What are Druids? Are there any on here?

Question

I was reading something online about Druidism and it sounded alot like Wicca with a few major differences. The holidays are the same along with some other things.

Please post some websites.

I don't want your opinion on the religion. I don't care what the bible says about it. I just want unbiased facts and websites!

Thanks!

I am search engine illiterate if you must know why I didn't just google this. I always get things like porn or movies from typing in something plain and innocent. This seems like an easier way to sort out the good, bad, and ugly

Answer 1

Depends upon what exactly you mean by Druids.

If you're looking for the ancient Druids, there's been a number of answers to your question in regards to them. Essentially, the intelligencia of the ancient Celts: priests, scholars, judges, etc.

Starting with the "Druid Renaissance" in England (thanks to Stuckley), there were fraternal orders that practices a wierd... something-or-other. I'm not sure you could classify their practices as a specific religion.

More modern groups are were you see the wide variety. Some groups call it a philosophy; some, a fraternal organization. Some folks do some wierd sort of solar-based monotheism. Some (likely what you saw) is more or less Wicca-with-a-different-name. (This last group is likely to say that Wicca is for women, Druidism is for men.)

Then you get into the neo-Druid organizations like ADF or Henge of Keltria. They, to some extent or another, try to be accurate to the more ancient ideas.

Last on the list is the Celtic Reconstructionists - the least likely to use the term Druid. CR focuses on getting as accurate to the ancient beliefs and practices as possible (modernized, of course). There's a certain overlap with the neo-Druidic group, mostly a question of how intensely the research is applied. However, CR tends to stick with the fact that the ancient Druids took up to 20 years to train (with a list of requirements as long as my arm), and so tend not to use the term except in "academic" use.

Answer 2

In Celtic polytheism the word druid denotes the priestly class in ancient Celtic societies, which existed through much of Western Europe north of the Alps and in the British Isles until they were supplanted by Roman government and, later, Christianity. Druidic practices were part of the culture of all the tribal peoples called "Keltoi" and "Galatai" by Greeks and "Celtae" and "Galli" by Romans, which evolved into modern English "Celtic" and "Gaulish". They combined the duties of priest, arbitrator, healer, scholar, and magistrate.

The Druids were polytheists, but also deified elements of nature[citation needed], such as the sun, the moon, and the stars, looking to them for "signs and seasons". They also venerated other natural elements, such as the oak, certain groves, tops of hills, streams, lakes and even plants, most of all, mistletoe. Fire was regarded as a symbol of several divinities and was associated with the sun and cleansing.

Their calendar year was governed by the lunar, solar, and vegetative cycles. Archaeological evidence suggests that ceremonies were conducted to celebrate the two solstices and two equinoxes every year.[citation needed] These festivals would have been governed by the position and motions of the Sun alone. In addition to these, four holidays were celebrated according to the lunar and vegetative cycles. These include Imbolc (Imbolg) to denote the first signs of spring, Beltane (Beltain) to recognize the fullness of life after spring, Lughnassah to celebrate the power of the Solar deity Lugh, and Samhain to recognize the lowering of the barrier between the world of the living and that of the dead. The timing for these latter four festivals would have been determined by the presence of a full moon and the signs of life implied by the above. Imbolg would thus be celebrated at a full moon roughly halfway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox, Beltane between the vernal equinox and the summer solstice, Lughnassah between the summer solstice and the autumnal equinox, and Samhain between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice. This is contrary to popular "New Age" beliefs about Druidism that celebrate a given holiday according to the Julian calendar, which of course did not exist at the time of the formulation of these holidays. In modern times, Imbolg has been transformed into Groundhog Day, elements of Beltane have been absorbed into Easter, and Samhain has become Halloween (or All Hallows' Eve or All Saint's Day).

Modern attempts at reconstructing or reinventing Druidism are called Neo-druidism.

Answer 3

The actual terms were Drui (sing) and Druidi (pl). They were the scholars and scientists of the Celtic world, whose number included but was not limited the clergy. It is a common misconception that they were strictly a priesthood, in reality no ancient writer who visited or studied with them called them that. The idea that they were priests dates to the medieval Catholic Church which forbid the education of laymen, and assumed that all cultures worldwide did the same. The were actually likened by their contemporaries with the Brahman of India or the Magi of Persia. If you are interested in the Neo-Druidic movement two groups you might check out are Ar n Draiocht Fein (ADF), an American Druidic Fellowship or the Henge of Keltria .

Answer 4

I'm a gnostic druid neopagan!@

The thing I like about druid history is the calendar - in worshipping their gods of sun and moon they developed a calendar, an explanation of the scientific phenomena that is time - the Stonehenge, where they would have worshipped - and kept track of the months, etc.

Perhaps that is what we do in modern times, try and explain what we observe, why do things work,

and maybe, just maybe,

like those druids of five thousand years ago, (or however old it is), just maybe we too will touch the sky and the face of God the divine, heavens above,

and understand it,
as they did, understood their God.

Answer 5

What I find odd is why people can't google something instead of post on a message board. If you google it, you'll find more accurate answers than anyone on these boards can give you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druidism