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The Druids PS. Notes have been long lost. This paper was written sometime in 1999 and is probably way out of date. I added American Heritage and some Wikipedia info here and there. Note the term Druid traces back to the Indo-European root deru corresponding to the Sanskrit doru. See below. Jessika |
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Map of Indo European migrations from ca. 4000 to 1000 BC according to the Kurgan model. The Anatolian migration (indicated with a dotted arrow) could have taken place either across the Caucasus or across the Balkans. The purple area corresponds to the assumed Urheimat (Samara culture, Sredny Stog culture). The red area corresponds to the area which may have been settled by Indo-European-speaking peoples up to ca. 2500 BC, and the orange area by 1000 BC. The "Kurgan hypothesis" of Proto-Indo-European (PIE) origins assumes gradual expansion of the "Kurgan culture" until it encompasses the entire Pontic steppe, Kurgan IV being identified with the Pit Grave culture of around 3000 BC. Subsequent expansion beyond the steppes leads to hybrid cultures, such as the Globular Amphora culture to the west, the immigration of proto-Greeks to the Balkans and the nomadic Indo-Iranian cultures to the east around 2500 BC. The domestication of the horse, and later the use of early chariots is assumed to have increased the mobility of the Kurgan culture, facilitating the expansion over the entire Pit Grave region. In the Kurgan hypothesis, the entire Pontic steppes are considered the PIE Urheimat, or homeland, and a variety of late PIE dialects is assumed to have been spoken across the region. The area near the Volga labelled ?Urheimat in the map above marks the location of the earliest known traces of horse-riding (the Samara culture, but see Sredny Stog culture), and would correspond to an early PIE or pre-PIE nucleus of the 5th millennium BC. |
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Language and culture commonality between the Druids and the Brahmins (and other cultures including Greek:see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proto-Indo-European_language) is found though tracing linguistically a common root language source and historically though comparing what is known about the Druids according to Ancient source with archeology in India and the Vedic period writings.
"The Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is the hypothetical common ancestor of the Indo-European languages that is believed to have been spoken in the 4th millennium BC in Central Asia (according to the Kurgan hypothesis), or as early as the 7th millennium BC in Anatolia (according to the Anatolian hypothesis), or in the 7th millennium BC in India (according to the Proto-Vedic Continuity hypothesis). The existence of such a language is generally accepted by linguists, though there has been debate about many specific details."
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From the American Heritage Dictionary dru·id also Dru·id (drd) n. A member of an order of priests in ancient Gaul and Britain who appear in Welsh and Irish legend as prophets and sorcerers. [From Latin druids, druids, of Celtic origin. See deru- in Indo-European Roots.] The Term Druid means finding or knowing the oak tree. Its corollary term in Latin means "to see."deru- deru- in Indo-European Roots.] Derivatives include tree, trust, betroth, endure, and druid. 1. Suffixed variant form *drew-o-. a. tree, from Old English trow, tree, from Germanic *trewam;
a. true, from Old English trowe, firm, true; 3. Variant form *drou-. tray, from Old English trg, trg, wooden board, from Germanic *traujam.
a. trough, from Old English trog, wooden vessel, tray;
a. trim, from Old English trum, firm, strong;
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from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid The etymology given by the editors of the American Heritage Dictionary (4th Ed.), based on Pokorny's Indo-germanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, is as follows: Druid comes to English from Latin druides (pronounced "droo-EE-dess"), which is the same as the term used by Ancient Greek writers, the first to discuss the Celts: ??????? (Druides), associated by folk etymology with ???? (drus, pronounced "drooss," meaning "oak tree"). The Latin and Greek terms trace via Proto-Celtic *druwid (also reconstructed as *druwis and *druwids) to the Proto-Indo-European roots deru ("dru-") and weid ("-wid"). |
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The Druids by Jessika |
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The Druids perceived by the Romans as the acting governing body of the Celts were powerful rulers, revered and respected by the Celtic people. They abstained from warfare, paid no taxes, studied philosophy, and astronomy and were the legal custodians of the law. In his writings of the Gallic Wars, Caesar said, They the [Druids] are wont to be absent from war, nor do they pay taxes like the others... It is said that they commit to memory immense amounts of poetry. And so some of them continue their studies for twenty years. They consider it improper to entrust their studies to writing...They are chiefly anxious to have men believe the following: that souls do not suffer death, but after death pass from one body to another; and they regard this as the strongest incentive to valour, since the fear of death is disregarded. They have also much knowledge of the stars and their motion, of the size of the world and of the earth, of natural philosophy, and of the powers and spheres of action of the immortal gods. Strabo stated that, "Among all the tribes, generally speaking there are three classes of men held in special honor: the bards, the vates, and the Druids." The bards were singers and poets, the vates were interpreters of sacrifices and natural philosophers and the Druids were the supreme heads their teachers and rulers. The bards, trained in the art of poetry, preserved the deeds of the peoples and their great warriors and kings through the creation of epic poetry designed to be passed from one generation to another. They were oral historians who were responsible for the perpetuation of the of the history of the Celts. The vates specialty was augury, the art of prophecy through various methods of divination: interpreters, of auspicious and inauspicious signs called upon in times of war and for divining the significance of births and other events. The Druids, the teachers of both the bards and the vates, also practiced prophecy and divination but with more authority due to their high rank. The Druids, honored by the people as the most just of men, were therefore entrusted with the decision of cases affecting either individuals or the public. The testimony of Strabo indicates that in "former times they arbitrated in war and brought to a standstill the opponents, when drawn up in a line of battle." They took charge of public sacrifices and judged all public and private quarrels. The Druids held absolute authority over the people. If the Druids were disobeyed by any person that person was barred from participation in sacrificial rituals. This was considered to be the most serious punishment. Even "kings had to wait until the Druid had spoken." They practiced the casting of a spell called "geis" which was both a magical taboo and an injunction, a prohibition against an action. The people believed that if one transgressed against "geis" it could cause death and dishonor. Regarded as healers, "everyone came to show cuts and wounds to the Druid. He told each what the illness was and gave them remedies for their aches and pains." The Druids were masters of spells and magic, enchanted mists, shape shifting and transformation of appearance, but they also participated in leading gross sacrifices that the people attended that were common to the ancient world. The power and wisdom of the Druid was indispensable for the performance of these rights. The extent of their power and the grossness of some of their rights is illustrated in the following statement of Posidonius, a stoic philosopher, Human sacrifice was practiced in Gaul: Cicero, Caesar, Suetonius, and Lucan all refer to it, and Pliny the Elder says that it occurred in Britain, too. It was forbidden under Tiberius and Claudius. There is some evidence that human sacrifice was known in Ireland and was forbidden later by St. Patrick. Certain rituals were used to encourage fertility of the land, to appease the forces of nature, and for healing purposes. They offered human victims for those who were gravely sick or in danger of death from battle. Huge wickerwork images were filled with people and then burned. They used criminals for this function although if none could be found, it is said that they used innocent victims if necessary. Their principal doctrine was that the soul was immortal and that at death the soul passed immediately into the person of another. It is this teaching, Caesar believed, that propagated the Celts fearless, warlike nature. He also spoke of their savagery, According to Caesar once a year the Druids assembled at a sacred place in Carnute which was believed to be at the center of Gaul, in a place called Drunemeton and judged crimes of murder. The evidence that exists does not indicate how many meetings Caesar observed or whether this was a one time occurrence, however Caesar's record gives us the view that these meetings may have been a regularly held since the large number in attendance indicates a working and inclusive communication network, one chief at the head of it all: One chief Druid wielded authority over them all. Upon the death of the chief the next one of highest rank was placed in office, however if there were several of equal rank the selection was made by vote. Dio Chrysostom says of the Druids "that the kings were ministers and servants of their thoughts, and could do nothing apart from them." Irish texts (written in a later time period) indicate that the king did not make decisions without "his Druid and is influenced by him."13 It is easy to lend validity to this idea considering the magical powers invested in the Druid by virtue of his attested authority. Diodorus states "That they frequently intervened in combats, and by their exhortations made peace"14. He also states that they were held in great honor because they settled disputes, both public and private and their decisions were final. Any person in disobedience to the Druid was shunned and regarded as a criminal. There is no written evidence of "Druidesses" although evidence of female diviners exist. Plutarch speaks of Celtic women whom Hannibal desired to arbitrate with, and Tacitus tells us of the wild women of Angelsey waving flaming torches with the "frantic rage of the furies," accompanied by Druids "ranged in order chanting horrible imprecations." The picture of Boudica given to us by Tacitus, inspires the vision of a raging wild woman, a woman with a "great twisted necklace, with bright red hair to her knees," wearing a thick mantle, fastened with a brooch, her tunic a mantle of colors, and carrying a long spear. This description gives us the definite impression that the women were as wild and ferocious as their men, with unbridled passions and great abilities of leadership in a capacity great enough to enlist the cooperation of men as equals. Strabo tells us of Cimbrian prophetesses who closely resemble the furies in appearance, and says that, According to J.Markdale if not Celtic the Cimbrian women were very celticized and that we may use them as a relative example of the Celtic woman. Queens ruled as equals to kings and fought in battles with equal fury. Markdale quotes Le Roux who says, Celtic society has always held woman in great honor... in the best pieces of Irish and Welsh cycles, where the pagan flavor is most authentic, the poetess (banfile) or Druidess (bandrui) is a familiar figure. This is hardly surprising where until the 7th century any woman owning land was bound to give military service in the same way as a man. Dio Cassius confirms that woman played a part in religion, stating that Boudica performed priestly functions, invoking the Gods and divining. While this is not evidence that she was a Druidess, it is evidence that Celtic women were not unfamiliar with the magical rites and incantations associated with the Druids. Inscriptions in Gaul show the existence of priestesses called antistes or antistita and flaminca sacerdos. Nine gaulish priestesses foretold the future raised storms, and healed diseases, while they were said to transform themselves into animals. The ancestry of the Druids and the Celtic peoples is a much discussed subject. Many scholars believe that the Hindu Brahmin in the East and the Celtic Druid in the West were lateral survivors of an ancient Indo-European priesthood. The classes of these learned men seem to share a common Indo-European Inheritance with the Brahmins suggesting a strong connection rooted in the past. These classes of learned men seem to share a common belief system, law system and hierarchy or caste system although varying in expression. In evaluating the similarities, rather than the differences one can see that the idea of the both of them emerging from the same unit is a possibility worthy of consideration. If we compare some aspects of the Brahminic and Druidic traditions we find some interesting similarities. For example, The meters of the Rig Veda, the earliest known forms of Indo-European verse, are based on a line with a fixed number of syllables... It was shown long ago by Meillot that the Greek meters have the same origin... and more recently Roman Jacobson has traced it to Slavonic verse. Calvert Watkins has now demonstrated, we think convincingly, that the old Irish heptasyllabic line derives from this Indo-European form, and that other Irish meters are variants of it, thus confirming the antiquity of Celtic tradition, and the common heritage of the Druid and the Brahmin. Another matter is that of legal tradition. Passages of Irish law tracts dating from the 7th century, show remarkable resemblance to Brahminic law. The law tracts are in verse demonstrating an oral tradition and their content belongs to a system of customary law for which parallels can be found in the Manavadharmasastra, the Hindu Laws of Manu. These resemblances of laws in certain law books both Irish and Indian consisting of canonical texts, are ascribed by the priesthood with sacred origin, and their interpretation is reserved exclusively for the privileged class. Although differences exist in interpretation by each priesthood, basic similarities in structure and rule exist. The relationship of pupil and teacher are similar, with eventual rights of succession and similar inheritance customs. These customs exist between the Hindu, Irish and the Greek, defining the rights of female heirs who lack fraternal and patriarchal relationships. The most impressive laws are the laws concerning marriage particularly in Ireland and India. In India marriage laws consist of eight forms. The first four laws describe rules for the marriage of the daughters of higher castes, and require that they be given without purchase by the bridegroom. Conditions for the joining of existing wealth are clearly defined. A fifth law describes the rules for marriage by purchase. A sixth law provides rules for voluntary unions between maidens and lovers. A seventh law describes the conditions under which forcible abduction of the female is acceptable. The eighth law is an edict against union by stealth, and the act is called base and sinful. The Irish marriage law provides for ten classes of marriage, but only nine are explained. The first three are regular marriages, differing in the proportions of wealth, brought by each man and woman to the marriage; these conditions resembling the first four laws of the Brahminic law. The other laws describe unions similar to the Brahminic, two of which agree exactly with two from India. Another law provides conditions for union in the case of mutual love as in the Brahminic. Both systems provide for succession to family property, describing ideal shares without actual division of the property among the heirs, establishing hereditary familial estates. Important distinctions were made between inherited and self-acquired property bearing legal ramifications in both systems. Other laws similar in nature existed for the enforcement of paying private obligations such as fasting by a plaintiff to enforce a claim, thereby placing the other party in the public eye, and forcing resolution by peer pressure. Particular words relating to religion and kingship have also survived independently in the Indo-Iranic and the Celtic, so similar in nature that past association is difficult to deny. The hierarchal system existing in each system differs in emphasis. Druids essentially focused on the hierarchy providing an exclusive governing body. The Hindu system as well focuses on a hierarchal power structure, but it is more discriminatory, regarding color as an important indicator of ones development spiritually. Gordon Childe points out that "ideology is a social product" accounting for the caste distinctions. Heavier labor and more dangerous work were accorded to the lower classes, while the opportunities for higher learning and government were naturally accorded to the higher classes. He further states that, "Material culture is thus largely a response to an environment. It consists of the devices evolved to meet needs worked by particular conditions. Culture grows more and more diversified through the differentiation of societies response to special stimuli, geographical technical, or ideological." The volutionary differences between the Brahminic system in India and the Druidic system of Eastern Europe are attributed to the differences each group encountered as they migrated. Difference in terrain, climate, food availability, and the encountering of "indigenous populations provided varying ingredients for the finished product as each incorporated new ideas into their thought systems. Adaptations of language were necessary as populations merged and the expression of abstract thought evolved." The history of the Celtic civilization begins with the early iron age in 800 B.C. with the Hallstatt culture in upper Austria. The late Iron age is called La Tene after a site in Switzerland and has been qualified as the great age of the Celts on the continent. The art found there is known as their greatest achievement. During the sixth century B.C. the Celts were well known to the Greeks. They are documented in the "The Ora Maritima" of the third century B.C. Nothing is written of their origins. However according to analysis made by linguists the Celts spread westward from their home in central Europe to the Atlantic coast, northwards into the British Isles, and in later periods migrated into southern Italy and Asia Minor. Migrations in waves beginning in the sixth century BC culminated sometime in the first century B.C. producing the culture we now know as the Celts. The indigenous population of Britain, affected by the migration of the Celts, are called the Bell Beaker people. Graves have been found of these people dating back to 2000B.C. They were single graves holding individual grave-goods. Graves dating 1500 B.C. indicate another successive wave of peoples named by archaeologists the Wessex culture, a mixture of Bell Beaker and the new migration. The artifacts found suggest "a warrior aristocracy with a graded series of obligations of service ... a military nobility down to craftsmen and peasants ... also described in and confirmed by Irish sagas." The author feels it is not impossible that the Celts came that early to Britain. "Considerations of language and culture tend to support it...." From the mid sixth century B.C. hill forts began to appear and there is evidence of gradual migratory activity. However large scale invasion evidence is lacking in archeological finds until the invasion of the Belgae from Gaul. Four successive invasions have been distinguished in Ireland by O'Rahilly, indicating travel across the Irish sea. `Grenier' says, "they, the Celts were the greatest people in Europe." Polybius, Strabo, and Aveienus all wrote of Britain referring to the British Isles as the `The Pretanic Islands'. The aforementioned writers and others based on ancient sources lead us to believe that the Celtic people of the British Isles were divided territorially into approximately the territories of present day Britain and archeological evidence has identified the remains of least nine cities on the Irish coast. Opinion is still divided about the origin of the Druids. The evidence mentioned earlier indicates that they are most probably of Aryan origin but whether they preceded the Celts or came with them is still a mystery. Their system of government is thought to have been devised in Britain and then brought into Gaul. This opinion may be based upon the fact that the system was held to be purer in Britain than in Gaul, but this conclusion is based on the evidence presented by Caesar. Some scholars believe that the Druidic system is a mutation of the Phoenicians as some of the rituals resemble those of the Phoenicians, notably child sacrifice and divinatory procedures. However, it is altogether possible that the Druids merely accepted some of the practices of the Phoenicians or that the Phoenicians adapted these practices from the Druids. "A growing school of writers believe that the Druids were pre-Celtic in origin" and that the Druids imposed their religion upon the Celts, however firm evidence is inconclusive. The demise of the Druids was initiated during the period of the Roman occupation. The Romans advanced into Britain under the rule of Tiberius, 14-37 A.D. in order to control what they saw as the seat of rebellion, the "core of British resistance" the head seat of the Druid religion received more and more into the remoter districts, establishing itself on the Amorican coast in the distant land of Mona. After the conquest of Gaul a number of the Druids took refuge in Mona and the Romans believed that to firmly establish themselves in Britain they must totally rid themselves of the Druids who were the major influence over the people. The edicts issued were politically motivated and designed to eliminate them. The Romans destroyed two major cemeteries at Entremont and Roquepertuse in order to suppress the ceremonies practiced there. The Romans attacked Angelsey and burned down the sacred groves and massacred the Druids they could find. The whole of Britain in reaction rose against the Romans in a rebellion led by Iceni. This rebellion was followed by a last led by Iceni's wife, Boudica who had been raped and abused by the Romans. The first battles were a success. "The legion was crushed, the infantry cut to pieces." But during this time Suetonius, a Roman had assembled an army of ten thousand, partly of pro-Roman Britons who fought with their women beside them. These troops were mixed with the Romans and in a decisive battle Boudica was defeated. She poisoned herself after the encounter rather than be taken by force. A relative period of peace followed which allowed Rome to gradually expanded its borders to the frontier through a series of governors. The Romans established cities and towns and dominated the countryside building retirement villages for ex-soldiers. They built Roman temples, and installed Roman government. They built garrisons and instituted three legions to keep law and order. They built the Hadrian Wall and the Antonine Wall to fortify the northern border from attack by the Picts led by the Druids, some of whom had taken refuge there. Ireland was the last holdout of the Druids. They survived there for sometime, but eventually lost their priestly functions due to the later influx of Christianity. They made their appearance in later years as historians, and judges, (filid, senchaidi, and brithmain). Agricola set up schools for the people of Britain and the Latin language spread rapidly as a result of the intermingling of the people with the army and merchants. Changes in language, law, business and cultured life, pushed those Celts who resisted Romanization further and further into the countryside relegating them to the "backwaters" of Britain and the Islands surrounding her. After the evacuation of the Romans, the Druids once more made an appearance south of the Hadrian wall for a short time. "Nennius describes how Vortigern after being excommunicated for incest called together his wise men who advised him to offer a human sacrifice at the building of a fortress." But the Druids were eventually eliminated by the Christianization of Britain, disappearing into history forever. They were absorbed into the advancing new culture. There has been much speculation about the Druids. The romantic picture of the Druids gives them responsibility for the building of Stonehedge, however there is little evidence to support this idea. The romantic picture also provides us with an image of a wise man in flowing white robes, astronomer, scientist, and magician, ruler of the Celts, generous, fatherly and godlike. This picture has given way to historical controversy, due to the analytical scrutiny which has been applied to the written accounts of our first historians. These first historians, paint a picture of a cruel and barbarous people steeped in magic, steeped in superstition and as leaders of sacrificial rites. They seem to have been a bloodthirsty warlike people with little regard for human life; yet, they fought for their freedom and had a fairly sophisticated system of government which required a yearly gathering to take place numbering three hundred according to Caesar. Similar descriptions are noted by scholars in regards to the Priesthood and the Aryan tribes that populated northern India circa 1500 B.C. Such tribes were lead by chiefs owing allegiance to their Priests who held absolute power and who also met in large number once a year. Whether the Druids were themselves barbarians, tolerating barbaric practices, or whether they were wise men attempting to lead a barbarian people to civilization is difficult to discern. The facts state that the Druid was a leader, teacher of his people, a ruler and a shamanistic priest. He was a soothsayer, diviner and judge. He had the leadership ability to stop conflict and was entrusted with the care of the young. He was a member of a larger group of his own kind that elected a member of the body as chief. Advisors to the kings of the Celts, the Druid held great power. He was looked to for wisdom by all and his judgement was the final word. Were the Druids themselves barbarians? It still remains a mystery.
Chippendale, Christopher. Stonehedge Complete. New York: Cornell University Press,1983. Dillon, Myles; Chadwick, Nora. The Celtic Realms. New York: The New American Library 1967 Frere, Sheppard. Britannia: A History of Roman Britain. (Third edition, extensively revised); London and New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul,1987. Mac Cana, Proinsias. Library of the World's Myths and Legends Celtic Mythology. New York: Peter Bedrick Books. 1983 Markdale, Jean. Celtic Civilization . London and New York: Gordon and Cremonesi Publishers, 1978. Phillips, Guy. Brigantia . London, Henly and Boston, 1976. Piggott, Stuart. The Druids New York: Thames and Hudson, 1985. Salway, Peter. Roman Britain. Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1981. Squire, Charles. Celtic Myth and Legend. Hollywood, California: Newcastle Publishing Co. Inc., 1975. Wright,Thomas. The Celt, The Roman, and the Saxon: A History of the Early Inhabitants of Britain. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, & Co. Ltd. 1892.
H.E. Wedesk and Wade Baskin Dictionary of Pagan Religions (New York: Philosophical Library, 1971), s.v. "Druids" Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, 1928 ed., s.v."Druids" Encyclopedic Dictionary of Religion, 1979 ed., s.v."Druids" Caesar (Gallic Wars) Strabo (Geography) Pliny (Natural History) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid (October 1, 2006) American Heritage Dictionary Copyright (c) 2000 Houghton Mifflin: Software by Kanda Software, Inc. Copyright (c) 1999-2000. |
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