RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE:

IN SEARCH OF THE DRUIDS

 
By Eva Gordon, FoDLA Youth Religious Education Coordinator

Images of Merlin, Gandalf, Dumbledore, white-robed men at Stonehenge, and even “Getafix,” the potion-brewing druid in Asterix comics come to mind when we hear the word “druid.” There are many popular ideas about Druids, but not all are true.

True or False? (answers at end of this article)

1. Druids built Stonehenge.
2. Druids always preferred oak trees over all other trees.
3. Druids came from India originally.
4. Only men could be Druids.
5. Druids practiced human sacrifice, using a giant “Wicker Man.”
6. There are Druids among us today, who come from an unbroken family tradition dating back to the Ancient Druids.

Among the ancient Celts, Druids were priests, learned men, poets, physicians, astronomers, judges and seers. Both men and women were Druids.  In Celtic society, there were 3 basic classes of people: farmers and craftsmen, warriors, and kings (together with Druids). 

They lived in Gaul (what is now France, and parts of Germany, Belgium and Switzerland), Britain and Ireland. No one knows for sure whether they began in Gaul or in Britain. The earliest writings we have about them dates back to the second century  BCE (Before the Common Era). There is no evidence that the Druids built Stonehenge or other stone circles that are found in Britain, Ireland, or on the Continent of Europe—these date back to the New Stone Age, or 1500-2000 BCE or before. Although the Celtic Druids were part of the Indo-European peoples, there is no real evidence that they came from India. 

There were 3 classes of druids: Bards, or poets; Vates, or seers and naturalists; and Druids, or priests.

We have a problem, that the Druids did not leave written records of themselves or their beliefs—it was against their religion! All we have to go by are accounts by Greek and Roman historians, including Julius Caesar, who were the enemies of the Celts, and later Christian Irish writings. Unfortunately, these writers were looking in from the outside, often quoting earlier sources, and were likely to have been biased . The best we can do is to try to look at both sources and find points of agreement.

According to Greek and Roman sources, Druids officiated  at sacrifices or other religious rituals, read omens,  and made legal judgements. If someone went against their judgement, that person would be banned from the tribe’s rituals, and therefore cut off from the community.

The Druids were trained from a very young age and memorized great amounts of information—as if they were the “library” of the tribe, the keepers of the oral tradition . The training would take 20 years.

The Roman historian Pliny the Elder described Druids in Gaul holding ceremonies in sacred oak groves, wearing white clothing, cutting mistletoe with a golden sickle, and sacrificing two white bulls to their gods. They believed that mistletoe was a cure for all poisons, and would make barren animals fertile. In Gaul, perhaps the oaks were sacred to the Druids, but in Ireland, the rowan, yew and hawthorn trees were held in high esteem.

Druids were said to believe in the immortality of the soul, and that people would be reborn in a different form after death, or in the Otherworld. They believed that people should live in harmony with nature, should “worship the gods, do no evil, and exercise courage.” They are said to have valued the Truth highly. This is found in the Irish writings: “The Truth against the world” is a famous saying.

Under the Roman Empire, with the conquest of Gaul and later, Britain, the Druids were persecuted, officially perhaps because they were said to practice terrible human sacrifices (though this is not confirmed by the Irish writers). This may really have been for political reasons, to keep the conquered peoples under Roman control.

In Ireland, the Druids were apparently displaced and absorbed by the Christian tradition. For some time, the Bards and Fili (low and high-ranking poets) continued to function in society, but lost their religious status.

In that way, the tradition of the ancient Druids was broken, and much of the knowledge they possessed was lost. However, in more recent times, from the 17^th  Century to our own time, Druids have been an inspiration for many people, due to  their reputation of power, deep knowledge, and connection with nature.

Answers: There is no real evidence for any of these !

For Further Reading:

Peter Beresford Ellis, The Druids. Carroll & Graff Publishers, New York, 2002

Simon James, The World of the Celts. Thames and Hudson, London, 1993

Anne Ross, Druids, Gods & Heroes from Celtic Mythology. Peter Bedrick Books, New York, 1986.