Who and what were the Druids....?

Druids were members of the ancient pre-Christian Celtic priestcraft of Britain and Gaul, a secret order about which almost nothing is known. The term 'druid' means 'knowing the oak tree' in Gaelic; the oak tree was sacred to the Celts...

According to the Romans the Druids were magicians, but the nature of their magic is still a mystery. The Romans also tell us that they believed in the transmigration of souls (which could well have been reincarnation). It is said that they held their secret cult practices in sacred oak groves, where one of their chief rites was harvesting mistletoe using a golden sickle,also it is thought that they offered human sacrifices. Most likely they were the representatives of the ancient Nordic and Christian Mysteries...

The theory that the Druids built Stonehenge or Avebury, advanced by some antiquarians in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, has been proved by modern archaeological techniques to be false...

Various Druid groups have since flourished in Britain and the United States, but they have no links/connections to the ancient Druids. The modern Druids celebrate eight pagan festivals in outdoor henges and groves, the most important being the summer solstice. Since 1985 modern Druids have been prevented from gathering at Stonehenge for the solstice, due to vandalism by spectators. American druids use a replica of Stonehenge in Washington State...

a group of people chosen to be educated in the ways of the tree, sounds familiar. i once read somewhere they were educated by nephylites(giants) and their magik was trickknowledgy. i pray for thee as well as myself in these wierd and trying times.

Since the Romans wrote almost everything down at one point, is their any first hand Roman documantation of Druid practices on the web? This may be the best way beggining to understand what the Druids believed and the rituals they practiced.

Originally posted by The Real Deal
Most likely they were the representatives of the ancient Nordic and Christian Mysteries...

Druidism is much older than Christianity. Christian mysteris(mysticism) is very similar to the Jewish mysticism, and both share some points with mystic practices in the Middle East.

The Northern European "schools of mysteries"/shamanic practices were different. Although Druidism may have its roots in some of the older Germanic religions (also lost when the Romans came through and thoroughly wiped out when the Christians came), it doesn't appear to be directly descended from the Nordic practices.

Thanks Bryd..thats why i decided to do this post ,to find out things i didn't know and was unsure of,so anymore info by anyone will be great..

Their "magic" was really more in their knowledge of herbology and medicine...which was actually superior to the Romans' in many ways..similar to how the early colonists learned many things from Indian shamans in this regard....

I would like to add, that it is still by far "superior" even to todays medicines. Holistic or Herbal medicine today is healthier and has less side effects, (if any at all)compared to todays medicines.

Ok, I'm done. Not going to hijack the thread.

yett i cannot judge i was not there but there beast are.

Well,

To be honest, the lion's share of Druidic teachings were lost centuries ago. Many of the things that are passed off as "Druidic" nowadays are really inventions from the last three centuries.

Essentially, during the Romantic era (1790s-1820s) and Celtic Revival (1880s-1920s) in literature/art, interest in the Druids spiked. Finding a lack of info, people began to infer or invent the 'teachings' of the Druids. As a result, many of the things you see, today, as "Druidic" are, more or less, literary inventions. This goes, and I expect to get heat for this, for many 'Pagan'/witch/'nature godess' practices that incorporated these inventions.

In reality, nearly all Druidic beliefs were lost because the Druids, themselves, were extremely exclusive, secretive... and insisted that their teachings NOT be written down. Yes, some stuff was repressed by Christians... But most of it was lost because the Druids wanted it to be lost.

The Druids were, as much as we can tell, more than simple religious leaders. they had sub-castes that worked as lawyers (Brehon law in Ireland), officials, and oral poets.

And... from a theological perpective... an analysis of what we know of them shows that they were not so much the 'nature worshippers' as art/literature leads us to believe. Structurally... they are far more akin to 5th century Pythagoreans than 21st century covencraft followers.