The Druids were the priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures who acted as religious leaders, lore keepers, medical professionals, and spiritual advisors. However, we know very little about these Druids because, while reportedly literate, it was against their beliefs to write down their secrets. Therefore, we must rely on the reports of outsiders to piece together their roles and characters. Outsiders who often had a reason to make the Druids seem “barbaric.” All accounts suggest that there were both male and female Druids.
However, in Medieval folklore, the Druids emerged as a more mystical figure, with powers of sorcery granted by their intense understanding of the natural and spiritual worlds. They often appear as the advisors of kings, like Merlin.
The modern Druidic movement is inspired by a combination of these two figures, as followers of a nature-based religion full of knowledge of the season, astrology, and more, with potential access to supernatural powers.
Druids in Roman Texts
Much of our knowledge of the Druids comes from the accounts of Roman authors, mainly Julius Caesar as he was conquering the region and Tacitus’ commentaries on the people. There are also less extensive comments in Cicero and Pliny the Elder. Both saw the Celts as savages and their Druids as brutal religious leaders who engaged in activities such as human sacrifice.
Caesar: Druids in Gaul
According to Caesar, when he encountered the Druids in Gaul in the 60s and 50s BCE, they were a religious class within Gallic society. They were ruled by a single leader, who held the position until death. The Gallic Druids met at a sacred place in Gaul each year, and would also take pilgrimages to Britain, which was considered a center for learning for the Druids. Caesar suggests that they could spend as much as 20 years in Britain studying.
Druids did not need to take part in war and were exempted from the “taxes” and military requirements of other members of society. Instead, they served their people by studying medicine, astrology, philosophy, and more. Caesar himself notes that they did not record their knowledge, which was considered secret, and passed between them by word of mouth.
Caesar noted that human sacrifice was practiced among the Gauls by Druids, who would sacrifice criminals in a wicker man to their gods.
Tacitus: Druids in Britain
While Caesar discusses the druids he met in Gaul, Tacitus talks about the Druids that his father-in-law Agricola encountered in Britain a century later during the Roman invasion of the 1st century CE. He talks most about the Roman attack on the island of Mona, modern Anglesey, which was a Druidic island. Archaeology has confirmed that ancient Anglesey was a Druidic island.
When they arrived, the Romans faced no resistance when they arrived, just men and women dressed in black. However, the gathered Druids raised their hands to the skies and chanted incantations that terrified the Romans, though they did eventually attack. Tacitus describes Druidic practices as superstitious and noted altars covered with human blood and human entrails being consulted as a form of divination.
Pliny the Elder: Natural History
While most other Roman authors simply reiterate the information given by Caesar and Tacitus, the naturalist Pliny the Elder adds some important tidbits of information. He notes that mistletoe was considered sacred and prominent in Druidic ceremonies.
He also notes that many rituals were conducted in oak tree groves and the belief that everything that came from the oak came directly from heaven. He also suggests that they may have conducted ritual cannibalism, eating the flesh of their enemies to gain supernatural powers.
Druids in Texts from the Middle Ages
Since the Druids did not write about themselves, we have to wait until the Middle Ages, when Christianity made the practice of writing more common, for other sources. Irish and Welsh accounts of the druids come mostly from the 7th and 8th centuries and refer to legends rather than providing firsthand accounts.
An Irish text called Uraichech Bedd suggests that the Druids had supernatural abilities, including both divination and other magical powers. One famous example is Cathbad, the chief druid at the court of King Conchobar mac Nessa of Ulster. He is credited with the ability to deliver prophecies and tell the future. Another is Amergin Gluingel, who lived among the Milesians, who overthrew the Tuatha De Danann. He was involved in a battle with the Druids of the Tuatha. While they raised a magical storm to turn away the Milesians, he used magical chants to call on the spirit of Ireland itself to aid them.
A Welsh text called Hywel Dda reports to set out the laws of the Druids, which were described as prophets and ancient priests.
Modern Druidic Orders
Modern Druidic Orders emerged in the 18th century when there was a revived interest in their practices. However, the new orders were based on a significant amount of false information, such as the suggestion that it was the Druids who built Stonehenge, though the site predates them by millennia.
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