As previously stated... there is nothing to go on from a scholarly point of view besides the written books of lore, archeology, anthropology, and sociology. So from these we will work from; along with some modern takes on the subject; which generally... are presenting a vast, often romantic, differing point of view than those of a more, scholarly vein. I give you these quotes not as my opinion, but to present you with several so that you, the reader, may discern for yourself what is fiction and/or speculation; and what is fact.

Are some of these quotes completely off the mark of scholastic aptitude? Why, yes of course, some are. Are they in any particular order? No they are not, for this is our purpose. By not giving you an organized, one by one listing enables you, the reader, to see the underlying differences therein. Take what you can use, discard the rest. The choice is always yours.

'What can be said with certainty is that the concept of a Celtic heritage, rather than being an undisputed historical fact, is something which has been recreated in modern times as a tool to connect people with their past in times of change and uncertainty. The 'Celtic Twilight' movement was spawned during a time of great tension at the turn of the century, and the deep and emotional appeal of all things Celtic has resurfaced again during the great social upheavals of the 1960's. It continues to this day of the New Age and Earth Mysteries movements.

In the late twentieth century more and more people, disillusioned with religion and society in the West, are seeking to rediscover ancient and lost wisdom. They are studying a variety of sources: Celtic, Eastern, native American - often a mixture of all three - modernized, repackaged and re-exported in a form acceptable to our own society. Mysticism and paganism are part and parcel of this view of the Celts, with the druids seen as the guardians of their ancient wisdom, and the enigmatic standing stones and other megalithic monuments their pagan temples.

To cater for the demand, a whole vast publishing genre has geared itself to re-create and redefine for new generations what we mean by 'Celtic Religion', using a variety of sources, ancient and modern. These books confidently tell us about what Celtic religion was and is, the gods and goddesses, the festivals, the rituals... But how can we really be so sure what the Celts believed when they left so little unambiguous evidence? And who were the Celts anyway? As J.R.R. Tolkien so perceptively concluded, 'Celtic' is actually a magic bag 'into which anything may be put, and almost anything may come...''
- David Clarke & Andy Roberts - Twilight of the Celtic Gods - pp. 14-15

The pagan Celtic priests, known as the Druids, have attained to a popularity which the evidence for their existence in no way justifies. This 'cult' has its origins in the antiquarian speculations of romantic writers from the seventeenth century on, culminating in the works of the 'Arch-Druid' William Stukeley, whose writings did so much to stimulate the interest of the literateurs of the time in the manners and customs of the 'Noble Savage'. The publication of James MacPherson's Ossian in 1761 aroused further curiosity about the early inhabitants of the Bristish Isles, and the whole history of this 'pseudo-Druidism' makes a charming and delightful study. But it is completely irrelevant to a work dealing with the religious beliefs of the pagan Celts. If we dismiss this large body of writings on the Druids, as we must in a study such as this, then we are left with an extremely insubstantial corpus of actual evidence for the Celtic priesthood, the validity of which decreases upon critical study. Most of this occurs in the writings of the early Greeks and Romans. Druids are referred to in the vernacular literatures of the British Isles, but, no matter what their function and status was in the pre-Christian period, they figure in the post-Christian literatures in the role of wise men, shape-shifters, shamans, prognosticators. They lack the social dignity, the political power and the religious connotations of their fully pagan predecessors, The two actual sources of potential evidence for the Druids then are the comments of the classical writers, and to a very much lesser degree, the inferences which can be drawn from the evidence of prehistory. The classical source material for Celtic custom and ethnography in general has been recently reconsidered and freshly translated in a brilliant paper by Professor Tierney {1960). The actual source material can be studied in detail in this publication, and it is only necessary in this context to give a very brief resume' of the facts which emerge from a consideration of the classical sources. It is unlikely that much more information will be forthcoming, apart from the possibility of future archaeological excavations revealing temples containing cult material and inscriptions referring directly to the Druidic caste, but a further consideration of the philosophical background which gave rise to the interpretations which the classical writers gave to the Druidic doctrine may afford some help in understanding their remarks more fully.'
- Anne Ross - Pagan Celtic Britain pp. 77-78

'The term Druid means different things to different people. For some, it conjures up images of venerable white-robed and bearded gentlemen gathering at Stonehenge or at the Welsh National Eisteddfod. Others, with more awareness of the past, think of Druids as cruel religious fanatics, striking down hapless victims of human sacrifice by stabbing or burning. For others, again, Druids are somehow mixed up with secret forest groves, mistletoe, magic and spells. So what is the reality? Who were these mysterious people? When and where did they manifest themselves? And how do we know anything about them?

The available contemporary evidence presents a complex picture: Druids were involved in politics, sacrificial ritual, prophecy and the control of the supernatural world. They were teachers, keepers of oral tradition, royal advisors and, in some instances they were themselves rulers. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, they were feared and venerated because they had the ear of the divine world.'
- Miranda J. Green - The World Of the Druids - P. 7

'The real significance of the druids for Celtic religion cannot be estimated with any degree of accuracy. They probably possessed powerful religious and political influence during the free Celtic period. Certainly, the notion of a powerful religious leadership in later European prehistory is entirely comprehensible. Whilst there is no direct evidence to support this, it is not impossible that the druids were pan-Celtic before the Roman period, surviving in Ireland until the coming of Christianity.'
- Miranda J. Green - Dictionary of Celtic Myth & Legend - P. 87

'Skulls that gaze out from stone temple walls... statues of animals, horned figures, men-beasts... and everywhere triple groupings of gods, priests heads. Such evidence leaves no doubt that the Celts carried on an active spiritual life, marked by apparitions, cults, talismans, and supernatural symbolism. Roman witnesses, some sympathetic and some contemptuous, have added their words to the record, giving us accounts of coldblooded human sacrifices and superstitious taboos, while explaining the priestly role of the druidic elite. The shadow-world of the Celtic supernatural is filled with landmarks. What our guides do not provide - for no doubt it did not exist - is a master plan, a world-system, a hierarchy like that of the Greek and Roman pantheon. Moreover, the deeper significance of so many Celtic religious symbols eludes us as it did the Romans, since the druids imparted their teaching only by word of mouth, in woodland clearings, by sacred springs, or in temple sanctuaries closed to any outsider. And thus we find ourselves with more questions than answers concerning the religion or religions - of the Celts.'
- Barry Cunliffe - The Celtic World - P. 69

'It can never have been easy to make an exact distinction between priests and diviners, poets, seers, and visionaries, since their functions must have overlapped. In later literature the druids were to an increasing degree represented as expert magicians. In Gaul and Britain they appear in pre-Christian times to have organised sacrifices, acted as judges, and been responsible for the preservation and handing on of learning and traditional lore, which was largely oral. Special skills such as the compilation of calendars, medical knowledge and Ogam writing also fell within their province, and their responsibilities included the teaching of young chiefs and warriors, so that they had considerable political influence. The fact that they influenced and advised rulers made them important in Caesar's eyes. The emphasis on the secret wisdom of the druids has tended to be emphasised from the Roman period onwards, so that they became romantic and impressive figures in the minds of poets and scholars in seventeenth century England and Wales, and it is difficult to take a objective view of them. The controversy still continues and the one point which we can be fairly sure about is that the position was never as fixed and clear cut as many scholars have tried to make it.'
- H.R. Ellis-Davidson - Myths & Symbols in Pagan Europe - pp. 156-157

'The evidence for the druids as a powerful group of religious leaders is mainly contained within the comments of Classical writers on the Gaulish Celts. The most famous material is chronicled in writings of Strabo {IV, 4,4}, Diodorus Siculus {V, 31,2-5) and Caesar (de Bello Gallico VI, 13-14), but all these writers derive their material from a lost shared source, Posidonius.'
- Miranda J. Green - Dictionary of Celtic Myth & Legend - P. 86

'It is however, Posidonius, a Stoic philosopher who lived in the first century B.C., who provides the deepest insight into Celtic society. In Book 23 of his History he presented a detailed ethnographic account of the Celts as a prelude to discussing the first transalpine war, which took place in 125-131 B.C. Since it is known that he lived in southern Gaul for some while, we may reasonably suppose that he collected his material by firsthand observation. Unfortunately his 'Celtic Ethnography' no longer survives intact but comes down to us in extensive summaries provided by later Greek writers, Diodorus, Siculus, Strabo, and Athenaeus. Although they naturally make modifications and additions of their own, their basic source is clearly Posidonius.'
- Barry Cunliffe - The Celtic World - P.28

'The Druids are the most advanced of all intellectual classes among the peoples of ancient Europe beyond the Greek and Roman World'
- Nora Chadwick

'It seems, then, that the Celtic priesthood had much more direct political power than that of Greece or Rome, where magistracies were a secular appointment, augurs had only the power to advise, not to direct, and secular officials, however many priestly obligations they might have in virtue of their office, were chosen for thei rationality, good judgement and perhaps good luck, rather than any direct line they had to the gods. After the Roman conquest of Spain, Gaul and Britain, reports of the Druid priesthood are few, presumably since the political structure of decision-making had changed. Both Claudius and Tiberius attempted to stamp out the 'religion of the Druids', and the altars for the 'savage superstition' of human sacrifice were destroyed, but we do not hear details of a general persecution. Occasional reports of single Druids and Druidesses surface in the later Empire, and in Ireland, which was never Romanised, the traditional tales mention Druids and fili, poets or seers whose pronouncements were highly valued and often feared by their communities. In historical times too the Irish fili and Druids travelled around and were known as 'hedge-preachers', like the wandering sadhus of India, passing on their teaching to anyone who would have it.'
- Prudence Jones & Nigel Pennick - A History of Pagan Europe - P. 85

'Druids have long been the subject for myth making, from the time of the Latin writers, who were not exactly sympathetic to the Celts or the druids, until the nineteenth century romantic revival, which accorded all manner of weird and wonderful powers to the druids. Latin writers maintained that the druids were practitioners of human sacrifice, with particular reference to the Celts of Gaul. Cicero, Dionysius, and Pomponius Mela recite human sacrifice stories ad nauseaum, which were taken up by such early Christian leaders as Terullian, Augustine, and Lactantius. However, it must be pointed out that there is no native tradition of this. One would have thought that if there had been some hint of such a tradition then the Chrisitan scribes would have undoubtedly seized upon it in an effort to denigrate the older religion and its practices, as they did with the story of Cromm Cruach, an idol who demanded sacrifice but who is portrayed as an aberration and not the norm in Celtic society.'
- Peter Berresford Ellis - A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology - P. 85

'The Celtic priests were collectively known as druids, but the druids were certainly not the only priests of the Celts. The name druid derives from a plural form in the Latin sources, but this word in Gaulish was singular, druis and plural, druides. The other priests were the uates, the gutuater, and the uelis or ueleda. All were collectively called druids, but the druid proper was the chief priest and judge who advised the Rix, the chieftain or king.'
- Tadhg MacCrossan 'The Sacred Cauldron' p.13

'The Druids officiate at the worship of the gods, regulate public and private sacrifices, and give rulings on all religious questions. Large numbers of young men flock to them for instruction, and they are held in great honour by the people. They act as judges in practically all disputes, whether between tribes of between individuals; when any crime is committed or a murder takes place, or a dispute arises about an inheritance of a boundary, it is they who adjucate the matter and appoint the compensation to be paid and received by the parties concerned. Any individual or tribe failing to accept their award is banned from taking part in sacrifice - the heaviest punishment that can be inflicted upon a Gaul. Those who are under such a ban are regarded as impious criminals. Everyone shuns them and avoids going near or speaking to them, for fear of taking some harm by contact with what is unclean; if they appear as plaintiffs, justice is denied them, and they are excluded from a share in any honour.'
- Gaius Julius Caesar

'Woods and groves are the sacred depositories; and the spot being consecrated to those pious uses, they give to that sacred recess the name of the divinity that fills the place, which is never profaned by the steps of man. The gloom fills every mind with awe; revered at a distance and never seen but with the eye of contemplation.'
- Tacitus

'The order was under the control of an archdruid appointed by his fellows by virtue of his outstanding merit. Caesar mentions that election ensues if several people of equal ability present themselves, and adds that orderly voting sometimes degenerates into an outright fight between contestants - a not unexpected eventuality in the Celtic world.'
-Barry Cunliffe - The Celtic World - P. 106

'They prepare a ritual sacrifice and feast under the tree, and lead up two white bulls whose horns are bound for the first time on this occasion. A priest {sacerdos} attired in a white vestment ascends the tree and with a golden pruning-hook cuts the mistletoe which is caught in a white cloth'
- Pliny the Elder - Natural History

'They used to strike a man whom they had devoted to death in the back with a knife, and then divine from his death-throes, but they did not sacrifice without a druid.... We are told of still other kinds of sacrifices; for example they would shoot victims to death with their arrows, or impale them in temples....'
- Strabo -

'Among all the tribes, generally speaking, there are three classes of men held in special honour: the Bards, the Vates and the Druids. The Bards are singers and poets; the Vates interpreters of sacrifice and natural philosophers; while the Druids, in addition to the science of nature, study also moral philosophy. They are believed to be the most just of men, and are therefore entrusted with the decision of cases affecting either individuals or the public; indeed in former times they arbitrated in war and brought to a standstill the opponents when about to draw up in line of battle; and murder cases have been mostly entrusted to their decision . . . These men, as well as other authorities , have pronounced that men's souls and the universe are indestructible, although at times fire or water may {temporarily} prevail.'
- Strabo

'In Old Irish the word is drui, plural druid. There has been much discussion as to the probable etymology of the name, and current opinion tends to concur with those ancient scholars such as Pliny who regarded it as related to the Greek word for an oak tree, drus. The second syllable is regarded as cognate with the Indo-European root *wid, 'to know'. Relationships with such a tree-word would be appropriate enough to a religion with sanctuaries in the deciduous mixed oak forests of temperate Europe and we shall see how specific association with the oak tree is attested. The name of the Galation sanctuary in Asia Minor recorded by Strabo, Drunemeton, appears to contain the same first element combined with the Gaulish sanctuary word nemeton discussed in the last chapter.'
- Stuart Piggot 'The Druids'

'Thus among the Celts of Gaul the Druids esteemed nothing more sacred than the mistletoe and the oak on which it grew; they chose groves of oaks for the scene of their solemn service, and they performed none of their rites without oak leaves.' - 'Indeed the very name of Druids is believed by good authorities to mean no more than oak men.'
- Sir James George Frazer - 'The Golden Bough'

'According to Caesar there were two governing classes in Gaul: the warlike aristocracy and the Druids. The latter were free from military service and from all exactions, and through these privileges many of them were drawn to their profession, the more readily as Druidism was apparently not founded upoon birth, but merely upon the engagement and training of novices. The Druids were philosophers and teachers of youth. They gave not only lessons in theology and mythology but also spoke much about the course of the stars, about the nature of all things, and the magnitude of the universe. From all the ethical doctrines of the Druids nothing but a single sentence is preserved. - The novices had to learn by heart a large number of verses, and some spent twenty years in learning them. Almost nothing is preserved to us from the tradition of the Gaulish Druids, for they were not allowed to put down their teaching in writing.'
- John Matthews - 'The Druid Source Book'

'While Druidry and Wicca share much in common, they also differ in many ways, and have a distincly different 'feel' to them. In the past, writers have outlined the differences in the following ways: Druidry tends to be solar oriented, whilst Wicca is lunar oriented; Wiccans tend to work at intuitive and instinctive levels, while Druidry is more philosophical and intellectual - concerning itself, for example, with numerology and geomancy; Druids practice 'high magic' while Wiccans practice 'low magic', Druidry is 'Apollonian' while Wicca is 'Dionysian'. In common with most generalizations, however, these suggested distinctions mask a far more complex relationship in terms of theory and practice between the two groupings. The similarities are numerous. Both traditions are concerned with opening to the powers of the natural world, and both traditions celebrate the seasonal festivals. Wiccans meet in covens, Druids meet in groups called groves. Both types of groups come together and celebrate in circles {rather than in serried rows, as in churches or mosques} and both accord great significance to the four elements of earth, air, fire, and water, together with the uniting fifth element - aether, or spirit. An intriguing question is whether these two streams were originally one. We can never know for certain whether in the early days there was just one Old Religion, which at some time forked into these two branches, or whether from the very beginning they were seperate but related mysteries.'
- Philip Carr-Gomm - 'The Druid Way'

'The Ancient Celts did not categorize these elements as earth, air, fire, and water as the ancient Greeks, but instead they preserved a much older tradition of the early Indo-European list of elements. - It has long been a cliche' that our Celtic ancestors worshipped rocks, trees and other 'senseless' things, or that the druids {as if they were a seperate people} were wistful old wizards who either pined mystically in the misty glades or butchered everyone who wandered into their gruesome groves. Of course, these are all popular misconceptions and most people should know better, but we still hear of 'neo-druidic' organizations who call their small groups groves as if they were somehow the 'Druidic' counterpart to a temple, church, or mosque. This is a significant misconception as well. Sacred grounds or places are common to most religions, and there is no exception with our Celtic forebears. The sacred ground was called a nemeton in Gaulish and Brythonic, and the word simply meant 'sacred place''.
- Tadhg MacCrossan 'The Sacred Cauldron'

'In ancient days there was one great culture, from India to Ireland: the Wise were their healers, counselors and priest/esses. Men and Women devoted their lives to learning and working the accumulated lore of their peoples. They spent years in study, ritual and meditation. They spoke to and with God/desses and Spirits: they made magic and taught wisdom. As well, they were the memory and justice of the folk. These Wise Ones were known by many names in the many tongues of the ancient world. Brahman among the Aryans, Flamen and Flamenca among the Latins, Gothi among the Germans and among the Celts there are called Druidh {singular Drui. Gaelic Draoi, Druidheachd = Druidry.} In our time there are those who are called by these images, these cultural memories. They wish to light the Sacred Fire in the place of the Spirits; they seek the hidden Holy Spring in the forest's heart. They feel called to worship the Old God/desses and to restore Their honor in modern life. Some of us who seek these ways call ourselves Druids in honor of the mighty Wise Ones of old. We seek to walk the Elder Way, though we may not have the skills fo the ancients. The work of Druidry is the work of re-making the connections between our common lives and the wonder and Magic of the Inner Worlds. It is the opening of the Gates of the Soul where before they were closed. Is is the use of every Power of the Self - intellect, feeling, intuition, instinct, and flesh - to seek the good of all folk - health, wealth, and wisdom -and then the secrets of initiation - wisdom, love, and power. We are beginning to relciam the Pagan heritage from the rubble of history. We may never know the forms that the ancient Druidry took. We strive to make a spiritual system - a religion and a Magic - that the Elder Wise might approve and understand. Equally, we seek to make Pagan religion that will serve the needs of today's folk., and the land in which we live.'
- Ian Corrigan 'Druidheachd - Symbols and Rites of Druidry'

'When I was only a knee-child my grandmother had caught me staring, finger in mouth, at several figures swathed in robes of undyed wool. The robes had hoods like dark caverns from which eyes glowed mysteriously. 'They are members of the Order of the Wise,' Rosmerta had said to me as she took my hand and led me away, though I continued to look back over my shoulder. 'Never stare at them, Ainvar; never even look at them when their hoods are raised. And always show them the greatest respect.' 'Why?' I was always asking why. Knees creaking, my grandmother had crouched down until her face was level with mine. Her faded blue eyes beamed love at me from amid their network of wrinkles. 'Because the Druids are essential for our survival,' she explained. 'Without them, we would be helpless against all the things we cannot see.' - The principal obligation of the druids was to keep Man and Earth and Otherworld in harmony. The three were inextricably interwoven and must be in a state of balance or catastrophe would follow. As the repositories of a thousand years of tribal wisdom, the druids knew how to maintain that balance. Beyond our forts and farms lurked the darkness of the unknown. Druid wisdom held that darkness at bay.'
- Morgan Llywelyn - 'Druids'

'In this twilight phase, there are also now a great many people striving to rediscover the Old Ways and traditions and preserve them for future generations. Unfortunately, they often go about it the wrong way, taking their information purely from books which themselves are often fifth-generation copies of earlier works. Few of today's urban pagans have any real practical experience of the countryside and elements they claim to empathize with. It is little wonder then that those who have inherited the old traditions are sceptical of the New Age publishing explosion of the last 30 years. Now anyone can go out and buy a book which will show them 'how to be' a Celtic shaman, a witch or any other adept supposedly at one with the universe, and the enthusiast can go further by joining any number of New Age or pagan groups, all of whom declare commitment to the planet, usually from the warmth of a London flat.'

'Ireland retained its largely undiluted Celtic ethos well into the medieval period. A long oral tradition stretching back, at least in part, to the pre-Christian Iron Age was committed to writing in the early Christian monasteries. This material, in contrast to the accounts of the Classical authors, does not purport to document historical people or events, or at least if it does we have no way of knowing that this was so. Instead the Irish sources present us with an immense body of material combining fact and fantasy, myth and legend, ancient lore, Classical interpolation, pan-Christian fables and medieval folk tradition. As a source of information on the Irish Iron Age it provides us with a challenge of exceptional complexity.'
- Barry Raftery - Pagan Celtic Ireland - P. 13

'The druids formed a privileged class exempt from taxes and from military service, attractions which apparently encouraged large numbers of young men to seek admission to the order. Training, however was rigorous. The initiates were required to memorize a great volume of oral learning; so much says Caesar, that some of them spent twenty years at their studies. 'The druids believe that their religion forbids them to commit their teachings to writing... but,' he adds, 'I imagine that this rule was originally established for other reasons- because they did not want their doctrine to become public property and in order to prevent their pupils from relying on the written word and neglecting to train their memories.' His explanation was superfluous since the real reason was that Celtic was not a written language. What the druids committed to memory was the entire knowledge store of the community: magic formulas, ritual procedures, medical knowledge, law, folk history, and genealogies. To aid the memory a simple verse form with repeated epithets would have been adopted. It was by this means that the Irish folktales were passed from one generation to the next until they were eventually written down by Christian scribes in the eighth century.

Caesar recognized the druids as the only class of intellectuals in Gaul, but this seems to be an oversimplification. Other writers - Strabo, Diodorus, Athenaeus - supported by the Irish literature, distinguish three distinct categories: the bards, in whose poetry the history and traditions of the tribe were immortalized; the augurers, who oversaw the sacrifices and foretold the future; and the druids proper, versed in law and philosophy - the conservers of the ancient wisdoms. An occasional overlap in function may have obscured the differences and led Caesar into his somewhat inaccurate generalization.'
- Barry Cunliffe - The World of the Celts - P. 106

'I have encountered many calling themselves 'New Age Celts', usually not Celtic by culture, preaching harmony with Nature, fighting to protect endangered species of animal and plant life, who have stared in incomprehension when it has been pointed out that the Celtic civilization itself is struggling in a last ditch attempt to survive in the modern world. Only two-and-a-half million people out of the sixteen millions living within the Celtic areas still speak a Celtic language. Language is the highest form of cultural expression. The decline of the Celtic languages has been the result of a carefully established policy of brutal persecution and suppression. If these Celtic languages and cultures die then it will be no natural phenomenon. It will be as the result of centuries of a careful policy of ethnocide. Once the languages disappear then Celtic civilization will cease to exist and the cultural continuum of three thousand years will come to an end. The world will be the poorer for one more lost culture. What price is 'spiritual awareness' with the ancient Celts when we have stood by and allowed their modern descendants to perish? This is the uncomfortable reality for those who would conjure Druids and ancient Celts to their new concepts of 'spiritual enlightenment' while ignoring the plight of the modern Celts.'
- Peter Berresford Ellis - The Druids - pp. 280-281

There you have some opinions of author's both modern and ancient. Note the oftentimes conflicting statements/opinions. Be aware also, that there is a great deal more that could be shown to you on this subject... but size constraints limits us. If you would like to read more on the subject; you couldn't go wrong but to read the works of the author's I just cited and then read each of the bibliographies contained in each book. That should point you in some direction.

But with all the books in the world the whole truth is not contained there. There is partial truth... but it is not the big picture.

I used to believe that the above covered the first few questions on Druidry well enough, but we continually get mail etc. from several neopagans that simply do not get the point of this exercise.

To those of you that do NOT get it... let's lay it right out there for you. #1 - The term 'Druid' in Gaeilge means 'to close' or to 'draw nigh' or it represents a small bird{a starling - relative to the Crow/Raven}. It does NOT mean 'priest' or any other such thing as the thousands of neo-pagan movements seem to claim. Look it up folks. A more appropriate term which we have slid into the text of this website from time to time in hopes that some of you make the correlation... is 'Draoi'. Draoi means 'magician', and would come a bit closer to the actual representation in terms of accuracy.

#2 - It is virtually impossible for ANYONE in these modern times to make the outlandish claim of being a 'Draoi' or 'Druid'. You see, in order to actually have this title - if they used it at all which is doubtful. {more like Fili} One would have to be able to at the very LEAST do the following without hesitation:
a. Ascend through all of the Bardic Grades
b. Recite ALL of the lore, without adding or subtracting a single word or letter
c. Be fluent in Gaeilge and/or Gaelic.
d. Be able to describe the cosmos, the replenishment of same and all other things corresponding to this subject.
e. Be fluent in Brehon law / as well as the Bardic metres.
f. Have a thorough understanding of all forms of Magic, Sacrifice, and Ritual

This a very much abbreviated list of a very vast subject matter. In other words, this is really nothing in comparison to what the individual would be required to know. We have yet to meet anyone like this in the history of our lives, though it would truly be a treat if there actually was someone that could fit the bill.

So, to put it bluntly. Those of you that are calling yourselves 'Druids' are telling the world what an ignorant fool you really are. The O.B.O.D., the A.D.F., the Henge of Keltria... are all 100% frauds. They are the result of over-romantic hippies and other new-age fruit loops that have brought back the also fraudulent victorian times and flock to Stone Henge and Glastonbury making complete arses out of themselves banging on bodhrans like they're tambourines and howling at the moon. They are money-making organizations that are exploiting the cultures, the history's, the very lives of our ancestor's to make a buck. They are making that buck off of some very mixed-up and lost souls that are just trying so hard to find something other than the dominant religion of Christianity. I say to you, lost souls... Reading IS Fundamental.

Do your homework.

The Truth against the World.

You that create the diversity of the forms
open to my words
you that divide and multiply it
hear my sounds
I make yield league to you
ancient associates
and fellow wanderers
you that move the heart
in fur and scale
I join with you
you that sing bright and subtle
making shapes that my throat cannot tell
you that harden the horn
and make quick the eye
you that run the fast fox and the zigzag fly
you sizeless makers of the mole and whale
aid me and I will aid you

I make a blood pact with you
you that lift the blossom and the green branch
you who make symmetries more true
you who consider the angle of your limbs
who dance in slower time
who watch the patterns
you rough-coated who eat water
who stretch deep and high
with your green blood
my red blood let it be mingled
aid me and I will aid you

I call upon you
you who are unconfined
who have no shape
who are not seen
but not in your action
I call upon you
you who have no depth
but choose direction
who bring what is willed
that you blow love upon the summers of my loved ones
that you blow summers upon those loves of my loves
aid me and I will aid you

I make a pact with you
you who are the liquidness of the waters
and are the spark of the flame
I call upon you
you who make fertile the soft earth
and guard the growth of the growing things
I make peace with you

you who are the blueness of the blue sky
and the wrath of the storm
I take the cup of deepness with you
earthshakers
and with you the sharp and the hollow hills
I make reverence to you
round wakefulness we call the earth
I make wide eyes to you
you who are awake
every created thing both solid and sleepy
or airy light
I weave colours around you
you who will come with me
I will consider it beauty