Both on the continent and in Ireland the Druids held themselves above the kings unless they held both offices. They held themselves in very high esteem, which was shared for them by the people. The Druids called themselves "creators of the universe." In Ireland kings went nowhere without Druids to advise them. Druids believed they were the incarnations of the gods.

What were these "sanctified" or sacred places in which the Druids assembled? First and most important they were sacred groves of trees, especially oak trees. The name Druid means, "knowing the oak tree" in Gaelic. It was within these groves that most assemblies and religious ceremonies occurred. The Druids also valued the trees for curative benefits. The mistletoe, which was seen as a sign from the Celtic Otherworld (their name of a place where after life was thought to exist) was used as a cure against poisons, infertility, and even used to cure animals. It can readily be seen that it was here in these sacred groves that the Druids dispensed their judgment and punishments. When the people were not nearby groves they assembled by rivers, streams, and lakes. The Celts worshipped water gods and believed water to be sacred.

Like trees and water the Druids held some islands to be sacred too. One is the island of Mona, (also called Mon or Anglesey); the Romans destroyed the sanctuary there in 60 AD. It is thought that both Irish and British Druids periodically assembled in sacred strongholds. The Isle of Man, sacred to the sea god, Manannan, appears to have been viewed with similar solemnity. A stone discovered in the 19thcentury bore a Celtic inscription, written in Ogam (a cryptic writing used mainly for commemorative inscriptions on wood and stone), which translates: "The Stone of Dovadona, son of the Druid." This indicates Druids inhabited Man as late as the fifth and sixth century AD, and other discoveries and legends also indicate this. There is the discovery of the three sons of the fifth-century Irish King Erc buried on Iona. This preceded the coming of Saint Columba. It seems that one of Columba's brethren was sacrificed to build a monastery there. This indicates pagan beliefs and ceremonies still existed long after the coming of Christianity.

According to Welsh legend such human sacrifices were recommended and performed. During the building of Vortigen's castle the construction was delayed because as soon as a stone was laid it disappeared. The Druids ordered a child, born without a father, be sacrificed and its blood sprinkled on the site to cleanse it.

There are several descriptions of Druidic human sacrifices. They were performed within a religious and spiritual sense. Many were performed publicly among the Celtic people especially at the celebration of Beltain. There were also private human sacrifices. If a leader of warriors was defeated in battle, in disgrace, he would often turn his sword upon himself. The reverse was also true, a petition to the gods, was sometimes accompanied by self-sacrifice.

Behind Druidical performance of human sacrifice laid the Druidic belief in an after life. Again Caesar emphatically states it, "Doctrinally...the most important Druid belief was that after death the soul passes from one to another -- hence the Celts' bravery in battle." This belief in reincarnation was not just in the transmigration of the soul from one human form to another, but to other life forms as well. This is evident in the Irish epic 'Tain Bo Cuailnge,' "The Cattle Raid of Cooley." In it two magical bulls possessing human reasoning, initially originating as two swineherds of the Lord of the Otherworld, pass through a long series of metamorphoses -- they become ravens, stages, warriors, water monsters, demons and aquatic worms. The evidence from archaeology, the classic writings, and vernacular tradition to the present reinforces Caesar's assertion. In tombs have been found remains of lavish amounts of food, hearty mead, equipment that would seem to indicate the belief the soul would need these things in the Otherworld.

In the poet Lucan's "Pharsalia," a verse epic about the Roman civil war, he addresses the Druids with, "If we understand you right, death is only a pause in a long life." The writer Posidonius states that Celtic men were willing to have their throats cut so they could follow their prince into death, and then into a new life.

A similar interpretation might be drawn from the sacrifice scene on the Gundestrup Cauldron. One column of warriors are marching to the sacrifice while another, reborn, are marching away from it. An explanation for this might be the Celts compared men to sacrificial vassals in which human life was offered up in exchange for another existence.

It is known that the wheel was a Celtic symbol of rebirth. The wheel appears on sword-sheaths and other pieces of art.

That the Celts did not fear death was not because they had a low regard for life or a feeling of recklessness in battle, but it arose from generations of Druid teachings. Druids taught such teachings for countless generations, having been recited at gravesites. Many seasonal assemblies were held at burial sites, including the enigmatic passage graves (dolmens of the megaliths) that stud Ireland. From these beliefs came the interweaving of the spiritual and mundane worlds until the two could hardly be separated. Such an attitude or viewpoint is a blending of ancient Celtic and proto-Celtic ideals that formed the essential and archaic nature of Druidism.

The Druids were said to be the keepers of traditional wisdom that was concerned with moral philosophy, natural phenomena and theology. They were skilled in the reading of omens, the interpretation of dreams, the conducting of sacrifices, the construction of a calendar, herbal medicine, astronomy and the composition of poetry. Some say they also practiced sexual magic.

One way the Druids read omens was by killing a victim. "The inhabitants employ a very surprising and incredible custom when they want to know matters of great importance. They consecrate a human being to death, drive a dagger into his belly, above the abdomen, and draw conclusions about events to come from the squirming of the victim and the squirting of his blood. They have been practicing this since time immemorial."

The composing of poems was the chief duty of the bard, who was also considered a priest in Druidism. In most, if not all, battles bards went along, not to fight but to record the battle that they later composed into verse to be sung and read to the people of their tribe or clan. Bards were free to move about in battle without being in danger because it was a strict rule of Druidic law that no bard should be killed. Bards, like other priests and priestesses, were considered gifted for their offices. Some were also seers.

Ammianus, a Roman historian (c. 330-395 B.C), said Druids "are uplifted by searching into things most secret and sublime."

TROY 2008