question about druids, sacrifice

[Sunday's Child]

does anyone know if the druids made blood-sacrfices for good crops? Did they believe that if life force is taken out of the earth, it must be returned?

[Twig]

We don't know.:mad: I should say "I"don't. Irregardless, when asked a similar question i used the answer I give you now.

" Despite the past the only thing I or anyone i know of sacrifices is an occasional pint of ale to the Gods! ;) :D

Peace,
Twig
:elf:

[Sunday's Child]

Thanks, Twig. I am going to read some books on druids and I'll be back to talk..ha ha

[Mairwen]

I thought it had been found that the only human sacrifices took place in mainland Europe ~ while sacrifices of cattle, grain, the occasional pint of ale, etc, took place in the UK?

[widukind]

And what would be the logic in that? I think the person who wrote that might not have been a continental European, claiming the "right way" was the "island way". Assuming human sacrfice DID take place, it must have happended throughout the whole of druid society, not only the mainland.

Brightest Blessings!

[Mairwen]

I haven't found this in just one source; I am away from my notes at the moment, so can't back myself up. However, one must also remember that the "Druids" as we know them aren't native to UK.

[Maggie]

Originally posted by Mairwen
I haven't found this in just one source; I am away from my notes at the moment, so can't back myself up. However, one must also remember that the "Druids" as we know them aren't native to UK.

Neither are the Celts! ;) Blood rituals were a part of celtic society at sometimes--a recent Archaeology had an article about it. As soon as I find the issue I'll post it for ya'll.......

Regards,

Maggie

[Mairwen]

Originally posted by Maggie
Neither are the Celts! ;)

People seem to forget that! It burns me when people confuse Irish and Celtic or Welsh and Celtic. They forget (or don't) look further back into history to find the true origins of something. Just one of my peeves.

Blood rituals were a part of celtic society at sometimes--a recent Archaeology had an article about it. As soon as I find the issue I'll post it for ya'll.......

Maybe that's the article I was thinking of, Maggie. Thanks!

[Maggie]

Originally posted by Mairwen


People seem to forget that! It burns me when people confuse Irish and Celtic or Welsh and Celtic. They forget (or don't) look further back into history to find the true origins of something. Just one of my peeves.

[B]

Maybe that's the article I was thinking of, Maggie. Thanks!

Okay.........The issue is the March/April 2001 of Archaeology, and the article is about excavations in northern France. They've found remains of cultic buildings and plentiful evidence of taking of trophy heads (and other body parts!) in war. This particular area of France was home to the Belgae, so that the practices might not transfer to other areas or to the islands, but it certainly is thought-provoking!

Regards,

Maggie

[Cailleach Dubh]

While the evidence is patchy, there seems to be widespread belief amongst historians that human sacrifice was practised both by continental and insular druids. In the UK there is the famous "Lindow Man" recovered from a bog in Cheshire, who was, it appears, killed in a highly ritualised manner. He was thought to be of the upper classes and may well have been a druid himself. The method of sacrifice involved striking the guy on the head, strangling and cutting his throat. The three methods possibly served three different gods. In Ireland, again there is little actual evidence (its quite hard to find any preserved bodies from this era, most have been found in bogs, which have amazing preservative qualities), but quite a bit was written about child sacrifices in particular and bodies have been found in lakes which possibly constitute sacrificial offerings.

[Sunday's Child]

That is very intresting... Thanks, Cailleach Dubh.

[Mairwen]

However, how far back do those date? Do they date to the indigenous tribes of the Isles, or do they date back to the time other people arrived there? (meaning the Celts and possibly others) What I'm saying is, who did what and when?

[Cailleach Dubh]

So called "Celtic" in all cases Mairwen:
Lindow Man dates from Ist century AD, another discovery of a possible human sacrifice from Hampshire UK, dates from 3rd or 2nd century BC. At Navan Fort, Ireland several human skulls were found in the sacrifical lake (800BC-1 century BC approx). I was watching a TV program a few months back about a ritual mound in Scotland where human sacrifices appeared to have been carried out, I don't remember the date, but the structure was similar to many other complexes in the UK and Ireland. It was definately not "pre-Celtic" .

[Maggie]

Originally posted by Cailleach Dubh
So called "Celtic" in all cases Mairwen:
Lindow Man dates from Ist century AD, another discovery of a possible human sacrifice from Hampshire UK, dates from 3rd or 2nd century BC. At Navan Fort, Ireland several human skulls were found in the sacrifical lake (800BC-1 century BC approx). I was watching a TV program a few months back about a ritual mound in Scotland where human sacrifices appeared to have been carried out, I don't remember the date, but the structure was similar to many other complexes in the UK and Ireland. It was definately not "pre-Celtic" .

Oh, I'm pretty sure they did. For myself, I tend to be perhaps overcareful when discussing these matters, because the celts were not a monolithic people and there were regional differences. That's why I specified the place and group the article I posted referred to..........

Maggie

[Mairwen]

Thank you Maggie. That's what I'm saying. Just because one tribe/region did it, doesn't mean everyone did. I mean, if your friends jumped off a bridge .... 8O

[thefluiddruid]

This topic is one of the most debated subjects I have ran across in the Druidic community.
All the documentation for Druids performing such rituals are from either Roman tales, or christian monks trying to belittle the old ways.
The "Bog People" were not sacrifices, but condemmed crimanals.

They were exicuted in ways specified in Brehon Law.(for more info on Brehon Law please contact XPrinceHawkX@aol.com , he has studied this subject much more than I).
As far as the "Lake sacrifices" there is no way of knowing if these folks were alive or dead at the time they were put in the lake.
It could be that this is the way some of these cultures buried thier dead.

[Draeconin]

Originally posted by Sunday's Child
does anyone know if the druids made blood-sacrfices for good crops? Did they believe that if life force is taken out of the earth, it must be returned?

I know of only two rituals that related directly to crop growth. One was mating in the fields to make them fertile, the other involved jumping to show the crops how high to grow. Both were community-based and may or may not have involved priests. I don't recall seeing them mentioned.

[Mairwen]

Sounds like a lot of fun to me!! LOL!






oh, me ... I need to get off this computer .....

*desperately seeking MW 12-step program!!*





8O