I am trying to "switch" religious practices. I am currently Wicca have been so for about 6 years now and I dint know how to say this except I feel a drawing to druidism but I cant find any information or at least any reliable
love photo-I know that it had to do with the Celtics that is about all I know and it you are going to post stuff like that dint cause you are wasting my time and yours
It's what the Victorians romantically imagined the Ancient Britons' religion to be, but it's based on virtually no verifiable facts at all. That doesn't stop people following it today, of course :-)
[[Julius Caesar|Caesar]]'s ''[[Commentarii DE Bello Gallico]]'' gives the fullest account of the Druids. Caesar notes that all men of any rank and dignity in Gaul were included either among the Druids or among the nobles, indicating that they formed two classes. The Druids constituted the learned priestly class, and as guardians of the unwritten ancient customary law they had the power of executing judgments, among which exclusion from society was the most dreaded. Druids were not a hereditary caste, though they enjoyed exemption from military service as well as from payment of taxes. The course of training to which a novice had to submit was protracted.
All instruction was communicated orally, but for ordinary purposes, Caesar reports that the Gauls had a written language in which they used Greek characters. In this he probably draws on earlier writers; by the time of Caesar, [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]] had moved from the Greek script to the Latin script.
As a result of this prohibition ? and of the decline of Gaulish in favor of Latin ? no druidICCocuments, if there ever were any, have survived. "The principal point of their doctrine", says Caesar, "is that the soul does not die and that after death it passes from one body into another" (see [[metempsychosis]]). This observation led several ancient writers to the unlikely conclusion that the Druids may have been influenced by the teachings of the Greek philosopher [[Pythagoras]]. Caesar also notes the druidICCense of the guardian spirit of the tribe, whom he translated as ''Dispater,'' with a general sense of ''Father [[Hades]].'' However, linguistically ''Dis Pater'' is related to [[Jupiter]] (Jovis Pater), from [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] word [[Dyeus]].
Writers such as [[Diodorus]] and [[Strabo]], with less firsthand experience than Caesar, were of the opinion that the Celtic priestly order or class included Druids, [[Bard]]s and [[Vates]] (soothsayers).
[[Pomponius Mela]] is the first author who says that the Druids' instruction was secret, and was carried on in caves and forests. Certain groves within forests were sacred, and the Romans and Christians alike cut them down and burned the wood. [[Human sacrifice]] has sometimes been attributed to Druidism. While this may be Roman propaganda, human sacrifice was an old European inheritance and the Gauls may have offered human sacrifices, whether of criminals or, to judge from Roman reports, of war captives.
It was also claimed by Roman writers that a general assembly of the order was held once every year within the territories of the [[Carnutes]] in Gaul.
Cicero remarks on the existence among the Gauls of augurs or soothsayers, known by the name of Druids; he had made the acquaintance of one Divitiacus, an Aeduan. Diodorus asserts, on unnamed sources, that a sacrifice acceptable to the Celtic gods had to be attended by a Druid, for they were the intermediaries. He also claims that before a battle they often threw themselves between two armies to bring about peace.
Druids were seen as essentially non-Roman: a prescript of [[Caesar Augustus|Augustus]] forbade Roman citizens to practise Druidical rites. In [[Strabo]] we find the Druids still acting as arbiters in public and private matters, but they no longer dealt with cases of murder. Under [[Tiberius]] the Druids were suppressed by a decree of the Senate, but this had to be renewed by [[Claudius]] in 54 CE. In Pliny their activity is limited to the practice of medicine and sorcery. According to him, the Druids held the mistletoe in the highest veneration and groves of oak were their chosen retreats. In what is probably a fanciful extension of this story, Pliny claims that the mistletoe was cut with a golden knife by a priest clad in a white robe, two white bulls being sacrificed on the spot.
[[Tacitus]], in describing the attack made on the island of Mona ([[Anglesey]] or ''Ynys M?n'' in Welsh) by the Romans under Suetonius Paulinus, represents the legionaries as being awestruck on landing by the appearance of a band of Druids, who, with hands uplifted to the sky, poured forth terrible imprecations on the heads of the invaders. The courage of the Romans, however, soon overcame such fears, according to the Roman historian; the Britons were put to flight, and the sacred groves of Mona were cut down.
After the 1st century CE the continental Druids disappeared entirely and were referred to only on very rare occasions. [[Ausonius]], for one instance, apostrophizes the rhetorician Attius Patera as sprung from a race of Druids.
if you are Wicca for 6 years without knowing what druidism means i think you are in the wrong side of the road dude..you have wasted your time..I know about druidism but i cannot share it with you because you have admitted with your statement to be the perfect "fruit cake". I just give you one hint...."Celtic..."
Our information concerning the druids of Ireland is drawn from what the Christian hagiographers have written of them and what can be gathered from the casual references to them in the epic literature of Ireland. We have only fragmentary notices of the matter of their teachings, but it is clear that there were the most striking resemblances between the druids of Ireland and those of Gaul. In both lands they appear as magicians, diviners, physicians, and teachers, and not as the representatives of a certain religion. In the saga tales of Ireland they are most often found in the service of kings, who employed them as advisers because of their power in magic. In the exercise of this they made use of wands of yew, upon which they wrote in a secret character called Occam. This was called their "keys of wisdom". In Ireland, as in Gaul, they enjoyed a high reputation for learning, and some Irish druids held a rank even higher than that of the king. But they were not exempt from military service nor do they seem to have formed a corporation as in Gaul. In the earliest Christian literature of Ireland the druids are represented a the bitterest opponents of Christianity, but even the Christians of the time seem to have believed in their supernatural power of prophecy and magic.
The principal thesis in M. Alexandre Bertrand's book on the religion of the Gauls is that druidism was not an isolated institution in antiquity, without analogy, but that its parallel is to be looked for in the lamaseries which still survive in Tatary and Tibet. He maintains that great druidICCommunities flourished in Gaul, Britain, and Ireland many centuries before the Christian Era, and that these were the models and the beginnings of the abbeys of the Western monks. In this way he would explain the literary and scientific superiority of the monasteries of Ireland and Wales in the early Middle Ages. However ingenious and attractive this hypothesis may be, it is not supported by any historical documents, and many negative arguments might be brought to bear against it.
Druids were considered to be the teachers and priests of the Celts in ancient times long before there was Christianity. Christians tried to wipe out the druids by and not limited to killing them, destroying their writings, and chasing them down until there were few left. the Celts used to be the dominate religion on the planet until then. now they are mostly found (i mean their teachings and history) in places such as Ireland and Scotland. the Christians did such a through job that only a hand full of their history still exist today. but before you switch you really need to research in depth but good luck any way. i would start by looking into the Celts first.
its what i did while looking for a religion that meant something to me.
Druidism is a catch-all name for the Celtic religion. However, I feel that as a "druid" is a title and not a religion, it shouldn't be used as a tag of religious affiliation (like Catholic--you wouldn't call Catholocism "Priestism," though admittedly some--particularly the British--have called it "Papism" and "Papistry"). That being said, I'll stay within current convention and give a shorthand to what some call "druidism."
It is believed that there were three classes in Druidism; this information is based on the writings of Roman observers (Caesar, ET AL.), as the Celts left no religious writing.* Of these three classes, the first are said to be the Ovates or Vates, who are said to be the philosophers and seers; the Bards, who are the storytellers, singers, historians; and Druids, who are the priests and judges. It is possible (though truly unknown, despite the fanciful writings of eighteenth and nineteenth century "historians") that these were progressive grades--the first grade being the Ovate (called Faidh in Gaelic, as there is no letter "v" in Gaelic), the second being the Bard, and the third being a Druid. This is certainly how modern druid organizations are set up, but there is no way to know if this is an accurate depiction of the substructure of Celtic religious hierarchy. It is known, however, that the training to be a druid took 20 years (not unlike what it takes to earn your doctorate here in the US), starting as a young man or woman.
I say woman, as it has often been debated whether there were woman druids, or if they were lesser priestesses. However, I'm inclined to believe that there were women druids, based on an examination of Roman records, the positions of women in Celtic folktales, and the relative level of equality afforded women in Celtic society.
The druids are known to have taught metempsychosis, or the transmigration of souls--we are reborn in new bodies, sometimes human, sometimes animal. This is not a punishment, unlike in Hinduism or Buddhism, but seen as a natural part of existence. The Celts did not have a philosophy that "this world is evil and must be escaped"--far from it, if the records are to be believed. Instead, "wine, women, and song" were celebrated at all times, and being reborn was considered a good thing. The Celts were said to be unafraid of death, because of their belief in this rebirth.
Take it from a Druid, Druidry generally promotes harmony and love and respect of nature and our Ancestors, and respect for all beings, including the environment.
What exactly is Druidism?
