Druids and Druidism - A Special Religion

Druidism is normally associated with the Celts, but in reality was practiced in much of North-western Europe. Druids are though of by many as magical creatures who wield the power of nature and can call on the forest in need. This is actually partly true.

Druids were very experienced in the laws of nature and looked for signs in stars, the sun, the moon, but they were very real people. In fact they were the leaders of many settlements, holding many of the top ranks at once. Their duties included that of the magistrate, healer, mediator, scholar and priest. In fact, often they were also philosophers, scientists, artists, and so on, in one word, they were polyhistors.

It is evident that these were knowledgeable, respected men who did have a supernatural air about them because they used nature to heal and govern. They linked the people to their Gods, and performed rituals, and indeed, according to lore, magic.

It is most prominent how skilled and scholarly these men were in the accounts of Julius Cesar. He fought the druids, and he himself wrote:

“They also have 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, which they discuss and hand down to their young students.”

He mentions how the druids believe in the immortality of the soul, making them very fierce and brave on the battlefield, combined with their intellectual knowledge, making them a strong enemy indeed.

Druidism is special because, like the Celtic people in general, it has no written lore. It spread through words, orally, handed down from family to family, generation to generation. Some of it has survived through to the 17th century in writing, so historians have a pretty good idea of what went on.

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