The Ethical Validity of Druidism in Contemporary Society
Written December 1998 for Ethics in Contemporary Society
University of West Florida
Ethics are defined as �How we treat each other.� The broader spectrum of the term�s implications, however, brings us a much more intricate puzzle. The tools used in the true determination of exactly how we go about treating each other are three schools of thought. These are Psychology, Philosophy, and Theology. Psychology, literally, is the study of the mind or soul. Generally, it is scientific, and there are established patterns of analysis. Philosophy is defined literally as the love of learning, and like all education, is diverse. Theories are rarely agreed upon, but are respected as significant attempts to rationalize behavior as either ethical or unethical. Theology, however, is a school of thought that is almost always certain to incite debate at the least�total warfare at worst.
The definition of Theology is �The study of God�, and the name itself speaks of the sheer impossibility of such a task. Despite this innate difficulty, thinkers throughout time have sought to answer the questions that we have always asked of ourselves: Who is God, and what does he/she/it want from us as mere mortals?
One of the most widespread views concerning the question of God�s identity and desires is that of Christianity, which teaches us such concepts as our creation through Adam and Eve, and our salvation through the intervention of Jesus Christ, the son of God. Christianity itself comes in many forms, with dividing lines drawn based upon thousands of variations in thought. Here in Pensacola, the predominant form of Christianity is fundamentalist.
Fundamentalism has its roots in the Old Testament, and in a world of New Age thought, it is the epitome of religion�s true meaning: it stretches back into the past to find answer�s to today�s troubles.
Is it, however, the only form of religion that is worthy of such distinction? Are there yet other forms of theology which bring us back to our roots in order to help us define ourselves as ethical beings? In light of new discoveries in the realm of old ways, the answer would be a resounding no. To illustrate this point, a comparison can be made between fundamentalist Christianity and Druidism, thus proving its validity as an ethical code.
The Druids gained influence as a religious power in the fourth century BCE, extending their rule as far west as Ireland and stretching through the Rhineland and part of what are now the Slavic countries, and as far south as the Iberian Peninsula. (Piggot 24) They were the main governing force over the world of the Celts until the domination of the Romans over Gaul and Britain. Due to the lack of written records, this period is defined as prehistory. This lack of evidence is owing in part to the Druidic belief that writing something defiled it as a sacred thing. However, there are other forms of evidence which show the Celts under Druidic rule as advanced in the fields of iron-working (87 Piggot), bronze working (77 Piggot), and agriculture (32, 33 Piggot).
Many people have a bizarre view on exactly what Druids believed, as evidenced by the description of the Druids that is given by William Nye in his History of England:
The Druids believed in human sacrifice, and often of a bright spring morning could be seen going out behind the bush to sacrifice someone who disagreed with them on some religious point or other. The Druids largely lived in woods in summer and in debt during the winter. They worshipped almost everything that had been left out overnight, and their motto was, �Never do anything unless you feel like it very much indeed.� (19 Nye)
These interpretations are false.
There is, of course, the question of human sacrifice which must be answered before one can begin to see Druidism as an ethical viewpoint. In response, one must look no further than the division of Druid rule into the British and La Tene kingdoms. While the La Tene culture was responsible for such atrocities as the cult of the severed head (52 illus. Piggot) and the rituals involving human sacrifice, the British Druids were a peaceful group, devoted to the belief that no man should be harmed by another. The evidence of human sacrifice in Britain, such as the Piltdown Man (an individual found buried in said region who was said to be willingly strangled and drowned) and the Wicker Images (111 Piggot) in which men were said to have been trapped and burned to death, are in fact the result of ethnic intervention by the invading Romans. In their path across Europe, the Romans took many prisoners as personal slaves, resulting in an interbreeding of cultures. Such interbreeding took place between the darker La Tene Druids and their British counterparts. The British Druidism to which this paper refers is the religion of the Celtic people in the pre-Roman Era.
The Druids determined the laws of their people through what can be defined as a basic code of Mankind. These laws bear striking resemblance to the Ten Commandments in many respects. �Thou Shalt Not Steal� is a major part of Druidic code, as is the far more vital �Thou Shalt Not Kill�. However, the resemblance between Fundamentalist Christianity and Druidism do not end there. (An overview can be found in Appendix II)
While the religious rituals involved in Druidism differ greatly from those of Christianity�some even deem to call the practices of the Druids �black magic�, a term bordering on Satanism in Christian eyes�the root of their beliefs�that of faith itself, is vital to the survival of the religion. In Druidic teachings, it is said that ��belief imparts reality, and beliefs will continue to be real, as long as people pour energy into them by faith.� (290 Monroe) The tenet of belief dictating what our reality becomes is echoed quite faithfully by the Bible itself. ��[F]or assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, �move from here to there� and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.� (Matthew 17:20) Such teachings have basis in the scientific realities of Psychology as well, where modern researches have discovered a link between what we perceive to be the truth, and what actions we take to make that truth a reality. Such evidence lends credence to the theory of faith healing, and it may be noted with a wink and a nudge that the prospect of moving a mountain, as described in the book of Matthew, is not that far off from the practices of magic.
But what of the origins of man, and the nature of God? What are the Druidic answers to these questions, and how do they stand up against the Christian viewpoint. Remarkably enough, the answer is the same: Man is made from God, and God is of nature. This startling response can be justified by examining the oral traditions of Druidism and the texts of Christianity. �Stones are the bones of [the Goddess],� the Druids say, �and the soil her flesh.� (270 Monroe) An interpretation of Biblical text reveals the same. As Job pleads with God for mercy, he says, �Remember, I pray, that you have made me of clay.� (Job 10:9) Earlier in the Bible, it is written that God ��created man in his own image�� According to the latest genetic research available to us, in order for someone to create something else in his own image, he must first possess the same basic genetic makeup of the thing that he wishes to create. Ergo, God must indeed be of this earth.
Other beliefs are closely related, yet bear distinctions which separate them. Justice, that bearer of right in the face of what is wrong, is a major force in both religions. Its source, however, differs. According to a Druid prayer:
Grant, O God, thy protection
And in protection, strength,
And in strength, understanding,
And in understanding, knowledge,
And in knowledge, justice,
And in justice, the love of it,
And in that love, the love of all life,
And in that love of life, the love of God and all goodness. (397 Monroe)
Justice can be seen here as a concept born of man�s knowledge, and of his own powers of reasoning. The Bible disagrees on this point, saying instead, �He is the rock, His work is perfect; For all his ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.� (Deuteronomy 32:4) Thus according to Christian belief, God is the only justice, and it is not man�s place to impart such justice without God�s decree.
�How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?� (Jeremiah 4:14) This question, asked in the Bible, speaks volumes in the realm of impure thought, a concept unheard of in Druidic belief. The Druids feel that ��it is not the emotion that is ever wrong, but only how we express it which makes it good or bad.� (348 Monroe) Let us presume for the moment, however, that thought is in itself good or evil. According to Christian Fundamentalism, Wrath is included among the seven deadly sins. The Old Testament, however, is rife with references to God�s wrath. This is referred to in parenting circles as �do as I say, not as I do.�
Let us take a moment to delve into the emotion of anger as a comparison in schools of thought. God says to his people, �Now, the end has come upon you, and I will send My anger against you,; I will judge you according to your ways, and I will repay you for all your abominations.� (Ezekiel 7:4) Fair enough, say the Druids, for ��anger is justified, only when it seeks to prevent the repetition of injustice.� (348 Monroe) There is no difference in the method of seeking justice, but instead in its orientation. The anger that the God of the Old Testament wields is like that of a lightning bolt�white-hot and charged with emotion. The anger utilized by the Druids can be perceived as a sword�or, more appropriately, a sickle�cold, methodical, and only used for the duration of its purpose. Afterwards, it is sheathed without further thought, and remains inactive unless needed again. Wrath is bad, according to God. It certainly should be, if it manifests in the manner he displays.
The communication between God and Man is an important link. Without it, salvation as an ethical soul can never be accomplished. Communion with God in Christianity is a tenuous thing, liable to be severed by the smallest of indiscretions, such as the wrongful use of his name. �You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.� (Exodus 20:7) God is portrayed in the Bible as a fearful authority figure, far above what we as mortal men strive to be. The Druids disagree. �We believe that God is truly beyond human dispositions, and that the real sin of holy degradation lies in our lack of respect and faith�sins not accountable before God, but to the self. This is why our Golden rule reads, Thou shalt not disfigure the soul.� (320 Monroe) God is not the keeper of justice, say the Druids. Man is accountable for his own actions.
So what, then is the punishment for those who transgress? Here, the Druids and the Christians agree: exile. God declared Cain to be a ��fugitive and a vagabond.� (Genesis 4:12) In response, Cain pleads that his punishment is ��greater than [he] can bear�� (Genesis 4:13) Druids follow the same line of thought, due in part to their thanatology. In Druidic faith, there is no Heaven or Hell, no punishment or reward. There is only the return to the cycle of life, and reincarnation. Thus, the penalty of death would hold no fear for them. To be exiled, however, is the worst punishment anyone can bear.
So, there is a certain measure of fortitude with regards to the Druidic theology. Does this belief hold water in the realm of Philosophy? Indeed it does.
The Druids believe that �[r]eligion changes little from age to age, for all the Gods are but one God.� (290 Monroe) This belief leads into a desire to abolish all prejudices in their world, for �the true goal of spiritual evolution lies not in a union of opposites, but in an absence of opposites.� (216 Monroe) This is a doctrine referred to by the Druids as �passing through the Veil of Illusion� and was based upon the abandonment of false supposition, which mirrors John Rawls� Theory of Justice.
The Druids also believed that �conscience is the presence of God in the mind of Man.� (218 Monroe) This coincides with the concept known as eudaimonism, literally meaning good voices, presented by the Act Utilitarianist John Stuart Mill.
Further, Druid teaching says that �to be a follower of the truth, one must always act according to what one knows to be the truth.� (218 Monroe) This displays an agreement between Druidic thought and Natural Law Ethics such as Grisez and Bernard, who state that ��in the conscience of every person there exists a basic knowledge of right and wrong�� (Velasquez, Rostankowski 33)
On the subject of truth, the Druids have this to say: �Truth is a matter of context. A thing may be absolutely correct in one culture, and the gravest of sins in another. Do not confuse truth with law, even thought they may seem to be the same thing. A group of men may make a law, and by so deciding it becomes truth within that tribe�but man-made truth, only. Another group may recognize the law of nature which is universal to all creation, and this is truth, but not truth made by man.� (218 Monroe) This statement is a very powerful one. First, it defines Ethical Relativity, and then makes a sharp distinction between Ethical Relativity and Deontology. Second, the last sentence refers to the very heart of the Natural Law Ethics principle.
With regards to Psychology, Druidism makes is strongest case, and perhaps comes out ahead of Christianity after close scrutiny.
Based upon the earlier statement made by the Druids with regard to Truth and context, it can be determined that, while the Druids disagree with Authoritarian Ethics, they would easily fall into the realm of Humanism�a viewpoint championed by Neo-Freudian Erich Fromm. According to Fromm, �man himself is bother the norm giver and the subject of the norms, their formal source or regulative agency and their subject matter.� (9 Fromm)
There also seems to be agreement between Fromm and the Druids as to where the burden of sin falls. �Humanistic Ethics,� Fromm writes, �is based upon the principle that only man himself can determine the criterion for virtue and sin, and not an authority transcending him.� (12, 13 Fromm)
The Druids believed, as evidenced by their adherence to Natural Law ethics, that Virtue lies within us all. Fromm agrees. �To love one�s neighbor is not a phenomenon transcending man, it is something inherent in and radiating from him.� (14 Fromm) This goodness, the Druids declared, had to come from a freedom of will. Only through free will could man develop a strong, mature conscience. The blockage of this, Nietzsche insists, will turn man�s own mind ��backward against man himself. Enmity, cruelty, the delight in persecution�the turning of all these instincts against their own possessors: this is the origin of the bad conscience.� (Nietzsche, quoted by Fromm, 151)
This free will, so vital to Virtue, is something forbidden to Mankind under the rule of the Christian God. The Bible reads, ��You shall destroy [the] altars, break [the] sacred pillars, and cut down [the] wooden images�for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God�� (Exodus 34:13, 34:14) also, ��you shall observe the Feast of Weeks�and the Feast of Ingathering at the year�s end�� (Exodus 34:22), and �three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the Lord God of Israel.� (Exodus 34:23) Not only is this regimentation unhealthy for the development of a mature conscience, it is also the breeding ground for true pathology between a hoarding, exploitative God, and his passive servants, who are willing to do anything to please their Lord. The form respect that God demands of his people in the Bible is also psychologically inaccurate. �Then I will take away My hand,� he tells Moses, �and you shall see My back, but my face shall not be seen.� (Exodus 33:23) The very word respect takes its meaning from the root form of the word, respicere, which means to look at. In psychological terms, Fromm describes respect as �seeing a person as he is, being aware of his individuality and uniqueness.� Further, he insists, �care and responsibility would be blind if they were not guided by the knowledge of the person�s individuality.� (101 Fromm) Thus, the respect owed to the Christian God is garnered by fear and awe, not true genuineness.
There is a Druid axiom which states that �perfect stability means perfect stagnation.� (285 Monroe) The freedom to change, however, must be earned through the day to day struggle brought on by that change. Goethe, in his play Faust, declares that ��he only earns his freedom and existence who daily conquers them anew.� (Goethe, Part II, Act V) God�s demand for static worship and consistent behavior from his people stunts man�s moral growth, makes them unprepared for the changes in social structure and ethical quandaries that are the hallmarks of history.
While there are differences in the religious structure of Druidism and Christianity, it is evident after examination that those differences can be overshadowed by their mutual adherence to basic goodness. Philosophically, Druidism displays strength in the face of modern ethics, and the psychological impact of Druidism in today�s society is undeniable. According to all criteria, Druidism is worthy of consideration as an integral part of ethical thought in modern society.
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