Druids The Druids were Celtic pagan priests about which we know very little because they apparently were sworn to secrecy and not permitted to express their beliefs in writing. We do, however, have written accounts from indirect sources.
When in Gaul, Julius Caesar noted that the Druids worshipped gods, passed on their traditions to the young, practiced human sacrifice in oak groves and forbade certain people from attending sacrificial ceremonies. Because attendance at sacrificial ceremonies ensured one’s in-group status, those forbidden to attend became socially marginalized.
Caesar also says the Druids met annually at a location taken to be the center of Gaul. They didn’t fight in wars nor pay taxes. The Roman writer Pliny (the Elder, 23-79 CE) wrote that, in addition to their priestly role, the Druids were seers, diviners, and healers.
Despite New Age philosophies based on the apparent teachings of the Druids, there is no hard evidence that they held any detailed body of esoteric knowledge or, as S. G. F. Brandon puts it, “any subtle and sophisticated philosophy.” Brandon, in fact, suggests that the Druids were not unlike any other “barbarian priesthood” (A Dictionary of Comparative Religion, S. G. F. Brandon ed., New York: Scribner, 1970). And there’s no visible evidence to link the Druids with Stonehenge, as suggested by the English writer John Aubrey in 1649 and by numerous TV specials and contemporary enthusiasts.
The historian Tacitus mentions Druidic presence in Britain. The Druids served as officials at the allegedly bloody and frightening human sacrifices, the victims usually being criminals. Sometimes, however, innocent people were sacrificed in times of national calamity.
Caesar says that giant casings of intertwined branches held victims as they were burnt alive. Humans and animals, alike, were used as burnt offerings for the gods. The Romans most likely cited the Druidic practice of human sacrifice to undermine the Druid’s political power. The Romans executed human beings for the State (in the form of scourging to the death or crucifixion) but human sacrifice to the gods was no longer practiced in the classical world.
Through the fantasy literature of writers such as J. J. R. Tolkien and Terry Brooks, the idea of the Druid-Sorcerer has been firmly established as a kind of archetypal image for the powerful, brooding, wise and yet somewhat ambivalent magician. » Mistletoe
Add to this, report errors, suggest edits or voice your opinion by posting a comment
