What was Druidry?

 The Druids were the educated elite of what is now called the “Celtic” race. The ancient Druids consisted of three “castes”, or divisions – Bards, Ovates and Druids.

The Bard learned all of the tales of the chieftain’s victories and the secret lore of sacred poetry. A Bard was an honoured member of the Tribe who was welcome wherever he or she travelled – in a way they were the newspapers of the day. We know from ancient poetry that the Bardic/Ovate crossover was not so defined, and that the Bards were also Shamans. They were trained in the Art of Magic using the power of poetry in either praise or satire. Their Lore supplied the foundation to the religious and magical practice of Druidry, telling the nature of the Gods, the deeds of the Ancestors and the sacred places of the land. Through the power of the sacred word, expressed through poetry, storytelling and song, they invoked the blessings of the Spirit of Place, and of the Gods and ancestors of the people.

The caste known as Bards had their own Shamanic practices, but it may be that some Bards blended their creative skills with those of the Ovates (or Vates). These were the prophets and seers. They worked with the three realms of past, present and future and entered into trance states, foreseeing the future fortunes of the Tribe. The Ovate was the Druid Shaman.

The third ‘caste’ was the Druid. Much of what we know about the ancient Druids comes from classical writers, and it might be that ‘Druid’ was a collective term that included the Bards and Ovates, we simply don’t know for sure, but either way we do know that they were highly respected members of the tribe – the wise one who had passed through madness and survived. This brought great wisdom and peace; the Druid’s role was therefore that of advisor, teacher and judge. In Celtic mythology tribal chieftains each had their Druid to whom they turned for advice during times of need...read more>>>...

Was Jesus a Druid? Ickonic Holy Grail film set to explore the myth and legend of Christ

 ‘In the Ickonic Original film In Search of the Holy Grail, author and illustrator Neil Hague features as a form of guide.

It’s a beautifully made scene that feels very peaceful and wholesome to watch.

In the film, Neil acts as a messenger to director Christianne van Wijk. Taking her around scenic ancient sites, he reveals the very real possibility that Jesus Christ could have been a Druid.

Certainly food for thought.

As one of the most influential figures in human history, Jesus Christ has been subject to countless theories and speculations. However, few are as intriguing as the idea that he may have had ties to Druidism. Closer examination reveals this intriguing claim could have more to it than meets the eye. In this blog post, we will explore this fascinating theory....<<<Read More>>>....

Image of the Day - 'Long Meg'

LONG MEG & HER DAUGHTER'S DRUID CIRCLE, CUMBRIA, UK

Image of the Day - 'Long Meg'

LONG MEG AND HER DAUGHTERS DRUID CIRCLE, CUMBRIA, UK

Image of the Day

LONG MEG CUMBRIA

Explaining the Hidden Meaning of the Celtic Tree of Life

Spiritual Ray: The concept of 'tree of life' is found in many cultures including that of Celts. The crosses of Celtic and Northumbrian origins incorporate tree symbols in their designs. The Celtic tree of life represents the concept of forces of nature that converge to create harmony. These trees were so tall and expansive that they could actually form a whole forest with their branches. In the Celtic culture, importance of trees was decided on the basis of their geographical location and more importantly the inherent qualities.

Ancient Celts (Druids) believed that the tree of life or crann bethadh possessed special powers. The tribal people of Ireland while clearing a piece of land for human settlement, used to leave a tree in the center; they called this tree the crann bethadh....read more>>>...

Wisdom of the Druids

“Druids – A sacerdotal caste which flourished in Britain and Gaul. They were Initiates who admitted females into their sacred order, and initiated them into the mysteries of their religion. They never entrusted their sacred verses and scriptures to writing, but, like the Brahmins of old, committed them to memory; a feat which, according to the statement of Caesar, took twenty years to accomplish. Like the Parsis they had no images or statues of their gods. The Celtic religion considered it blasphemy to represent any god, even of a minor character under a human figure. It would have been well if the Greek and Roman Christians had learnt this lesson from the “pagan” Druids. The three chief commandments of their religion were: – “Obedience to divine laws; concern for the welfare of mankind; suffering with fortitude all the evils of life.”

“The mystery veiling the origin and the religion of the Druids, is as great as that of their supposed fanes is to the modern Symbologist, but not to the initiated Occultists. Their priests were the descendants of the last Atlanteans, and what is known of them is sufficient to allow the inference that they were eastern priests akin to the Chaldeans and Indians, though little more. It may be inferred that they symbolized their deity as the Hindus do their Vishnu, as the Egyptians did their Mystery God, and as the builders of the Ohio Great-Serpent mound worshipped theirs – namely under the form of the “mighty Serpent,” the emblem of the eternal deity TIME (the Hindu Kala). Pliny called them the “Magi of the Gauls and Britons.” But they were more than that. The author of “Indian Antiquities” finds much affinity between the Druids and the Brahmins of India. Dr. Borlase points to a close analogy between them and the Magi of Persia; others will see an identity between them and the Orphic priesthood of Thrace: simply because they were connected, in their esoteric teachings, with the universal Wisdom Religion, and thus presented affinities with the exoteric worship of all. ...read more>>>...

Shamanism In The Celtic World

[Druidry.org]: Michael Harner describes a shaman this way: "A shaman is a man or woman who enters an altered state of consciousness - at will- to contact or utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire knowledge, power, and to help other persons. The shaman has at least one, and usually more, "spirits" in his personal service."

Harner goes on to say, "To this I would add that, in his trance, he commonly works to restore a patient by restoring beneficial or vital power, or by extracting harmful power. The journey to which Eliade refers is usually undertaken to restore power or a lost soul."(2.)

It should be pointed out here that Michael Harner is talking primarily about healing shamanism. A case can be made for the existence of other forms of shamanism, such as warrior shamanism, hunting shamanism, or even evil or black shamanism. In actual practice though, the various forms often exist side by side, though shamans do typically specialize. Thus a healer is not ususally a warrior, etc.

Shamanism, in a "pure" sense, is usually characterisitic of paleolithic hunter-gatherer societies. As such, it can safely be said to represent humankind's earliest and most primal form of religion, magic and healing modality. It is also the most conservative and well established form of human spirituality, as we were hunter gatherers for literally thousands and thousands of years, far longer than the subsequent span of our collective history.

Contemporary thinkers like ecologist Paul Shephard and anthropologist Calvin Martin maintain that we are still, essentially, hunter-gatherers who have never left the Pleistocene era.(3.)  This fits in well with many indigenous peoples' concept of the  Original Instructions or Original Teachings, the primary and aboriginal rules for living received many thousands of years ago during the dreamtime or mythic beginning time of the tribe.    The Celts were, nonetheless, advanced beyond the paleolithic, hunter-gatherer stage long before they became distinguishable from their Indo European cousins and arose as a separate cultural entity. However, given the notable conservatism of Celtic society, it is very likely that they preserved archaic elements and institutions long beyond other Northern and Western European peoples....read more>>>...

A Beginner's Guide to Druidism Level 1

Ever wondered what Druidism really is? It is a spiritual path with ancient roots ....

The Druid’s Sacred Tools

LONG MEG

Metaphysically INC: The first thing to be noted in that regard is that, strictly speaking, no tools of any kind are required to practice Druidic magick. Much could be done by a single Druid in sensory deprivation; everything could be done by a Druid standing naked and unarmed in a field. A small number of tools are commonly used, however, for a few compelling reasons:

Focus, focus, focus. Magickal ritual has been aptly described by any number of authors as “moving meditation.” Just as, in purely mental meditation, one is greatly assisted by the use of an image or a mantra to anchor attention and keep the mind from wandering, so, too, a moving meditation draws strength of focus from physical objects that can fix attention in the same way.

Sacred space and sacred time. While the above aim can be achieved by a focus on, say, specific points on the ground, or specific parts of the body in motion (as when one casts a circle using only one’s fingertips), ritual tools, like ritual clothing, send a powerful signal to the mind that one has stepped outside the flow of everyday activities and undertaken something special and specialized. This is the greater part of what is meant when magicians speak of tools becoming “charged” or “imbued” with energy over the course of years working with them—the more hours one spends with a tool while consciously focused on spiritual work, the more powerful a trigger that tool becomes for putting the mind back into that same state with which it has become unconsciously associated.

Symbol, story, and narrative. The tools in your garage vary by what they move or adjust. The tools on your altar vary by what part of a story they tell. That story differs depending on the magickal tradition; a Druid’s tools tell a slightly different story about how the cosmos is structured, whence a magician draws his or her power, and how the acolyte becomes an adept.

Though Druids of different traditions have slightly different customs, and though various kinds of specialized work may occasion the use of more unusual devices, the three most common items in a Druid’s grove are a wand, a cauldron, and a crane bag...read more>>...

Scotland’s Past Links With Ancient Egypt

According to the ancient Scots Chronicles the origin of the Scottish people, at least in part, derives from the Pharaonic lineage of an Egyptian princess named Scota, who may have lived around 1400 B. C. The old Irish Annals support this same tradition saying that Scota came to Ireland, via Spain, from Egypt. Even today the placename Glen Scota traditionally records her presence in Ireland. Subsequently descendants of Scota apparently migrated to Scotland around 300 B. C. from whence came the Scots royal lineage.

The feasibility of Egyptian travel to the British Isles in ancient times is borne out by modern archaeological findings. This occurred in 1937 when two Egyptian sailing ships, dated to around 1400 B. C., were discovered in a Yorkshire estuary, on the north east coast of England. Moreover, Egyptian faience beads dating from the same period have been found in Scotland and other parts of the British Isles.

Furthermore, the Rev. John Stirton in his essay The Celtic Church and the Influence of the East (1923) observes: “The earliest type of monumental cross in Scotland is an Egyptian or Coptic wheel cross. It appears on several stones at Kirkmadrine in Wigtonshire, along with the Alpha and Omega.. The Crux Ansata, the emblem of life in Egyptian hieroglyphics, is found on a stone at Nigg in Ross-shire, and on another at Ardboe, in Ireland. There are many symbols on the Celtic stones of Scotland which are still unexplained.. The Crescent, the Serpent, and the Elephant must all be Eastern in origin, and these are commonly met with on the Celtic symbol-bearing stones.”

A possible ancient Egypto-Celtic connection is also indicated in Egyptian Belief and Modern Thought (1878) by James Bonwick, F. R. G. S., who states: “It is singular to find a white race spoken of in the ancient monuments. Dr. Brugsch, the learned German, notices the word Tam-hou or white men. As it occurs on tablets dating 2,500 years before Christ, it is puzzling to indicate the people. Brugsch traces them to Libya. Champollion recognized in the Tamh’ou a type of European ancestry. M. Deveria remarks upon hieroglyphics recording the fact of Horus, the god, leading and guiding a white race.

As there are still many Celtic monuments in the north of Africa, over many hundreds of miles, he contends for the existence of an original Celtic people in Egypt, or, in modern language, that the Welsh and Irish were once in Egypt.”

The old Scots Chronicles also record that during the 2nd century B. C. certain “Egyptian philosophers” (probably from the Egyptian mystery temples) came to Scotland to advise the Scots King of the period. They were able to divine for him where certain metal ores were located in the land by studying the movement of the stars. It seems likely that these Egyptian philosophers would have associated with the Druid magi, some of whom were in attendance as advisors to the ancient Scottish Royal families.

Moreover, these ancient Chronicles further relate that Egyptian philosopher priests were apparently teaching the Christic doctrine of a universal deity in ancient Caledonia (c. 180 B. C.), i. e. almost two centuries before the legendary Apostolic mission in the British Isles.

During the early centuries A. D. the Celtic monks in the British Isles, much of whose tenets were rooted in a pre-Christian Druid tradition, saw Egypt as the true holy land rather than Palestine due to the ascetic Desert Father tradition established there which they sought to follow and emulate. Hence we find in Scotland, and Ireland, a number of dysarts (desert) placenames which record monastic settlements and retreats founded on the Egyptian anchorite model.

So ancient historical links between Scotland and Egypt seem fairly likely and provide an interesting sidelight to our knowledge of the ancient past. [SOURCE: Sacred Connections UK]

What was Druidry?

The Druids were the educated elite of what is now called the “Celtic” race. The ancient Druids consisted of three “castes”, or divisions – Bards, Ovates and Druids.

The Bard learned all of the tales of the chieftain’s victories and the secret lore of sacred poetry. A Bard was an honoured member of the Tribe who was welcome wherever he or she travelled – in a way they were the newspapers of the day. We know from ancient poetry that the Bardic/Ovate crossover was not so defined, and that the Bards were also Shamans. They were trained in the Art of Magic using the power of poetry in either praise or satire. Their Lore supplied the foundation to the religious and magical practice of Druidry, telling the nature of the Gods, the deeds of the Ancestors and the sacred places of the land. Through the power of the sacred word, expressed through poetry, storytelling and song, they invoked the blessings of the Spirit of Place, and of the Gods and ancestors of the people.

The caste known as Bards had their own Shamanic practices, but it may be that some Bards blended their creative skills with those of the Ovates (or Vates). These were the prophets and seers. They worked with the three realms of past, present and future and entered into trance states, foreseeing the future fortunes of the Tribe. The Ovate was the Druid Shaman.

The third ‘caste’ was the Druid. Much of what we know about the ancient Druids comes from classical writers, and it might be that ‘Druid’ was a collective term that included the Bards and Ovates, we simply don’t know for sure, but either way we do know that they were highly respected members of the tribe – the wise one who had passed through madness and survived. This brought great wisdom and peace; the Druid’s role was therefore that of advisor, teacher and judge. In Celtic mythology tribal chieftains each had their Druid to whom they turned for advice during times of need...read more>>>...