Who Were the Druids?

The ancient Celtic languages of the British Isles were oral languages. In other words, they had no written language, therefore, we know only what their enemies said of them – namely the Romans, so, regretfully, we know very little about the history of this piece of the world, and we know even less about the ancient Druids. Today, the very name conjures up ideas of mysticism, magic and the occult.

Two years ago I had the opportunity to visit Stonehenge in Great Britain with a friend while on vacation. We were not allowed to get very close. So many visitors over the decades had taken its toll on the monument and the curators were working to conserve the landmark. However, one day a year, June 21, the summer solstice, the ropes are taken down and people can get up close and personal.

This is also a time for the strange folk wearing hooded robes and chanting in monosyllables to show up. This has become the modern day view of Druidism.

We now know that Stonehenge is no more mystical than any other observatory. That’s what it is. It accurately calculates the lunar and solar calendar (“Mindsteps to the Cosmos,” by Gerald S. Hawkins). It’s still a mystery as to how it was built and who built it, but we know its purpose. It’s a calendar.

All we really know of the Druids is what the Romans tell us, “Strabo, Diodorus, Posidonius and Julius Caesar, who portray them as overseeing bloody religious rituals.” (http://skepdic.com/druids.html)

In fact, it’s the Romans who claim the Druids committed human sacrifice – and that gave them permission to round them up by the hundreds and put them to death wherever they found them. More likely, they needed to get rid of the Druids because they were the only force who had a chance to unite all the fractious Breton tribes into a united front that could threaten the Roman invaders.

Of course, I cannot find this reference, but I did read an article some years ago about burnt remains in known Druidic alters. No human remains were found. However, they did find remains of cattle, goats, sheep and pigeons. That pretty much sums up what everyone else in the ancient world was sacrificing. Even in the Book of Leviticus, the various sacrifices are of cattle, goats, sheep and doves.

Now here’s the interesting part – what little is known or surmised by scholars – the Bretons had a Caste system society: the priestly caste, the warrior caste, the merchant caste and the farmer caste. The Celtic society was free enough that you could move from one caste to another, based on birth, rank or ambition. You find this same caste system in India, however, unlike the Celts, in India, once born into a caste, you cannot get out of it for love or money. They have one other caste, “untouchables.” But I find the similarities interesting – even if I don’t understand it all. These countries are so far apart – and the Middle East lies in between.

But, I digress.

We do know the Druids had three levels, or orders. To keep it simple because different scholars give them different names, I’ve distilled it down to the following:

The Bard – keepers of histories, traditions, poetry and genealogies.
The Priest – overseer of sacrifices & festivals and foretells the future.
The Druid – Lawyer, judge and philosopher.

Druidic education could take up to twenty years. They studied medicine, astronomy, folk histories, religious rituals, genealogies and we don’t know what else. As Judges they handled disputes between individuals, crimes - including man-slaughter, boundary disagreements, inheritances and so forth. And it was all by memorization.

The importance of a knowledge of astronomy cannot be overstated. You had to know the calendar in order to know when to have certain festivals. The Druidic or Celtic calendar was lunar and sometimes difficult to calculate. Every three years an additional 30 days had to be added to adapt to the solar calendar. Everything was determined by a calendar, which it was the Druids responsibility to maintain.

Interestingly enough, all these descriptions of what a Druid is and does pretty well fits in with what a Levitical Priest does. When the Tribes of Israel were brought out of Egypt and eventually settled in Canaan, the tribe of Levi had no landed inheritance. They were given cities instead, scattered throughout the lands. What was their function? Only a handful in Jerusalem actually performed the sacrifices. So what did the rest do? They studied the Law of Moses. They were judges, surgeons, healers, lawyers and astronomers. The Lord had prescribed many festivals and in order to properly observe them, you had to know the calendar. By the way, the Hebrew calendar is lunar.

So, were the Druids actually Levitical Priests? There is no evidence that they were, but by studying them and what they did we do find a similarity between them and the priestly practices found in many cultures from the Middle East. Hmmm.

It was something I just found interesting.

Next: What a Little Plow Can Tell Us.

(Information about Druids taken from: “The Celtic World,” by Barry Cunliffe, McGraw-Hill publishers. “Ancient Costumes of Great Britain and Ireland,” by Charles Hamilton Smith, Arch Cape Press publishers. And, Wickipedia.com.)

Arthur – What Means the Name?

When we go that far back into history where written records become scarce or non-existent and all that is left are oral traditions, names get lost and forgotten. As I dug through books and scholarly attempts to unearth a historical Arthur, one thing became clear. This was not a man’s name, but his title. In fact, nearly everyone from that period is known by a title, not a name. Take for instance, Gwenevere, or Genivieve or the modern, Jennifer. It comes from the Welsh, Gwenhwyfar: Gwen, meaning White, and hwyfar, meaning Priestess. In its simplest form, it means “Fair one” or “White One.”

I was at some Arthurian exhibit years ago – wish I could remember where – but in the exhibit, they pointed out that Arthur had three wives and they were all named Gwenevere, or , Gwenhwyfar. In Norma Goodrich’s book, “Guinevere,” she makes a compelling case that the name Lancelot is a French corruption of L’Ancelot, taken from the Latin, Anguselus, or, in modern English, “The Angus,” a Scottish title which exists today. Even Merlin appears to be more a title than a name. We’ll get to him later.

Apparently, anciently, persons of note were not called by their given names, but by their titles. So perhaps the name Arthur is a title. If so, it explains why no historian has been able to locate the man.

So what could Arthur mean? Well, let’s look at thinkbabynames.com. Here is their definition of Arthur:

It is of Celtic origin. King Arthur of Britain (sixth century) and his Round Table of knights have become legendary figures. His name was first found in the Latin form Artorius, which is of obscure origin. Other possible sources include "artos", the Celtic word for "bear"; an Irish Gaelic word meaning "stone";

I had read of Celtic, “Bear” and Irish Gaelic, “stone,” before, so this was nothing new, but years ago I read that Arthur may have been derived from Arturus – or Artorius as listed above, which, according to the forgotten author, was a Latin form for the word, “father.” In an effort to be factual, I went looking on-line to find out if that were so. Nowhere could I find a definition of Arturus related to Father. All I found was a reference to Arcturus, a star found in “The Bear” constellation. That fits with what we already know, but by now, my theory about the title Arthur was in grave jeopardy. However, I did find this in wiktionary.org.

From Old Irish aite (“foster father”) < Proto-Indo-European *átta.

Now we’re getting somewhere. I may be stretching some here. Ok, I’m stretching a lot, but look at this: átta – aite – art – artos – Arthur. That Arthur could be a corrupted form of the word Father makes sense as a title. I will try to explain.

As I studied more and more about the Celtic culture of Great Britain, the more Middle-Eastern they appeared. Their years are marked from Autumn to Autumn. This is where our modern Holloween comes from. It’s an ancient year-end rite which Roman Catholicism turned into the Eve of All Saints Day or All Hallow’s Day. All Hallow’s day becomes Halloween, which is October 31. And look, among the Jews the New Year is Rosh-Hashannah, which happens in the Autumn as well, usually falling in the end of September or sometime in October. There’s more. The Celtic day was also from sundown to sundown, just like for the Jews.

The more I studied the Celtic culture, the more connections to the Middle-East I found, including matrilineal rights of inheritance, a way of life which plays an important role in the Celtic culture, and can be found in Egypt and many other Middle-Eastern cultures. These ideas were beginning to fit in with the theory of Israel dwelling in the British Isles.

One day at work, I was watching a short dramatic video about the visit of Naaman, the Syrian military commander, to the Prophet Elisha in hopes of being cured of his leprosy. When told to bath in the Jordan River seven times, he turns away disgusted.

“And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?” (2 Kings: 5:13)

These servants called their military commander “Father.” We find the same thing in The Book of Mormon.

“And now, whether they were overtaken by Antipus we knew not, but I said unto my men: Behold, we know not but they have halted for the purpose that we should come against them, that they might catch us in their snare; Therefore what say ye, my sons, will ye go against them to battle? And now I say unto you, my beloved brother Moroni, that never had I seen so great courage, nay, not amongst all the Nephites. For as I had ever called them my sons (for they were all of them very young) even so they said unto me: Father, behold our God is with us, and he will not suffer that we should fall; then let us go forth; we would not slay our brethren if they would let us alone; therefore let us go, lest they should overpower the army of Antipus.” (Alma 56: 43-46 emphasis added.)

It is perfectly legitimate for a well beloved and successful military commander to be called “Father.”

Quite frankly, the name or title “Arthur” is hidden deep within centuries of change and obscurity, but if I’m right, that title links our Celtic Britons to the Middle East, making ties to Israel that much stronger.

Next: Who were the Druids?

The Origins of Arthur – What Little There Is

In all the searching and reading, trying to locate an actual king Arthur, there are really only two original writings that hint at a potential historical Arthur. Both documents can be found in the collection, “Six Old English Chronicles,” published in 1900, compiled and edited by J.A. Giles. I am particularly pointing to “The Works of Gildas” written in the Latin about 536 A.D., and “Nennius’s History of the Britons,” written anywhere between 796 to 994 A.D. For that matter, the editor is not even sure Nennius is the author.

But here is what they say. From Nennius, “ Then it was that the magnanimous Arthur, with all the kings and military force of Britain, fought against the Saxons. And though there were many more noble than himself, yet he was twelve times chosen their commander, and was as often conqueror.”

That’s it!

OK, let’s see what Gildas says. “…that they might not be brought to utter destruction, took arms under the conduct of Ambrosius Aurelianus, a modest man, who of all the Roman nation was then alone in the confusion of this troubled period by chance left alive.”

That’s the closest we get! No wonder everything else is considered legend. All other writings come centuries later. The next historian to mention Arthur is Geoffrey of Monmouth, writing about 1150 A.D.

As I dug through books and maps and articles, one thing became increasingly clear: The legends and stories surrounding Arthur made no sense. With each passing century the stories were expounded upon and enlarged to include a whole array of characters from the ridiculous to the sublime. The themes began to branch out to adultery and treachery. So what was I to make of it all? Was there any truth to the legend?

Just as a common theme emerges from fairy tales the same is true regarding the Arthurian stories.

1. A country of peoples, the Britons, was in peril of being overrun by an enemy – the Saxon invaders.

2. A man was selected to take up arms and lead the Britons in a fight against the Saxons.

3. After many battles, he was successful in defeating the enemy so soundly they quietly stayed in their own borders for twenty years.

Whoever this man was, what he did left a lasting impression that spread from the British Isles to Normandy and Brittany in France. It lasted through the ages and spreads around the world with the English language. Whoever he was, he has been immortalized in prose and poem, in song, theater and film. Even today, he stands as the highest ideal of strength, morality, right and virtue.

T.H. White called him, “The Once and Future King.”

Legend calls him Arthur.

Next: Arthur – what means the name?