, and she is the one who is responsible for choosing who will die in battle. Brigid is the Celtic goddess created from fire. It is said that she causes fire in the head which is the root of poetry. When the Celts were reformed by the Christians, Brigid was turned into St. Bridget. Diancecht was the god of healing. He created a well that could heal anyone who was put into it. These are some of the main gods all the Celtic tribes believed in. It is believed that each tribe had its own local deity; therefore thousands of deities were known to the Druids (4,5). Animals were respected by the Druids because they were nature and its true essence. Many animals represented a sacred quality. The salmon represented wisdom. Deer represented honor because they were hunted for food and the appearance of a deer sometimes indicated the presence of an entrance into the other world. Boars represented heroic skill because of the effort needed to kill one. The serpent was sacred because it represented earth powers. The crow was very sacred because it carried the soul from one life to the next. To the Druids all the animals of nature were holy (4,5). Possibly of greater importance than the animals to the Druids were the trees. The word Druid itself comes from the Gaelic word “duir” meaning oak. Trees were most special because they connected the earth and the sky and within them the other world. Where these realms came together was considered a powerful place. The Druids had eight main festivals throughout the Celtic year. They included four major holidays, Shamain, Imbolc, Beltain and Lughnasad. Along with these four, they celebrated the equinoxes and the solstices. Samhain was held around November and was the beginning of the new year. On this day the boundaries between this world and the other were closest, making it the day of the dead. Imbolic was celebrated around the first of February. It celebrated the rebirth of spring. Beltain was celebrated around the first of May and was called the day of life. Lughnasad was celebrated around the first of August to thank the earth for the bounties of the year (4,5). During these festivals, two fires would be lit on top of a hill. People would then heerd sheep and cattle between them or jump over them for purification. These rituals would last for three days, starting at sunset the first day and ending at sunset of the third. At day time games would be played while at night the serious rituals were performed. Today there some misconceptions about the Druid rituals that took place in ancient times. It is not known for sure whether or not the Druids had human sacrifices. If they did have human sacrifices, it was an offering to nature by the person being sacrificed. No one was forced to be sacrificed. The Druids did not worship any evil spirits but the whole of dark and light that is the universe. Druidism was driven underground as Christianity moved into Western Europe. Much of Druidism was incorporated into the Christianity of the British Isles. But by 700 C.E. Druidism was almost completely gone. The only reason we know as much as we do about the Druids is because of Christian monks who documented them. It is from their writings that we know the ways of the ancient Druids Bibliography: Word Count: 1573
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