When it comes to figures in history that have captured our imagination, the Druids of the ancient world tick all the boxes. Theirs are tales of magic, mystery and intrigue, filled with contradictions and a blurring of the line between good and seemingly evil.
Not only were Druids believed to be able to harness the power of the natural environment, but they were also the religious leaders, educators and judges of their time, held in high esteem by the societies in which they lived. Little has been known about them until now, but as Druids: The Mystery of Celtic Priests reveals, recent archaeological discoveries have slowly started to separate fact from legend and uncover more about their unique way of life.
Historians and archaeologists have faced a number of challenges in trying to paint a picture of these enigmatic individuals, and as the documentary explains, despite being able to read and write in both Greek and Latin, the Druids left behind almost no tangible evidence of their existence. So where do our ideas about Druids stem from today?
Most of what is described and portrayed in literature turns out to be little more than pure imagination, but there is a darker side to Druidic ritual that has left something of a trail. It’s one which Eamonn Kelly, former Keeper of Irish Antiquities at the , has been following in his detailed examination of the potential victims of their beliefs and practices, but it’s far from straightforward.
An expert on bog bodies, Eamonn shares his insight into the clues provided by the preserved corpses, likely the victims of ritual killings, at the beginning of the documentary. His hypotheses about these killings, and the particularly brutal characteristics that unite them, including decapitation and immolation, feel at odds with the priestly, intellectual Druidic image, but as Eamonn explains, these were individuals with very fixed ideas about right and wrong, and it’s unlikely that they would have discriminated when it came to enforcing such ideas.
The heritage of the Druids has long been elusive. Source: doc.station / ZDF / arte
Archaeological digs reveal more about how Druids lived, as revealed in ‘Druids: The Mystery Of Celtic Priests’. Source: SBS
The bodies examined are no ordinary pagans: kings and warriors are among those buried deep in the peat bogs, areas of land considered by many at the time to be the entrance to the underworld. But were they really tried and tortured by these priestly judges or was something else to blame for their untimely deaths?
On the continent, near modern-day Autun in Burgundy, France, the mystery continues at what was the capital of the Aedui, a Gallic tribe who inhabited the area in the first century BC. Dr Sabine Rieckhoff, a German archaeologist and expert in the field, is on hand to share what she discovered when she excavated part of the Bibracte site. A stone well, aimed towards the sun during the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, was found during the dig, and appears to have been built using highly sophisticated geometrical knowledge. It’s the complexity of its construction that makes it clear to Dr Rieckhoff and the team at the that this was an advanced civilisation, and some of the first known Druids were undoubtedly at its centre.
Diviciacus was perhaps the most prominent of them, reflected in the fact that he is one of the only mentions of a Druidic figure in texts from the period, considered a friend of Caesar, and something of a political personality. From the evidence gathered, it appears that Diviciacus acted as a diplomat and ambassador between the Aedui and the Romans, advising leaders from both sides as he tried to convince his people to form an alliance with the growing Roman power.
It’s these passing references to individuals like Diviciacus, coupled with archaeological findings like those uncovered at Bibracte, that the documentary highlights as crucial in finally piecing together where this ancient group might have had their beginnings and shedding light on the true extent of their power.
Although the focus is on the archaeological quest for evidence of the Druids and their place within society, the documentary also addresses how these ancient people have become an intrinsic part of modern Irish identity. Psychologist Eimear Burke is part of the world’s largest neo-Druid community, based near Kilkenny in the south-east of the country. The Irish neo-Druidism she and her community practice is distinguished from the Druidism of the past; it is considered a reinvention of 19th century origin, a resurgence brought about by the desire of the Irish to establish a Celtic-centric identity away from British influence.
It is believed that Druids maintained a deep connection to nature. Source: SBS
A fundamental belief in a deep connection with nature is the focus for these modern-day neo-Druids, and through the conversations with Eimear throughout the documentary, it’s not hard to see why the ideas of renewal, rebirth and harmony with nature that form the basis of their rituals and ceremonies are appealing.
Eimear explains that modern-day Druids are not concerned with religious dogma, and accept that their beliefs may not have any true historical basis, but are still focused on recognising one’s link to the past, and finding harmony between the inner and outer world. As she so eloquently puts it, should a lack of evidential basis for their practice really undermine its value as a belief system?
For the many archaeological experts who share their findings in the documentary, modern neo-Druidism might offer little in the way of insight into the lives of their ancient counterparts, but perhaps its continued existence is where the lingering magic of the Druids lies. Despite no real teachings, universal text or formalised rituals, Druidic practice continues to fascinate us, thousands of years after its likely beginnings and, in many ways, lives on.
Druids: The Mystery Of Celtic Priests screens on SBS at 8:30pm, Sunday 14 August and is also streaming now at SBS On Demand:
