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From: Asa Daniel <>
Subject: [FOLKLORE-L] The Druids--Walkers Between Worlds
Date: Thu, 04 Jun 1998 08:16:47 -0500

The very word "druid" conjures an image of a people clad in mystery who
practised human sacrifice and left behind monuments such as Stonehenge
and Newgrange. Theories of their origins range from prosaic stories of
Mediteranean adventurers of 3000 B.C. to fantastic accounts of
aboriginal peoples who received "otherworldly" teachings from space
beings who visited earth.

Druids did practice some form of human sacrifice and most likely
followed the Celts from continental Europe in about 300 B.C. Both
Stonehenge and Newgrange were built and deserted by the time druids
arrived in Brittania and Ireland.

Philosophically, druidry shares its belief in a magical world view with
those who practice wicca, earth magic, shamanism and even medieval
alchemy. Druidry also holds common beliefs with Christianity. These
similarities allowed for the relatively easy assimilation of the Irish
druids into the early Celtic church. The druids were not overthrown by
St. Patrick at the Hill of Tara, they walked quietly into the they
walked quietly into the future as lesser members of the
Christian clergy in order to survive.

Druids did not comprise a priesthood as is commonly thought. They were a
segment of society made up of poets, seers, law-givers and bards. Both
women and men were druids and undertook approximately 12 to 20 years of
training in their respective fields.

Teaching of theoretical and practical knowledge was oral with required
memorization of long dialogues and phrasings. Althought a druid may have
studied cosmology, astrology or poetry, each was called upon by his or
her community to offer practical advice for living, whether a matter of
the heart, the harvest or the hereafter.

Within druidry, the "ovate" class was composed of women and men gifted
with the unusual skill of precognition or prophecy. The ovates observed
nature and made rites and sacrifices in accordance with their
observations. Human sacrifice of criminals and prisoners was Human
sacrifice of criminals and prisoners was performed but later evolved
into symbolic ritual.

The class of judges or law-givers was known as "brehans" and the
remnants of their druidic circuits are still found in the British
judiciary system. Fair compensation for injustices and the power of
truth were the mainstays of druidic law. In a violent and fractured
society, the structure of druidic law was both abided and feared.

The poets or "fili" were the bards and their poetry and stories
preserved the lives and histories of chief and king. History sometimes
blurs the line between druid and king because it was the druid's
word---not the king's---which declared succession and familial rights.
As a repository of wisdom and history, the druids over time were
considered semi-divine.

Mythologically, the "good god" of the Celtic Assembly was also a druidic
wizard. Dagda, king of the Tuatha de Dannan, was a crude and cunning
trickster who oversaw the weather, the harvest and the performance of
miracles.

Stones, wood and earth forms and the energies they channelled were of
prime importance to the druids. Celtic scholar Caitlin Mathews suggests
that the druid is a "knower of the woods" or "wood sage." This quality
of "knowing" allowed the druid to traverse the space between the seen
and unseen worlds---a result of knowledge and acceptance of the natural
world and her rhythms.

Sites described as having particular significance to the druids of
Britain and Ireland include the standing stone sites of Avebury,
Rollright, Stonehenge and Callanish. Also revered were Glastonbury, the
Scottish Isle of Iona and Ireland's Boyne River valley sites as well as
the great hill of Tara.

Druids made use of groves of trees, the oak being the most sacred. With
its phallus shape, the acorn held the potential for the mighty oak, the
long lived tree of wisdom. Mistletoe or "All Heal" was sacred also for
its healing properties and because it seemingly grew from the air or
"spirit."

Caitlin Matthews notes the "function of the ovate is still very much
associated with people of Celtic extraction today, many of whom possess
the `second sight'." The druid is not gone. Each time you or a friend
expresses their surprise at "knowing" something was to happen or "sees"
the near future in a dream, you are rekindling the ancient spirit of the
druid, a walker of worlds in time with nature.

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