by Amanda Horst

Created on: May 23, 2008

The image of a white robed old man with a long white beard is a quite fanciful image that some have of the ancient druids. More likely the druids were men wearing whatever robes were of their stature for the time period with mud caked white dread locks (in battle they were described as looking like fierce porcupines) and painted with woad (a blue dye noted for its healing properties as well as a very mild hallucinogenic affect in undiluted large quantities). There were three classes of druid; the bard, the seer, and the priest. According to Caesars spies, it took at least twenty years to attain the highest level of druid and they were highly educated. Caesar also reported that they never wrote anything down, but the truth of it is that Caesar had much of what he could of the druids burned down including sacred groves and written works (later St. Patrick would also burn several books of lore that were not of Christian origin). Let us explore the three classes of druid: The bard was one that we are probably more familiar with, he was the story teller, the poet, the lute and harp player. He traveled about gathering folklore and news and telling the stories. He wrote poems to the gods and sang the stories of the Celtic gods and goddess on his instruments. The seer was the man of prophecy. He would scry, use bones or entrails (not human; though Caesar in his attempts to make the druids sound savage told of human sacrifice. This has never been confirmed or denied by archaeological evidence) to tell the future.He would be able to tell whether or not the crops would grow, the livestock would survive the long winter months, and who in the family was close to death. The priest was the man who would bless the soil for the crops to be planted, he would have the skills of the other two, but an enhanced knowledge of herb lore and healing as well as the ability to pass between warring tribes without being hurt or killed; the druidic priest was highly regarded by all.

Female druids are a bit more complicated ; there would have of course been priestesses but little is known of name or origin. One scholar has suggested the name of "dryad" for the priestesses and that is the name that is given to several sacred groves. It has been suggested that the priestesses of the Celts were seers and mid-wives with a wealth of knowledge regarding herbs and healing. This is a very brief overview of who the druids were, but for more information there are several books written on the subject by many respected authors including D.J. Conway, whom I would highly recommend.

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