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particularly in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and physics.
But in addition to their learning, early historians also took note of what they considered
to be the Druids' barbaric religious practices. In particular, they were appalled by the use
of human sacrifice. The Romans reported that victims were tied to wicker effigies and
burned alive, a report substantiated by archaeological remains. Further evidence has been
found of 'triple deaths' where a victim was simultaneously stoned, drowned, and impaled
on a spear.
Celtic religion did involve elements of ritual sacrifice, but Druids (and Celts in general)
did not conceive of death the way in which we do today. As Caesar comments, 'The
cardinal doctrine which they seek to teach is that souls do not die, but after death pass
from one to another . . . the fear of death is cast aside.' Often, sacrifice involved a
spiritual trade of sorts--sacrificing a less prominent member of society so that someone
more important might survive. Caesar wrote: "The whole nation of the Gauls is greatly
devoted to ritual observances and for that reason those who are smitten with the more
grievous maladies and who are engaged in the peril of battle either sacrifice human
victims or vow to do so, employing the druids as ministers for such sacrifice. They
believe in effect, that, unless a man's life be paid, the majesty of the immortal gods may
not be appeased."
These accounts were, no doubt, coloured by the Romans' personal biases. Caesar, in
particular, was trying to garner support for his campaign from his audience at home, a
task made easier by painting a barbaric picture of the Druids. (Barbaric, to a Roman
audience who flocked to see equally gruesome deaths at the hands of the gladiators.)
Nevertheless, both Roman and Greek historians did record the Druids' highly organized
legal and educational systems, and seemed to revere their mathematical and scientific
knowledge. Both sources considered the Druids to be 'noble savages', a highly learned
but religiously primitive people who worshipped a pantheon of gods.
After Emperor Claudius declared Druidic practices illegal in AD 54, the Druids' future in
Roman Britain became increasingly uncertain. In AD 61, the Romans planned a
massacre of the defiant Druids at Anglesey, the centre of their culture, and their last
stronghold in consolidated Britain. As the Roman soldiers waited for the tide to recede so
they could cross the Menai strait that separates Anglesey from the mainland, the Druids
held their position by lining up along the opposite shore and, as Tacitus reports in his
Annals, 'raising their hands to heaven and screaming dreadful curses.' But curses were
not enough. The Roman soldiers crossed the strait and conquered the island, destroying
both the Druids and the sacred groves of their religion.
Following this defeat, the Druidic culture never again flourished as it did in these early
days. Pockets of it persisted in Ireland, however, and forward-thinking monks in both
Ireland and Wales preserved some Druidic traditions. Much of what was known about
Druids continued to exist solely in the oral tradition until the Medieval period when it
was transcribed and edited by Christian monks. Although these records come filtered
through a biased source, these manuscripts have passed on much of what we know today
about the Druids of ancient Britain. In Ireland, these myths exist in four chief cycles: the
Ulster Cycle, the Fionn Cycle, the Invasion Races, and the Cycle of Kings. In Wales, the
primary source of Druidic information, and indeed the very cornerstone of Welsh literary
tradition, exists in The Mabinogion, a collection of myths and tales transcribed in the
11th century.
http://www.pathwalkers.net/interactive/modules....ame=News&file=index&catid=1&topic=&allstories=1 (133 of 236) [12/25/2005 12:17:43 AM]