Eytmonline states that a Druid is "one of the order of priests among the ancient Celts of Gaul, Britain, and Ireland." The word is derived from the Latin word druis, a feminine form of the word druias (plural druidae), from a Celtic compound *dru-wid meaning "strong seer."
This ancient Celtic word is said to come from Old Celtic *derwos meaning "true" (from and ancient PIE word root *deru- indicating "tree," especially oak) +and *wid- "to know" (from PIE root *weid- "to see").
So while the Druids might said to be the "knowers" or "seers" of the oaks, it can equally be said that the druids were "those who see, know, and pursue what is true, what is as real as the trees."
In ancient times a Druid was a philosopher, teacher, counsellor and magician, the word probably meaning ‘A Forest Sage’ or ‘Strong Seer’. In modern times, a Druid is someone who follows Druidry as their chosen spiritual path.
The reason we tend to visualize the Druid as an old man in our imagination is partly due, perhaps, to a realization that by the time one has undertaken the training of the Druids one is bound to be ancient! We cannot be sure of the exact time it took, but Caesar mentions that some spent as long as twenty years in their education at Druid colleges. Caesar’s account is reminiscent of the situation of monastic schools in Europe and as far afield as Tibet, where young people would go or be sent for a complete education.
Stages of the modern Druid include Bard and Ovate and Druid. The Bard was the poet and musician, the preserver of lore, the inspirer and entertainer, and the Ovate was the doctor, detective, diviner and seer, the "mature" Druid simply stated, were advisors to rulers, they were judges, teachers, and an authority in matters of worship and ceremony. The picture this paints is of mature wisdom, of official position and privilege, and of roles which involved decision-making, direction and the imparting of knowledge and wise counsel.
We tend to think of the Druid as a sort of priest, but the classical texts refer to them more as philosophers than priests. At first this appears confusing since we know they presided at ceremonies, but if we understand that Druidry was a natural observational earth-knowledge religion as opposed to a revealed-spiritual religion we can see that the Druids probably acted NOT as mediators of Divinity, but as directors of ritual, guiding and containing the rites.
In addition to this, we know that they fulfilled a number of other functions that often merged and combined, as we realize when Caesar tells us “They have many discussions as touching on the stars and their movement, the size of the universe and of the earth, the order of nature, the strength and the powers of the immortal gods, and hand down their lore to the young men.” Here the Druids are essentially portrayed as scientists – as astronomers and mathematicians, as philosophers and as teachers passing on their wisdom. They functioned in essence as divine scientists.
Here is what some historians say of them:
Because of their closeness to truth, reality, and observation of the natural sciences, "Druids are considered the most just of men, and on this account they are entrusted with the decision, not only of the private disputes, but of the public disputes as well; so that, in former times, they even arbitrated cases of war and made the opponents stop when they were about to line up for battle, and the murder cases in particular were turned over to them for decision. --Strabo GeographicaIt is they who decide in almost all disputes, public and private; and if any crime has been committed, or murder done, or there is any dispute about succession or boundaries, they also decide it, determining rewards and penalties: if any person or people does not abide by their decision, they ban such from sacrifice, which is their heaviest penalty. Caesar De Bello GallicoA great number of young men gather about them for the sake of instruction and hold them in great honor……. Report says that in the schools of the Druids they learn by heart a great number of verses, and … they do not think it proper to commit these utterances to writing, although in almost all other matters, and in their public and private accounts, they make use of Greek letters. Caesar, De Bello Gallico
It is clear from both the classical and the Irish sources that one of the main functions of the Druid was as a teacher. This involved teaching at both an esoteric and an exoteric level. The Jewish rabbi is often promoted as a more well known example to help us picture how a Druid might have lived and worked. She or he was: ‘a man or woman of wisdom whose advice was sought on all matters of daily life, one who perhaps also fulfilled a craft, one who was married and had a family, one who brought the people together for common celebrations and whose word was law.
While some Druids may have simply had one or two students living in their household helping, presumably, with the household routine in return for training, others gathered around them sufficient numbers of disciples to form a veritable college of Druidry. What would they have learned? Druid colleges, large and small, were in charge of the whole spectrum of education from the teaching of general education to that of philosophy, from law to the teaching of magic, from the teaching of healing skills to correct ceremonial order. We also know that Druids acted as tutors to the children of kings, queens and nobles, and that students would be sent from one Druid teacher to another to learn different skills.
There is evidence that some kings were also Druids. When Druids were not kings, they were advisors to kings, queens and chieftains, and were accorded such status that they were often the first to speak at official functions. At the court of Conchobar, King of Ulster, for example, no one had the right to speak before the Druid had spoken.
We know that the Druids concerned themselves with what we term today the sciences. To what degree their mathematics was numerology, their chemistry alchemy, their astronomy astrology, we will never know. But we do know that the building of the stone circles required sophisticated measuring, calculating and engineering skills, and that this same building depended upon a knowledge of the movement of the heavens to such a degree that the very earliest of proto-Druids were clearly skilled astronomers. These were indeed scientists creating giant astronomical computers in stone.
Druids worked with fire and with metals, and this work was undoubtedly alchemical. Fire, like water, was and is considered sacred by those with spiritual understanding of the natural world. We can be sure that Druids were the masters of fire. Their esoteric work with fire is a matter of inner knowledge for it deals with their ability to relate to and work with the sacred fire within the body as well as within the grove.
Metalworking was also considered a sacred art. The tribe's ability to defend itself, and to gain food from the earth or from animals. The Welsh tradition states that a branch of Druids worked as metallurgists and alchemists in a city of "higher powers." The Druid as metalworker would have forged the swords for the warriors and nobles, which would have been imbued during their casting and annealing with magical spells designed to protect the bearer. The sword figures largely in the Druid mythos: It emerges out of the two fixed elements of water and earth in the Arthurian legend: being pulled out of stone by Arthur, and being raised mysteriously out of the Lake when needed.
It is born in fire with the skill of the Druid-Alchemist, and it is raised in the air during the Beltane ceremony, as the Sword-bearer cries: “Behold this sword Excalibur, which rose from the lake of still meditation and was returned to it again. The sword of spirit, of light and truth, is always sharp and always with us, if our lake be stilled.”
Druids and the Druid philosophy have long been associated with the idea of Peace. Classical writers, such as Julius Caesar and Diodorus Siculus, spoke of the way in ancient times Druids were exempt from military service, and did not bear arms, and how they often pacified warring tribes, passing between the massed ranks of opposing forces urging peace:
‘For they generally settle all their disputes, both public and private… The Druids usually abstain from war, nor do they pay taxes together with the others; they have exemption from warfare.’(Caesar)
Druids in ancient times worked in Sacred Groves whether these are physical ones, or whether these have been created in the Inner World through meditation. These groves are seen as places of peace and tranquility that radiate these qualities out to the world.
Some say that the study of philosophy was of barbarian origin. For the Persians had their Magi, the Babylonians or the Assyrians the Chaldeans, the Indians their Gymnosophists, while the Kelts and the Galatae had seers called Druids….Diogenes Laertius Lives of the Philosophers c.250 CE
In examining the roles of the Druid as teacher and judge, king and advisor to kings and queens, scientist and alchemist, we must remember that behind each of these functions the Druid was at heart a philosopher. His or her concern was with the meaning and purpose of life on earth. We know little of early Druid philosophy, but a study of the old Irish and Welsh laws, developed by the Druids, can provide us with a glimpse into the ethical foundations of early Druid philosophy.
The Classical writers say that Druid philosophy was influenced by Pythagoreanism, and if this is so, we can start to build a fairly comprehensive picture of the philosophy of these forest sages. But the picture does not stop there, because Druidry has grown and evolved constantly over the centuries – on its way absorbing or drawing on many influences. In the early days these came from Greece and Rome, and perhaps Egypt and India too.
The Bard has opened to the artist, the creative Self, that lives within them, the Ovate has opened to the shaman who lives within – the one who can travel in the inner realms to explore the fluid nature of time, and the inner power of trees, herbs and animals. The Druid opens to their inner Wise Person, the inner Sage who is Philosopher and Counsellor, who judges and discriminates and who teaches too.
The three realms of Art, Nature and Philosophy are encompassed within the three divisions of the Druid Tradition -- poet and shaman, healer and philosopher – spiritual and earthy. We ourselves may well not yet be this ‘Whole Person’, able to encompass all these abilities and interests, but the Druid as a model is always there to encourage and guide us, to shine a light for us on a path that is not uniform and not pre-determined, but unique to us and built with our own experience and our own creative genius.
According to your belief and experience, you will understand the image of the Druid as Inner Sage as a metaphor, as a cultural creation, as an archetype in our collective consciousness, or as an actual being or one of a host of beings who exist on the inner planes, and who are simply waiting for us to turn to them for guidance.
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