Customer Reviews

The Druids: Celtic Priests of Nature

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Unlike a lot of New Age Fluff out there, Markale uses analytical thinking along with evidence etched in the stone of history and archeology to deduct for us what druidism must have once been like. He covers beliefs and philosophies, rites and responsibilities of the druids with great accuracy.

The way the book is written though, does assume the reader has some basic knowledge about the celtic civilization that lived and thrived before the romans, with Julius Caesar at the head, conquered Gaul.

And while the ancient Gauls left no written histories or books on philosophy, Markale is able to piece together bits and pieces of Roman and Greek writings about the druids to give us a hint at the scope of intelligence that dotted Gaul before the onslaught of Romanization and the later wave of Christian oppression.

The only part of the book I did not like was the end where Markale seems like he's stretching to reach and accord between ancient druidism and the parallel path of Chrisitanity and his repeated tries to correlate druidism and the followers of christ as similar religions.

All in all, though, this is a good book and a must read for anyone trulty interested in pre-fluff druidism.

Jean Markale's book "The Druids: Celtic Priests of Nature" must be read several times to grasp all that it says. This is not in any way because the book is poorly written - on the contrary it is very well written, and contains so much information that it must be read several times just to begin to grasp the depth of its content.

Markale begins by looking at the history of the druid's name throughout history, where both Greek and Latin historians recognized that druids were knowledgeable of the secrets of nature ~ they were much more than mere magicians. Furthermore he shows a link between druids and the disciples of Pythagoras. (Though it is quite unlikely that the druids had any direct contact with Pythagoras himself.)

We see the role of druids in society. Often serving as judges, counselors and advisors to kings, and peacemakers between nations; the role of peacemaker in no way prevented the druids from participating in combat if there was a need to do so.

The druids are contrasted with the revealed religions of Islam and Christianity. Without disparaging the great revealed religions, Markale clearly shows that druidry and all the texts that belong to it are well worthy of interest and study.

The great knowledge and power of the druids naturally leads to the question: Where did the druids come from? Markale explains the common misconception that the druids were the builders of the megalithic monuments (such as Stonehenge). We then see good evidence (in "The Battle of Mag Tured) that druidry was studied by the mysterious `Tuatha de Danann'. It is said that "The Tuatha de Danann were in the Isles of the North of the World, learning science, magic druidism, sorcery and wisdom, and they surpassed all the sages in the pagan arts." This of course leaves us to question just were are the `Isles of the North of the World'. If we are to take this as literal we have a clear connection to Nordic culture. This seems to be incontestable for there is certainly a strong connection between the druids and the vitki (rune masters) of the North.

It was the Tuatha de Danann that brought the four fundamental talismans of Celtic Theology: The Stone of Fal (or Coronation Stone); the Fiery Spear of Lugh; the Sword of Nuada; and Dagda's inexhaustible cauldron.

Markale continues by offering insight to the `gods of the druids'. Although we read of "The Father of All" and "The Three-Faced Goddess" we also see that the druids did not follow their "gods" in the way of those who profess one of the revealed religions, rather they interacted with the gods of a well established `mythology (?)' / faith.

Though the druids did not `worship' in the manner of today's religions, they did have a number of initiations and rituals. Markale gives us insight into the druid sanctuary, the mistletoe and plant rituals, sacrifices and the four elements. It was (and is) the four elements that reveal the power of the druids in that they have the ability to control earth, air, fire and water. Each element is used in various rituals bringing the druid into closer contact with nature.

Finally, Markale comments on neo-druidry. Today there are many groups that attempt to follow the traditions of the druids. The religious thought and theology of the druids carry on today... offering knowledge, wisdom and insight to those who seek it.

Overall, I found "The Druids: Celtic Priests of Nature" a very interesting and enlightening book, well worth study and reading.

I know that there is a guy on this page who reviewed it saying the same thing. But it IS the truth. This man does his research, shows WHY historically and/or mythologically, he makes claims. He debunks a lot of the crapola out there available just by presenting the evidence.

I started with his book on Halloween and moved on to this one. If you want to get a feel for what the Celtic ancestors believed and what they did and have it make sense (unlike direct translations of mythology and dry academic texts) both books a superb! I was on a search for this for 13 years, looking for the truth not what neo-pagans and Wiccans claimed to be truth. I did not like the cut and paste methods the former use to make something "Celtic: i.e. use Greek ritual structure and use Celtic gods. Talk about whacky. If you don't know what I mean by that, read his books and you WILL understand.

This book is a little hard to get into at the beginning. i would recommend starting on a chapter that sounds interesting and reading the first few chapters later.

Go for it!!

Reconstructionist Celtic imbas.org

A profound and daring exploration of the nature of the druids and druidry based upon the evidence of archeology, literature and folklore, elucidated by one of the best minds of our time. While the explorations are at times spell-binding, Mr Markale does not suffer fools lightly and there are many evidences in his book of his sharp mind and tongue. Not for the faint of heart or those already wed to romantic notions of what the druids should have been. A work of the most astute scholarship, an inspiration to read.

I have read many, many books on the subject of Druidism and have read most of the documents the author mentions in this Book. Most books give a Wicca Neo-Pagan spin. Jean Markale takes you into culture and magic of the real Gauls/Celts using documented and archeological proof to back his claims. As a Druid/Celtic Revivalist I found this book to be inspiring and enlightening. No druid's library would be complete with out this book in it. If you're looking for fluffy Druidism don't look here, but if you are looking for reality look no further.

Yes, the author certainly does seem to know his stuff. This is not a book about Faeries, nor does it cater to the modern ceremonial gown-wearing set. It seems that specific Druidic wisdom has been hidden well over the centuries. Marcale digs deep and comes up with some interesting and plausible interpretations for those who are interested in more than archeological artifacts and poetry.
Especially interesting was the mention of the Druid "speaker" who apparently put the concept of Logos to work as a matter of everyday living. My Webster's defines Logos as "constituting the controlling principle of the universe and as being manifested by speech."

It is obvious after reading (and studying) this splendid work that each ancient initiate who was sent away to a Druid school - for say twenty years(!), did not just go to frat parties and memorize poems. No, there must have been more than that; perhaps hands-on psychology, politics, psychism, medicine etc., to make a graduate super-human who would then have had the nous to advise a king to rule wisely. Imagine, twenty years! Most of us try to run a seventy year life-time only on what we learn in grade school.

Admittedly, I do not have much to add to the reviews already posted about this book. Markale does a wonderful job of developing each chapter into a comprehensive exploration of a given topic, presenting evidence and counter-evidence, weighing sources and coming to intelligent conclusions. I found the essays of Part Four: Druidic Thought particularly appealing to my personal love of theology/philosophy, but the chapters in Part Two on various deities within the Celtic pantheon were also of great interest (though perhaps not as valuable if the reader is not familiar with at least some basic Celtic myths and story-cycles).

Two aspects likely to raise objections, especially from Neopagan Druids today: Firstly, as more deeply explored in the final chapters, Markale puts forward a vision of druidic philosophy and belief which is essentially monistic/monotheistic in nature and, though perhaps politically opposed to Christianity at the time of the latter's arrival (or forced entrance) into the Celtic world, does not inherently conflict to modern, more tolerant eyes. Secondly, Markale insists that druidism, being an aspect of a particular class of priests and judges within the ancient Celtic social framework, is inseparated from that framework and so is not a valid spiritual tradition today (the single, four-page chapter devoted to the issue of "Neodruidism" displays this view perfectly).

If the reader can look past these two minor concerns (or, better yet, understand and appreciate the spirit of scholarship and intellectual honesty from which they spring), there is a great deal of valuable information and insight to be found in the pages of this book.

I am surprised to read all the positive feedback on this book. I know very little about the druids, and was hoping this book will shed some light on the subject. Instead, the author mentions the word "druid" about 10 times throughout the book but spends 50% of the time on linguistic exercises such as "this name was probably derived from this word." Too many sentences start with questions that are never answered. Lots of extra information that has very little to do with the history of the druids. The author introduces multiple topics per paragraph so it's hard to follow the material. I wish I kept the receipt from the store so I could return it, but now I am just stuck with a useless book that has a cool title and a pretty cover.

The difficulty of writing a factually accurate book about the druids is that not much is known about them. They passed on their tradition orally and no written record about their religion comes directly from them. An author has to rely on the accounts of them from their enemies--Christians and Romans. Markale states that much of the neodruidism of today is based on flights of fancy rather than historical accuracy.

The book goes on to cover who their gods were and what druidism actually is, relying on accounts of writers like Julius Caesar. It gives basic information about these topics and this primary section of book is rather dry.

I liked the beginning and ending of the book the best, in which Markale becomes more theoretical and speculates about how the Romanization and the Christianization of the West has had its downsides and Druidism has some attractive features to its belief system. It is a tantalizing theme that I wish the author would have explored more. The author suggest that Druidism could be beneficial to modern society, as some seek to return to their pagan roots. But then again, so little is known about Druidic beliefs, I don't think there is much to quest after.

The Druids did not believe in sin or an objective truth, but rather believed in relative truths based on different situations and in responsibility for one's actions and the consequences for those actions.

The druids themselves were the priests of the society that had power over even the king. They were also judges, teachers, physicians, and poets--the intellectual class of that society, as opposed to the warrior and artisan classes.

The many gods of the celts were in a system of false polytheism that represented the many functions of one god.

The druids believed that the world was an illusion, but did not seek to withdraw from the world, but to act in it, figuring that your body was given to you for a reason and was to be put to good use.

The druids had a deep knowledge nature, often living deep in the woods, and considered themselves part of nature, not masters of it.

The remains of Druidism can be still be found in places such as Wales, Ireland, and Brittany. Although Ireland was never Romanized, it did peacefully switch from Druidism to Christianity because there are actually some similarities between the belief systems, otherwise, Ireland would have kept to its old beliefs. Many from the Druidic class became Christian priests. The Celtic church has some remnants of druidic influence on its Christianity.

Markale is mildly critical of those in the west who have gone after the religions and philosophies of the east because he thinks that such belief systems will not ultimately help solve the west's unique philosophical problems. In other words, you can't solve western problems with eastern beliefs; the two systems are not compatible. --But I must say that Hinduism was originally an indo-European belief system.

In some respects, Markale reveals much about the Druids. In other areas he seemed to quote more from others' views than his own.I found his opinion of New Age and Wiccan attempts to co-opt Druid traditions,enlightening.He clarifies the observances and sacred elements well. A good read.