What is a druid?
Long ago, there lived a group of people in Europe that were the Celts. They lived in tribes, and each tribe had a Druid. This Druid could be a man or a woman, and was very wise, because he knew everything about nature, and he could do many things. Today there are no Celtic tribes any more, but there are still Druids. Below you will find some articles that will tell you more about the Druids of today, and why maybe you also could be a Druid!
Today Druids are Neo-Druids. The original Druids were killed or forced to convert or leave their homes a long time ago. Druids were the learned class of the Celts. They were the teachers, bards, lawyers, judges , doctors, etc…. Today Druids are or at least for my group are Celtic Reconstructionalists. We try to recreate the ways of the ancient druids and believe in their way of life as we know it. Since there was no written documents of the history or lives of the Celts other than what their oppressors wrote. We study their mythology, culture as well as archaeology and paleontology pertaining to them, and strive to piece the puzzle together.
In ancient times a Druid was a philosopher, teacher, counsellor and magician, the word probably meaning ‘A Forest Sage’ or ‘Strong Seer’. In modern times, a Druid is someone who follows Druidry as their chosen spiritual path, or who has entered the Druid level of training in a Druid Order. The reason we tend to visualise the Druid as an old man in our imagination is partly due, perhaps, to a realisation that by the time one has undertaken the training of Bard and Ovate one is bound to be ancient! We cannot be sure of the exact time it took, but Caesar mentions that some spent as long as twenty years in their education at Druid colleges. But this is really little different to the time young people now take to complete their education, and Caesar’s account is reminiscent of the situation of monastic schools in Europe and as far afield as Tibet, where young people would go or be sent for a complete education: free from the burden of taxation or military service and “instigated by such adv
A Druid is a member of an ancient Celtic religion that covered the role of priest, scholar and judge for the Celtic people. The Celts lived in Britain, Ireland and Western Europe until around the 5th Century, A.D., by which time most had either disappeared or had been converted to Christianity. Typically, a Druid oversaw religious activities, performed rituals, and also acted as a tribal historian by preserving the histories of the Druid’s tribe through stories and oral tradition. Also assuming the role of judge, a Druid would advise the leaders of the tribe on political matters, make laws and settle disputes. The religion practiced by the Druids was simply known as Druidism and was polytheistic, meaning that many gods were worshiped rather than just one. These gods could either be elemental, representing fire, for example, or be associated with a particular human action or trade such as metallurgy or fishing. A Druid typically practiced the art of divination, which is an attempt to pr
