Druidism

For many years I have studied many sources of information on Druids and Celtic society in general. This particular course was especially useful for presenting information from several different authors and thereby allowing the reader to compare different points of view and writing style in presenting the subject. Unfortunately this work, just as all other previous writings on the subject, suffers from the same dilemma. That of the lack of direction and guidance of any real live Druids trained in the original traditions. The old ways of passing down information orally from teacher to pupil did not completely stand the test of time, disease, or the incursions of the Roman and Christian cultures into Celtic society. Therefore any knowledge we have about Druids is second hand at best and colored by the prejudiced attitudes, both for and against the Druids and their style of worship, by the authors. 

For instance, when Julius Caesar first wanted to expand the Roman influence into the area of Gaul, popular opinion was decidedly against it. His troops feared the Celtic warriors and with good reason. Their ferocity in battle was well documented and they were some of the first to start using the longer broadsword, as compared to the short-sword which was the main weapon of the Roman infantryman. They even had a larger two-handed great-sword, called a Claymore, that could only be wielded by the largest and strongest warriors. 

The Celts were tribal and war-like and always fighting among themselves so that the only ones capable of organizing them into an army that would be able to resist the Roman expansion were their Religious leaders, the Druids. Caesar began a campaign of propaganda against the Druids designed to sway public opinion against them. He exaggerated the tales of human sacrifice by the Druids in order to justify invading Gaul and civilizing the barbarians. Although the Druids did practice human sacrifice, the victims were usually ones which were caught raiding their cattle or they were chosen from the Druids themselves and were volunteers. Interesting to note is that the Romans themselves had practiced human sacrifice only about sixty years earlier. Anyway they got a real bad reputation from his propaganda.

Caesar was one-third a general, one-third an inquirer into alien faiths, and one-third a literary leader. He was capable of winning over and making friends with AEduan Diviticus the Druid, and learning from him all that he would tell him about Druidry. Eventually, however, continental Druidry would compromise itself with Rome, and so lose it’s power , despite preserving its forms and temples. In my opinion, mere ritual, without inner wisdom for guidance is just an exercise in theatrics. Unfortunately this is what modern day Druidry has degenerated into.

It was on the sacred Island of Mona (Anglesea) that the most important college of Druid learning was established. Unfortunately the Druids lost everything when the Roman governor, Suetonius Paulinus marched on Anglesea with the intent of exterminating the Druids once and for all.

They were driven out of power. Many of the Druids fled to other parts of the British Isles and their teachings were preserved only by the surviving traditions of the local peoples. Later an attempt was made by some to write down the teachings and recapture the ancient wisdom, but Druidry would never again attain the respect and prestige it held before the Roman conquest.. 

Maybe this is as it should be. When I first began my studies in Druidism I was told by some more knowledgeable than I, that the reason that the teachings were always in oral form and never written down was that the attitude of the original Druids was such that they truly believed if the teachings were MEANT to survive then they WOULD survive. I think it was also so that the Druids, like other more modern and more organized religious leaders, could retain their control over the uninitiated and uneducated.

It’s difficult for me to believe that they were so short-sighted that they couldn’t foresee the possibility that disease, attrition, famine, or a conquering army might leave them in a position where there were no qualified Druids left to continue their teachings. In any case all we are left with is remnants of the original. In our attempt to understand and practice Druidism we can’t even come close to recreating the past. All we can hope for is to create our own Druidism. In the old Gaelic tongue this is, “Arn dRiocht Fein.”

With that being said I would like to end this paper with what I’ve been taught is a universal Druid prayer:

Grant, o God, thy protection;

And in protection, strength;

And in strength, understanding;

And in understanding, knowledge;

And in knowledge, the knowledge of justice;

And in the knowledge of justice, the love of it;

And in that love, the love of all existences;

And in the love of all existences, the love of God.

God and all goodness.

Rev. Paul D. Stow, Sr.

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics, as well as courses in Mystical Christianity, Buddhism and Comparative Religion. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.