Today is June 21st , which, in the northern hemisphere–where the majority of humankind lives–is the summer solstice. This is the longest day of the year (and the shortest night). Rejoice! Now is the time of light and warmth.
Druids!
Of course it would hardly be the solstice if we didn’t talk about druids, but here, suddenly things get tricky, because, despite their long-standing popularity, we don’t actually know very much about druids. There are no writings left to us from actual druids and although we have some archeological finds from Iron-age Western Europe which relate to the religions of the time, we do not have any objects which are directly connected with druids. Some scholars question whether they ever even existed.
What is known about druids, therefore comes from Roman and Greek writers (including no less a person than Julius Caesar). Druids were the priestly caste of polytheistic Celtic society. Druid lore was passed down orally and it was no mean feat to become one of these elite priests: it could take decades to master the complicated plant lore, ceremonial forms, and other esoteric druid knowledge.
Druids are associated with sacred groves and augury. Roman writers also believed that druids practiced human sacrifice. Julius Caesar wrote of druids placing prisoners in huge men made of wicker and then burning the victims to death. However druid-sympathizers (which is apparently a real thing) dispute this idea and assert that Roman sources were guilty of cultural propaganda. In fact, an even more extreme faction of scholars asserts that druids were entirely made up by Romans as a sort of fantasy of the other in order to highlight Roman superiority. To me this seems like an unwarranted assumption: the concept of the hard headed Julius Caesar making up fantastical stories to drive home Roman superiority (which was an indisputable fact to him) seems suspect, and there is archaeological evidence to support a tradition of human sacrifice, although it too is controversial.
“The Victim” An Illustration by AB Houghton for Tennyson’s poem (engraving,1868).
The only description of a druid ceremony comes from Book XVI of Natural History by Pliny the Elder. This single highly colorful passage is responsible for most of the popular image of druids. Pliny describes
“The Druids hold nothing more sacred than mistletoe and a tree on which it is growing … when it [mistletoe] is discovered it is gathered with great ceremony Hailing the moon in a native word that means ‘healing all things,’ they prepare a ritual sacrifice and banquet beneath a tree and bring up two white bulls, whose horns are bound for the first time on this occasion. A priest arrayed in white vestments climbs the tree and with a golden sickle cuts down the mistletoe, which is caught in a white cloak. Then finally they kill the victims, praying to god to render his gift propitious to those whom he has bestowed it. They believe that mistletoe given in drink will impart fertility to any animal that is barren, and that it is an antidote for all poisons.”
Whether he heard about it and thought it sounded neat or just made it up is anyone’s guess.
Neodruids (hahahaha)
So wait, what does any of this have to do with the solstice? Why are druids associated to an astronomical event in the way that Santa goes with Christmas? Druids became greatly popular during the 18th and 19th century Celtic revival. As romantics and neo-pagans invented rituals they looked towards the Roman sources (and certain Irish Christian sources which set up druids as being the opposite of Christian saints). Druids became associated with the great stone monoliths such as Stonehenge, and, since those ancient constructions are focused on the solar calendar, it was logical to assume that druids were too.
ferrebeekeeper 
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June 22, 2013 at 12:05 PM
isis1037
Most of what little is known about the Druid culture/religion comes from the propaganda of the Romans, especially in regards to those practicing this Keltic religion in the western parts of Europe. This would include Britain and Ireland (although the Romans did not occupy Ireland). In ancient Keltic manuscripts, (of which there are few which survive), the Romans seemed to have had little real knowledge of their practices, and much of their information is based on gossip as well as the fact that it was not ‘Roman’… Druids were considered as the very wise teachers and priests in the Keltic culture, which had spread across Keltic Europe, Britain and Ireland before the Roman occupation…It took a very long apprenticeship to become a Druid priest. They learned ‘history’ by rote, it is believed, and also did write some on stone and wood…(few survive)….They were highly respected by the Keltic people as leaders as well as teachers, and had a great amount of authority among the tribes they served. [One bit of information even states that they ‘could stop a battle with authority’…They were considered to have that much power….As far as human sacrifice, little is stated, although there could have been such on certain occasions….Although it became a ‘theme’ of the Romans…one such reason would have been the slaughter, by the Romans, of many Druid priests on the Isle of Mona..[which was cut short by the information reaching the Romans of the uprising of the Boudicca, with her Inceni tribe and other allied British tribes]…the surviving Druid priests either hid in the mountains of Wales and Cornwall, or took to the Irish Sea and traveled to Ireland for safety…..Although information sometimes hones in on the ‘sacred mistletoe’, (which grows on Oak trees), they also considered several other species of trees as ‘sacred’, including the Yew, and poplar, among others….
isis1037@yahoo.com Owner/moderator Website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/egyptbeyond Author: “Tombs,Temples and Thrones”
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June 29, 2013 at 4:09 PM
katesisco
The Celts –our name for them since we do not know the name they called themselves–forbade writing of their laws which were reformed if necessary at the yearly meeting of all and decimated thru rhyme. They considered themselves from one father Dis. The only way to become a ‘celt’ was to be born one or to become a druid by being picked for intelligence as a child by a druid. The ‘celts’ by birth from celtic parents, were clans and ruled themselves with monetary fines even for murder. The most extreme punishment was exclusion. To forestall power challenges the children of the king (by any woman celt) were forbidden to be in the sight of the king until grown. The medicinal lore undoubtedly was extensive.
I suggest the Gundestrup caldron was created in various celtic ‘kingdoms’ and may have been a vehicle that was to bring a united vision to these fractions. Perhaps passed from one unit to another at the yearly meeting? Alas, its emissary and the cauldron met their end in a bog.
June 29, 2013 at 4:12 PM
katesisco
disseminated, I correct myself