Ancient authors called philosophers and prophets, magicians and healers druids- powerful owners of secret knowledge, who for many centuries ruled sovereignly in the endless forests of Europe. And this is quite true, because the druids are not just "wood witches" who own the secrets of the healing powers of plants.

Their teaching is a unique mixture of natural philosophy, magic and religion. And the magical systems created by these priests are so unique that humanity still continues to think about them.

Around 400 BC the great Battle of the Trees took place - so says the ancient Celtic legend. This date has long been considered the year of the appearance of the greatest magicians of mankind - the druids. The word "druid" in the Celtic languages ​​means "man of the oak." The root "dru" corresponds to the word "oak" - the most revered tree among the Celts, which they called "the king of everything."

“There is nothing more sacred to the Druids than the mistletoe and the oak on which it grows. Only for this reason they choose oak forests and do not perform any ritual without the foliage of this tree ... They really believe that everything that grows on oak is sent by heaven and means that this tree was chosen by God himself ... " Pliny wrote in his Natural History.

Celtic druids were experts in the vast virgin forest, its properties and possibilities. They believed that trees connected heaven and earth. According to them, the leaves and branches "caught" the energy of the sun and transported it down the trunk to the roots. Reverence for this form of life even led the Celtic people, referring to the clergy, to use the term: "people-trees."

The Druids, possessing vast knowledge in all spheres of human activity, were of paramount importance in the life of the Celts. Healers, scientists, judges - for mere mortals they were "intermediaries between people and gods." The druids kept everyone under their control, including kings, and enjoyed unlimited power.

Here is what Diodorus Siculus wrote about the Druids: “The Druids are wise and are the supreme power in Celtia. All state affairs are necessarily managed with their participation, and they rule with an iron hand. The priests retain their full authority through their supernatural prescriptions.

Initially, hermits-sorcerers were called druids, whose public duty was to take care of the spiritual values ​​​​of the Celtic communities. The Celts - a group of original tribes - for several centuries owned almost half of the then known world. They were people with a romantic and superstitious soul, fearless and skillful.

The ancient Roman historian Polybius wrote about the Celts: “These are tall and hardy people, beautiful and blue-eyed ... They strive to develop culture and establish centers for education in their cities. They are born riders, brave, loyal and strong.”

In the first half of the last millennium BC. in the territory north of the Alps, the Celtic tribes were the first to stand out from the mass of nameless primitive peoples. The initial pages of the written history of the Celts were marked by devastating raids on the richest centers of that time. The educated southern, in particular the Greek and Roman, world was stunned by the courage and courage of the Celts.

Therefore, already in the IV century. The Celts, whom the Romans called "Gauls", were considered one of the largest barbarian peoples of the then world, along with the Persians and Scythians. This people did not achieve complete ethnic unity and did not create a single state formation - a power that would unite various tribes into an organized whole.

But he created a unique culture, one of the most important components of which was the special knowledge of the priestly class - the teachings of the wise druids.

The main aspect of this teaching is the belief in the immortality of the soul. Diodorus Siculus argued that the teachings of Pythagoras were widespread among the Druids, according to which the souls of people are immortal and capable of gaining life in another body. The Druids did their best to strengthen this conviction in their fellow tribesmen. They believed that such a belief would remove the fear of death and inspire courage in the warriors.

The main subject of concern for the Druids were the spiritual values ​​of the Celtic people: rituals, sacrifices, healing, prediction of the future, oral preservation of legends. It can be said that the community made the hermits responsible for all the main sign systems of their existence: the druids had to follow the systems of measures and weights, divination and omens, the calendar, rituals and signs.

Each druid was a member of a peculiar order of initiates, headed by a priest who enjoyed the greatest authority among his brethren. The arch druids made up the top of the entire class of hermit priests.

It was contraindicated for them to engage in physical labor, the community provided them with everything necessary. They lived in sacred oak groves, and caves served as their dwelling. Druids were not supposed to own any property.

It was customary for the Druids to unite in friendly alliances (geteria) in order to jointly comprehend the secrets of mastery. Druids oversaw the correctness of public sacrifices and interpreted all matters related to religion. Diodorus Siculus testified that the Celts made sacrifices only with the participation of the Druids.

It was simply necessary to resort to the mediation of the druids, since the Celts believed that they knew the disposition of the gods and were able to speak their language. The presence of the druid gave hope that the sacrifices of thanksgiving would be accepted favorably and would allow them to achieve the highest mercy. Before the Christianization of the Celtic peoples, their traditional royal sacrifice consisted of the ritual "mating" of a druid with a horse, after which the animal was sacrificed.

There were also frequent human casualties. Usually criminals and prisoners of war were sacrificed, but when there were none, fellow tribesmen were also killed. The unfortunate were burned, killed with arrows or stabbed to death with a sword. This left an indelible impression, forced to obey the will of the priests undividedly.

Blood sacrifices, the performance of which was one of the main functions of the Druids, were incompatible not only with the Roman ideas about worship, but also with the Christian cult that replaced them. Therefore, already in the middle of the IV century. n e. Bishops and presbyters of Spain, Gaul and Britain began to forbid the Celts converted to Christianity to carry out traditional sacrifices.

But as we have already said, not a single rite could do without the participation of a druid in the life of a Celt: from the birth of a person to his burial. Even the names of born babies were given by hermit sages (they also named rivers, lakes, cities and even trees).

The rite of naming the baby was accompanied by a prediction of his future. Depending on the prospects that opened up, the druid imposed prohibitions on the life of the baby, designed to correct unfavorable omens. Ritual taboos - geys - had the right to impose only the druids. They skillfully manipulated prohibitions in order to subordinate the lives of their fellow tribesmen to a whole system of strict rules.

For example, it was predicted to someone that he would die in a fight with a dog. It is clear that such a person avoided meeting with a forbidden animal all his life. It happened that a person all his adult life avoided traveling in a wagon or fording a river.

Along with the Druids, the Gallic tribes had two more groups of people who enjoyed special respect in society: bards and soothsayers. Bards were singers and poets who glorified the exploits of famous men; soothsayers were in charge of sacred rites and studied the nature of the divine.

But the druids, according to Ammianus Marcellinus, excelled everyone in education and penetration into the secrets of the universe. Here is what Posidonius wrote about this: "Druids are recognized as the most honored among other priests and having great authority in matters of peace and war."

Indeed, the Celtic hermits, experienced in the art of "divination and all other wisdom," had a huge impact on the political life of Gaul, in particular on the institution of royal power. Often they not only ritually sanctioned the choice of a new king, but also nominated candidates for the royal position themselves.

At the Irish royal court, the Druids were surrounded by the greatest honor. An old Irish geis forbade the king to speak before the druid had spoken. Without the advice of the druids, the rulers did not dare to make any important decision. Therefore, it was the Druids who were the true rulers of the countries of Celtia, and the kings who sat on luxurious thrones were only executors of their will.

Druids often played the role of ambassadors and conducted the foreign affairs of their tribes and communities. So, a contemporary of Caesar, the druid Divitiak, asked for help from the Roman Senate in the war against the Sequani, the allies of the Germans. Usually the druids did not take part in the war (they were generally exempt from all services and duties). Their main functions in the war were reduced to divination about the outcome of battles and the use of so-called combat magic: protective - for their tribe and harmful - for opponents.

There is documentary evidence that the druids prevented war more than once simply by walking between two armies facing each other and whispering spells. One of the most effective means in the druid's arsenal was the curse that the sorcerer sent to the enemies before the decisive battle: "I will curse the enemies and begin to blaspheme and defame, I will take away their stamina in battle with my power."

However, one should not imagine the druids solely as weak, handsome old men who did not hold anything heavier than a ritual rod in their hands. Many druids who fell into the annals of history became famous as brave warriors who led squads and entire squads.

Druids were the main arbiters of human destinies among the Celtic tribes and in peacetime. The people considered the priests to be the fairest and wisest of people, therefore they were entrusted with the consideration of all disputes that arose. Whether a petty crime or murder was committed, whether there was a lawsuit about an inheritance - the decision on all these issues was made by the druids.

In resolving disputes, the priests mainly relied on three things: the "cauldron of truth", wood, and touching the altar. A cauldron of truth was a silver or golden vessel, which, it was believed, made it possible to distinguish truth from lies.

It was filled with boiling water and the defendant's hand was immersed in it. If he was guilty, the hand turned out to be scalded, but if there was no guilt on him, then the boiling water did not cause him any harm. One could swear that one's words were right by touching a tree or an altar. According to the sounds or other signs emanating from these objects, knowledgeable druids judged the innocence or guilt of the defendant.

The druids were also famous as excellent healers. There were legends that they had the ability to recognize a person’s illness by the smoke that flowed from his dwelling alone. Only they, the priests claimed, knew the healing properties of 350 plants: trees, shrubs and herbs.

During the year, the students of the Druids got acquainted with a new healing plant every day of the lunar month. They sought to recognize the healing properties of the plant, to master various methods of collecting, drying, decoctions and infusions of medicinal herbs. It is believed that the Druids received their famous elixir of oblivion exclusively on the basis of plants.

In total, the druids practiced three archaic types of healing - fire, iron and medicine - without fail accompanying healing procedures with conspiracies and witchcraft. Just like many other healers of antiquity, the Druids resorted to healing with the help of sleep caused by special music.

The druids also mastered the art of divination. Most often, community members were interested in the prospects for the development of events on the eve of the war, their own fate and forecasts about who would become the next king. The best way to predict the outcome of the battle among the Druids was considered fire from rowan wood: if the flame of the fire turned towards one of the troops participating in the battle, he should hastily retreat.

Druids were also able to recognize the future by signs and omens associated with the animal world. It was believed, for example, that the flight and cries of birds have a foreshadowing character. The Druids were also credited with the ability to cast spells on the waters and “bind” them so that reservoirs were shallow everywhere, springs dried up, wells dried up.

Other craftsmen, on the contrary, could “untie” the waters: with a blow of the tip of the spear, they brought underground sources to the surface and filled the reservoirs with life-giving moisture. Among the stories of powerful druids commanding the elements, a special place is occupied by legends about their dominance over the winds. This art was used by druids, for example, to try to prevent the approach of enemy troops.

Struck by a terrible spell - "the breath of the druids" - the enemy soldiers ceased to distinguish their own from strangers and could kill each other in blindness.

It was not customary for the Druids, the keepers and interpreters of ancient wisdom, to write down whatever knowledge they possessed. The sacred secrets of dendrology, astrology, nature and human life have been passed down by sages for centuries from mouth to mouth. They revealed their secret knowledge to students far from people, in the depths of caves and forests.

Hermits told a lot about the luminaries and their movement, about the world, about nature, about the power and power of the gods. The Druids were known throughout Europe for their schools and universities. Tara in Ireland, and Oxford, Anglesey, and Iona were considered the best among these schools. Only the most capable young people, mainly from the upper classes, could receive education in such institutions.

“Druids have a great power of education,” Caesar wrote. - One who has not received an education is not allowed to conduct any public activities. All people of the upper class seek to send their children into training and show a desire to keep them in the order. Universities are like monasteries.

The youth taught by the druids are taken to the most secluded places, to caves, forests, or rocky ravines. The full term for obtaining a completed education is at least twenty years. Young druids are trained in individual or general programs, but, regardless of this, each must learn about twenty thousand verses.

Since the Druids never wrote down the secrets of their wisdom, they left a negligible amount of written records, most of which belong to Ireland. In this country, druidism - the original religion of the Celts - persisted for a particularly long time, until modern times. In the rest of the territory, the teachings of the Druids existed only until the beginning of the Roman occupation.

The Druids fought in every possible way against Romanization, and therefore the Roman authorities were especially interested in eliminating the Celtic sages. There is also an assumption that the Druids disappeared not so much under the pressure of the Roman administration or the Christian religion, but as a result of cutting down the virgin forests of Western Europe, which served for many centuries as a haven for the Druids.

"We are the keepers of the balance, now and always, while Malfurion sleeps. Don't forget it."

Tauren Druid

Druids(eng. Druid) called themselves those who receive strength from sources associated with nature and the Emerald Dream. The early night elf druids were thought to be the guardians of the world, focusing on healing and the preservation of the environment, but later druidism developed among other races, who were able to connect with the Emerald Dream and the spirits of nature in various ways.

Story

The druids of the night elves followed the wisdom of the Ancients and Cenarius, most important to them was the balance of nature, maintaining the delicate balance between plants, animals, and climate. Druids drew their powers from the wild, using them to transform their bodies into animal forms and control the weather, for example.

Teldrassil

Notable Representatives

• Cenarius - lord of the forests, son of Elune.
• Malfurion Stormrage is an arch druid.
• Broll Bearpelt is a night elf arch druid and friend of Varian Wrynn.
• Remulos is the guardian of Moonglade.
• Hamuul Runetotem is a tauren archdruid.
• Fandral Staghelm is a former night elf archdruid who betrayed his people.
• Zeitar is the father of the centaurs.
• Zen "tabra is the leader of the Darkspear Druids.

Cataclysm

cataclysm to World of Warcraft.

Zen "tabra - the first druid of the Darkspear

Darkspear Trolls

The source of information in this section is an addendum cataclysm to World of Warcraft.

The troll medicine men succeeded in becoming druids and actively participated in the overthrow of Zalazane. An agreement between the nature spirits and the druids of Darkspear is that the spirits will assist in the training of the new druids of the tribe while life flourishes on the Echo Isles.

Gilneas

The source of information in this section is an addendum cataclysm to World of Warcraft.

Some of the kingdom's inhabitants have long practiced druidism, although they do not assume the forms known to the night elves. It is known that with their magic they helped farmers in lean years.

After the residents of Gilneas moved to Darnassus, these druids were able to become familiar with night elf druidism and learn more about it.

centaurs

The source of information in this section is board game guides in the Warcraft universe.

Like all descendants of Cenarius, centaurs distinguish druidism from other beliefs. However, centaur druids do not fit into the usual confines of the teachings. Instead of striving for balance with nature, these druids manipulate it, using it to serve their own ends. If a plant or animal does not obey the centaur's will, it must be enslaved or destroyed. For weeks, night elf or tauren druids heal the damage done to nature by centaur druids.

Who are the druids? Where did they come from in our "civilization" and why did they leave it ten centuries before us?

“I am the messenger of divine wisdom that hides behind hundreds of veils and lives among vain peoples. From century to century we are reborn and clothe the ancient truth in new words. We are seldom deified, even more rarely glorified, but we continue to do our duty. All the knowledge of the world is collected in the wisdom, the light of which we carry. I know that I have been born many times... I am a magician. This is the one who owns wisdom, will and strength. By combining these three forces, he commands the elements. But he can do even more: he commands souls.”

All Indo-European peoples at the beginning of their development had a similar structure - a caste system that included three main groups: priests, warriors and artisans (farmers). At the same time, it was the priests who were initially at the head of the people - the wisest and most just. History has brought us evidence of Indian Brahmins, Slavic Magi, but perhaps the most famous today are the Druids - the priests of the Celtic people. It is believed that the strength that the Celts possessed (judging by historical facts and legendary evidence), they owed to the Druids. Druids were priests, teachers, healers, poets, musicians, and keepers of ancient knowledge. Not a single event in the life of the Celts happened without their participation. We know a lot about them, but even what we know does not answer the main question: what is their secret?

A bit of etymology

Pliny says that drus, the Greek word for oak, is the etymological root of the word druid. In the literature, you can often find the same connection coming from the names of oak in other languages: dervo- (Gaulish), daur (Irish), derw (Welsh), derv (Breton). There are many other opinions about the origin of the word "druid". Perhaps the closest to this riddle is Françoise Leroux, who in her book on the druids calls them dru-wid-es, "very learned." The Latin verb videre ("to see"), the Gothic witan and the Germanic witan ("to know") show the essence of the concept of "druid". So a druid is one who knows.

As the ancient wisdom repeated by Francis Bacon says, to know is to be able.

What could the druids do?

They could, with their presence or a few words, pacify the enraged armed men who were ready to rush into battle.

Here is what Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian of the 1st century BC, says about this. BC: "Often they come out between the troops lined up in battle formation, threatening swords, bristling spears, and they kill them, as if taming some wild animals."

Another example from Irish legends: “Before us, in the east, outside I saw another army. A calm, venerable man, white-haired, walked at his head. He is dressed in dazzling white robes with a border of pure silver; on his body is a beautiful whitest tunic; under the cloak, the light silver hilt of his sword is visible, and he carries a bronze rod on his shoulder. His voice is gentle, like music; his speech is strong and clear ... The anger of all the men in the world, from sunrise to sunset, he would humble with three kind words ... "

It is believed that the druids were able to predict the future by signs and omens. Cicero, for example, wrote that the Galatian druid king Deiotar understood the signs given by birds. Legends often speak of the miraculous gift of the druids by signs to determine the outcome of battles and see the future through the veil of time.

There is evidence (which, of course, may be fiction, but may not be) about the amazing power of the druids over the elements: earth, water, air, fire. The legends say that the druids could communicate with the souls of the trees and cooperate with the elves and dwarves. They could stop an earthquake and cause a storm.

... Immediately Taliesin stepped forward and said: “You will not kill my master ...” Suddenly, a terrible tornado burst into the hall. It seemed that the castle was collapsing, and no one in the hall dared to leave their place ... No one dared to move, and the storm grew and roared like a waterfall.

From the book by E. Schure "Great Legends of France"

They were doctors and healers. They knew the subtle properties of medicinal plants, were able to heal with music, word, touch and even presence. Pliny writes: “They called mistletoe by a name meaning ‘one that heals everything’... They believe that mistletoe, if made into a drink, heals livestock from barrenness and serves as a remedy for all poisons.” Olliach, "all-healing," is how the Welsh tradition calls mistletoe.

They believed in the healing properties of sleep, knew many healing spells, and at the same time, as the myth of the god Nuadu testifies, they used surgery. One of the Irish legends says: “This man has the power and wisdom of a healer, the art of healing wounds, the ability to conquer death and overcome any ailment ... He recognized a person’s illness by one smoke coming out of his house, or by his exhalations alone” .

How to become a druid apprentice?

The druids chose their disciples according to the qualities of their hearts and according to the signs that accompanied their fate. Wisdom could only be accepted by a person with a noble soul, who is not able to use knowledge for his power and will not distort it, therefore it was forbidden to write down the teaching. As a result, when the Druids disappeared from the field of view of European civilization around the 10th-11th centuries, they took with them both their wisdom and their magic.

The druids may have had their own stages of training and initiation. Ancient Greek geographer and historian AD Strabo writes: “Among all the Gallic tribes, generally speaking, there are three groups of people who are especially revered: the soothsayers and the druids. Bards are singers and poets, soothsayers are in charge of sacred rites and study nature, while druids, in addition to studying nature, are also engaged in ethics ... ”There are sources that say that bards, soothsayers (who are sometimes called ovates) and druids are three stages dedications.

Bards, according to the legends, had the power to remain silent and the power to speak. They studied rhythms, sounds and proportions. They cognized the energy flows in nature, felt its music and had the ability to transmit this music. They knew the magic of sound, the magic of words and images. They learned from nature and absorbed its sound with all their being.

“Do you see the harp that makes men and angels weep? This is a sign of divine inspiration. With her you will enchant people, guide the king and predict the fate of the people. When you touch her, you will feel my breath. With this harp I will speak to you. Nobody will know my name. No man will be allowed to see me."

From the book by E. Schure "Great Legends of France"

Soothsayers, or ovata, could represent the second stage of initiation into the druids. In addition to the mysteries of nature, they studied the great power of thought, which breaks through the boundaries of space and time, destroys obstacles and opens up new horizons. They predicted the future by signs and symbols, they could catch the smallest signs in the life and condition of a person, in nature and the universe. We may laugh at the ridiculous stories about the ability to predict the future, as the Romans did, but in the 1st century AD, Celtic soothsayers, according to Cornelius Tacitus, predicted the end of Rome: “Possessed by ridiculous superstitions, the Druids told them that ... Capitol, and this clearly shows that the gods are angry with Rome and dominion over the world should go to the peoples living on the other side of the Alps.

The druids themselves are the highest level that a person deserved after many years of study (according to various sources - at least 20).

Many forms I changed until I found freedom.
I was the edge of the sword - truly it was;
I was a raindrop, and I was a ray of stars;
I was a book and a capital letter in this book;
I shone with a lantern, dispersing the darkness of the night;
I stretched out as a bridge over the course of mighty rivers;
I flew like an eagle in the sky...
And the Lord himself was excited when he saw my birth, -
After all, I was created by a magician from magicians before the creation of the world;
I lived and remember when the world emerged from chaos.
O bards! I'll sing to you what the tongue won't tell...

From the Celtic poem "The Battle of the Trees"

They were advisors and mentors to kings. Various myths speak of this, the most famous and revered of which is the myth of the Great Merlin.

Great Merlin

According to the legends of Britain and Gaul, according to Geoffrey, the archdeacon of Monmouth, Merlin was a great druid - magician, clairvoyant and soothsayer. He was the mentor of the legendary King Arthur, who became the symbol of the ruler who carried out the will of Heaven on earth.

Here is what Geoffrey of Monmouth writes in The History of the Britons (beginning of the 12th century) about the origin of Merlin: “The amazed king ordered Maugantius to be summoned to him so that he could explain whether what the woman told was possible. Maugantius, who was brought to Vortegyrn, after listening to everything in order, said to him like this: “From the books of our philosophers and many historical works, I learned that many people were born just like that. For, speaking of the deity of Socrates, Apuleius reports that between the moon and the earth dwell incorporeal spirits, which we call incubi. They are partly human, partly angelic, and when they wish, they assume human form and unite with our women. One of them, perhaps, appeared before this woman and gave birth to this young man in her.

But Merlin's gift, the legends say, was not based on personal ability or exercise. In one of the dialogues in the History of the Britons, Merlin speaks of the spirit that guides him through life for the sake of a great mission and great deeds: “Secrets of this kind are not to be revealed unless absolutely necessary. For if I were to set them out for fun or to amuse my vanity, the spirit that enlightens me would fall silent in me, and if there was a need for it, it would leave me.

“Yesterday, in the stormy darkness of the night, the will of the gods was going on there in the name of some distant goal, which was only occasionally revealed to my eye. And I, Merlin, the son of Ambrosius, who inspires people with awe as a soothsayer and seer, was that night just an instrument in the hands of the gods. For the sake of this, the gift of providence was sent down to me, a power was given that people understand as witchcraft.
From the book by M. Stuart "Hollow Hills"

Have the druids gone?

There are more legends than truth about druids, more fiction than facts, more fairy tales than scientific data. But when the Celtic New Year comes and fashion-inspired youth rush to light new fires, today, a thousand years after the departure of the last magicians of the Celtic people, it seems that invisible doors are opening from our world to the sacred world of the Druids. At such moments, we want to ask Merlin and the great druids of Armorica and Ulster to give them the strength to help those we love and protect what we believe in.

But the druids are long gone...

Probably, these were great people, magicians and teachers. According to legends and tales, each of them reached Tula, the island of perfection, and could stay there, in the land of Bliss. But legends say they have returned. For the sake of those remaining, ordinary people who are moving heavily through the circle of Abred - a world where a person has to go through all the degrees of trials and reach Gwynwood, the circle of light.

Who are the druids? Where did they come from in our "civilization" and why did they leave it ten centuries before us? Maybe they didn't leave? Maybe now a man in white robes is saying a sacred spell somewhere on a distant island, where neither train, nor ship, nor plane can reach? Maybe he is waiting for a new student, a new bard and fortune teller? Maybe the Great Merlin is already waking up, and his harp sounds, and calls somewhere ...

Saint Patrick - Heir of the Druids

Patrick is Ireland's most revered saint, baptist and patron. Irish sources, however, much later, mark the beginning of Patrick's activity in 432, his death - with two dates: 461 and 493. According to an old legend, it was he who explained to the Druids the meaning of the Trinity - God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, using the shamrock as an example. However, according to another interpretation, the shamrock explained the ancient druidic doctrine of the existence of three circles of the world - Sugant, Abred and Gwynwood.

He was from a wealthy family in Gaul. At the age of seventeen, he fell into the hands of robbers and was sold as a slave to Ireland. After fleeing Ireland, Patrick ended up in France, where, living in a monastery for 12 years, he studied religion under the French Bishop St. Germain. According to the legends, having returned to Ireland, he defeats the druids of King Loegaire in a contest: “he is the first to kindle the sacred fire and defeat them in magical contests, demonstrating his supreme power over the world of light and darkness, fire and water.” And, as was said in an old manuscript, when the innocence of faith was recognized by the people of Ireland, and when Loegaire and his druids were struck by the great miracles and divas performed by Patrick, then they believed and began to do the will of Patrick.

One important riddle is connected with Patrick and the Celts: why on the island, where there were strong centers of druidism and strong royal power, was the new faith accepted absolutely bloodlessly and without resistance?

Irish Christianity in general has become a special page in the history of both the Celtic and the Christian worlds. “Christianity on the island took on its own, in many respects different from the common form. The Irish monks had a special tonsure and calculated the Easter cycle differently from the way it was intended from Rome and was generally accepted. But the main difference was rooted in the very organization of the Irish church and believers, which, in a short time after the adoption of Christianity, established itself on a single principle - monasteries and their communities, or, as the Irish used to say, "families."

St. Patrick was the star of the first magnitude in a brilliant galaxy of "strange Celtic saints", so strange that, for example, St. Jerome calls the Irish schismatics, the popes often exhorted the English kings by bulls to exterminate “these wicked ones”, and their bishops did not receive investiture from Rome until the time of the English invasion” (T. Moore).

The Irish monks were surprisingly tolerant of the old faith; moreover, they painstakingly wrote down legends and sagas of their people in their scriptoriums. If not for their work, then, probably, these legends would not have reached us. It is striking that they maintained relations with the filids (Irish priests and storytellers), whose schools existed in parallel with these monasteries, and the monks recorded their songs for posterity.

The conclusion suggests itself: in Ireland there was a conscious merging of two traditions - ancient and later, and the organization of the island druids took the form of a new religion in order to preserve truth and knowledge in the coming era. Many facts can be cited in support of this: for example, all Irish monasteries arose on the sites of former druidic centers, and often the fire that burned in the name of an ancient deity was not even extinguished, but continued to be maintained by monks or nuns, and the deity acquired the status of a “saint”.

“In Ireland, there was not a break, but a merging, though very peculiar, of two traditions, the heritage of the oldest of which fit into the system of the new one, was curtailed and transformed, but not rejected and cursed. We are all used to the fact that the deities of the defeated paganism took the place of devils, demonic creatures and other evil spirits in the system of the new Christian worldview. In Ireland, they were destined for a different, much more honorable fate - they became saints along with Patrick himself.<...>The monasteries of Imblekh-Ibar, Bek-Eriu and others were located on the site of pagan sanctuaries. It is important that not only elements of the previous system were inherited in Ireland, but also its integral model” (S. Shkunaev).

Thanks to this step, the Druids were able to extend the life of the ancient tradition, to transfer part of it to the new world. Thanks to them, myths emerged in Europe that became fundamental to European civilization, and in particular the myth of the Holy Grail, which Jung called the last of the great myths that rose to the surface from the depths of the collective unconscious, a myth that became fundamental to Western civilization.

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Which they passed on to the youth by word of mouth. Druid schools also existed among the island Celts. However, among the Irish and Britons, the druids lost their function as poets early, and after the introduction of Christianity in the 5th century, they quickly degenerated into village healers. It has been suggested that the institution of the Druids passed to the Celts from the primitive population.

In the new Western European literature, the image of the druid is introduced and widely used by the poetry of romanticism (and movements close to it) as a motif of national exoticism and fantasy. Wed "Bards".

It is believed that the druids received their sacred function from women - druidess. It is believed that in the primitive European tribes, it was women who were the first to establish a sacred connection with the Ancestors as with a great deity, and this was the birth of religion in Europe. Further, a quote from Eduard Schure's The Great Initiates (1914), chapter "Human Races and the Origin of Religions": "The primitive soothsayers of the white race formed a college of druidesses, under the supervision of the elders or druids," oak people ". In the beginning they were a beneficent phenomenon. With their intuition, their prophetic gift, their enthusiasm, they gave a strong impetus to that race, which at that time began its centuries-old struggle with blacks. But the rapid corruption and horrendous excesses of these institutions were inevitable. Feeling themselves to be the spiritual rulers of the peoples, the Druidesses wanted to subdue them at all costs in the earthly sense. When they lost inspiration, they tried to dominate through fear. They demanded human sacrifices and made them necessary elements of their cult. In this they were assisted by the heroic instincts of their race. The whites were brave: their warriors despised death; at the first call of the druidess, they went voluntarily and, in order to distinguish themselves, threw themselves under the knives of their bloodthirsty priestesses. Then E. Schure develops the idea that after the revolutionary transformations of Rama, the Europeans began to actively mix with the black race and the Aryan race was formed. Throughout the Indo-European continent, the role of a woman remained only as the guardian of the hearth and the concept of "druidess" was gradually erased from languages.

Name etymology

In classical texts, the name "druid" occurs only in the plural: "druidai" in Greek, "druidae" and "druides" in Latin. The forms "drasidae" or "drysidae" are either scribal errors or the result of manuscript corruption. Lukanov's "dryadae" was clearly influenced by the Greek name for tree nymphs (Latin "dryads"). Old Irish has the word "drui", which is singular, the plural form is "druid". There have been many discussions about the origin of this word. Today, many are inclined to the point of view of ancient scientists, in particular Pliny, that it is associated with the Greek name for oak - “drus”. Its second syllable is considered as coming from the Indo-European root "wid", equated to the verb "to know". The relationship with a similar word looks quite logical for a religion whose sanctuaries were located in the mixed oak forests of Central Europe.

This first time etymology, based on the Greek "drus", has received extensive support in scholarly circles. Arising from the use of oak in Gallic ritual, it gave rise to problems that for a long time only exacerbated the hesitations of linguists. Pliny, of course, was quite sincere in expressing his opinion, but he, like all his contemporaries, was often content with folk or analogical etymologies. If the name of the Druids belonged to a specifically Celtic world and can only be explained on the basis of the Celtic languages, then its constituent elements are of Indo-European origin: the Gallic form "druides" (in the singular "druis"), which Caesar uses throughout the entire text of the Gallic Wars ”, as well as the Irish “drui”, go back to a single prototype “dru-wid-es”, “very learned”, containing the same root as the Latin verb “videre”, “to see”, the Gothic “witan”, German "wissen", "to know". In the same way, it is not difficult to detect the homonymy of the words denoting "science" and "forest" characteristic of the Celtic language (Gaulish "vidu-"), while there is no real possibility of connecting the name "druids" with the name "oak" ( Gaulish dervo-, Irish daur, Welsh derw, Breton derv). Even if the oak occupied a certain place in the cult practice of the Druids, it would be a mistake to reduce the idea of ​​the Druids to the cult of the oak; on the contrary, their priestly functions were very extensive.

Bibliography

• D'Arbois de Jubainville H., Introduction à l'étude de la littérature celtique, tt. I-X, 1883, 1901;
• His own, Les druides et les dieux celtiques à forme d'animaux, 1906;
• Bonwiek, I., Irish Druids, 1894;
• Mac Culloch, The Religion of the Ancient Celts, 1911;
• Sharp E. A. and Matthay L., ed. Lyra celtica, 1924.

Links

• Edward Shure. Great Initiates. Essay on the Esotericism of Religions
• Excavations of the alleged burial of the druid - a note on the "World Archeology"

The article is based on materials from the Literary Encyclopedia 1929-1939.

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In the culture of the Celts, the druid performed the role of a priest. The name druid itself comes, according to researchers, from drus, the ancient name of the oak tree, dedicated to the druids themselves. In addition to their main function as a priest, the druids were teachers, poets, ... ... Encyclopedia of mythology

Druida, m. [fr. druide] (historical). Priest of the ancient Celts. There are several versions of the origin of the word "druid". It is erected to the Greek "oak", to the Celtic "faith", to the ancient British "sage" Big Dictionary of Foreign Words. Publishing house ... ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

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