Druids were priests, scholars, and judges for the Celtic people who practiced a polytheistic religion called druidism. They oversaw religious activities, acted as tribal historians, advised leaders, made laws, settled disputes, and practiced divination. Little physical evidence of their existence remains, but there are still groups practicing neo-druidism today. Notable Druid festivals take place at Stonehenge, although it is no longer believed to have been built by druids.
A druid is a member of an ancient Celtic religion who served as a priest, scholar, and judge for the Celtic people. Celts lived in Britain, Ireland and Western Europe until about the 5th century AD, by which time most had either disappeared or converted to Christianity. Typically, a druid oversaw religious activities, performed rituals, and also acted as a tribal historian preserving the histories of the druid’s tribe through oral histories and traditions. Also taking on the role of judge, a druid advised tribal leaders on political matters, made laws, and settled disputes.
The religion practiced by the druids was simply known as druidism and was polytheistic, meaning many gods were worshiped rather than just one. These gods could be elementals, representing fire, for example, or be associated with a particular human action or trade such as metallurgy or fishing. A druid typically practiced the art of divination, which is an attempt to predict the future through physical events, and believed that the human soul would survive through a new human body after death. There were no written sets of religious beliefs for a druid as this figure relied solely on oral tradition to pass information across the generations.
Due to the Druids’ primary use of oral tradition to preserve histories of the Celtic people, little physical evidence of their existence remains. Julius Caesar, who gave the first living account of druids, wrote some of the only written texts that referred to druidism. In his writings, he has discussed some of the religious aspects of the culture such as the belief in the indestructibility of the human soul and their penchant for bloody rituals.
There are still today groups around the world who practice a religion based on ancient druidism (known as neo-druidism) by holding festivals, usually between the change of seasons. These revivals began slowly in the 17th century as some historians and other figures “rediscovered” Druidism and initiated new orders of the religion. Some of the most notable Druid festivals take place at Stonehenge during the summer and winter solstices, although the ancient monument, located in southwest England, is no longer widely believed to have been built by druids.
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