Druids: A Very Brief Introduction
I’m a member of a Druid order. I read Druid books and I go to Druid gatherings. I wear a Druid robe and I introduce myself as a Druid. But just what is a Druid?
In the past week I’ve had multiple questions on Druids and Druidry. That’s usually a sign it’s time for me to blog about the questions and my take on the answers. A full answer requires several books (which I’ll recommend at the end), but here’s a very brief introduction to Druidry as I understand it and as I practice it.
The Ancient Druids
“The Druids may well have been the most prominent magico-religious specialists of some of the peoples of north-western Europe just over a couple of thousand years ago; and that is all we can say of them with reasonable certainty.” – Ronald Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe: the History of the Druids in Britain
While we don’t know much about the ancient Druids, we can make some reasonable assumptions. They were judges, healers, and keepers of records and lore in Celtic lands. They were priests, though how closely they resembled the temple priests of the Greco-Roman world is difficult to say. They were not kings, but they were community leaders, as evidenced by the Romans’ efforts to stamp them out as a source of rebellion against the empire.
Read more: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/johnbeckett/2014/09/druids-a-very-brief-introduction.html#ixzz3ISEcakzd