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Ancient Druidism
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The Druids were an ancient
people, originating from Celtic tribes at a time when people
had to live close to nature to survive. It is the "revival
of the ancient Celtic religions which holds the earth and the
environment sacred and promotes a morality based on true honour,
strength and justice." As Druidism was a form of Paganism,
it was also earth based, placing an emphasis on the worship
of all aspects of nature. The Druids were members of a learned
class among the Celts and were an important cohesive force skilled
in areas which most people were not. They were marked as a priestly
upper class in charge of ritualistic religion. "These priests
worshiped some Gods similar to those of the Greek’s and
Romans, but under different names." (The world book dictionary)
They were members of a religious order of priests, prophets
and poets. Druids were members of a professional class in Celtic
nations, or West Europe and the British Isles.
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Druids possessed both political and
legal powers and responsibilities to their communities and tribes.
They were also capable of magical powers such as divination,
prophesizing, controlling the weather, levitation, shape-shifting
and they possessed healing abilities. The Druids learned to
forecast events by interpreting the flight of birds, by reading
the markings on livers and other entrails of sacrificed animals.
They also held the position of judge, doctor, mage, mystique,
clerical scholar and they held the religious insignia of their
culture. Druids provided much needed skills and specialties
to their tribe. Through holding these positions, Druids were
to be available to people whose "scope of vision was not
as wide as theirs." By nature, Druids were watchful and
mindful of different aspects of life. Druids possessed a comprehensive
knowledge on such things as poetry, architecture, literature,
mythology, languages and folklore. In this fashion, they were
incredibly learned, having gone through a rigorous education
and were able to provide cultural and intellectual impute to
their communities for the mutual benefit of all.
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Traits
of paganism can be seen through the ancient Druids beliefs about
death, worshiping and rites. Although there is little known
of the rites that they held, what we do know is that they were
held in clearings in the forests, as most Pagan worship was
practiced outdoors. Although the Druids believed in one main
God, believing that it possessed the life force of everything,
they also worshipped a number of lesser divinities, making them
polytheistic in nature.
Druidism differed from Greek and Roman religion because they
did not have clearly defined images to represent the object
of their worship and they did not meet in temples or any other
form of building to hold their rites. Instead, Druids had a
sacred place consisting of a circle of stones, usually near
a stream, under a grove or situated near a widespread oak. They
met in woods and glens because they held a high respect for
nature, believing that their spirits emerged from the tides,
the sea, light, wind, the sun and the oak tree. They participated
in two main festivals each year. The first one was named Beltane
(Fire God) and the second one was named Samhain (Fire of peace),
celebrated on Hallow’s Eve. The Druids also worshiped
Gods such as the Gods of: sun, animals, war, fertility, the
river, smith craft and sovereignty, as Pagans did.
The Druids had strong belief’s about sacrifice and the
idea of death. As Pagans, they did not believe in Heaven or
Hell as Christians did. Rather they believed in re-incarnation
of the soul into another form. They held a principal doctrine
stating that the soul was immortal and passed at death from
one person to another, thus they did not fear the idea of death.
The Druids differed in one aspect in their sacrifices from what
the later Pagans did. Similar to Pagans, the Druids held animal
sacrifices in order to please the Gods. However, the Druids
also sacrificed humans as well. Some sources suggest that the
human sacrifices were voluntary, but the main reason was to
punish a criminal. |
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Courtesy of the Pagan
Federation Website. |
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