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Druids, By Gary Droit. One of my favorite things is finding out about the life of our ancient ancestors, an extension of
my interest in genealogy and family history. It helps us to understand how present-day things came to be. Halloween, for instance,
is a tradition that dates back before Christ in Europe where the Druids ruled. It is believed that the Druids constructed
the several-thousand-year-old circle of huge stones at Stonehenge in the British Isles, providing physical evidence that they
existed 'way back in pre-history. The Druids were the priests and the law in pre-Roman Europe. They were there even before
the Gaelic people came. When the Celts took over, they integrated the Druidic religion into their own, and kept the Druids
as their priests and lawgivers, since the Celts were content to be the warrior class. The Druids were exempt from military
service, being holy people. Very little has come down to us in the way of writings concerning the Druids. The main reason
for this is that the Druids themselves did not allow the writing of their teachings. Writing was considered a memory aid,
and they wanted their students to develop their memorization skills. It was also believed that writing something down detracted
from its power, demeaning the thing written down. The other reason for the scarcity of writings concerning the Druids is that
the Roman priests considered such writings to be heresy, and destroyed all they came across. The reason we have what knowledge
we do have concerning the Druids is that they did teach people to commit knowledge to memory. This memorized knowledge has
come down to us in the form of the folklore of Ireland and Scotland! Much of this folklore has now been written down.
I have obtained what I know of the Druids and Celts primarily from the writings of D.P. MacLeod at Dalriada - Celtic Heritage
Trust, and from Celtic Heart, and Paddynet. It should be noted that the Druids and Celts inhabited not only Ireland and
Scotland, but all of Europe. The reason they are known mainly from Ireland and Scotland is that the Romans did not occupy
these lands when they had supposedly conquered "the world." The Romans eradicated all evidence of Celtic religion from the
regions they did occupy. It is known from the writings of the Greeks and Romans that, prior to Rome becoming a world power,
the Celts had an alliance with the Greeks! About 400 BC, the Celts actually sacked Rome, a good reason for the Romans to want
to eradicate them. The languages spoken throughout Europe, with the possible exception of Italian, are referred to as
"Germanic" languages. This reflects the fact that the Celts were originally from the area of Germany, 'way back before anyone
can reasonably reckon. Say 12,000 BC. Due to the prevalence of red and blonde hair among the Celts and Germans, and the name
of "Dan" being common (Danmark, Tuatha de Danaan), one could reasonably assume descendance from the Israelite tribe of Dan.
Furthermore, the similarity in pronunciation of "Eire" and "Ur" produces speculation that the Israelites and the Celts may
be orginally from the same area. Thus are the people of the world related. In the absence of writing, it is impossible to
know the generation-by-generation genealogy of the human race, but there is much other evidence which allows us to come up
with a general idea. The Druids were the priestly caste whose duties were somewhat all-encompassing, in that they were
also the teachers, the judges, and the law of the land. They were in a way the keepers of all knowledge. At the time, the
law was the province of the Gods (We have this same concept yet today when we think of Christ as our King, to whom we owe
sole obedience), and the Druids could converse with the Gods, discovering their will. The idea of the Druids being "The Law"
is evidenced in France, where the word for "Law" is Droit, the French pronunciation of Druid. (The "uid" ending is actually
pronounced "uit") It is recorded in Greek and/or Roman writings that the nobility of those civilizations often employed
Celtic teachers, who drew their learning from Britain, (Celtic pronunciation is Pretain) which is said to be the ancestral
home of the Druids. Celtic teachers would make pilgrimages there to keep up with the latest knowledge. Since teaching was
the domain of the Druids, it is likely that these particular Celtic teachers were actually Druids, whose motivation for travelling
so far and wide was most likely to increase their store of knowledge about the world, and about their potential enemies in
foreign lands. Their pilgrimages to the homeland would have been to inform the "High Druids" of goings-on at the edges of
the world. When "the world" converted to Christianity, some in the homeland converted on purpose, and not under duress,
becoming priests and bishops of the "new" religion in order to maintain their status and control, and to avoid the inquisition
which resulted in many of their peers being exterminated. See "The Coming of Columba" at Dalriada. E-mail to use
in print Reprint permission for Internet use (use on web sites or in e-newsletters) is granted only if all information below
this notice, including the WWIO web site link and authors biography are included as written. Brought to you by:
World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online. About the author:
Gary Droit is a (mainly) self-educated "Renaissance Man", being interested in science, art, anthropology, literature, Christianity,
and most all things. He has been supporting himself and his family by repairing business machines (NCR corporation 1966-1990)
and computers, building computers, installing and maintaining networks, and doing web design and graphics. He is presently
interested in being a freelance writer. Email ObieWanKnobe@Earthling.net Website http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Troy/3054/
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