My thoughts on the significance of The Druids (Ellis)

by EnchantedWolf | Apr 21, 2011 | Ellis: The Druids

Well, out of the plethora of poorly-researched (or in some cases, not-researched) books on Druids and the Celts in general out there, Ellis’ work is that of someone who spent a large part of his adult professional life studying, writing and researching Celtic culture and society. As an academician, Ellis had access to resources that the average individual would not, and the writing skills and time to set forth his ideas lucidly and well. He is also a part of the living Celtic culture, through his involvement as International Chairman of the Celtic League, his University studies, plethora of writings, and his time as chairman and vice-president of the London Association for Celtic Education. His awards, honors and prolific writing career – on Celtic studies – are tremendous. This translates to someone whose opinion is a learned one, one that a group such as ADF, can trust, as it based on well-founded research, archaeological findings, and good, old-fashioned critical thinking.

The significance to me? I learned a lot of things, very early on, about Celts and Celtic culture, that cleared up some mythologies and sloppy thinking on my part. I did, however, find certain things unsettling. For instance, the idea that ‘Celtic culture’ has nothing to do with ancestry or bloodline at all, but is strictly linguistic and cultural. Growing up in America, how I connected to my spiritual path was through my ancestors – Scottish Gaels – and I thought of myself as a modern Celt. While it is true that my Grandmother was born and raised in Scotland, and my family came to America in living memory, I was born here in America and raised in American culture, and American English is my native language. Under this strict definition, I’m not a ‘Celt’ or a Gael at all. This leaves me floundering, for I have no identity, culturally, then. Both my Mother and Grandmother are very ‘Scottish’ culturally and raised that way, and it’s difficult to describe, but, I don’t fit in to the American culture all that well. This is an old pain of mine – I belong nowhere, to no one, and have no right to claim any culture, except one I don’t resonate too well with. Since I’m not fluent in Gaelic, I can’t call myself a Gael; since I wasn’t born on Scottish soil I’m not Scottish, but I was born in America so therefore I’m ‘American’. I struggle with this whole issue horribly, and this book did keep reminding me of not having any right to any Gael or Celtic identity, basically through an ‘accident’ of my birth.

I’m not particularly enjoying this book – it’s very dry in some spots, and he spends pages and pages on documenting the various arguments of others, which I find tedious to read. I am, however, appreciative of his expertise and the correcting of my sloppy thinking, so, I am forging ahead. And, yes, I would recommend this book to anyone who really wanted REAL information on the Druids, instead of the fantasy-novel mythology that abounds currently.

Chapter 2, Origins of the Druids Notes

by EnchantedWolf | Apr 21, 2011 | Ellis: The Druids

This chapter starts out with the tired old debate about the meaning of the word ‘Druid’. I know this is actually important, for words have great power, and the meaning behind them drives our very experience of reality, but, in truth, I’m tired of this particular endless debate. Ellis’ conclusion seems to be the common one – that ‘Dru-wid’ means a version of ‘oak-wise’ or ‘oak knowledge’.  Well, enough of that. Tha mi seach sgith e!

Now we get to something that actually had a deep impact on me – the cultural evolving of the term, and why the Druids’ name continued long after the literal meaning was obsolete; this actually helped me see WHY the tree – an craobh, as I learned it – is one of our Hallows on the Altar. It seems that in the distant past, thousands of years ago, Europe was covered with forests, and the Oak was a source of food, fuel and shelter. To have knowledge of how to utilise such a vast and important resource would have ensured the survival of the group – and such a person would be incredibly valuable. Over time, as humans evolved from the hunter-gatherer, began to rely more and more upon agriculture and cultivation of the land, and wiped out the forests in the process, such knowledge was no longer necessary – or even, in the same sense, useful – but, the term, ‘Oak wise’, still meant the same thing – one who is knowledgeable about things that really matter. Thus, the term ‘Druid’ was preserved for the learned classes, and was retained as their official title.

Ellis spends wearying pages on how it wasn’t just Northern Europe, but everywhere the Indo-Europeans were; he speaks of this as an ‘Oak-Cult’ and how the Oak was masculine, the very first phallic symbol, and that the Goddess was probably the water that nurtured and fed these trees and groves.

This caste of people within the Celtic society weren’t really noticed by those outside the culture, apparently, until around the second century BC; this is where Ellis begins the introduction of the debate that ‘Druids’ were a foreign, assimilated priest-class vs. an indigenous caste, found in all of Celtic society. Ellis’ own conclusions are that they are indigenous to Celtic society, found all over the Celtic world, and just not written about, because our source material is very weak with regard to the Celts to begin with.

Well, I think that about covers it.

Chap 1 The Celtic World Notes

by EnchantedWolf | Apr 17, 2011 | Ellis: The Druids

Remember that joke about the door-stop and the greatest sleep-aide since Sominex? Well, this chapter, for me, is as dry as it comes. So-and-so culture spread out every which way but loose and this culture conquered that culture and whoops! they were on the wrong side of the Roman Civil War and by x century they were in decline, and… and…  (holds head in hands). Oh, dear. I have a rough time remembering ANY of this chapter, so I have to write it RIGHT now or forever be referring back to the book.

Essentially, the linguistic and cultural group we refer to as the Celts came from the headwaters of the Rhine, the Danube and the Rhône rivers, and were the first group to appear in written history; it is from the Greeks who identify and describe the Celts starting around the sixth and fifth centuries.

Spreading across Europe and Asia Minor, their weaponry, road-building skills and bravery in battle was legendary; the Celts conquered Rome and Roman armies many times and fought with the Spartans. At their height, they even had an elite group of warriors which would hire out as mercenaries (hire-a-thug) to different governments, and of course, anyone else who would pay for their services. Classical writes all record their bravery, battle tactics and weaponry, which, as I recall, the Romans got much of the credit for, especially the road-building part. Anyone who relies on the History Channel is going to be rather misinformed, I’m sad to say.

By the time the classical writers noticed them, the Celts had four main classes: Intelligentsia, Warriors, Merchants and Labourers, similar to other Indo-European cultures. However, over time, Celtic society evolved into five. It was these five classes that were codified into Brehon law (thought to come from the Gaelic word breitheamh, judge). Kings and cheftains made up one class; the intelligentsia were the second, officials and magistrates were the third, clansmen, who were an amalgam of warrior and labourer were the fourth; and finally, those who had given up their civil rights, such as criminals, were the fifth and final class.

By the first century B.C., the Celts were in decline and rapidly losing ground everywhere, making some disastrous political affiliations, falling prey to invasions, and being walloped by the Romans. Only Gaul at this time, along with the British Isles and Ireland were independent Celtic territories. Ultimately, only Northern Britain and Ireland remained unconquered.

This, area, too, was the last Pagan stronghold of the Celts, until around Fifth Century, A.D., when Christian thought replaced the older Ways.

The Celtic peoples continued to suffer many waves of conquerors and attempted assimilation from Jutes, Angles, Saxons, English, French and many others. Gradually driven back into the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, Ireland, Brittany and other islands and peninsulas of Northwest Europe, the Celts survived as a shadow of the culture’s former glory. Today, the Celtic Language, although it still exists in the various forms of Gaelic still spoken by a few; it is a struggling, endangered language in many of these places; a few branches are extinct, many more are in jeopardy. It seems the Celtic culture may eventually be lost.

As for the Ancients, what survives and comes down to us of the ancient Celtic culture is a portrait seen through inimical eyes, for the most part, of a childish, savage, drunken, brawling culture, an ignorant and distasteful vision of a society of louts.  The truth seems very different. Archeology and research has shown the Celts to be a very prosperous tribal society, one that had mastered agriculture and that could mobilize their surplus populations in any direction they chose; hence the idea that they were ‘nomadic’. They were sophisticated potters, artists, weavers and engineers – this includes social engineering, for Celtic law was unique in several ways. Community was at the forefront of the society, and their provisions for the sick, for medical care and for taking care of those who could not take care of themselves seem progressive and unusual (sadly) even today.

So much for Hire-A-Thug.