WHAT DO DRUIDS BELIEVE? PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Philip Carr-Gomm | 100 pages | 03 Apr 2006 | GRANTA BOOKS | 9781862078642 | English | London, United Kingdom What is druidism? What is a druid?

Although some Wiccans are also Druids — because there are some overlapping similarities between the two belief systems and therefore the groups are not mutually exclusive — most Druids are not Wiccan. In addition to the above mentioned groups, and other Druidic traditions, there are also solitary practitioners who self-identify as Druids. Seamus mac Owain, a Druid from Columbia, SC, says, "There's not a lot of written material about the Druids, so much of what we do is based upon Celtic myth and legend, as well as scholarly information that has been provided by anthropologists, historians, and so forth. We use this as a basis for rite, ritual, and practice. Share Flipboard Email. Patti Wigington. Paganism Expert. Patti Wigington is a pagan author, educator, and licensed clergy. Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter. Druids in History The early Druids were members of the Celtic priestly class. The ritual "need fire" ignited on holy days demonstrates the high spiritual regard the Celts had for fire, which was their main source of energy in a time without electricity, and without matches! Druidic mythology points to knowledge as the key to self awareness, symbolised by certain mythological holy-places of great importance that are associated with wisdom, such as the Well of Wisdom auspiciously located at the centre of the world , the Spiral of Annwyn, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen. Mythic places are inaccessible but also not inaccessible, for it requires a leap of faith to find them; the Well of Wisdom is at the bottom of the ocean, but to Sea Gods like Manannan, who are capable of that magical leap, the ocean is as the sky. That leap of faith is often found in the moment of poetic inspiration. As Druids were also required to be the professionals of their society, the skills they had were meant for the benefit of the tribe each Druid worked for. A Druid was expected to use her divination skills and her sight of otherworldly things for many essential and pragmatic purposes, such as: advising the tribe chiefs as they make policy, settling disputes and legal claims, and announcing the beginning of agricultural seasons such as planting, harvesting, and hunting. Druids were involved in stage-of-life rituals such as childbirth, maturity, marriage, and death. In times of war a Druids skills were needed to learn about the enemy's movements and plans, and also to call elemental powers to the aid of the tribe; alternately, the Druids could put an end to an unjust war a power for which there is a great deal of evidence. A Druid's skills belonged to her tribe and not to herself alone. In this way the Druid was an inseparable part of a Celtic tribe's life and necessary for the tribe's continued survival and welfare. In these days of mechanised farming, atomic-clock timekeeping, and satellite weather forecasting, it is difficult to grasp how the mysterious religion of the Druids, and of other ancient priesthoods, was not merely abstract, intellectual, and theoretical. The moral and ethical position of Druidism is also difficult to describe. There is some textual reference to old Celtic morality in the myths, such as the instructions of great heroes and kings to their students; Cu Chullain, Fionn Mac Cumhall, Cormac Mac Art, and others gave "advice speeches" to their juniors that survive to this day. They are characterised by a great interest in justice, honour, and fair play, and emphasise that each person is responsible for her own conduct, not determinist forces like fate or the will of gods. The Fianna hero Oisin gives us this famous statement of Celtic ethics which I shall name Oisin's Answer, because it is how he answered St. Patrick's question of what kept the Fianna together: "It is what sustained us though our days, the truth that was in our hearts, and strength in our arms, and fulfilment in our tongues. What is an Ovate? What Is a Druid? What do Druids Believe? Can Women be Druids? What Is Druidry? What is ritual? Request new password. Brendan Myers Synopsis: Dr. If the web resource below is not being displayed as intended by the site's authors, please click on this link to connect to the web resource in a separate window. Druidic Dawn is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. All rights reserved. Tags: Dr Brendan Myers, druid beliefs, ancient druids,. Filed under: What do Druids Believe? Login to post comments. Druid Forums What is ritual? What did the Ancient Druids Believe? Celtic Knowledge. Druid | Description, History, & Facts | Britannica

It was inspired by the accounts of ancient Druids, and drew on the work of historical researchers, folklorists and early literature. Although some Wiccans are also Druids — because there are some overlapping similarities between the two belief systems and therefore the groups are not mutually exclusive — most Druids are not Wiccan. In addition to the above mentioned groups, and other Druidic traditions, there are also solitary practitioners who self-identify as Druids. Seamus mac Owain, a Druid from Columbia, SC, says, "There's not a lot of written material about the Druids, so much of what we do is based upon Celtic myth and legend, as well as scholarly information that has been provided by anthropologists, historians, and so forth. We use this as a basis for rite, ritual, and practice. Share Flipboard Email. So, those who are pantheists, polytheists, monotheists, and animists can adopt druidic philosophy. Monotheistic Druids would believe in a god or goddess. Polytheistic Druids would affirm gods and goddesses. Pantheistic and animistic Druids would deny a personal God and would instead affirm the presence of God, as a force, that would exist in all things. Druidism practices tolerance of many different philosophical and spiritual traditions and teaches that no one system of thought is truer than any other. Rather, it depends on the individual and the "path" that he or she has chosen. Within the Druid movement, there are "Bards" who were the ones who kept the oral traditions alive. They had to learn stories and underwent intensive training for many years. There were the Ovates who were the healers, and the Druids who were the philosophers and teachers. Druids do not practice human sacrifice, but they do celebrate eight festivals that are based upon the seasons. As the Druids looked upon nature and saw it populated with spirits, goddesses, and gods, it is safe to speculate that they regarded nature as sacred and divine. Fire-worship is central to Celtic religion as well, as it certainly played a role in the four annual Fire Festivals. The centrality of fire is another point at which Celtic and Hindu religions correlate. Fire is a spiritual force unto itself, and it is not bound into a cosmology of four equally necessary elements, as the Greeks are known to have done. Fire possesses the magical properties of both destructiveness and cleansing, bringing heat and energy and with it civilisation. Poetic inspiration is said to be a fire in the head, which is why Brighid is a deity of poets and of fire. The ritual "need fire" ignited on holy days demonstrates the high spiritual regard the Celts had for fire, which was their main source of energy in a time without electricity, and without matches! Druidic mythology points to knowledge as the key to self awareness, symbolised by certain mythological holy-places of great importance that are associated with wisdom, such as the Well of Wisdom auspiciously located at the centre of the world , the Spiral of Annwyn, and the Cauldron of Cerridwen. Mythic places are inaccessible but also not inaccessible, for it requires a leap of faith to find them; the Well of Wisdom is at the bottom of the ocean, but to Sea Gods like Manannan, who are capable of that magical leap, the ocean is as the sky. That leap of faith is often found in the moment of poetic inspiration. As Druids were also required to be the professionals of their society, the skills they had were meant for the benefit of the tribe each Druid worked for. A Druid was expected to use her divination skills and her sight of otherworldly things for many essential and pragmatic purposes, such as: advising the tribe chiefs as they make policy, settling disputes and legal claims, and announcing the beginning of agricultural seasons such as planting, harvesting, and hunting. Druids were involved in stage-of-life rituals such as childbirth, maturity, marriage, and death. In times of war a Druids skills were needed to learn about the enemy's movements and plans, and also to call elemental powers to the aid of the tribe; alternately, the Druids could put an end to an unjust war a power for which there is a great deal of evidence. A Druid's skills belonged to her tribe and not to herself alone. In this way the Druid was an inseparable part of a Celtic tribe's life and necessary for the tribe's continued survival and welfare. In these days of mechanised farming, atomic-clock timekeeping, and satellite weather forecasting, it is difficult to grasp how the mysterious religion of the Druids, and of other ancient priesthoods, was not merely abstract, intellectual, and theoretical. The moral and ethical position of Druidism is also difficult to describe. There is some textual reference to old Celtic morality in the myths, such as the instructions of great heroes and kings to their students; Cu Chullain, Fionn Mac Cumhall, Cormac Mac Art, and others gave "advice speeches" to their juniors that survive to this day. They are characterised by a great interest in justice, honour, and fair play, and emphasise that each person is responsible for her own conduct, not determinist forces like fate or the will of gods. The Fianna hero Oisin gives us this famous statement of Celtic ethics which I shall name Oisin's Answer, because it is how he answered St. Patrick's question of what kept the Fianna together: "It is what sustained us though our days, the truth that was in our hearts, and strength in our arms, and fulfilment in our tongues. Druid Beliefs & Religion | Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids

They celebrate summer and winter solstices which are the longest and shortest days of the year respectively. They celebrate the equinoxes in the fall and spring when the days and nights are equally long. The other festivals were based on tradition and related to farming such as sending the cattle out to pasture, beginning of the harvest, etc. It most probably originated in Britain around years ago, but this is not certain since ancient records are few and far between. It has recently undergone a revival. What is Druidism? The main elements of druidic beliefs are Therefore, humanity is on the same level of importance as plants and animals. It is a place we are supposed to go to when we die but can be visited with the help of meditation, altered states of consciousness, visualizations, chanting, hypnosis, and shamanic trances. Most modern Druids hold to this as well. Druidism emphasizes the "spiritual nature of life. HTM newadvent. Related Articles What is Islam? What is Wicca? Home What's New and Attracted by those privileges, many joined the order voluntarily or were sent by their families. They studied ancient verse, natural philosophy, astronomy , and the lore of the gods, some spending as much as 20 years in training. The Druids were said to believe that the soul was immortal and passed at death from one person into another. Roman writers also stated that the Druids offered human sacrifices for those who were gravely sick or in danger of death in battle. Huge wickerwork images were filled with living men and then burned; although the Druids preferred to sacrifice criminals, they would choose innocent victims if necessary. Caesar is the chief authority, but he may have received some of his facts from the Stoic philosopher Poseidonius , whose account is often confirmed by early medieval Irish sagas. In the early period, Druidic rites were held in clearings in the forest. Sacred buildings were used only later under Roman influence. The Druids were suppressed in Gaul by the Romans under Tiberius reigned 14—37 ce and probably in Britain a little later. In Ireland they lost their priestly functions after the coming of Christianity and survived as poets, historians, and judges filid, senchaidi, and brithemain. Many scholars believe that the Hindu Brahman in the East and the Celtic Druid in the West were lateral survivals of an ancient Indo-European priesthood. Interest in Druids surged occasionally in later time, notably during the Romantic period in the 19th century. From then on various movements claiming Druidic beliefs flourished in Britain and in the United States. Druid Article Media Additional Info. Print Cite. Facebook Twitter. Give Feedback. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article requires login. External Websites. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree See Article History. Two Druids walking in the English countryside, 18th-century engraving. Woodcut from depicting Druids preparing a wickerwork filled with live humans to be burned as a sacrifice. Get exclusive access to content from our First Edition with your subscription.

Druid - Wikipedia

Unlike religions that are anthropocentric, believing humanity occupies a central role in the scheme of life, this conception is systemic and holistic, and sees humankind as just one part of the wider family of life. Although Druids love Nature, and draw inspiration and spiritual nourishment from it, they also believe that the world we see is not the only one that exists. A cornerstone of Druid belief is in the existence of the Otherworld — a realm or realms which exist beyond the reach of the physical senses, but which are nevertheless real. This Otherworld is seen as the place we travel to when we die. Different Druids will have different views on the nature of this Otherworld, but it is a universally held belief for three reasons. Firstly, all religions or spiritualities hold the view that another reality exists beyond the physical world, rather than agreeing with Materialism, that holds that only matter exists and is real. Secondly, Celtic mythology, which inspires so much of Druidism, is replete with descriptions of this Otherworld. In between each life in human or animal form the soul rests in the Otherworld. While a Christian Druid may believe that the soul is only born once on Earth, most Druids adopt the belief of their ancient forebears that the soul undergoes a process of successive reincarnations — either always in human form, or in a variety of forms that might include trees and even rocks as well as animals. Many Druids share the view reported by Philostratus of Tyana in the second century that the Celts believed that to be born in this world, we have to die in the Otherworld, and conversely, that when we die here, we are born into the Otherworld. For this reason, Druid funerals try to focus on the idea that the soul is experiencing a time of birth, even though we are experiencing that as their death to us. A clue as to the purpose behind the process of successive rebirths can be found if we look at the goals of the Druid. Druids seek above all the cultivation of wisdom, creativity and love. A number of lives on earth, rather than just one, gives us the opportunity to fully develop these qualities within us. The goal of wisdom is shown to us in two old teaching stories — one the story of Fionn MacCumhaill Finn MacCool from Ireland, the other the story of Taliesin from Wales. In both stories wisdom is sought by an older person — in Ireland in the form of the Salmon of Wisdom, in Wales in the form of three drops of inspiration. In both stories a young helper ends up tasting the wisdom so jealously sought by the adults. These tales, rather than simply teaching the virtues of innocence and helpfulness, contain instructions for achieving wisdom, encoded within their symbolism and the sequence of events they describe, and for this reason are used in the teaching of Druidry. The goal of creativity is also central to Druidism because the Bards have long been seen as participants in Druidry. Many believe that in the old days they transmitted the wisdom of the Druids in song and story, and that with their prodigious memories they knew the genealogies of the tribes and the stories associated with the local landscape. Celtic cultures display a love of art, music and beauty that often evokes an awareness of the Otherworld, and their old Bardic tales depict a world of sensual beauty in which craftspeople and artists are highly honoured. Today, many people are drawn to Druidry because they sense it is a spirituality that can help them develop their creativity. Rather than stressing the idea that this physical life is temporary, and that we should focus on the after-life, Druidism conveys the idea that we are meant to fully participate in life on earth, and that we are meant to express and share our creativity as much as we can. Druidry can be seen as fostering the third goal of love in many different ways to encourage us to broaden our understanding and experience of it, so that we can love widely and deeply. It also encourages a love of peace: Druids were traditionally peace-makers, and still are. The Druid path also encourages the love of beauty because it cultivates the Bard, the Artist Within, and fosters creativity. Druidry also encourages the love of story and myth, and many people today are drawn to it because they recognize the power of storytelling, and sense its potential to heal and enlighten as well as entertain. In addition to all these types of love that Druidism fosters, it also recognizes the forming power of the past, and in doing this encourages a love of history and a reverence for the ancestors. Some Groves and individuals only work with the Solar and some only with the Fire Festivals. Placed around the course of the year, they occur every weeks, and generally Druids will at this time make ritual, giving offerings. Druids will also make ritual at various phases of the moon, though which phase is most important to any individual Druid will depend on their own nature. Some Druids will regularly meet with their grove at the dark or new moon, others preferring the full moon, and some acknowledge the quarter moons. Some points that may be celebrated are:. At such rituals, it is common practice for Druids to honour the gods, the landscape, the ancestors, the community and nature in general. The Grove or gathering acknowledges the part played by each of these entities; they are thanked, offerings made and celebrations shared. Traditionally gatherings of Bards, these are now generally understood as public ritual for those studying the tradition, and those wishing to share in a wider community of Druidry. They are held throughout the country and indeed the world. They are usually held on the weekend closest to the actual date of the festivals mentioned previously. Free and open to all they are a gathering to celebrate the festival and to perform rites of passage. Space will also be included in the celebration for the poetry, song, music and other creativity that is such an important part of Druidry. While not all Druids regularly attend Gorsedd Rites, all Druids will acknowledge the importance and validity of such gatherings and rituals. A Grove is a group of people who come together to honour deity, land, culture, heritage, ancestry and each other within the Druid tradition. Essentially they are run by Druids local to an area, and because they take their inspiration from the locality, each is consequently and appropriately different. How the Grove is run entirely rests on those who facilitate it; theirs is the time, energy and inspiration that enables it to be. In practice, when a grove has reached its limit of members, usually someone will leave to form a new Grove and so Druidry continues to grow. There are some Groves who choose to be closed to new members. These Groves are usually comprised of close friends who are studying together a particular area of Druidry and do not have time to facilitate an open Grove or facilitate the learning of newcomers to the tradition. Again these Groves are willing to give help and assistance to anybody who approaches them; this may be in the form of individual teaching offered, or by directing the enquirer to another local Grove or to organisations like The Druid Network who can offer a high level of assistance. As said previously, all Groves are different, but again there is identifiable commonality of practice. Druidry cannot be considered a religion that is practised only at certain times or festivals. Because it is essentially a celebration of life, all time not spent at public celebration could be considered as private practice. There are those within the tradition that have the time to immerse themselves fully and there are many others with work and family commitments that make time and opportunity limited. However, life is cyclical and circumstances change, therefore the depth of private practice supports this. A mother whose life is wrapped around the bringing up of children will usually return to committed Druidic work once the children are more independent, until that time remaining content as a part of the Druid community if not a student of the mythology, theology and deeper practice. Belief implies blind faith and that is not the Druid way. Experience of sacred connection, wonder and understanding are the foundation stones of the tradition, not reliance of blind faith in something that one has not personally experienced or perceived. All Druids, however, seek to connect with the same source — nature — and that source provides some common areas of understanding if not belief. The following points are therefore presented as statements of common Druidic understanding. Although everything is interconnected, for many people that connection is not felt. They stand apart from the natural world and in many cases consider themselves superior to it. One Druid was made the chief; upon his death, another was appointed. If, however, several were equal in merit, the Druids voted, although they sometimes resorted to armed violence. Once a year the Druids assembled at a sacred place in the territory of the Carnutes, which was believed to be the centre of all Gaul, and all legal disputes were there submitted to the judgment of the Druids. Caesar also recorded that the Druids abstained from warfare and paid no tribute. Attracted by those privileges, many joined the order voluntarily or were sent by their families. They studied ancient verse, natural philosophy, astronomy , and the lore of the gods, some spending as much as 20 years in training. The Druids were said to believe that the soul was immortal and passed at death from one person into another. Roman writers also stated that the Druids offered human sacrifices for those who were gravely sick or in danger of death in battle. Huge wickerwork images were filled with living men and then burned; although the Druids preferred to sacrifice criminals, they would choose innocent victims if necessary. Caesar is the chief authority, but he may have received some of his facts from the Stoic philosopher Poseidonius , whose account is often confirmed by early medieval Irish sagas. In the early period, Druidic rites were held in clearings in the forest. Sacred buildings were used only later under Roman influence. The Druids were suppressed in Gaul by the Romans under Tiberius reigned 14—37 ce and probably in Britain a little later. In Ireland they lost their priestly functions after the coming of Christianity and survived as poets, historians, and judges filid, senchaidi, and brithemain. Many scholars believe that the Hindu Brahman in the East and the Celtic Druid in the West were lateral survivals of an ancient Indo-European priesthood. Interest in Druids surged occasionally in later time, notably during the Romantic period in the 19th century.

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