Druid Women: The Forgotten Priestesses of the Celts. Archaeological evidence of female Druids

The Celts believed in a variety of gods and goddesses, although not every Celtic nation worshiped the same group. Ireland had different gods from the gods of Wales, whose gods were different from the gods of Gaul. Another point worth noting is that there were not only gods known by various names that have come down to us, but also many others whose names were considered too holy to be spoken aloud (thus the usual oath was: “I swear the gods that my people swear by."

It is important to remember that in the pre-Christian period, people believed in complex and imperfect gods who, like people, had personalities, interests and feelings. a professional was simply necessary in order to study their nature and find ways to appease them, caring for the well-being of the tribe. Since the Gods are similar to people in behavior and temperament, they are more accessible and understandable to the consciousness of people. The idea that the gods could be the source of morality and judges of humanity is an idea alien to the most ancient European peoples.

Tribe Goddess Danu(Tuatha de Danaan) is the name of the Irish pantheon, since the Gods descended from this goddess. Oddly enough, Danu never directly appears in , perhaps she already exists everywhere, like the earth. With the advent of Christianity, the old Gods lost their status and power and became the Sidhe or Fae, and many concepts of Druidry were transformed into the Faerie Faith.
This short list containing only short description Gods:

Meadow Lamphada(Meadow Long Arm), Son of the Sun, father of Cuchullin. He is known by many names, such as Lleu in Wales and Lugos in Gaul, and appears to be one of the few pan-Celtic deities. He bears the epithet "Samildanach", or "Master of Crafts", which is why the Dagda relents and allows him to command the armies of the Gods at the Battle of Tuired. It is more commonly known as "Lampada", or "God with the Long Arm", and has numerous copies in other Indo-European cultures, including the culture of India.

Dagda the Good(kind is not an indicator moral quality, but the diversity of his skills). He for a long time was the king of the Tuatha de Danaan and is the father of many of the Gods. He possesses a magical club that can heal the dead or kill the living, and also a cauldron that can feed an unlimited number of people.

Nuada Argetlam(Silver Hand) was king of the Tribe twice. Nuada lost his arm at the Battle of Tuired, and it was replaced with a mechanical arm by the blacksmith god Dianknecht. His counterpart is the Norse God Tyr, who also loses his hand, albeit for a completely different reason.

Morrigan, Badb, and Nemain(the triune goddess of war, also associated with sovereignty) the powerful Goddess Morrigan is responsible for choosing who will die in battle. In the beliefs of the Iron Age Celts, she chose those who would go to the Other World along the sacred road. One of her most terrible omens is The Washerwoman by the River, where she appears as a maiden washing the blood from the clothes of the hero who is destined to die that day. Her sisters were called Badb, "Madness," and Nemain, "Eater of the Dead."

Brighid(triune Goddess of Fire, Poetry, and Blacksmithing). She was Christianized as Saint Brigid. The undying lights in her honor were kept alive by the attendants, shining in Her honor, and never extinguished. Brighid's cross (a cross with three or four arms, woven from straw) was hung over the hearth, and Her blessing was sought when working in the forge, cooking, and in all matters requiring the participation of fire. She is also a deity of abundance as she assists in the birth of animals and humans; in the Christian tradition, she delivered birth to the Virgin Mary. The holiday of Imbolc is dedicated to her, and on this night people often left pieces of cloth at the door for her to touch and bless them, since on this night she wandered the world.

Dianknecht, god of healing. His name can be translated (rather roughly) as Dia-“God”, and Cecht-“plowing”. He possessed a magical well that brought back to life anyone thrown into it, although the Fomorians once filled this well with stones. His children were great healers; Miach, his son, was the best of the surgeons (it was out of jealousy of this skill that Dianknecht killed him) and his daughter Airmid was a master of herbalism.

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The Celts believed in a variety of gods and goddesses, although not every Celtic nation worshiped the same group. Ireland had different gods from the gods of Wales, whose gods were different from the gods of Gaul. Another point worth noting is that there were not only gods known under various names that have come down to us, but also many others...

Dagda

Mu dhe tar gac nde

God of the Druids

My god before all gods

From the spells of Mog Ruita

Dagda... Among the Danu tribe it is difficult to find a figure more strange and less understood... “The Battle of Mag Tuired” paints us the image of a fat, simple-minded giant in completely wild robes, who owns the Cauldron of Plenty, “from which no one happened to leave hungry” and a war club, so heavy that “only eight men could lift it at once, and it had to be transported on wheels, and the trail from it was like a ditch on the border of the kingdoms.”

From the same source we learn about the construction of the fortress of Bres and how the greed of the blind Cridenbel was punished, about the black heifer received as a reward, to which all the herds of Ireland are obedient, and about the meeting with Morrigan on the Unius River, in a place called after the “Matrimonial Lodge” ", about a feast in the camp of the Fomorians and about the theft of the Magic Harp...

Such a description and stories would be more suitable for the Thor of Scandinavian mythology, but at the same time, the druid Mog Ruith in “The Siege of Druim Damgair” calls upon Dagda as the God of the Druids and “The Battle of Mag Tuired” calls him the Druid of the Gods, which introduces consciousness into a certain dissonance. So who is he - Dagda?

The origin of his name is described in the same “Battle of Mag Tuired”, and is usually translated as “Good God”, where “good” means “Fit for everything”, “almighty”. That is why they say about him that “every power of any power belongs to him.”

They also call him Eochaid Ollatir - “Yew Fighter, Great Father.” The yew in Celtic symbolism is the tree of death and, remembering the Dagda's club, which, as they say, killed with one end and brought back to life with the other, we can well consider it the lord of death and birth.

His other nickname - Ruad Rofessa - “Red, Lord of Perfect Knowledge”, seems to indicate his solar or fiery nature, which is combined with another, less known, name - Aed - “Flame”.

We also find the name Aed Ruad in the legends about the origin of the name of the Ess Ruad waterfall - one of the habitats of the wise salmon, and Goll Essa Ruad - One-Eyed from the Ruad waterfall - may be one of the forms of the Dagda itself. This is all the more likely since his wife is Boan - the embodied River Boyne.

Dagda is the father of many of the tribe of gods. This is Angus Mac Og - the god of love and youth, and Banba, Fodla and Erin - the three goddesses in whose honor the Green Island received its names, and, of course, Fire Arrow, Patroness of the Arts, Crafts and Hearth - Brighid.

The symbols of the Dagda, in addition to the previously mentioned Mace and the Cauldron of Plenty, are the Wheel and the Magic Harp, like the Dagda itself, which has several names...

She is called Waitne - “Enchanting”, and two other names - Kor Ketarhar (Four-sided Music) and Daur Da Blao (Oak of two blossoms) - indicate her function - the management and ordering of space and time, and they say that it is Dagda, playing on his harp, regulates the turns of the wheel of the year and he has “power over the elements and the harvest of people.”

Let us refresh our memory of the picture of the world common to the entire Indo-European culture. Space is represented in the form of a World Tree growing on an island surrounded on all sides by the Waters of Chaos. The Universe is divided into three levels and the spirits living in the branches, around the trunk and near the roots of the tree are considered relatives - a clan generated by the Tree itself. In the Waters live the spirits of Chaos - Outsiders, striving to destroy the Tree and return the universe to its original state.

Interaction with Chaos, however, is necessary for the Cosmos, since the Waters of the Great Abyss are a source of not only dangerous destruction of integrity, but, along with the Sun, the source of Life itself, bringing abundance and renewal.

This picture of the world is also reflected in the structure of Celtic society, with its division of power between the king and the Druids, and, probably, in the old days, both the power of the Sky and the power of the Sea belonged to the Druids, while the king represented the tree itself and only later became associated with the Sun.

Thus, before us appears a relatively holistic image of the God-Priest, common to the entire Indo-European culture - the guardian of the universe, protecting the Tree from the Spirits of Outer Darkness and watching over the source of the waters of life.

Such is Enki - the Lord of the Waters of the Lower World, and Shiva - the Creator and Destroyer of the Universe, and Svarog - who later divided his power between Perun and Veles, as Thor and Odin share it in Asatru.

It is interesting that in the tradition of Wales, Dagda corresponds to Bran - Raven, whose tree is Alder, along with Willow and Hazel, which was the object of cult worship of the “pre-oak” period...

Alder has the nature of Fire, but grows near bodies of water. Water strengthens its wood rather than destroying it. Let us also remember the red paint extracted from the bark of this tree...

In our time, the Druids invoke the Dagda on the day of the autumn equinox, as the Wise Salmon, the Master of the Cauldron of Abundance, bringing him gifts of oatcakes, beer and butter.

But, if you look more closely, the invisible presence of the Dagda seems to permeate the entire ritual.

Worshiping Mother Earth or calling on the Patroness of Bards - Brighid, we work with the daughters of the Dagda. By expelling the Spirits of Outer Darkness and concluding a temporary peace agreement with them, we remember that it was the Dagda who restrained the Fomorians by the power of the treaty. He is the Druid of the Gods, the Master of the Feast of the Ancestors and the Oldest Creature on Earth - the Salmon, the Coeval of Time. He is the keeper of the Source of the Waters of Life and the turns of the annual wheel are obedient to the Music of His Harp...

Now, remembering this, try to work with the Dagda more consciously... Call upon him by kindling your ritual fire, as Mog Ruit called upon him - Him, the God of the Druids, the Druid among the Gods... Fill the changing seasons with the Songs of his Harp -

Let Whitne sound these days,

Come Daur Da Blao,

Come Kor Ketarhar,

Come Summer, come Winter,

Through the mouths of harps and bagpipes...

In conclusion, here is part of Ian Corrigan's article.

The visualization of Dagda begins with a landscape - green hills with a large plain in front of them. A tall, powerful man approaches from the hills. He wears a tunic of nine colors and a checkered skirt made of tanned leather. He has gold bracelets on his strong arms and legs, and a scarlet cloak, secured with a large brooch, hangs from his shoulders. On his thick neck is a large torc, decorated with stones. His unkempt hair and the beard are red, and a smile plays in the eyes and lips on the wide face. With his right hand he drags a war club behind him, leaving a deep furrow in the peat. Behind his back is a harp, and under his left hand he carries a cauldron, the brew in which boils, always in motion...

Anthem of Dagde

Ian Corrigan

Best regards, Dagda

We make a sacrifice to you

Oats of the generous land are given by free people

Eochaid to the Allfather

You, Fire Under the Cauldron

Hear us, Ancient Giant

God the Abundant

Ruad Rofessa,

Lord of Secret Knowledge

Fire Accepting Sacrifice, in You we honor the Excellent God

Chief Danu, Abundantly Giver

A flame in the belly that sustains Life

The flame in the lower back that continues Life

Flame in the eyes, comprehending Life

Be in us as we are in You

Burn in us, accept the offerings

We give Stallion oats

Boiling Cauldron

On the Sacred Fire

O Harper of the Seasons

Receiver of Victims

Druid of Oak and Hazel

Dagda Mor!

Great Good God!

Accept our Sacrifice!

Chapter V. TEACHING AND ORIGINS OF DRUIDISM. 6. TRIADS OF DRUIDS.

Long before the Tuatha de Dannans, Partholon, the leader of the first race to inhabit Ireland, already had Druids with him, although only three: “This is who the leaders of Partholon were: himself Partholon, Slanga, Laiglinne and Rudraige… Semboth, son of Partholon, was the first in Ireland to build a house, make a cauldron and stage a battle . Malaliah for the first time cared about safety and was the first brewer, the first to drink beer from fern; aka was the first to make a sacrifice , veneration and witchcraft . And here three druids of Partholon: Tat, Fis, Foh-mark - “Strengthening, knowledge, search.” [ 512 - Lebor Gabala, § 212.]

Partholon's successors are also accompanied by druids or diviners: « Ireland was empty for thirty years after Partholon, until Nemed, son of Agnoman, came, from the Greeks of Scythia, along with his four chiefs, who were his sons. His forty-four ships were in the Caspian (?) Sea for one and a half years, but only one ship reached Ireland. The four leaders, the sons of Nemed, were called Starn and Iarbonel - the soothsayer, Annind and Fergus Redside" .

One interesting geographical clarification is associated with Nemed’s grandchildren: “ The children of Bethah, the son of the soothsayer Iarbonel, son of Nemed, went to the islands in the north of the world to learn Druidry, pagan worship and the devilish sciences, they became experts in all arts and became Tuatha de Dannan».

Druids or gods? Most often - both: “ There were three gods of Danu, which is why they were given the name "Tuatha de Dannan" “: three sons of Bres, son of Elad - Triall, Brian and Ket, or also Brian, Iukhar and Iukharba; three sons of Tuirend Brikkreo, three druids after whom the Tuatha de Dannan were named».

What do these mythological groups of Druids mean? The number four for the representatives of the Tuatha de Dannan should have been of secondary importance after three: undoubtedly, this numerical designation established connection with the elements - air, earth, fire, water. But Tat, Fis and Fohmark - “Strengthening, Cognition, Search” or, according to one of the options, Fis, Eolus, Fohmark - “Knowledge, Cognition, Search” perfectly correspond to the Celtic triad.

All this is connected with the myth, or at least provides for a continuation in the myth: three druids of the Tuatha de Dannan, such as Brian, Iuhar and Iuharba, at the same time, are three gods, one of which, Brian, has the same name (*Bren(n)os - Bren), as the conquerors of Rome and Delphi in the 4th and 3rd centuries. BC e. Of course, these data should be taken in the same spirit as Irish chronologies and genealogies. Kian, for example, is called the father of Lugh; on the other hand, Lug, Dagda, Ogma, Dian Kekht are considered brothers; but Dian Cecht, in addition, is Kian's father. The details are changeable and seem artificial, but the principle itself is stable and traditional. It would be equally childish to take all this literally, as it would be to underestimate the deep thought hidden under all these fantasies. Nothing could possibly confirm this better than the genealogy answer that Philid Nede gives to senior filid Ferhertne in “A Conversation between Two Sages”:
« I AM THE SON OF THE CRAFT,
Crafts, son of Attention,
Attention, son of Reflection,
Reflections, son of Knowledge,
Knowledge, son of Question,
Question, son of Search,
Search, the son of great KNOWLEDGE,
Great Knowledge, son of Great Understanding,
Great Understanding, son of Understanding,
Understanding, son of Mind,
Uma, son of three gods of the Craft» [ 518 - Rev. celt, 16, 30. - Transl. S.V. Shkunaeva.]

In addition, these three gods - sons of the goddess-soothsayer Druidess Brigid, she herself is the daughter of the Dagda, just as Minerva was the daughter of Jupiter.

7. DRUID GOD

In "The Siege of Druim Damgair", in a difficult moment Kenmhar calls for help "the first druid of the world", and this druid, Mog Ruith, While a fire is being prepared on his orders, he makes a speech that begins like this: "God of the Druids, my god before all gods" (de dhruadh, mu dhe tar gac nde) .

Since this "god of the Druids", or Dagda ("good god" or "most divine") is father of Brigid, goddess of the Filids, and thus the ancestor of the three original Druid gods, it is obvious that the power of the Druids is fully justified. In fact, all gods are druids, just as all druids are gods. Equality here manifests itself in both senses, and in this way: “Cathbad the fair-faced taught me for the sake of my mother Dekhtire, so that I became skilled in druidic knowledge and versed in secret wisdom.”

From here it is quite clear why Druids, in particular, had access to which was the privilege of superhuman and mythological beings. As if expressing the opinion of all skeptics, a certain Connle Cainbretach ("well judged") wrongfully reproached the Druids of his time for not being able to change anything in the world: “ Let the sun and moon appear in the north from the people of the world, and then we will believe that everything you say is true.”

Submitting to an immutable principle, the heirs the original Druids, creators of the world and Living creatures, they did not see any reason in creating a useless and causeless “miracle” on just one order. This is the cult, according to Celtic religious ideas, that created the world; in addition, the priest is the driving force of the cult, and in the absence of faith, cosmic order turns into chaos.

In medieval Irish legends, female Druids were called bandouris. Their existence was confirmed by ancient Greek and Roman writers. What were the legendary women Druids like? /website/

The Druids were the ancient religious leaders, scientists and explorers of Celtic society. For centuries, the misconception persisted that only men were Druids. However, numerous historical facts indicate that women were also in their ranks.

Wise Women in Celtic Society

The term "druid" comes from the Indo-European word "deru", which means "truth" or "faithful". This word evolved into the Greek term drus, meaning oak.

The Druids were intellectual elite. Being a Druid was a family function, but they were also poets, astronomers, magicians and astrologers. It took them 19 years to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in alchemy, medicine, law and other sciences. They organized intellectual life, legal proceedings, knew how to heal people, and were involved in the development of strategies for wars. They were an oasis of intelligence and were highly respected in society.

“Woman Druid”, oil on canvas, French artist Alexandre Cabanel (1823-1890). Photo: Public Domain

Roman evidence of female Druids

Gaius Julius Caesar was fascinated by the Druids. He wrote that they were scientists, theologians, philosophers and had amazing knowledge. According to manuscript experts, Caesar, the great Roman leader, was well aware of the Druid women. Unfortunately, most Roman writers ignored women altogether, so it is difficult to find references to them in historical texts. Strabo wrote about a group of religious women who lived on an island near the Loire River. In Augustus's History there is a description of Diocletian, Alexander Severus and Aurelian discussing their problems with female Druids.

Strabo, 16th century engraving. Photo: Public Domain

Tacitus mentions Druid women when describing the massacre carried out by the Romans on the island of Mona in Wales. According to his description, there were women known as banduri (female druids) who protected the island and cursed the black clergy. Tacitus also noted that there was no difference between male rulers and female rulers, and that Celtic women were very powerful.

Map of Mona Island, 1607. Photo: Public Domain

According to Plutarch, Celtic women, unlike Roman or Greek women, were active in negotiating the terms of treaties and wars, participating in assemblies and mediating quarrels. According to Pomponius Mela, a virgin priestess who could predict the future lived on the island of Seine in Brittany.

Cassius Dio mentions a druid woman named Hanna. She went on an official trip to Rome and was received by Domitian, the son of Vespasian. According to the description of the Battle of Moytura, two female Druids enchanted rocks and trees in order to support the Celtic army.

Famous female Druids

In accordance with Irish traditions, female Druids were called bandouri and banfily (female poet). Most of the names of Druid women are forgotten. The name Fedelma is immortalized in ancient texts; this Druid woman lived in the 10th century at the court of Queen Medb of Connacht in Ireland, who was a “banfil.”

Queen May, painting by D.K. Leyendecker. Photo: Public Domain

The most famous descendant of a female Druid is Queen Boudicca, whose mother was a Banduri. Boudicca was the queen of the British Celtic tribe Iceni. She led a revolt against the Romans in the 1st century AD. Researchers are still arguing whether Boudicca was also a Druid.

Goddess Worship

Druid women worshiped goddesses and celebrated holidays in different months and seasons. One of the goddesses they worshiped was Brigid, who was later adopted by Christian nuns as “Saint Bridget.”

Saint Bridget. Photo: Public Djmain

Archaeological evidence of female Druids

Archaeologists have discovered several evidence of the existence of female Druids. Many female burials from the 4th century BC. found in Germany between the Rhine and Moselle rivers. Women were buried with a large amount of jewelry, jewelry and other valuable items. Some wore a twisted necklace on their chest, which is a status symbol. Two burials, located in Burgundy, France, and Rainham in Germany, are dated to the 5th century BC. and almost certainly belonged to female Druids.

The head of a Gorgon sits on the surface of the three handles of a vessel found in Burgundy, France. Photo: CC BY-SA 2.5

Legacy of the Ancient Druids

The Romans killed many Druids and destroyed many of their books. The Catholic Roman Church believed that female Druids were sorceresses and witches and collaborated with the devil. Catholics viewed the knowledge of the Celts as a great threat to their power. The well-known Saint Patrick burned more than a hundred books of the Druids and destroyed many places associated with the ancient cult.

However, Druidry never completely disappeared. And now some people are still trying to follow the ancient tradition. Researchers continue to work to rediscover the ancient wisdom of the Druids.

The power of the Druids over people was so great that even kings did not dare to contradict them. What was it built on? On knowledge hidden from others. The Druids were “initiates” and possessed unique knowledge, which we can only guess about, having only scanty fragments, fragments of this knowledge. We know very little about the Druids, primarily because they themselves did not write anything down either in the process of learning or in the process of practical activity. Therefore, they took almost all their knowledge with them to the grave.

The very word "druid" means "man of the oak trees." In essence, the Druids were priests, but in a very broad sense of the word. They were not just clergy, but also doctors, judges, historians, architects, astronomers, poets, and scientists. In general, the Druids performed all those functions without which society cannot exist. That is why the rule was sacredly followed, according to which the king could speak only after his druid.

The Druids were very good at magic, and their power over people was not a fiction. The words spoken by the Druids could act both for good and for harm. They could not only predict events, but also curse people. For example, the Roman emperor Alexander Severus (3rd century AD) was cursed, and this curse was fulfilled. The Roman historian Lampridius said that the Gallic prophetess, when meeting with the North, shouted after him: “Go! Go, and you will never see any more victories, and do not expect loyalty from your soldiers.” Soon after this, Roman legionaries killed their emperor.

No one doubted that the Druids had a direct connection with the gods. We can say that the Druids, like no one else, mastered the Word, were able to draw information from the information field of the Universe, and receive it from the World Mind. The Druids had the right to name people. They gave names to cities and areas. They held court, accurately predicted the outcome of the battle, etc. Such an episode is indicative. When the Druids informed one of the Gallic tribes that they would be defeated in the upcoming battle, they killed their children and wives in advance (before the battle) in order to save them from the mockery of their enemies and inevitable slavery. This episode was not the only one. Reports of such cases occur repeatedly in the works of Roman authors. True, the evidence from Roman sources is not always reliable. The Romans, the conquerors of the Druid lands, were often not objective in their judgments. They tried to denigrate this unique people. Unique at least in that, occupying the whole of modern Europe, they did not have a state as such (with its own capital, emperor, palace, etc.), and did not build fortresses or outposts. Celtic tribes in the 5th century BC. e. inhabited the Central and Eastern Europe. Later they settled in Spain, Northern Italy and the north of the Balkan Peninsula, and settled in the British Isles. In 390 BC. e. Celtic tribes took Rome. In 289 BC. e. they destroyed the holy city of Delphi in Greece. Moreover, they significantly advanced into the territory of Western Asia. But they did not try to consolidate the successes of their conquests by creating a powerful military state. They did not create colonies on the conquered lands. They can hardly be called conquerors, since they did not seek to subjugate the local population, but assimilated with the conquered peoples.

Why did a community that had no central government exist? long time? What was this social structure, this civilization based on? On knowledge. This unique case in the history of mankind.

Evidence suggests that the scattered Celtic tribes formed a single civilization. Archaeologists have found images of ancient Celtic gods, as well as attributes of the cult, in different parts of Europe (in France, Denmark, Ireland, the Pyrenees, and also in the Balkans). Similar parts of weapons, animal figurines and much more were also found. The items are decorated with the same traditional ornament (“wickerwork”). There are many such archaeological finds. They had a common cult, which was based on a single mythological system; they believed in the same gods.

Unfortunately, we know little about these gods, like many other things from the life of the Celts. The Roman evidence is not objective. Nevertheless, let us cite the testimony of Julius Caesar. In the sixth book of the Notes on the Gallic War there is the following description of the Druids: “The Druids take an active part in the Matters of worship, monitor the correctness of public sacrifices, interpret all questions related to religion; Many young people come to them to study science, and in general they are held in great esteem by the Gauls (i.e., Celts). It is they who pass judgment on almost all controversial cases, public and private... and if anyone, will it be a private person or whole people- does not obey their will, then they excommunicate the culprit from the sacrifices. This is their heaviest punishment. Anyone who is excommunicated in this way is considered an atheist and a criminal, everyone shuns him, avoids meeting and talking with him, so as not to get into trouble, as if from an infectious disease; no matter how much he strives for it, no judgment is carried out for him; He also has no right to any position. At the head of all the Druids is one who enjoys the greatest authority among them. After his death, the most worthy will follow him, and if there are several of them, then the Druids decide the matter by voting, and sometimes the dispute about primacy is even resolved with weapons. At certain times of the year, the Druids gather for meetings in a sacred place in the country of the Carnuts (in Britain), which is considered the center of all Gaul. All litigants come here from everywhere and obey their orders and sentences. Their science is believed to have originated in Britain and from there transferred to Gaul, and to this day, in order to become more thoroughly acquainted with it, they go there to study it.

Druids usually do not take part in war and do not pay taxes. Many come to their schools either by at will, or at the behest of friends and relatives. They say they learn so many poems by heart that some remain in the Druid school for twenty years. They consider it a sin to write down everything that is taught here... Most of all, the Druids try to strengthen the belief in the immortality of the soul: the soul, according to their teaching, passes after the death of one body into another, they think that this faith eliminates the fear of death and thereby arouses courage. In addition, they inform their young students about the luminaries and their movement, about the extent of the Universe and our Earth, about the power and greatness of the immortal gods.”

Although we talked about the bias of Roman sources towards their enemies the Druids, everything stated above appears to be true. In any case, the same thing is reported in other sources, in particular in the Irish sagas. Thus, in the Irish heroic epic, the sage druid Cathbad is depicted. He enjoyed unquestioned authority. He could influence the outcome of the battle, although he himself did not physically take part in it. He cast spells that deprived the enemy of his strength. He was allowed to cast a spell on the king himself. But this could only be if the king refused the priest anything. The Druid sage, according to the epic, predicted the future. He chose the name of the hero, chose the day to begin a military campaign or any other enterprise. Young men from aristocratic families were trained by the Druid sage, the chief priest.

It can be said without exaggeration that Druidism was based on ritual. It was a complex, well-thought-out, hierarchical system. The main purpose of this system was “to promote the continuity of the movement of the world.” It is curious that the Druids viewed space and time as a single substance. In classical physics, space can be considered separately from time. But in the theory of relativity we are talking about four-dimensional space. The first three coordinates are ordinary space, and the fourth coordinate is changing time. Space and time, according to A. Einstein, are inseparable from each other. The scientist solved this problem with the help of equations and formulas. The Druids went a different way. They solved the problem by drawing information directly from the information field of the Universe. The key to such connection to the information field was rituals. The teachings of the Druids required that in order to ensure the continuity of the movement of the world, the most important points of Time and Space coincided. Such a coincidence was required to be noted in a special way. For this purpose, solemn and crowded meetings were held in sanctuaries on strictly defined days. The main event of these meetings was sacrifice to the gods. Like other peoples, sacrifices were made on a variety of occasions: during the construction of a temple, at the beginning of the harvest, before a military campaign, etc. Sacrifices were made by both public institutions and individuals. Experts are inclined to believe that there were no human sacrifices in the practice of the Druids. It is believed that Roman historians deliberately distorted the truth by accusing the Druids of offering human sacrifices to the gods. This can partly be attributed to misconceptions. An example of such a misconception is the following episode. Cult cauldrons were used to make sacrifices to the gods. On one of them, archaeologists discovered an image of a giant figure lowering a small man into a cauldron. The simplest thing was to assume that this little man was being sacrificed. But in fact, the scene depicted meant the process of resurrection of dead soldiers. When they, the dead, were lowered into the wonderful cauldron of life, they came to life. Not only did they come to life, but they continued to fight the enemy. This is how the same archaeological find can be interpreted in different ways. Ancient authors tried in every possible way to prove that it was customary for the Celts (Gauls) to offer human sacrifices to the gods. In the “History” of Diodorus Sicilian it is said this way: “And this shows the savagery of their nature - they behave like inveterate atheists when it comes to sacrifices. Thus, they have a custom of keeping all criminals locked up for up to five years, and then, for the glory of their gods, they impale them and sacrifice them, adding to this many other gifts, burning them all together on huge, specially prepared bonfires. They also make unfortunate martyrs out of the captives captured in war, sacrificed to the gods. Animals captured during raids are often used for this purpose. They kill them along with the people, or burn them alive, or subject them to other painful tortures.” Many ancient authors wrote in a similar spirit. Thus, Strabo’s “Geography” describes the custom of cutting the victim’s body into pieces and hanging them on sacred trees or on the walls of temples. In the 1st century AD e. The Roman poet Lucan claimed that in Gaul the sacrifice for the god Edus, who was associated with the cult of trees, was hung on a tree. For another god, Taranis, the victim was burned alive. For the patron god of the tribe, Tavtates, the sacrifice was heated in a special huge cauldron. However, scientists doubt the objectivity of the information contained in the texts of ancient authors, since they were an interested party - it was necessary to justify the conquest and enslavement of the Gallic tribes. They say that all this was done with higher goals.

As already mentioned, making a sacrifice ensured the continuity of time and maintained its natural course. Far-reaching conclusions follow from this. If someone was excommunicated by the Druids from sacrifices for his offenses, then he was thereby excluded from the circle of time. For him, “the connection of times was falling apart.” In practice, such a person found himself excommunicated from society, since he lost the opportunity to regularly communicate with the divine essence.

Some idea of ​​the sacrifices is given by the description of this rite in the 12th century. The ritual of bringing Irish kings to power is described by the English historian and theologian Giraldus of Cumbria in the book “Topography of Ireland”. The ceremony was held in a sacred clearing with a large crowd of people. It was the marriage of the future king with... a white horse. It looked like this. At first, a purely symbolic wedding ceremony was held. After this, the king himself cut the mare's throat. The mare's meat was boiled in a huge cauldron. The future king bathed in the resulting broth. After this bath, the future king led a ceremonial feast. The main dish at this feast was boiled horse meat. In this ritual, the horse is a deity. This was the case with the ancient Celts. In continental Gaul, the white horse was considered the Mother Goddess. She bore the name Epona. They depicted the Mother Goddess in the form of a horse with a foal. True, in archaeological excavations they find her image in the form of a horsewoman. Thus, the ritual of bringing a king to power meant the marriage of the king with the country, with his subjects. Killing a horse and eating it symbolized communion with the body of a deity. And this was the key to the further well-being and prosperity of the king and his subjects.

Predictions occupied an important place among the Druids. The Roman historian Strabo, in Book IV of Geography, writes about the human sacrifices of the Celts: “The Romans put an end to the cruel rites of the Celts. The Romans struggle with sacrifices and prophecies that are so little like ours. Thus, a person intended as a gift to the gods is struck in the back with a combat dagger and then, according to the nature of the dying man’s convulsions, the future is predicted... All this is always done with the participation and at the will of their druids.”

Impartial researchers believe that the Romans are going too far here, trying to show their opponents in a bad light. In fact, the Celtic soothsayers and Druids used animals to tell fortunes. For example, the Gallic queen Boudicca, before the battle of her troops with the Romans, turned to soothsayers. They threw a hare in front of the assembled Celtic troops. By the nature of the hare's jumps, soothsayers made a conclusion about the outcome of the battle. In this particular case, they predicted success. Therefore, the warriors immediately rushed at the enemy with a battle cry.

To make a successful prediction, the animal could have been killed. Such an animal was often a pig. Medieval Irish texts describe it as follows: “Filid chews a piece of raw meat from a pig, dog or cat, and then takes it out of his mouth and places it on a flat stone near the door. He sacrifices it to the gods he serves. After this he begins to call upon them. Then he leaves and returns the next day. If he sees that the meat has disappeared, he lies down, squeezing his face between his palms. So he falls asleep, and it is necessary to ensure that his sleep is not disturbed by anything, for in this dream the future will be revealed to him.” This description is contained in the collection of interpretations “Cormack's Glossary” (10th century AD). The Philids referred to in the text are the successors of the Druids in Ireland. But by the time the glossary was compiled, Christianity was already spreading. Therefore, it is further said that “St. Patrick forbade this custom and said that whoever follows it will lose both heaven and earth, for thereby he renounces the sacrament of holy baptism.”

What gods did the Druids and the Celts in general believe in? Caesar writes about it this way: “Of the gods they worship Mercury most of all. He has more images than all other gods; he is considered the inventor of all arts; he is already recognized as a road guide and a righteous man in travel; They also think that he is very helpful in making money and trading. Following him, they worship Apollo, Mars, Jupiter and Minerva. They have approximately the same ideas about these deities as other peoples. Apollo drives away diseases, Minerva teaches the rudiments of crafts and arts, Jupiter has supreme power over the celestials, Mars leads the war.” The question immediately arises as to why the Gauls (Celts) revered the Roman gods. In fact, they worshiped their own gods, not the Roman gods. There was just a similarity between them. Thus, the Celtic god Lugh is similar to Mercury in that he masters all crafts, as well as arts. He is the patron of martial arts. This is evidenced by the fact that the name of the god Lug is included in the names of many fortresses. The present city of Lyon was formerly called Lugdunum, which means "Fortress of Lug". The god Lug was associated with warmth and sunlight (as was the Roman god Mercury). Therefore, the holiday of the god Lugh (Lughnazad) falls on August 1, and the whole month was called Lughnazad. It is worth remembering that the Roman Emperor Augustus called this month August. This is understandable, since he really wanted to see himself as Mercury.

By the way, in Ireland the god Lugh is worshiped by the Danu tribe.

As for the god Jupiter, the Celts had their own god with similar functions. This is the god Taranis (from the Gaulish word tarran, which means “thunder”). He was depicted with a hammer and wheel in his hand. Apparently, the Scandinavians also have this god. They call him Tar - the god of the sky, thunderstorms and storms.

The Celts had a god called Teutates. He protected the tribe, guarded it from enemies. In addition, they had the god Ogmios, who was the god of war, but at the same time distinguished by his learning and eloquence. These gods can be considered analogues of the Roman god of war, Mars.

The god Maponus among the Celts (Gauls) is compared with Apollo. The goddess Britta is considered similar in function to the Roman goddess Minerva. But one should not think that they are completely identical. Yes, actually, why should they coincide?

Because the written sources there is very little information about the Celtic gods, then we have to use the information that Caesar left us in his famous “Notes”. In them he mentions a strange deity called Die (Diet) Pater, that is, Father. And indeed, this was the father of the gods. Caesar writes about him as follows: “The Gauls (Celts) all consider themselves descendants of Father Ditus and say that this is the teaching of the Druids. For this reason, they calculate and determine time not by days, but by nights: they calculate birthdays, the beginning of the month and the year in such a way that the night comes first, followed by the day.” Night is associated with another world. Therefore, we can assume that we are talking about the deity of the other world, the world of the dead. For the Romans, this function was performed by the god Pluto. The God of the dead was associated with darkness, night, cold, gloom. The specific name of this Celtic god remains unknown to us. But many of the gods of the Celts became the gods of the Irish, who descend from the Celts. They call this god the Dark One (Donn).

Caesar brings only the main gods of the Gauls (Celts). In fact, there were many more of them. Some of them can be judged from other sources, in particular from archaeological data. This is how the deities Esus, Epona, Cernunnos and many others were established. Images of gods have been discovered whose names cannot be established, for example, an image of a god in the pose of a seated Buddha. This is the “three-faced god”.

Experts in the history of religions make a confident conclusion that the gods of the Celts (Gauls) are related to the gods of other Indo-European peoples. But this does not mean that the secret knowledge of the Druids has the same source. The source of this knowledge remains a mystery to specialists. Apparently the Druids owned these esoteric knowledge long before the Celts settled Europe. And then somehow the knowledge of the Druids connected with deities of Indo-European origin. We don't know how this happened. There are two options. Either the Celts adopted the ancient knowledge of the Druids and forced them to serve their gods, or the Indo-European gods themselves submitted to the Druids and their secret knowledge. The second is more likely.

The Druids did not only worship abstract gods. They also worshiped the realities of the world around them: trees, stones, cliffs, etc. It must be borne in mind that the beliefs of the Celts and Druids did not always coincide. They worshiped not only oak, but also yew, birch, rowan, apple, etc. There were not only sacred trees, but also entire sacred groves. This is evidenced, in particular, by the names settlements in France and Spain. In ancient times there were sanctuaries or sacred groves there. For Druids, the most sacred tree is the oak. They had a ritual of cutting the sacred mistletoe that grows on the oak tree. The Roman historian Pliny the Elder describes this ritual as follows: “For the Druids, there is nothing more sacred than mistletoe and the tree on which it grows, in other words, the oak. Their reverence for this tree goes so far that they build their sanctuaries only in oak groves, and during magical rituals they are in the habit of holding a branch of this tree in their hand. From the name of the oak, it seems, they form the name of their priests. They believe that everything that grows on this tree is sent down from heaven and that this is a sign of favor to the oak of the highest deity. Such finds are quite rare, but when they happen to notice something like this, they happily mark these plants and then ceremonially cut off their shoots. This usually happens on the sixth day of the moon, so they believe that it is the moon that controls the months and the movement of time in general, having its own special cycle lasting thirty years. They find the sixth day the most favorable for the religious ceremony, since it was on this day that the moon had already gained sufficient strength, but had not yet reached the halfway point of its path. They call mistletoe by a name that, translated, would mean “the one that cures everything.”

After the sacrifice has been solemnly made and a rich meal has been left for the gods at the foot of the tree, two white bulls are brought in, whose horns are tied for the first time that day. Dressed in a white dress, the priest approaches the tree and cuts off a shoot of mistletoe with a golden sickle, then he hides it in a special white blanket made of undyed linen. Then sacrifices are made again and prayers and requests are offered to the deity so that he will be merciful to those who bring him these gifts. They believe that mistletoe, if made into a drink, has the power to bring fertility and helps infertile animals bear offspring, it can even serve as a cure for all poisons.”

There is ample evidence that the Druids worshiped stones and rocks. Religious buildings are still preserved in Europe. They were built in sacred places. These structures are very diverse. Sometimes these are piles of stones, and sometimes they are single or paired boulders. Ancient burial structures made of stone are often found. This is a kind of stone trough, which is covered with a stone slab. They are called salmens. There are also long stones that are dug vertically into the ground - menhirs. Religious buildings in the form of circular fences made of huge stones are called cromlechs.

The Druids were gradually crowded out by Christian preachers. But they did not use fire and sword tactics. Vice versa. They most often built their dwellings-cells near the stone structures sacred to the Druids. So everything gradually merged. To the point that the stone structures of the Druids began to be decorated with crosses. Often they were simply built into Christian churches.

No explanation has yet been found for the stone structures. Some of them are clearly related to astronomy. They are oriented towards the Sun and other celestial bodies.

Archaeological excavations indicate that these megalithic structures (Greek mega - "large" and lithos - "stone") were built before the Celts settled Gaul. Who built them and why? And it is not very clear how it was possible to cope with such a complex task with the technologies that existed at that time. Although we cannot say for sure that at that time (thousands of years ago) there was very low level technologies. In the book “Ozone Holes and the Survival of Humanity” (Veche, 1998) we provide evidence that a worldwide catastrophe occurred that destroyed civilization with a very high level technologies.

The evidence that has reached us about the builders of the megaliths suggests that their language was fundamentally different from the ancient Indo-European languages. The spiritual culture of those who built these stone structures in England (Stonehenge) and in Ireland (New Grange) was also fundamentally different. Their age is several thousand years. The purpose of these structures is not entirely clear. Either they are temples, or they are observatories. Latest version very convincing. According to the first version, these are temples of the Sun and Moon. If this is so, then we can assume that the Druids borrowed the cult of the heavenly bodies from here, from the culture of the megalith builders. Moreover, it would be logical to consider this civilization, these beliefs, to be the source of Druism. After all, the Druids fall out of the general mainstream of the beliefs and cultures of the ancient Indian peoples. Most likely, the place of origin of Druidism is in Britain. Caesar thought so too. This is confirmed by the texts of the Irish sagas. They repeatedly mention schools of secret knowledge that were located on the territory of modern Scotland (in Alban). The Druids were dominated by the veneration of the forces of nature and heavenly bodies. It was combined with a strict hierarchical system of priesthood. This gave the entire social system special stability. When the Celts settled Gaul, they adopted this system.

The fundamental question is that the Druids believed in the transmigration of souls, and therefore in immortality. True, this was an option fundamentally different from the Indian one. In Indian beliefs, the idea of ​​transmigration of souls protects castes and justifies their existence. Without castes there is no Hinduism. Without the transmigration of souls there are no castes. The Druids apparently did not exploit this idea of ​​the transmigration of souls in this way. They just really wanted to live, and they believed in immortality. Man has always wanted to believe in immortality. In this regard, the Druids thought more realistically, down to earth: immortality was not depicted as a repeated return to earth. Such a carnal love of life and reluctance to leave for good in another world is described in the poem “Kat Godeu” by the poet-bard Taliesin (6th century AD). The title of the poem translates as “battle of the trees.” It says this about rebirth:

And again transformed

I was a blue salmon

I was a dog, a deer,

Roe deer on the mountain slopes;

I was a log and a shovel,

A drill in a smoky forge,

And for a whole year and a half

I was a pockmarked rooster

Willingly trampling chickens.

The tone of this passage about the transmigration of souls does not fit into the endless series of suffering in Hinduism and the attempts to get rid of it. The idea of ​​the transmigration of souls in such an optimistic version was widespread among the peoples of Africa and Australia. As you know, it did not bypass the ancient Greek philosophers. True, one cannot agree with the statement that the Druids borrowed the idea of ​​​​transmigration of souls from Pythagoras. Diodorus Siculus tried to prove this. He wrote: “They have a widespread opinion of Pythagoras, according to which the soul of people is immortal and for a certain number of years lives again, penetrating into other bodies.” The idea that the Druids took from Pythagoras the idea of ​​the transmigration of souls appealed to many ancient authors. This appealed to them. A scenario for this borrowing was even developed, according to which Pythagoras’s slave Zamolxis (a Thracian), after the death of his master, returned to Thrace and preached there the doctrine of the transmigration of souls. But it's not serious.

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