role

THE ROLE OF THE DRUID IN ANCIENT CELTIC SOCIETY

The Druids maintained the traditions of the Celtic world. They knew about every aspect of society and memorized songs, stories, legends, poems, triads, information about the Gods and Goddesses, knowledge of sacred prayers and rites, customary holiday traditions, medicinal treatments for specific ailments, and the list goes on.

Most of this information was not recorded in any written form; it was against Druidic principle that such knowledge be written. All of it was memorized, which is amazing when considering the amount of material in question here.

The practise of not writing down such knowledge did not mean that the Celts were illiterate (the Ogham preceded them, so there has to have been some knowledge about writing during their time). It was a rather intelligent response to their own time: if an enemy obtained sacred writings, it meant that they would have free access to knowledge about secret information, which could prove dangerous for the Druids (for example, if certain magical incantations were to fall into the wrong hands, they could be used against the Druids). The memorization of such a large amount of material also meant that the Druids could keep their memories sharp, an important thing to do when training younger students who would grow up to be the future priests and guardians of sacred knowledge themselves.

The method of memorization most commonly known are "Triads", which are verses in sets of threes. Three was a very important number in ancient Celtic belief and it was rational that three be the number used to memorize things.