Druids were the spiritual core of the Celtic tribes that populated pre-Roman Europe. The Druids were very powerful and very important to the Celtic people; something which marked them as a threat to Roman imperialism. Simply put the Druids were the glue that kept the tribes together, so the Romans massacred the Druids and destroyed their places of worship in a concerted effort to shatter their power. Inevitably the Romans succeeded and as the majority of Druid ritual and history was passed down orally, much of their culture, belief system and ritual practice is lost to time. The only real accounts we have left are those handed down by people like Julius Caesar and the Christian scholars that followed, of course it must be remembered that any such records are at best described as from an uninformed point of view and at worse as subject to prejudicial spin.

 

What we do know is that the Druids power was centred on the Ynys Mon/Mona’s Isle, which is modern day Anglesey, and that Druids worshiped a nature based religion usually in forest groves, they considered the oak tree as sacred (Druid is derived from the Celtic ‘duir’ which means oak) and they harvested mistletoe from trees using a golden sickle. There is also talk of sacrifice, both animal and human often using the dreaded wicker man (a wooden cage – often in human form- which was filled with the living sacrifices and then burnt). However a few things must be born in mind here; the accounts are, as noted above, unverifiable, the Celts are thought to believe that death was simply a journey to another realm and it is also possible that the sacrifices were dressed dummies (no, honestly). Even if the tales of blood shed are true – why the stigma? Most early religions spilt there own share of blood, as a read of the Bible will testify.

 

So the Druids died out during the Roman occupation – more or less, some will probably have survived, going underground, as some Druids were often mobile travelling between tribes or perhaps even converting to Christianity. Regardless of any survivors the era of the Druid had passed.

 

The Revival

 

Druidry was first revived in the eighteenth century, however these Druids were nothing like the originals, instead they were often organised along the lines of the Freemasons and in some cases had no religious aspects at all. However modern Druids (or neo-Druids if you want) are a different kettle of acorns.

 

Modern Druidry is a reconstructed path that seeks to integrate what is known about the old ways, whether actually true or theorised, with modern spirituality and draws upon the myths of the Celts, particularly the Welsh Mabinogion and the Irish Book of Tain, and the Arthurian cycle, though more often the Breton version rather than the Romance version that most people are familiar with today.

 

Beliefs

 

Central to modern Druid belief is the concept of Awen, an all pervading life force, though different Druid groups may interpret this in different ways. Basically it is seen as the creative force, the life force that is everywhere. Many Druids see this as an unknowable force that is the source of all religions and that all faiths have their own name and view of it.

 

Druids tend to celebrate festivals roughly equivalent with the Wiccan Wheel of the Year, though some observe a calendar based on a pre 1752 CE system and thus dates of the fire festivals (Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lughnasadh) may vary by eleven days. The other festivals are the solar festivals and as such fall on the same dates as celebrated by other paths.

 

The festivals in order are:

 

Samhain

Alban Arthuran (Light of Arthur) – Winter Solstice

Imbolc

Alban Eilur (Light of the Earth) – Spring Equinox

Beltane

Alban Haruin (Light of the Shore) – Summer Solstice

Lughnasadh

Alban Elued (Light of the Water) – Autumn Equinox

 

Structure

 

The Druidry system is one of structure and progression and commonly consists of three grades: Bards, Ovates, and Druids.

 

The role of Bard is concerned with the learning, performing and composing the stories, songs and poems that are part of Druid culture

 

The role of Ovate is deals with medicine, herbs, botany, astronomy and astrology. They are also seen as taking a more shamanistic role.

 

Druids as the third grade combine the experience and resources of a Bard and Ovate to become teachers, priest and advisers. You could say that when reaching the grade of Druid you are blending the two spheres of material and spiritual to create a greater role; it is easy therefore to see why the ancient Druids were so well respected.

 

Druid writing?

 

While I have stated that Druidry was an oral tradition, forms of writing were developed. The most common of these is Ogham (pronounced oh-am) which was produced by scoring a line across the edge of a piece of wood or stone. There are a couple of different styles of Ogham in use today by reconstructionists and there is also a ‘rune’ like Bardic script called the coelbren when cut into wood, or the coelvain when cut into stone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organisations

 

There are a number of organisations representing Druidry today including The British Druid Order, The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and The Druid Network.