Real Druids — Did they really exist and when?

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tjj T
tjj Jul 17, 2013 22:17:29
Replying to jonmor

jonmor wrote:
We have Ceasar's description of the Druids. He describes some of their practices (but some of his descriptions may be for political consumption at home). The Druidic teachings are recorded as originating in Britain. The term is largely defined by him and other writers: So they almost certainly existed in the period prior to the Roman invasion.

If the descriptions of what they say that they did was undertaken earlier than the time of the Celtic influx, then their ways may have been incorporated into the Celtic tradition. If this happened, some form of their tradition may have existed during the Stonehenge era.

Yes, I agree - there is historic record via Ceasar and Tacitus that they existed. It seems likely they became absorbed into Christianity. Lewis Spence, in his book The Mysteries of Britain, 'argues that Druidism developed out of the cult of Dead which arose in North Africa but was adopted and transformed by the British Celts'. He also has a chapter on the Welsh Bards who were thought to have kept the oral tradition of the Druids alive.

In the book 'Celt, Druid and Culdee' by Isabel Hill Elder I found this passage attributed to Ceasar:
'They hold aloof from war and do not pay war taxes; they are excused from military service and are exempt from all liabilities. Tempted by these great advantages, many young men assemble of their motion to receive their training, many are sent by parents and relatives. Report says that in the schools of the Druids they learn by heart a great number of verses, and therefore some persons remain twenty years under training. They do not think it proper to commit those utterances to writing and in their public and private accounts they make use of Greek characters. I believe they have adopted the practice for two reasons - that they do not wish the rule to become common property, nor those who learn the rule to rely on writing, and so neglect the cultivation of memory; and, in fact, it does usually happen that the assistance of writing tends to relax the diligence of the student and the action of memory ...They also lecture on the stars in their motion, the magnitude of the earth and its divisions, on natural history, on the power of government of God; and instruct the youth on these subjects.'

T thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Jul 17, 2013 22:32:11
Replying to tjj

tjj wrote:
Lewis Spence, in his book The Mysteries of Britain, 'argues that Druidism developed out of the cult of Dead which arose in North Africa but was adopted and transformed by the British Celts'.
I have a vague feeling that Lewis Spence was a bit obsessed with Egypt though, and when he was writing (1920s) most people probably still thought that Stonehenge was built by passing Phoenicians or whatever as no-one in Britain would have had the skills without influence from the temple builders of the Near-East. So it would probably have fitted with this for him to claim Druidism as based on something Egyptian.

Is there now doubt that the Druids actually existed? I realise that their actuality has no doubt been swayed by Roman propaganda, but I must admit I thought it was kind of accepted that they did at least exist in some form. Or is even that no longer accepted in the absence of more tangible proof?