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Based on all available forms, the hypothetical proto-Celtic word may be reconstructed as *dru-wid-s (pl. *druwides), whose original meaning is traditionally taken to be "oak-knower", based upon the association of druids' beliefs with oak trees, which was made by Pliny the Elder, who also suggested that the word is borrowed from the Greek word ...
Many Druids believe that the practices of the Iron Age druids should be revived and modified to meet current needs. [22] In Ireland, some Druids have claimed that because the island was never conquered by the Roman Empire , the Iron Age druids survived here and their teachings were passed down hereditarily until modern times, at which modern ...
Dynion Mwyn or Welsh Faerie Witchcraft has always held beliefs in reincarnation similar to the Druids of Caesars time: There is a strong belief that nature operates in cycles; that life shows patterns of existence, or souls; that these souls do not cease to exist at the death of the physical body.
The belief in entering into hills, such as Þorisbjorg and Melifell, upon death is referenced elsewhere in Landnámabók. A similar belief among Sámi continued into the modern period. It has been suggested that belief in the dead living in howes and mountains are connected, with both being presented as halls on the inside. [38]
Germanic mythology as well as Celtic polytheism both appear to have involved cultic practice in sacred groves, especially grove of oak. [citation needed] The term druid itself possibly derives from the Celtic word for oak. The Egyptian Book of the Dead mentions sycamores as part of the scenery where the soul of the deceased finds blissful repose.
Caesar writes that Druids were responsible for conducting both human and animal sacrifices for those who were sick or at risk of dying in battle. Druids constructed wicker statues and images in which the sacrifices are placed before they are burned. In traditional Celtic Paganism, these sacrifices were made to the Celtic gods and goddesses.
Illustration of human sacrifices in Gaul from Myths and legends; the Celtic race (1910) by T. W. Rolleston. While other Roman writers of the time described human and animal sacrifice among the Celts, only the Roman general Julius Caesar and the Greek geographer Strabo mention the wicker man as one of many ways the druids of Gaul performed sacrifices.
Miranda Aldhouse-Green has argued that, although Pliny is the only authority to mention this ceremony, the main elements of his account are all features of Celtic religion that are confirmed elsewhere; these include oak trees, mistletoe, ritual banqueting, the moon, and bull-sacrifice.