The druids

The Druids have been known and discussed for at least 2400 years, first by Greek writers and later by the Romans, who came in contact with them in Gaul and Britain. According to these sources, they were a learned caste who officiated in religious ceremonies, taught the ancient wisdoms, and were revered as philosophers. A druid was a member of the priestly and learned class active in Gaul, and perhaps in Celtic culture more generally, during the final centuries BCE. They were suppressed by the Roman government from the 1st century and disappeared from the written record by the 2nd century, although there may have been later survivals in Britain and Ireland. Here we have two druids, from an 1845 publication, based on a bas-relief found at Autun, France.

Etymology: The native Celtic word for "druid" is first

attested in Latin texts as druides and other texts also employ the form druidae. It is normally understood that Latin druides is a borrowing from Gaulish.

Philosophy: Alexander Cornelius Polyhistor referred to

the Druids as philosophers and called their doctrine of the immortality of the soul and reincarnation or metempsychosis "Pythagorean":"The Pythagorean doctrine prevails among the Gauls' teaching that the souls of men are immortal, and that after a fixed number of years they will enter into another body." "The principal point of their doctrine", says Caesar, "is that the soul does not die and that after death it passes from one body into another"

Ritual and sacrifice: Roman writers regularly discuss the

practice of human sacrifice. Gruesome reports of druidic practices appear in Latin histories and poetry, including Lucan, Julius Caesar, Suetonius and Cicero. Human sacrifice was the reason why druidism, unlike other national religions within the empire, was outlawed under Tiberius. Diodorus Siculus asserts that a sacrifice acceptable to the Celtic gods had to be attended by a druid, for they were the intermediaries. Diodorus remarks upon the importance of prophets in druidic ritual:

"These men predict the future by observing the flight and calls of birds and by the sacrifice of holy animals: all orders of society are in their power.

Training: Pomponius Mela is the first author who says that the druids' instruction was secret, and was carried on in caves and forests. Druidic lore consisted of a large number of verses learned by heart, and Caesar remarked that it could take up to twenty years to complete the course of study. There is no historic evidence during the period when Druidism was flourishing to suggest that Druids were other than male. All instruction was communicated orally, but for ordinary purposes, Caesar reports, the Gauls had a written language in which they used Greek characters. Modern attempts at reconstructing, reinventing or reimagining the practices of the druids in the wake of Celtic revivalism are known as Neo-druidism. . And this is a group of neo-druids in England.