Druidry

The Greeks learnt much from the Celts, including philosophy - Aristotle considered the Druids to be the inventors of philosophy and were the world's greatest scholars with mathematical skills greater than those of Pythagoras who learnt his skills from them. Druids studied for twenty years, learning geography, history, astronomy, physics and theology and spoke Latin, Greek and Hebrew. It is also thought the made human sacrifice to placate the gods. Druids had an oral teaching and wrote nothing down so we have no first hand knowledge of them. They were bards, prophets and priests. Druid is a word that orginates, it is thought, from the Gaulish or Greek words for 'oak' and 'knowledge'. 

Pliny spoke about the Celtic priesthood as worshipping in sacred oak groves and conducting the cutting of mistletoe from the branches of the oak tree with great ceremony. The Druids were both male and female and were not only shaman priests, but also visionaries, judges, medical doctors, astronomers and keepers of personal and tribal histories. Julius Caesar describes them as a privileged caste who were exempt from paying taxes and military service. It is likely they believed in re-incarnation. An interest in Druidry was revived in Victorian times.



 If you would like to learn more about whatever is known of ancient Druidry, Victoriana or Modern Druidry, visit: https://druidnetwork.org/what-is-druidry/learning-resources/