When you hear the word “druid,” a lot of images probably come to mind — old men with staffs and robes, Stonehenge, and the like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In reality, the ancient druids are a bit of a mystery. They came from a culture with a strong oral tradition, so not many of their original works have lived on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
What we do know comes largely from archaeological evidence and secondhand written accounts. So, who were the ancient druids really?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ancient druids weren’t like the neodruids of today. While a modern neodruid is someone who practices Druidry (or Druidism), an ancient druid was more like a combination of a poet, lawyer, doctor, diviner, priest, military strategist, and political advisor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If that sounds like it’d require a lot of education, that’s because it did — druids spent years upon years in deep study. Druids were part of an intellectual, religious, and political elite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The word “druid” has two possible origins. One is from the Latin “druidae,” from the Gaulish word “druides.” The other is a compound of the words “dru” and “wid,” from proto-Celtic, meaning “tree knowing.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interestingly, the culture of the ancient druids didn’t have a strong written tradition. While they had a writing system for ordinary purposes, they otherwise relied on a bardic tradition — things were passed on orally, through songs, poems, and stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That meant that much of a druid’s education consisted of memorizing long poems that recounted the information the druid needed to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In their culture, druids read omens, advised royalty and nobility, and headed religious ceremonies (including human sacrifice).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are also stories of them using magic, especially weather magic, to hide from invaders or turn the tides of battle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n