p. 77The Ancient Druids

The oldest known secret society in Europe was that of the Druids. Their teaching was in many ways similar to that of Pythagoras and the Magi and their name may have been taken from the Gaelic word Druidh, “a wise man,” or “magician.” It was an article of the Druidical creed “that it was unlawful to build temples to the gods, or to worship them within walls or under roofs.” All their places of worship therefore were in the open air, and generally upon an eminence, from whence they had a full view of the heavenly bodies, to whom much of their worship was directed. But that they might not be too much incommoded by winds and rains, distracted by the view of external objects, or disturbed by the intrusion of unhallowed feet, while they were instructing their disciples, or performing their religious rites, they made choice of the deepest recesses of groves and woods for their sacred places. These groves were planted, for that purpose, in the most proper situations and with those trees in which they most delighted. The chief of these was the strong and spreading oak, for which tree the Druids had a very high and superstitious veneration. The elder Pliny tells us that whatever grew on that tree was considered by the Druids a gift from heaven, more especially the mistletoe. When thus found it was cut with a golden knife by a priest clad in white robe, two white bulls being sacrificed on the spot. The name given it by the Druids meant “All-Heal” and its virtues were believed to be very great. Two other herbs called selago and samulos, were likewise greatly valued by them for their medicinal qualities. But the most remarkable of all the Druid charms was the anguineum, or snakes’ egg. It was said to be produced from the saliva and frothy sweat of a number of serpents writhing in an entangled mass, and to be tossed up in the air as soon as formed. The fortunate Druid who managed, as it fell, to catch it in his sagum or cloak, rode off at full speed on a horse that was in waiting, pursued by the serpents till they were stopped by an intervening stream.

The Druids taught transmigration of the soul in the same way as Pythagoras. They entertained great veneration for the numbers three, seven, nineteen and one hundred and forty-seven, produced by multiplying the square of seven by three. Their chief deities are reducible to two—a male and a female, the great father and mother—Hu and Ceridwen, distinguished by the same characteristics as belonged to Osiris and Isis, or any other supreme god and goddess representing the two principles of all being. The grand periods of initiation were quarterly and determined by the course of the sun, and his arrival at the equinoctial and solstitial points. The solemn initiations were performed at midnight, and contained three degrees, the first or lowest being the Eubates, the second the Bards, and the third the Druids. The place of initiation was called Coer Sidi. The adytum or ark of the mysteries was called a cromlech or dolmen, and was used as the sacred Pastos, or place of regeneration. It consisted of three upright stones, as supporters of a broad, flat stone laid across the top, so as to form a small cell. The candidate was first placed in a coffin, where his symbolical death represented the death of Hu, or the sun, and his restoration in the third degree symbolized the resurrection of the sun. He had to undergo similar trials as the applicants in the eastern countries. A solemn oath was administered to him on a naked sword, and he ratified it by drinking meat out of a human skull. A sprig of spruce was the badge. The Druids lasted till the fourth century, when the last of them were converted to Christianity, only in Ireland and England remnants remained till the time of St. Patrick and St. Augustine.

Upon the model of ancient Druidism are founded the different secret societies known as the American Order of Druids, the Ancient Order of Druids and the United Ancient Order of Druids. The first modern Druid Order was founded in London in 1781, and spread to the United States in 1834, and in 1872 the Order was introduced from America to Germany.