Druids were reputed to be great magicians proficent in many forms of magic. Deriving mainly from the Celts they worshipped many Gods and Goddesses particularly those to do with nature.
Celtic culture was heroic and tribal. They were warriors and expert charioteers. The Celts also excelled in metallurgy and their artistic skills were lavished on ornaments, jewellry, weapons and shields. They were vigorous traders and their society was evidently advanced yet they left no first-hand written records. The Celts relied on an oral tradition to pass on their history. Their myths and legends were eventually written down by Celtic Christian monks in from 15 century onwards when the old Celtic civilization was nearing its end.
So who were the Celts? The Celts migrated to Britain during the firts millennium BC. The whole of present day England and Wales was peopled by what are known as Brythonic-speaking Celts, the langauge from which Welsh, Cornish and Breton derive. A completely different branch of Celts invaded Ireland, from Spain, in about the fourth century BC. These were Gaelic speakers, from whose langauge Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx derive.
Until the rise of Roman power the Celts were a force to be rekoned with and Rome itself had been sacked by them in 385BC. Julius Caesar gained victory over the Celtic tribes living in Gaul (present day France) in 59 - 48BC. Although many of the Celts were incorporated into the Roman empire, their mythology survived largely intact until Rome adopted Christianity in the fourth century AD.
The most unique aspect of the Celtic inheritance is their mystic approach to life. At the core of a Celts spirituallity was an attitude that saw no separation between the gods and man, or between this world and the next, or between past and present.
Although they did not commit their traditions to writings, they regarded their laws, genealogies and spiritual disciplines as sacred and required them to be handed down orrally by the Druid priests. Next to king or warlord the most important figures in Celtic society were the Druids and the Bard. |
