Druidism is one of the pagan families of religion, which include Wicca, Witchcraft, Norse Asatru, Shamanism, and adaptation of other various pagan religions such as Welsh, Pictish, Egyptian, Greek, Norse, and Roman. Modern Druidism is a reconstruction of beliefs and practices attributed to the ancient Celtic priesthood. The ancient Druids, first known to exist in approximately 4,000 BCE, are believed to have their origins previous to the written history of Europe.
The ancient Druids are most widely connected with the British Isles. However, history shows evidence that the British Isles were only the last strong hold of the Druids. Most commonly referenced are the islands of Iona and Mona, (Anglesey as it is called today). Ancient writings claim that The Druids were the Priests, Doctors, Poets and Minstrels of ancient Celtia. These writings also claimed that they were also the teachers who retained the sacred knowledge of ancient times.
The words Druid and Bard conjure up many different images. The title Bard has been used to describe Shakespeare and Robert Burns, and also has been given to the impressively costumed gentleman who heads the National Welsh Poetry Festival called the Eisteddfod.
The Druid was mentioned in Caesar’s Gallic Wars as priests and Leaders, as well as blood thirsty savages who burned sacrifices in Wicker containers. What is the truth about these mysterious figures? First although religion was a pre-eminent force in the Celtic culture, the Celtic people were never an actual nation. They were at best a loosely knit confederation of tribes with only token similarities: language, religion and culture.
Their religion was codified in oral dogma and administered by a priestly caste, the Druids, who were a major power within the Celtic empire. it is said that all public and private affairs were subject to their authority. The Celts were extremely religious, and regarded it as the worst punishment to be excommunicated.
There seemed to be three classes of Druids in ancient Wales: Bards, Ovates and Druids. Bards were the Historians and Teachers, Ovates were the Herbalist and doctors, and Druids were the Shamans and Priests.
The immense power of the Druids was also the weakness of the Celtic people. No culture that is ruled by priests drawing their authority from spiritual sanctions is capable of true progress. The Celts fanatic adherence to their religion inevitably helped bring down their empire.
There is evidence that a priesthood ruled the megalithic pre-Celtic peoples of Western Europe. During the Celtic expansion this priesthood was adopted by the highly religious Celts and the numerous Celtic deities and beliefs were adopted by what is now called the Druids.
After the invasion of the Romans and advent of Christianity, the Druids were not allowed to practise their religion or induct students. They began to mingle their lore and knowledge with that of the Bards.
Bards were found in all Celtic cultures (Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Manx and Gaul) and a rough equivalent can be found in Norse culture, too, where they were known as skald. They were also found in Anglo-Saxon England, and in many other cultures.
In Wales, after the Roman Invasions, the Bards, became Court Poets, known as “Gogynfeirdd,” or “Prydydd,” and were limited by highly structured rules. The true Magickal and Spiritual knowledge dwelt with a secret order of Bards called “derwydds,” (oak-seers). These “oak-seers” were the ones that carried on the real traditions of the Druid. These are the people that gave us the “Cad Goddeu” and the “Hanes Taliesin,” and who passed the “Matter of Britain” onto the French troubadours and trouveres, thus giving us Arthur and Camelot.
So what is a real Bard? In the Celtic cultures, the Bard was pretty much inviolate. He could travel anywhere, say anything, and perform when and where he pleased. The reason for this was, of course, that he was the bearer of news and the carrier of messages, and, if he was harmed, then nobody found out what was happening over the next hill. In addition, he carried the Custom of the country as memorized verses…he could be consulted in cases of Customary (Common) Law. He was, therefore, a valuable repository of cultural information, news, and entertainment.
The Ollamh, the highest degree of Bard in ancient Gaelic society, belongs to the Druid class. As such, the nature of his poetry is predominantly religious, being mainly used in ritual, or certainly in a spiritual context. His main preoccupation is the perception of what he calls “poetic truth” and its subsequent translation and refinement into an exact statement. The “poetic truth” being, of course, that mysterious and elusive gift of the Other World Goddess, the feminine archetype – inspiration.
One of the main functions of the Bard became to promote and maintain the twilight state so favoured by the Celts – a sort of Dream Time. A particular outlook on life that, indeed, marks one as a Celt. Namely, a belief in the dualistic Other World that, although not often seen, is always felt – inside oneself with the heart and outside with a prickling of hair on the nape of the neck or a tingling of the spine. The duty of the Bard became to convey with words and music an ideal which the mind can understand at one level, but only the spirit will perceive at another. For the former understanding comes from this world – and the Gods…and the latter from the emotive OtherWorld – whose essence belongs to the Goddess. The Bard, therefore, must be more than a musician and storyteller – She or he must be a messenger from the Other World.
We can see this process working beautifully in the old legends. Rather like the skins of an onion, the layers of a Celtic legend are infinite – and so they should be! But for our purposes, however, they can be broadly split into three levels- Body, Mind and Spirit.
The body of the legend is the basic story it tells. But, be it of love, heroism or death, it always includes a part of the Universal Theme – the one great tale of the seasonal, cyclic relationship between the God and the Goddess.
The mind of the legend is in code, understandable only to those people who possess the key. Hidden within this code is the whole Faerie Faith system and how to understand it. But, as Robert Graves says in his book, The White Goddess, it is….well hidden, guarded and disguised.
The spirit of the legend belongs not to this world, for it affects us on a more subtle level than the words or their musical accompaniment. This level is an unconscious communing between Bard, listener and the Divine. The Bard is the unifying, linking factor between men and Gods.
On a further level, the Bard attributes certain magical qualities to certain musical notes, and thus it is believed that a particular musical accompaniment will affect the listener in a certain way. In the legends, it is said that a Bard must be able to play three (that number again) magical strains on his instrument – the Sleep Strain, the Laughter Strain and the Weeping Strain.
All this, of course, is the intellectual aspect of the Faerie Faith. A Bard never forgets that ultimately he answers to the Goddess who reaches far beyond the knowable. And along that path lies the never-ending, sometimes painful, quest for inspiration and the overwhelming need to convey the ideal of truth and the spirit of beauty…To enchant and lead the listener to the Other World…
“Through dark trees, speared by thin bright light. Through eyes against which hair blows. Through gold in a puddle, silver covered by clouds, I have guessed at you in wakefulness. I have dreamed you in sleep. Words whispered down the wind. Shapes against the daylight glare. Or shadows, merging with shadows, spreading into night. Where touch is more real than sight. And the trees are emptiness between the glades…”
The religious leader of these early tribes was a priest, shaman, herbalist, astrology, poet and bard. The early shaman was the wise man or wise woman of the tribe, the healer and priest or priestess. The wise ones knew about the seasons, weather and crops and were, therefore, very important members of the early culture. Over the years, a priestess became more than a wise woman; she became powerful through consolidating her knowledge and keeping it secret. It was only she who knew the Gods’ and Goddesses’ true names, it was only she who knew the secret of conception.
At first, the religion was simple Nature worship: worship of the Earth mother and the Sky Father. But it began to grow in complexity as the people rediscovered the old sources of power and obtained new knowledge by experimentation and meditation. The religion taught of male and female deities which, together, created the Great Spirit. The female deity evolved into the Goddess represented by the earth and moon, ruling over birth, life, love, death and rebirth. The male deity evolved into the God represented by the sun, ruling over the seasons. These precepts are fundamental to our faith and belief today. From this early religion Druidism developed.
Author Unknown
