Basics: The Druids

The Druids were the priests or ministers of religion, amont the ancient celtic nations of Gaul, Britain & Germany. They combined the functions of priest, the magistrate, the scholar and the physician. They stood to the people of the Celtic tribes in a relationship closely resembling that of the Brahmans of India or the priests of the Egyptians.

The Druids taught the existence of one god, to whom they gave the name 'Be al' which equates to 'the life of everything'; or 'the source of all beings'. The god seems to have an affinity with the Phoenician 'Baal'. What renders the affinity more striking is that both the Druids and the Phoenicians identified this supreme deity with the Sun. Indeed fire was regarded as a symbol of the divinity.

The druids used no images to represent the object of their worship, nor did they appear to meet in temples of buildings of any kind for the performance of their sacred rites. A circle of stones (each stone generally of vast size) enclosing an area of from twenty feet to thirty yards in diameter, constituted their sacred place [their 'sacred space']. These sacred circles were generally situated close by to a stream or under the shadow of a grove or wide spreading oak. In the centre of the circle stood the 'Cromlech' or altar, which was a large stone, placed in the manner of a table upon other stones set up on end. The Druids also had their high places, which were large stones of piles of stones on the summits of hills. These were called Cairns, and were used in the worship of the deity under the symbol of the sun.

That the Druids offered sacrifices to their deity there can be no doubt. But there is no proof of that they actually offered as a sacrifice. Classical Roman writers reported that Druids offered human sacrifices ... a fable perhaps but one which has remained to this day, despite the efforts of Celtic writers to erase.

The Druids observed two festivals in each year. One took place at the beginning of May known as Beltane of 'fire of the god'. A large fire would be kindled at some elevated spot in honour of the sun, whose returning beneficence they welcomed after the doom and gloom of winter. The other great festival was known as 'samh in' or 'fire of peace'. This was held at Hallow-e'en ... the eve of the first of November. On this occasion the Druids would gather in solemn conclave to discharge the judicial functions of their order. All questions whether public or private; all crimes against the person or property were at this time brought before them for adjudication.