|
|
Fictions,
Facts, and Mysteries: Druids
by
Francine Nicholson, M.A.
A
group of men and women in white robes, armed with
elaborately carved bronze swords and golden
sickles, enter the forest at night and head for an
oak tree entangled by mistletoe. Chanting
incomprehensible verses, they cut the mistletoe
from the oak tree and lay it on a white
cloth.
Or,
bearing torches, they enter a circle of roughly
carved standing stones, leading a man bound and
gagged. At the moment the first ray of the
midsummer sun strikes the stones, they cut off the
head of the bound man, catch the blood in a silver
basin, and pour it over the stones.
Such
images of druids have become fixed in the popular
consciousness, but in reality, these images contain
both fact and misconception. It's true that, in
some respects, we have more questions than answers
about what the druids did and believed. Perhaps
that is why over the generations, proponents of
diverse views have found it so easy to depict the
druids as exemplars of their own beliefs: Stoic
philosophers, the original Freemasons or
Unitarians, descendants of Egyptian priests, and
models for the New Age. Stuart Piggott called such
images "druids-as-wished-for."
Scholars groan over such images because they bear
so little resemblance to what is known about the
druids. On the other hand, scholars will readily
admit that there are large gaps in the record of
evidence, gaps that leave room for discussion about
what role the druids played in early Gaulish,
British, and Irish societies. However, such
discussion should begin by looking at the evidence
for what Piggott called, "druids-as-known," in
their function as the ritual leaders of the
pre-Christian Celtic-speaking peoples.
In
this essay, you'll find the following sections to
which you can jump by following the
links:
·
Sources
of Information.
lists the types of evidence
·
Fictions:
Modern Misconceptions about
Druids. lists
popular though mistaken ideas about the druids
along with the correct information
·
Facts:
What We Know about the
Druids. lists
information about which scholars are reasonably
certain
·
Mysteries:
What We Do Not Know about the
Druids. lists
areas about which we know little
·
For
Further Reading.
lists books and articles that contain solid,
reliable information about the druids and their
worlds
The
ideas presented here are consensus interpretations
of the evidence, but few of these views are
uncontested by someone. You will better understand
why this is so after you look at the section on
Sources
of Information..
After reading all this material, you may find that
your mental image of druids still remains a bit
fuzzy, but you can be reasonably certain that your
image is accurate.
Sources
of Information
In
many ways, understanding what information we have
and the limitations of the sources is key to
forming an accurate image of the druids. The
process of evaluating the evidence is akin to
piecing a very old jigsaw puzzle. Assume that you
don't know how the puzzle is supposed to turn out.
Also, assume that some parts are missing. In fact,
the missing parts may be the most important ones:
we do not have any living druids from ancient times
to tell us what they thought, believed, or did. The
druids died out long ago, and they never wrote down
what they taught their students.
Essentially, the information we have to work with
falls into the following categories: Greek and
Roman commentary, archaeological finds, comparative
evidence, and medieval Irish texts.
Source
Type 1. Statements made by Greek and Roman writers
about the druids
There
are a few dozen brief references to druids in Gaul
and Britain (not Ireland) in the works of Greek-
and Latin-speaking writers from the classical era
(Piggott gives the total number of classical
references as thirty). These sources are important
because we have so little evidence. Nevertheless,
their value is limited because the quality and
accuracy of the information found in these sources
varies. First of all, remember that these writers
are writing after the Romans had conquered
Celtic-speaking peoples. For most of these writers,
the druids were a group that had already been
suppressed and outlawed. Therefore, by and large,
the writers are repeating the impressions of
others, not offering their own observations. Even
within a single work, an author may draw from both
personal experience and other writers without
distinguishing.
Also,
the authors' reasons for writing varied. Some were
antiquarians and encyclopedists, writing about all
sorts of topics. Others were travellers who, in a
sense, made a living from writing about their
experiences and the stories they heard. Some were
military leaders who had political purposes to
promote or actions to justify. Cultural bias and
personal perspective often affected how an author
depicted the druids. Strabo, for example,
emphasized how the Celtic religious leaders were
similar to certain Greek philosophers. Julius
Caesar, whose principal concern was to incorporate
the Gaulish people into the Empire he was creating,
emphasized the druids influential role in governing
Gaulish society and presented their beliefs in
terms of Roman religion. Some classical authors
considered the Celtic-speaking peoples to be
barbaric threats to order. Others regarded the
Celts with ambivalence, depicting them as
interesting curiosities but not first-class human
beings. In other words, the classical writers
demonstrated some of the same biases and prejudices
that colonizing peoples have shown towards the
conquered throughout human history. It also helps
to look at everything an author wrote, not just the
passages on the druids or Celts, and consider the
author`s general reliability as a source. When you
consider what the classical authors wrote about the
druids, evaluate statements for bias and
contradiction, and verify their accuracy. For
example, Julius Caesar may be generally reliable.
He certainly wanted to make the Gauls subject to
the Romans, and, to him, that meant Romanizing them
to a degree. He certainly interpreted their beliefs
through his own perspective, but he could not
afford to outright lie because his political
enemies would have made hay of him. Also, many of
his statements can be verified. Pliny, on the other
hand, though his description of druids picking
mistletoe is often quoted as reliable, is probably
less trustworthy. For example, consider that (1)
Pliny often wrote obviously legendary anecdotes
(such as dog-headed people who communicated by
barking), (2) golden blades would not cut vines
very effectively, and (3) Pliny made other
statements about the druids that are doubtful. For
example, he wrote: "We cannot too highly appreciate
our debt to the Romans for having put an end to
this monstrous cult, whereby to murder a man was an
act of the greatest devoutness, and to eat his
flesh most beneficial." If the druids had been
cannibals, this would have been mentioned by Julius
Caesar, Suetonius, and Tacitus. Since it was not,
Pliny's claim about druidic cannibalism may be as
legendary as his tales of dog-headed people. And
since no one other than Pliny connects the druids
with mistletoe, that story may be equally
legendary. These are the sorts of questions that
need to be asked. The results of scholarly studies
can help you. For example, some scholars have
examined how accurately the authors quoted their
sources. Other scholars have noted how
archaeological finds and other evidence contradict
what the ancient authors wrote. See the sources
listed under For
Further
Reading..
Source
Type 2. Discoveries of objects and sites made by
archaeologists
This
is the only material that actually might have been
used by druids or the people they led in ritual.
From study of the human remains found in graves,
archaeologists can tell us something about the
people themselves, for example, how large they were
in general, how long they generally lived, the
rates of infant mortality, sometimes even the
illnesses that plagued them. Archaeologists can
also draw some conclusions about how the
pre-Christian Celts worshipped: where they
conducted ceremonies, the objects they offered,
sometimes even the time of year when they were
active on a ritual site. However, no druids have
survived to tell us which objects were used by
druids (as opposed to other ritual leaders or
participants), how they used the objects, and what
they believed was the purpose. So many questions
remain unanswered: what did they wear, when did
they worship, why did they worship, who did they
worship, what did they say and do during their
ceremonies?
Source
Type 3. Comparison of culture and language with
other Indo-European cultures
Some
evidence comes from looking at how words evolved in
the Celtic languages, especially the Indo-European
roots from which they evolved. In some ways,
linguistic material is the most speculative
evidence we have to work with since it often relies
on hypothetical reconstructions of past behavior
for which there is little if any independent
evidence. We can also look at other Indo-European
cultures to see what similar structures and
institutions they have. However, this, too, can
lead to inaccurate assumptions: even when cultures
started from the same people, they often evolve in
distinctly different ways, developing different
social organization, religious beliefs and
practices, and cultural norms. In other words, the
fact that an action or belief can be proven to be
true of Hindu brahmins does not mean it was equally
true of Celtic druids.
Source
Type 4. Irish tales, law, and stories of the saints
recorded by medieval Christian monks
Writing
did not come to Ireland until the Christian
era.
It's unknown when Christianity first came to
Ireland, though the story of St. Patrick converting
all of Ireland in the early fifth century is
generally discounted. Rather, the conversion seems
to have been gradual, probably beginning by the
reputed time of Patrick. As the conversion took
place, existing customs were evaluated for
compatibility with Christianity, then either
discarded or adapted in a process that lasted many
years. By the beginning of the seventh century,
Irish society had become predominantly Christian.
Our earliest written evidence for Ireland dates
from that period, when Irish monastic scribes began
to keep records: lives of patron saints, notes of
events inside and outside their monasteries, laws,
some other traditional lore.
As
time passed, the scribes recorded additional
material, including remnants of pre-Christian myths
and what might be called "secular" tales about
heroes of the past. Some of these materials mention
druids but the descriptions view them from an often
negative Christian perspective. Even the earliest
legal material depicts druids as a group whose
prestige in the society has become questionable:
for example, while druids are still classified as
nobles, they are not entitled to the same rights
and privileges as others of their rank. In some
stories, druids are depicted as agents of demonic
forces, or they are shown as greedy and
untrustworthy.
Frequently they are depicted as allies of Simon
Magus, who appears as a greedy and sometimes evil
sorcerer in the New Testament and early Christian
apocrypha. Even when the images of druids are
fairly even-handed, we can assume that the scribes
and storytellers knew little about what the druids
did or believed so that their descriptions are
unlikely to be completely accurate. It is also
apparent that some social roles were modified to
fit the Christian society. Christian clerics took
over the ritual roles of druids, while the breithem
(judicial expert), fili (praise-poet, prophet, and
keeper of royal and kin-group lore), and bard
(storyteller) took over the lore-keeper functions.
Since saints were sometimes pictured in encounters
with druids or other pagans, stories about Irish
saints are a potential source of information about
the druids, although the biases of the writers must
be considered in evaluating the evidence. For
example, many Lives include stories of saints such
as Padraig competing with druids to achieve some
magical feat. In these stories, the figures of
saints like Padraig speak and act in ways very
similar to the druids with whom they are competing.
What makes Padraig the victor is not different
methods but the superior response he invokes from
his god using the same methods employed by the
druids to invoke theirs.
Before
I leave the subject of sources, here's a word about
books that are not reliable sources of information
about the pre-Christian druids. If you go to the
New Age or even the history section of popular
booksellers, you will find numerous books with
titles such as The Druids Source Book or The Book
of Druidry. Though you may think these books
contain material written by druids long ago, they
actually present the ideas of modern writers
(seventeenth century and later) about what they
think it was like to be a druid or what it should
mean to be a druid today. In fact, these books
contain many of the misconceptions listed later in
this article. For example, some of these writers do
not connect the druids with ancient Celtic-speaking
peoples, but instead place their origins in
pre-Celtic times or even in ancient Egypt,
Atlantis, or Lemuria. Such ideas are not supported
by the evidence. The For
Further Reading.
section recommends reliable sources for exploring
the subject beyond this article.
Fictions:
Modern Misconceptions about Druids
Fiction
1. "Druid" is another word for a
Celtic
pagan.
"Druid"
is the anglicized version of a title used for some
religious leaders of the pre-Christian Celts. In
Old Irish, the correct term is druí
(singular) and druíd (plural).
Fiction
2. All Celtic priests, ritual leaders, and
practitioners were called "druids."
There
were several titles for ritual leaders, although
the evidence is somewhat contradictory as to what
the titles were and what roles they represented.
Also, each Celtic tradition--Gaulish, British, or
Gaelic--had its own terms and titles.
Fiction
3. "Druidry" is the same as pre-Christian Celtic
religion.
A
number of modern neo-pagan groups refer to their
way as "druidry." Generally the neo-pagan "druidry"
movements draw inspiration from the speculative
writings of 18th- and 19th-century antiquarians,
20th-century occultists, and the late 20th-century
New Age movement. Though they often position
themselves as the heirs of ancient traditions,
these neo-pagan "druidry" groups may de-emphasize
Celtic culture and language and operate within
Anglo-centric linguistic and cultural milieus.
Their ideas often, though not always, resemble
Wiccan approaches and ideologies that themselves
come from twentieth-century occultists, not ancient
traditions.
Fiction
4. The druids came from Egypt or Atlantis. Their
teachings are based on the cult of
Isis.
The
druids had nothing to do with Atlantis, Egypt,
Isis, or other Egyptian gods.
Fiction
5. Druids existed in Britain before Celtic-speaking
peoples lived there.
This
idea is contradicted by archaeological and
linguistic evidence. In fact, the druids were the
religious leaders of the pre-Christian Celts,
Celtic-speaking peoples appear to have originated
in central Europe, and the cognate words for Irish
druí apparently originated on the
Continent.
Fiction
6. The druids built Stonehenge.
The
druids were leaders of ritual among pre-Christian
Celtic-speaking peoples. Stonehenge and other
megalithic structures were set up thousands of
years before Celtic-speaking peoples lived in
Atlantic Europe. Celtic-speaking people probably
did not even use Stonehenge, let alone build
it.
Fiction
7. The druids did not practice human
sacrifice.
Classical
writings and archaeological evidence indicate that
the druids supervised sacrifices made by
Celtic-speaking peoples. They sacrificed animals on
a regular basis and occasionally they offered
humans. However, one should keep in mind that
execution for crimes was a religious ceremony of
reparation to the deity offended by the crime, and
many of those "sacrificed" may well have been
criminals. Others were prisoners of war, such as
those said to have been offered by Gauls in
Anatolia after victorious battle (all captured
enemies were killed, but the "best" were singled
out and killed ritually). These practices were
typical of the times, and many, perhaps even most,
ancient cultures practiced animal and/or human
sacrifice in some measure. Even the Romans, who
regularly decried the Gauls for their "barbarous"
practices were known to order human sacrifice in
some situations
and the gods were
regularly invoked as part of the killing that went
on in Coliseum "games."
Fiction
8. The druids were shamans.
Shamans
are the ritual practitioners of certain aboriginal
peoples ranging from Siberia to North and South
America. These practitioners use certain ceremonial
techniques to obtain knowledge, achieve healing,
find game, and empower warriors for battle. Though
each people's ritual leaders use distinctive
ceremonies, modern anthropologists have detected
similarities in form and underlying belief that
they call "shamanism" after the term shaman by
which ritual practitioners are known among certain
Siberian peoples.
Some
techniques and experiences described by shamanic
practitioners seem similar to those of visionaries
in other cultures or belief systems. Most details
of pre-Christian Celtic methods have been lost, but
Celtic seers and ritual leaders may once have
employed techniques that, like those of aboriginal
shamans, involved belief in spirits, interaction
with an Otherworld, and an alliance with
Otherworldly powers or spirits. However, the Celtic
evidence suggests an emphasis on obtaining
knowledge (versus action in ceremony) that is
better associated with the term seer, one who
acquires knowledge not obtainable through ordinary
means. Even in shamanic cultures, shamans are not
the only ones to journey to the Otherworld or have
visions. Similarly, in Celtic myths, as Leslie
Ellen Jones points out in Druid, Shaman, Priest,
characters who travel to the Otherworld are more
often warriors, such as Cú Chulainn and
Fionn, rather than druíd or
fátha ,
though Fionn is identified as both a fili
(poet with some magical skills and powers) as well
as a warrior. Perhaps in the descriptions of Fionn
as both warrior and poet and the hagiographic
references to díbergaigh
performing rituals before setting out on
assassination, there are traces of lost Irish
hunter or warrior practices and beliefs similar to
those still found in shamanic
cultures.
The
anthropological definition of shamanism notes the
commonalities in the experiences of a wide range of
cultures. This scientific emphasis on the common
characteristics may be useful for anthropologists.
However, it tends to overlook that an activity or
culture is shamanic because of the total complex of
belief and ceremony, not one or two separate
characteristics.
While the evidence is sketchy, apparently the
pre-Christian Celts did not conduct ceremonies
using all the aspects of found in shamanic
aboriginal cultures. If we knew more about what the
pre-Christian Celtic seers did, we might find
striking similarities between them and the
practitioners of shamanic cultures. However, the
available evidence indicates that pre-Christian
Celtic practices and concepts differed from those
of the Siberian shaman , Mi'kmaq
puoin , and others who can truly be called
shamans . To call the Celtic seers
shamanic does not sufficiently respect the
unique qualities of aboriginal cultures, nor does
it accurately describe the Celtic traditions we
have. However. I think it likely that if a modern
Lakota healer and a pre-Christian Irish
fáth met in some timeless Otherworld
borderland, they would find a good deal to talk
about.
Fiction
9. The Céli Dé (anglicized Culdees)
were a group of refugee druids.
Some
modern occultists claim that in the sixth century
St. Colum cille founded the Culdees to save druids
from persecution. Although nominally Christian, the
Céli Dé supposedly preserved
pre-Christian ways and traditions. In fact, the
Céli Dé were a reform movement
promoting ascetic values and practices in Irish
monasteries in the ninth century, several hundred
years after Colum cille died.
Fiction
10. Bards were the most elite level of traditional
Celtic poets and lorekeepers.
Originally,
a bard (as written in Irish or Scottish Gaelic) was
a low (probably lowest) level of traditional
lore-keeper in early Celtic societies. Other grades
of lore-keepers ranked higher and required more
extensive training and accomplishments. The word
bard as currently understood and used in English
owes much to its resurrected use by 18th-century
antiquarians writing in English and to the writings
of 20th century poet Robert Graves.
Fiction
11. Ogham is the Celtic system of occult runes used
by druids to do divination.
Ogham
is the writing system used by the medieval Irish
and some other groups to inscribe stones for use as
markers on the landscape. Poets probably used ogham
to mark wood or other objects for use as charms. If
they used ogham for divination, the methods have
not survived. Any ogham divination system you read
about today was invented during the twentieth
century.
Fiction
12. The druids had a system of astrology and a
calendar with months named for trees.
Any
astrological systems billed as "Celtic" were
invented in the twentieth century or later. The
notion of a "Celtic tree calendar" was the
invention of Robert Graves, a twentieth-century
poet, classical scholar, and novelist. The notion
has been expanded upon by a number of popular
writers. It has no basis in Celtic tradition.
However, the druids were said to have tracked the
movements of the stars, and some knowledgeable
persons among the Celtic-speaking Gauls calculated
and drew up a calendar that appears to have periods
marked as favorable and unfavorable. Medieval Irish
hagiography depicts druids as astrologers (Bethu
Brigte 1 §3). So they probably did have
astrological systems, but they have been
lost.
Facts:
What We Know about the Druids
Fact
1. Among Greeks and Romans, druids were known as
druidae or druides. Among the medieval Irish, they
were called druí (singular) or druíd
(plural).
Remember
that druid is an English word based on earlier
Celtic terms. Druides is Latin (possibly derived
from Greek druidae), but ultimately derived from
Celtic words.
Fact
2. The meaning of druí is probably "very
wise."
Popular
books often say that the original Celtic words for
druid came from Indo-European *dru meaning "oak"
and *weid- meaning "to see," and claim that druid
meant oak seers or something like that. However,
the general consensus among scholars is closer to
what Calvert Watkins wrote: the proto-Celtic form
*dru-wid, meaning "strong seeing," comes from the
IE *deru "strong" and *weid- "to see,"
a word connected with knowing. So, a druid would be
someone who was very wise.
Fact
3. Druids and other lore-keepers were a separate
class within Celtic society.
In
both classical descriptions and medieval Irish
texts, druids appear as a distinct social class.
Julius Caesar spoke of three classes--equites
(horse warriors), druides, and the laboring
classes--but we know little about the exact grades
and ranks of the Gauls in their own language. It's
reasonably certain, for example, that there were at
least three groups within the druides. However,
Julius Caesar treats them as a single class who
were not required to perform military service,
although he probably overlooked the role of the
druids in performing battle magic. In Irish terms,
the druids were a separate group among the lowest
of the noble classes. Ritual leaders and
lore-keepers lived on offerings from the people
they served. Often their ritual sites existed on
borderlands or land that did not belong to the kin
or kin-groups. While these locations were probably
chosen at least in part for their magical potency
as liminal areas, their apartness also emphasized
the separation of the religious leaders from the
rest of society. They knew the ways and language of
the deities; they could travel to the Otherworld,
consult the powers, invoke inspiration, foresee the
future, avert disaster, invoke destruction on their
enemies. For all these reasons, the lore-keepers
were subject only to the king and to each
other.
Fact
4. Druids passed on their lore as oral learning,
not written.
Among
many tribal peoples, traditional lore is passed on
orally from teacher to student, elder to child,
master to neophyte. In the pre-Christian period,
the Celtic-speaking peoples were no different in
this respect; indeed, all Indo-European peoples
were originally non-literate. By the time of the
Roman conquest, the Romans were fast becoming
people of written words and their writers often
derided those who were not literate. At that time,
the Celtic-speaking peoples began using letters to
keep business records, but the druids continued to
pass on their lore orally. Julius Caesar saw
political motivation in this and wrote, "they have
established this practice for two reasons: because
they do not wish their way of life to be broadcast
to the general public, and because they do not wish
those who they teach to learn by trusting more in
letters than in their memory." Caesar appears to
have missed an important point: that traditional
peoples often feel that an essential part of
learning is the relationship between teacher and
student. This is especially important in the
training of religious practitioners, for the
students were not simply acquiring facts to be fed
back in an exam. They were learning a way of life,
a role in which they would mediate between their
people and the gods. In such situations, teachers
often feel that they are not simply communicating
information. Rather, they are acting as mentors,
spiritual guides, and something more for they pass
on their own power and infused knowledge. Think
yourself of the teachers who have had the biggest
effect on you: did they simply communicate facts
from a book, or did they give you something of
themselves? At the same time, we should not discard
Caesar's points entirely. By restricting who
acquired their knowledge, the druids did maintain a
level of control. Also, as Irish evidence verifies,
learning a enormous amounts of material by heart
was a very important part of being a Celtic
lore-keeper.
Fact
5. Celtic lore-keepers, including druids, spent
many years in training.
Julius
Caesar wrote that Gaulish druids of his time "are
said to learn by heart a great number of verses;
and so many remain in training for twenty years."
Pomponius Mela wrote that the druids "teach many
things to the noblest of the race in sequestered
and remote places during twenty years, whether in a
cave or in secluded groves."
Similarly, in medieval Ireland, the grades (ranks)
of poets were marked, at least in part, by how much
lore had been learned. For example, the highest
grade of fili was required to know 350 tales
whereas the lowest needed to know only
30.
Filid also acquired varying levels of expertise in
subjects such as history, placelore, genealogy,
law, and other traditional material. All of this
was over and above knowledge of and skill at using
the complicated metrics that were an inherent part
of early Irish poetry. Doubtless, druids were
earlier expected to have expertise in these areas.
Such knowledge and skill would have required long
years of training.
Fact
6. Druids led community rituals among the Celts and
functioned as the principal teachers of
religion.
Druids
(Irish druíd) led sacrificial and other
public rituals on behalf of the community. About
the Gaulish druids it was reported, "They have
philosophers and theologians who are held in much
honour and are called Druids.... It is a custom of
the Gauls that no one performs a sacrifice without
the assistance of a philosopher, for they say that
offerings to the gods ought only to made through
the mediation of these men, who are learned in the
divine nature and, so to speak, familiar with it,
and it is through their agency that the blessings
of the gods should properly be sought."
Julius Caesar wrote, "They preside over sacred
things, have the charge of public and private
sacrifices, and explain their religion."
Julius
Caesar wrote
that the druids "debate concerning the heavens and
their movement, concerning the size of the universe
and the earth, [and] the workings of
nature...."
Ritual leaders must know how and when to perform
ceremonies appropriate for each occasion.
Therefore, the druids probably studied the
movements of planets and stars to help them
calculate when feasts should be celebrated and
which days were lucky or unlucky for certain
actions. This, too, is in line with what Amairgin
the poet recites in the Lebor Gabála
Érenn, and what medieval Irish hagiographers
wrote about druids and their interest in and
relation to the non-human elements of the
world.
Druids
also conducted "searchings into secret and sublime
things, and with grand contempt for mortal lot they
professed the immortality of the soul."
They were the principal teachers and keepers of
religious lore: they studied "the strength and
power of the immortal gods, and these things they
hand down [to their students]."
.
Fact
7. Druids maintained law lore, acted as arbiters,
and advised leaders.
According
to classical authors, druids were the principal
keepers of lore about law and precedent. The
following statement may concern druids (the
antecedent of the pronouns is not clear in the
Latin): "Often when the combatants are ranged face
to face, and swords are drawn and spears bristling,
these men come between the armies and stay the
battle...."
Caesar also wrote that the druids "generally settle
all their disputes, both public and private; and if
there is any transgression perpetrated, any murder
committed, or any dispute about inheritance or
boundaries, they decide in respect of them; they
appoint rewards and penalties." As leaders of
ritual and judges, druids had the authority to bar
people from participating in community events and
they could with-hold other privileges. According to
Caesar, the druids used this authority to enforce
their judgments: "If any private or public person
abides not by their decree, they restrain him from
the sacrifices. This with them is the most severe
punishment. Whoever are so interdicted, are ranked
in the number of the impious and wicked; all
forsake them, and shun their company and
conversation, lest they should suffer disadvantage
from contagion with them." If Caesar described the
situation accurately, community rituals must have
functioned to bond the community and establish the
ranks and roles of its members. Of course, Caesar
was probably intent on pointing out how much power
the druids exercised in the community. He adds,
"Nor is legal right rendered to [the
excommunicated] when they sue it, nor any
honour conferred upon them." Dio Chrysostom,
writing about a century later, clearly exaggerated
the druids' role: "The Celts appointed druids, who
likewise were versed in the art of seers and other
forms of wisdom without whom the kings were not
permitted adopt or plan any course, so that in fact
it was these who ruled and the kings became their
subordinates and instruments of their judgement,
while themselves seated on golden thrones, and
dwelling in great houses and being sumptuously
feasted."
Fact
8. Not all Celtic religious personnel were called
druids.
Not
all classical writers use the same terms, but they
generally refer to three functional categories of
religious personnel: those who led ritual and
settled legal matters, those who acted as seers,
and those who told stories and kept historical
lore. The names used by some of the classical
writers--druidae or druides, vates, and bardi or
bardoi--seem to be cognate with the Irish terms
druíd (priests and judges), fátha
(seers), and baird (story-tellers and historical
lore-keepers). In medieval Irish society of the
Christian period, however, the three categories of
druí, fáth, and bard were replaced by
other categories, some secular and others related
to the churches. The Christian priest--the Latin
specialist or sacerdos (sacart or cruimther in Old
Irish)--took over the role of leader of ritual and
sacrifice. The breithem became the judicial
specialist. The fili took over the roles of
praise-poet, king's companion, and seer. Scribes
took over the roles of annalists and genealogists,
developing the role of historian according to the
newer medieval notions of the role. However, it
should be kept in mind that in every culture,
within every priesthood, whether a highly
structured group like the Roman Catholic clergy or
more flexible groups such as North American Indian
healers, there is a great deal of variation.
Inevitably, some individuals become more "expert"
at a topic, and their expertise is recognized and
called upon by their fellow practitioners and the
general populace.
Fact
9. Vates (Irish fátha or fáith) were
seers.
Strictly
speaking divination refers to attempts and
procedures performed in an effort to obtain
knowledge not obtainable through usual means. Thus,
divination may concern the future, or it may
concern other issues: the location of a lost person
or item, for example. Like seers in other
traditional cultures, vates apparently took omens
about what was the likely outcome of action being
considered, learned the fate of missing persons or
ships, and attempted to diagnose illness and what
steps should be taken to achieve healing. It was
written of the Gauls that "they have sooth-sayers
too of great renown who tell the future by watching
the flights of birds and by the observation of the
entrails of victims; and everyone waits upon their
word." Cicero said that he had met a Gaulish druid
and that this man "used to make predictions,
sometimes by means of augury and sometimes by means
of
conjecture."
Other methods employed by the seers may horrify us
now, though they are not unique to the Gauls, even
if the report is accurate and not hyperbole: "they
kill a man by a knife-stab in the region above the
midriff, and after his fall they foretell the
future by the convulsions of his limbs and the
pouring of his blood, a form of divination in which
they have full confidence, as it is of old
tradition."
Medieval
Irish texts tell us a bit about methods used by
filid, methods that may owe something to the
practices of the pre-Christian seers. Even the most
detailed description, though, is short on the sorts
of details required to duplicate a ceremony. For
example, a medieval compilation known as Sanas
Cormaic (Cormac's Glossary)
contains some of the most concrete descriptions to
be found, though it's sprinkled through with the
scribes' comments. Also, it's sometimes difficult
to figure out what the scribes
meant.
Nevertheless, it's worth considering what "Cormac"
has to say about a method called imbas
forosnai:
The
fili chews a morsel of raw pig, dog, or cat meat
and then puts it on the flagstone behind the door.
He chants over the morsel and offers it to the idol
gods. He calls them to him and does not leave the
next day. He chants over his two palms and calls
the idol gods to him lest his sleep be disturbed.
He puts his two palms over his two cheeks and
sleeps; he is watched lest he turn over and be
disturbed by someone. Then is revealed to him
whatever is going to happen to him in the next
nine, eighteen, or twenty-seven days or until the
end of the period during which he can be at
sacrifice. And so it is called imbas: after the
palm (bas) on each side of his face or head.
Patrick banned this as well as the teinm
laída and decreed that anyone who had
practiced these would be neither of heaven nor of
earth, since to do so was a denial of baptism. But
the díchetal di chennaib was left in the
system of art, for it is knowledge (soas) which
underlies it. The díchetal di chennaib does
not require sacrifice to demons; instead it is
information instantaneously from the tips of
bones.
This
passage makes it clear that the fili had specific
ways of obtaining knowledge not available by
ordinary methods. The methods involved making
offerings, invoking spirits or gods, and entering
trance of some sort. However, most of the
information needed to duplicate such ceremonies is
missing. Such information would have been partially
communicated one-on-one by the seer's teacher.
Students would have acquired additional learning by
assisting at such ceremonies (perhaps by helping to
prepare the offerings or by being a "watcher") and
eventually through first-hand experience. This
chain of learning and tradition was broken long
ago. Rather than elder fátha discussing
their experiences with their students and guiding
them through their development, today we have
scholars of the language debating how to translate
díchetal di chennaib.
Fact
10. Bardi or bardoi (Irish baird) were
storytellers, praise-poets, and genealogists.
Of
Gaulish bards it was said, "these, singing to
instruments similar to a lyre, applaud some, while
they vituperate others."
Another writer noted, "It was the custom of the
bards to celebrate the brave deeds of their famous
men in epic verse accompanied by the sweet strain
of the lyre."
Fact
11. In medieval Irish tales, the term druí
sometimes means any type of
pre-Christian religious leader.
Medieval
Irish tales seem to treat druí as a general
term that covers all pre-Christian religious
leaders. There are far fewer references to
fátha. The fili apparently took over the
seer function of the fáth.
Fact
12. In medieval Irish materials, the terms
druí and magus are used
interchangeably.
The
earliest writings from Ireland are in Latin or a
mix of Old Irish and Latin. In telling their
stories in Latin, the early Irish monks developed a
vocabulary of words used to translate native Irish
terms. They used the Latin word magus when they
wrote about druíd. This is known to a
certainty because texts where magus appears were
glossed with the comment druí and in Old
Irish texts druí was glossed with magus.
This is important because the image of druíd
in medieval Irish hagiography owes much to the
Christian apocryphal image of Simon Magus as a
magician who refused to accept the Christian god
and who took money for rendering magical services.
Fact
13. In medieval Irish materials, druids are
depicted as having the knowledge and power to
control the elements and forces of
nature.
In
early Irish materials druids are depicted as
chanting incantations or curses to ritually invoke
the power of parts of the cosmos: sun, moon,
lightning, wind.
Fact
14. In the medieval Irish materials, druids are
closely associated with birds.
Diodorus
Siculus said druids took omens by watching the
flight of birds.
In Irish texts, druids were said to wear feathered
cloaks and headdresses to perform
ritual.
Fact
15. Druids were associated with trees.
Classical
writers associated the druids with sacred groves.
Tacitus, in describing the destruction of a druid
sanctuary, referred to cutting down "the groves
which were dedicated to their savage
rituals."
According to Piggott, the earliest Celtic
sanctuaries consisted of arrangements of statues
and pillars in forests or other sites, not enclosed
buildings.
Later, the Celts had buildings with roofs but open
at the sides, good for sheltering crowds but still
remaining open to the natural surroundings. Pliny
associated druids with the oak in particular, but
in Ireland, the yew, rowan, and hawthorn were
considered at least as powerful and valuable. In
Ireland, laws imposed stiff fines if trees were cut
down; the severity of the fine depended on the type
of tree. In one version of ogham, each character
was associated with a type of tree.
Fact
16. The druids taught that there was an
after-life.
The
evidence from both classical writers and Irish
texts testifies to druidic belief that the present
life was followed by another existence in an
Otherworld. Ammianus Marcellinus wrote that, "The
druids...declared souls to be immortal."
Pomponius Mela claimed that, "One of their dogmas
has become widely known so they may the more
readily go to wars: namely that souls are
everlasting, and that among the shades is another
life."
What
is less certain is whether the druids believed in
reincarnation or transmigration of the soul.
Diodorus Siculus wrote, "The Pythagorean doctrine
prevails among them [the Gauls], teaching
that the souls of men are immortal and live again
for a fixed number of years inhabited in another
body."
Writing in the first century CE, Lucan the poet
wrote in lines addressing the druids rhetorically,
"It is you who say that the shades of the dead seek
not the silent land of Erebus and the pale halls of
Pluto; rather, you tell us that the same spirit has
a body again elsewhere, and that death, if what you
sing is true, is but the midpoint of long life."
Medieval Irish texts contain traces of belief in
persons being reborn in different forms. Sometimes,
it seems that a single being simply takes on one
form after another, as in the case of Tuan mac
Cairell. In other situations, a character is said
to be an earlier figure reborn, such as when Mongan
is said to be Fionn reborn. Interestingly, these
figures always seem to recall their previous forms
and lives.
Fact
17. The druids venerated deities that were highly
local in focus.
Archaeologists
have discovered several hundred different names or
titles that appear to refer to deities. Only a
handful appear more than once. Each tribe or
kin-group apparently had its own set of deities,
though each set probably performed similar
functions of providing protection or bringing
prosperity at specific seasons. There wasn't a
pan-Celtic pantheon.
Fact
18. The pre-Christian Irish believed in a
tripartite cosmology consisting of talam (land),
muir (sea), and nem (sky) in this world plus an
Otherworld that was an idealized version of this
one.
Medieval
Irish sources repeatedly refer to this notion,
which gradually gave way to a Christian worldview
of this world, the classical four elements, and
heaven (the abode of the Trinity and the
angels).
Fact
19. The druids did sacrifice animals and sometimes
humans.
There
seems to be little question that Celtic-speaking
people "sacrificed" animals and humans. Classical
writers all mention it, and so do Irish texts.
Archaeological evidence also supports the presence
of human and animal bones in places and
arrangements consistent with sacrificial rituals.
Most other ancient cultures performed such
offerings; it would be more surprising if the
Celtic-speaking peoples did not. The animals may
have been partly a sort of offering of first
fruits. In other cases, they may have been intended
as a means of renewing the supply of raw material
needed to renew the cosmos and provide new sources
of food and life.
Tacitus
wrote, "they considered it lawful to offer the
blood of captives on their altars, and to consult
the gods by means of the nerves of men."
Julius Caesar went into some detail, though it's
unclear whether he actually witnessed sacrifices:
"those are afflicted with serious illnesses and
those who are engaged in battles or dangerous
activities, either sacrifice men as victims or vow
that they will sacrifice themselves; and they
employ the Druids as assistants in these
sacrifices, because, if the life of a man is not
given in exchange for the life of a man, they
consider that the divine power of the immortal gods
can not be appeased; and they hold sacrifices of
this kind in public as an established practice."
This description may refer to the practice of
sacrificing prisoners of war after a victory.
Caesar also confirmed the notion that those
sacrificed often were criminals, as in other
cultures: "The execution of those who have been
caught in theft or burglary or some other crime is
considered to be more pleasing to the immortal
gods; but when the supply of victims of this type
runs short, execution falls even upon the
innocent." Such offerings were meant to repair
offense against a deity.
Fact
20. The druids made ritual use of fire.
Julius
Caesar said that the druids used fire to offer
sacrifice. Certainly, Irish texts also associated
fire with druidic ceremonies. Midhe lit a fire at
Uisneach to inaugurate the arrival of the Nemedians
in Ireland.
Fire plays a central role in the druids' encounters
with Patrick in lives of that saint: the druids
light ceremonial fires on heights to mark feasts
and they summon fire out of the sky in tests of
magical power.
Fact
21. In Ireland, the druids practiced battle
magic.
Unlike
Julius Caesar's depiction of the druids as arbiters
in times of war, the Irish law texts focus on their
ability to win battles. Bretha Nemed
toísech, a law text, states that a
druí could win a battle for the weaker
side.
Part of Cath Maige Tuiread is devoted to deciding
what sorts of magic would be used in battle against
the Fomoire. The super-warrior Lugh is shown using
the methods of corrguinecht (crane- or
heron-killing) in battle, circling the battlefield
while chanting in a specific stance in imitation of
a heron or crane (standing on one foot, one eye
closed and with one arm stretched above the
head).
In the same battle, a druid promised to send
showers of fire down on the Fomoire, to deprive
them of two-thirds of their strength and valor, and
to bind the urine in their bodies and the bodies of
their horses .
In a much later text, Forbais Dromma Damgaire, the
druid Mog Ruith is recruited to use his skills on
behalf of a king against the druids recruited by
the opposing king. A druidic wind temporarily kept
the Milesians from landing in Ireland. Even in
specifically Christian texts like saints' stories,
druids were credited with being able to perform
magic in
battle.
The Annals of Ulster for 560 (recte 561 in margin)
refer to the use of the erbe ndruad (druid's fence)
during the battle of Cúil Dremne. Any
warrior attempting to jump over this erbe was
killed. The annals don't say whether the fence was
simply a magical barrier--a force field, if you
will--or a physical obstacle covered with poisoned
spikes. For example, adding a contact poison to the
surface of a wattling barrier plus chanting charms
over it could be seen as making it
magical.
However, druids were not the only members of early
Irish society credited with the ability to wield
magical techniques. Smiths and physicians were
credited with specific skills and powers. Fili
could chant spells powerful enough to raise facial
deformity or even death. Ordinary people could
chant blessings of protection or verses that
cursed.
Fact
22. Women could be druids.
Significant
evidence suggests that women in Gaul functioned as
religious leaders of some sort. The questions is
whether they were called druids. Tacitus described
women being among the druids in Britain who
resisted the destruction of their sanctuary, but he
does not call them druids. Occasionally, women in
early Irish texts are called bandruíd,
literally "women-druids," just as there were
banfilid (women-poets). In the early Christian
period, Gaulish fortune-tellers were sometimes
called druidesses, though it's uncertain whether
this appellation should be taken literally. It may
have become a common, somewhat meaningless phrase
used for any woman in Gaul who claimed the ability
to foretell the future.
Fact
23. Druids were closely connected with kings as
advisers and magical protectors.
Dio
Chrysostom wrote that the Celts on the Continent
"appointed druids, who likewise were versed in the
art of seers and other forms of wisdom without whom
the kings were not permitted adopt or plan any
course, so that in fact it was these who ruled and
the kings became their subordinates and instruments
of their judgement, while themselves seated on
golden thrones, and dwelling in great houses and
being sumptuously
feasted."
By the time Dio Chrysostom was writing, the Romans
had outlawed the druids, so he may be simply
repeating salacious propaganda. On the other hand,
it's likely that druids were close advisers. As
keepers of lore, they knew law and precedent.
Medieval Irish texts indicate that
druíd--and later, filid--were responsible
for magical protection of the king. Irish text
especially stress the role of druíd in using
battle magic to disable a king's
enemies.
Fact
24. In the Roman Empire, the druids were
suppressed, their sanctuaries were destroyed, and
practice of their religion was
outlawed.
Popular
writers occasionally say that the conquest of the
Celtic-speaking peoples by the Romans had little
effect on the practice of Celtic religion. In fact,
the evidence shows that the Romans used legislative
and military means to suppress the druids and their
religion first in Gaul and later in Britain.
Suetonius wrote that Augustus forbade Romans to
practice the religio druidarum. This was a first
step, followed by suppressing the druids
themselves. Pliny wrote, "it was in the time of the
Emperor Tiberius that a decree was issued against
their Druids and the whole tribe of diviners and
physicians."
Suetonius also wrote that Claudius (54 CE)
abolished the religion of the druids in Gaul.
Describing events in 61 CE, Tacitus described the
destruction of the druid sanctuary on Anglesey in
Britain, noting that the Roman forces "cut down
whoever came into their way and engulfed them in
their own fire. After this a garrison was put in
place over the conquered people and the groves
which were dedicated to their savage rituals were
cut down."
Julius Caesar, too, described how he destroyed
Gaulish sanctuaries. Celtic sanctuaries not
destroyed were transformed from open-air sites to
Roman-style temples; for example, springs were
channeled into baths in large buildings. Whereas
each Gaulish and Briton kin-group had previously
had its own patron deities, under the Romans Celtic
deities were forced into Roman categories and given
Roman names. In sum, the usual places of worship
were destroyed or transformed, the ritual leaders
were killed or banned, and their ways of worship
were outlawed and new ways were
substituted.
Mysteries:
What We Do Not Know about the Druids
The
following list includes only some of the parts
missing from our image of the ancient
druids.
Mystery
1. We don't know what druids wore.
We
know very little about what druids wore. Pliny's
Natural History says they wore white (probably
meaning undyed) robes for cutting mistletoe. In
describing the Roman destruction of the druids at
Mona, Tacitus says that the women among the druids
wore dark robes "like the Furies," but he also
implies that they were not druids (though one
wonders how he knew). Irish tales refer to druids
wearing head-dresses and cloaks made of
feathers.
Mystery
2. We don't know whether men and women worshipped
together.
Tacitus'
accounts of the Roman destruction of Mona mention
women shouting curses among the druids. We don't
know for sure who the women were, though Irish
sources indicate that both men and women were
druids.
Mystery
3. We don't know what druids believed or
taught.
Aside
from the specifics discussed in this article, we
know little about what the druids actually
taught.
Mystery
4. We don't know what druids said or did during
their worship.
The
druids didn't leave behind any prayers or spells.
The poems attributed to figures in early Irish
tales may give us some idea of how they phrased
their chants. Inscriptions left at Gaulish and
British healing shrines tell us what petitioners
sought and expected to receive. Descriptions of
techniques like corrguinecht give us some ideas. We
don't know what their prayers or chants were or
when they used them. The classical writer Pliny
tells us that the druids in Gaul ritually cut
mistletoe for use in ritual and medicine, but this
wouldn't have been done in Ireland because
mistletoe isn't native to Ireland. Circles of
standing stones predated the druids, and scholars
aren't sure that the Celts used them for ritual
events; Celts everywhere seem to have had their own
sites for rituals.
Mystery
5. We don't know what terms druids used for what
they did.
Traces,
such as the term corrguinecht, suggest that druids
had terms for what they did, but most have been
lost.
Mystery
6. We don't know what their cosmology was
like.
It's
reasonably certain that the druids observed the
night sky and plotted the course of what they saw,
and we can assume that they had ideas about how the
universe functioned. But, as described earlier,
only hints of what they believed about the world
have survived.
Mystery
7. We don't know how they performed
divination.
Aside
from the general references to watching the flight
of birds, stabbing people, and sleeping on bull
hides, there are some contradictory medieval Irish
descriptions of techniques used by poets. These may
have come from techniques used by earlier seers or
druids. However, we do not have sufficient details
to reconstruct the methods.
Mystery
8. We don't know what their astrological systems
were like.
We
have objects like the Coligny calendar, brass
plates found at a Celtic site, indicating that
someone among the Gauls knew how to calculate
calendars. But we don't know how they created the
calendar, nor do we understand the significance of
many of the words and markings.
For
Further Reading
Stuart
Piggott, The Druids, reprint, 1999, Thames and
Hudson; ISBN 0500273634
Perhaps the most reliable, informative source,
especially if you are going to look at just one
book.
Miranda
Green, World of the Druids, 1997, Thames &
Hudson; ISBN 050005083X A somewhat updated,
glossier version of Piggott. Green's section on
neodruid groups covers UK organizations.
David
Rankin, Celts and the Classical World, 1996,
Routledge; ISBN 0415150906 A useful supplement to
Piggott, Rankin explores what is known about
interaction between the Celts on the European
Continent and the other peoples they
encountered.
John
Koch, editor, in collaboration with John Carey,
Celtic Heroic Age: Literary Sources for Ancient
Celtic Europe and Early Ireland and Wales, 2000,
Celtic Studies Pubns Inc; ISBN 1891271040 A
collection of source texts, including many of those
that mention druids.
Philip
Freeman, Ireland and the Classical World,
University of Texas Press, 20000; ISBN:
292725183
Looks at Greek and Latin literary sources that
mention Ireland and the archaeological and
linguistic evidence. Since most books on the
classical world neglect Ireland, this is a very
useful volume.
Leslie
Ellen Jones, Druid, Shaman, Priest: Metaphors of
Celtic Paganism, 1998, Hisarlik Press; ISBN
1874312273 How the image of druids has evolved from
the earliest classical texts, to medieval Irish and
Welsh materials, to modern books and film. Points
out how modern neo-druidry and neo-shamanism differ
from ancient traditions.
Joseph
Falaky Nagy, Conversing with Angels and Ancients,
1997, Cornell Univ Press; ISBN 0801483689
How early Irish scribes used literary methods to
transmit tradition in early Ireland. As part of his
examination, Nagy looks at how druids were depicted
in hagiography.
Liam
Mac Mathúna, "Irish perceptions of the
Cosmos," Celtica 23 (1991), pp. 174-187
Evidence for the pre-Christian tripartite model of
earth-sea-sky and how it changed under Christian
influence. Available on line at:
http://www.celt.dias.ie/publications/celtica/c23/c23-174.pdf
Nora
Chadwick, "Imbas Forosnai," Scottish Gaelic
Studies, vol 4, part 2, Oxford University Press,
1935
A classic of modern scholarship; summarizes and
critically examines Old Irish texts that describe
seer methods. Available on line at:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/4715/imbasforosnai.html
Barry
Cunliffe, The Ancient Celts, 2000, Penguin USA
(Paper); ISBN 0140254226 Archaeologist's view of
how the Celtic-speaking peoples developed and
spread throughout Europe, enhanced by a variety of
maps. An excellent introduction if you are new to
Celtica.
Books
on early Ireland:
Peter
Harbison, Pre-Christian Ireland: From the First
Settlers to the Early Celts (Ancient Peoples and
Places) Reprint edition,1995, Thames & Hudson;
ISBN 0500278091
Barry
Raftery, Pagan Celtic Ireland: The Enigma of the
Irish Iron Age, 1998, Thames & Hudson; ISBN
0500279837
Daibhi
O Croinin, Early Medieval Ireland: 400-1200, 1995,
Addison-Wesley Pub Co; ISBN 0582015650
Michael
Richter, Medieval Ireland: The Enduring Tradition,
1996, Palgrave; ISBN 0312158122
If
you are unfamiliar with Early Irish history, these
texts will help. Harbison and Raftery cover the
pre-Christian period. O Croinin and Richter cover
medieval Ireland up to the Anglo-Norman
period.
|
.
Francine
Nicholson MMII