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Druidism : the Ancient Faith of Britain

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Druidism : the Ancient Faith of Britain ©ruiOigiin & fcirarfflitli of Britain ^uMti) Ulrijlif IC'\ zo^ ©ruiiligin CliE ^ncirarfflitli of l^ritain Printed and Bound by Ed. J. Burrow & Co. Ltd. London and Cheltenham England. : ©ruiOisiin CliE feitnt faitl of i^ritain BY Dudley Wright LONDON ED. J. BURROW & CO., LTD. Central House, 43, 45 & 47 Kingsway AND Cheltenham 1924 . .. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS The Massacre of the Druids . Frontispiece Stonehenge, from a Water Colour Drawing by J. M. W. Turner, R.A. 24 The Druids, or The Conversion of the Britons to Christianity . • 48 Stonehenge, from a Water Colour Drawing by Constable (Victoria and Albert Museum) . 72 Druidical Festival at Stonehenge . 96 A Druid .. .. 120 Aerial View of Stonehenge .. .. .. .. 144 Hill Ranges Converging on Stonehenge .. .. 148 Diagrammatic Plan of Stonehenge .. .. .. 184 N.B.—The Illustrations facing pp. 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 and Frontispiece are from the Fine Art Collection of Augustin Rischgitz. The design for the chapter ending on p. 58 shows the comparative sizes of Druidical Stone Circles. The outer circle is that of Avebury, the intermediate that of Brogar, and the centre Stennis and Stonehenge ; on p. 1 10 are represented the three circles referred to on p. 48 ; on p. 172 is given the Maiden Stone at Caldron, and on p. 183 the chambered structure at Callernish. —————— . .. .. .... ... CONTENTS PAGE Chapter I. The Origin of Druidism . i Britain, Gaul, Erin, Persia, Phoenicia, etc. Chapter II. The Creed of Druidism . 22 Monotheism, Polytheism, Anthropomorphism. The Bardic, or Druidic alphabet. Ancient seats of learning. Ancient trees, The Tree of Knowledge. Reference to Cesar's account of Druidism. Affinity claimed between Druidism and Freemasonry. The Coligny Calendar. Druidical Hymn of the Deluge. Meteors, Falling Stars. Reappearance of the Celtic doctrine in modern France. Druidism and the Circle. Human Sacrifices. Chapter III. The Initiatory Ceremonies and Priesthood 59 The Tonsure, The Tolmen. The Noviciate. The Book of the OUamhs. Astronomy and Ancient Learning. Druidical breast plates. The Jadh Morain. Chapter IV. Bards and Vates . 75 The Bard, his duties and rewards. The Bardic Memoria Technica. Druidical Triads. Chapter V. Druidism and Magic . 92 The Tuatha-di-Danann. Charms and Spells. St. Patrick. Druidesses. Serpents and Serpents' Eggs. Chapter VI. Druidical Temples and Remains .. iii Druidical Schools. The Sword bearer. Knights Templars, Freemasonry. The prayer of the Chief Bard. Druidical Circles and Stones. Stonehenge and Phoenician Art. History of Stonehenge. Circles and Monuments at Avebury, Dartmoor, Guernsey, The Isle of Man, etc. The Logan Stone. Chapter VII. Druidical Festivals and Customs . 149 Beacons and Smoke Signals. Teut Hills. May Day Festivals. Ancient Sacrifices. Passing through the fire ; Bonfires ; Baal fires. Summer solstice and Winter solstice festivals observed to-day. St. John's fire. Mistletoe and its significance. Cutting the Mistletoe. Chapter VIII. The Affinity of Druidism with Other Religions . 173 Pythagoreanism, Druidism, Brahmanism, Judaism, Grove worship. Christianity. IX.—Bibliography .. .. .. .. .. ..185 Index . 190 The Druids now, while arms are heard no more, Old mysteries and horrid rites restore ; A tribe who singular religion love, And haunt the lonely coverts of the grove ; To these, and these of all mankind alone. The gods are sure revealed, or sure unknown. If dying mortals' doom they sing aright. No ghosts descend to hell in dreadful night ; No parting souls to grisly Pluto go. Nor seek the dreary silent shades below : But forth they fly immortal in their kind, And other bodies in new worlds they find. Thus life for ever runs its endless race. And, like a line, death but divides the space : A stop which can but for a moment last, A point between the future and the past. Thrice happy they beneath the northern skies. Who that worst fate, the fear of death despise. Hence they no cares for this frail being feel. But rush undaunted on the pointed steel ; Provoke approaching fate, and bravely scorn To spare that life which must so soon return. Rowe's Lucan. CHAPTER I THE ORIGIN OF DRUIDISM It is problematical whether the question, asked so frequently both in the past and the present, as to what period in the history of the world witnessed the foundation of Druidism, will ever be answered with definiteness. Some writers have maintained that it was a development or offshoot of the Egyptian religion and, along with Freemasonry, originated in the sublime teachings of Ptah, which, by some, are believed to have been brought out of Egypt by Moses. Faber, in his Pagan Idolatry, expressed the opinion that the Druidical Bards were probably the founders of Freemasonry ; certainly members of the Craft will be able to trace many analogies and similarities between Druidic and Masonic ceremonial and practices, but the extent, if any, to which the one has been drawn from, or is dependent upon, the other, must be more or less a matter of speculation. Philology does not render much assistance in determining the origin of Druidism, the possible derivation of the various Druidical terms being very conflicting, although few modern scholars probably now maintain dogmatically the opinion, regarded seriously at one time, that the word Druid is derived from the Greek word drus, meaning " an oak," on which was founded, in part at any rate, the theory that the Druids had their original habitat among the oaks of Mamre, to which reference is made in the book of Genesis. Another derivation frequently given is that derwydd means " the body of an oak," that word being formed from two other words, dertv, " oak," and ydd, a substantive terminal In like manner Ovydd (Ovate) was said to mean *' sapling " or " unformed " " " plant," from ov, raw," and ydd ; and bardd signified branching, being derived from bar, " a branch " or " the top." Pezron gives the derivation of Druid from the Celtic deru, " oak," and hud, " enchant- ment," and says that the name was given because the priests, sages, diviners, and magicians of the ancient Gauls practised their divination and enchantments in woods and especially under oaks. Dryades, the Greek word, he contends, is derived from the Celtic. The Celtic meaning of the word Druid is " to enclose within a circle " and the word was used in the sense of " prophet " or " one admitted into the mysteries of 2 DRUIDISM the inner circle." Other writers give the derivation as from the Hebrew dcrussim, or drussim, which means " contemplators." Vallancey ascribes a Hebrew origin to the term, but traces it to the word drush, meaning " an expounder " or " an interpreter." Another explanation given is that it is an old Celtic word, druis, formed from trotvis, or truwis, meaning " a doctor of the faith." Trowis, in German, means " a revealer of truth." Trutis was an ancient British name for the Deity, and the first priests in Britain were called Triiti. The celebrated philologist Thurneysen derives Druid from dru, a prefix meaning " thorough " and vid, meaning " know," so that, from this etymological reading, a Druid was a man of great knowledge. The earliest mention of the name of Druid is found in Diogenes Laertius's Lives of the Philosophers. The " " " Persian duru means a good and holy man ; the Arabic deri, an absolver or remitter of sins." In Scotland, the Druids were called Ducergli, and in Spain Turduli or Turdutan. The Oriental dervishes are thought by some to derive their name from the same source as the Druids. Mr. D. Delta Evans, who has devoted considerable time, attention, and skill to the study of this subject, says that, according to the best informa- tion from Celtic scholars, it would appear beyond doubt that the word derzvydd is derived from dar, meaning " above," and gwydd, meaning " understanding," " learning," or " knowledge." Cynwal, an eminent Welsh poet of the sixteenth century, employs the term in this foregoing meaning and thus apostrophises a well-known Bard : Dywed zveithian dad ieithydd Dy feddwl ym, do foddatvl wydd. Declare thou then, thou father of languages, Thy mind, if of well-cultured knowledge. Diogenes said that the Gaulish philosophers were known both as Druids and as Semnothei, the latter word meaning " Venerable Deities." All Hallows Day was known in Ireland as La Samhna and the month of November as Mi Saman, but the derivation of these words is from Samh, meaning " rest " or " repose from labour." The name Saman was one of the titles of Buddha, who was regarded by the ancient Irish as the lord of death and the judge of departed spirits. His festival, says Faber, in Pagan Idolatry, occurred in the month of November, when sacrifices of black sheep were offered to him for the souls of the deceased. The festival of All Souls appears to have superseded the festival of Saman. Among the Gymnosophists there was a sect of philosophers, women as well as men, who, says Clement of Alexandria, made truth their study and claimed ability to read into the future and to predict forthcoming events. The female Senmes, he adds, always preserved their virginity. — THE ORIGIN OF DRUIDISM 3 The word really means " venerable," and it embodied an idea of antiquity and veneration and was applied only to persons worthy of respect for their morals, merits, prudence, and age ; it is probably the root of the words " Senatus," " Senatores," " Senex," " Senior," etc. The Saxons called a sorcerer dry ; and sorcery or magic was known as dry-craeft, words not to be found in any dialects cognate to the British. " From the word dry, the verb bcdrian, " to bewitch " or " to fascinate was formed. A disordered man was called bedrida, from which has descended the modern term " bedridden." The antiquity of the Druidical system is not in doubt or question. It is indisputable that a highly-efiicient organization such as Druidism was when it came first into historical view, could not have been of recent origin or foundation.
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