okamido

Unfortunately, I can beat that.

Tha Sami people of Lapland, used to feed the semi-poisonous 'mushroom, fly agaric, to reindeers and then collect the urine of said reindeers in order to drink it for the hallucenogenic qualities.

Apparently the Celts did the same thing, but instead of reindeer, the druids had young men eat the mushroom, then they would collect and drink their urine.

caldrail

Do you have a source on that? I'm a little suspicious since details of rites are not exactly well known (they never left any writings and transmitted information orally if they had to)

okamido

Google, Fly-Agaric+druids, and you will get a ton of information. You can determine the veracity of that information if you so desire.

It wasn't something that I had originally heard of, but I came across it as I was searching for the name of the mushroom that the Sami had used, which I had forgotten at the time.

caldrail

Most of it seems to be neo-pagan mythology than archaeological research. Sokme might be from the revivalist movement following the (incorrect) pronouncement by John Aubrey in the mid 1600's who stumbled across Avebury Circle and considered the Druids had built it, but then he didn't know any better. That's the problem with looking up druids om the internet, so much of it is modern invention. In particular steer clear of any connection between druids and stone circles. Both are from completely different religious systems in different time periods.

okamido

Can you clarify a little more for us that aren't as versed in the druidic religion?

dagul

In South America, there are countries where their people drink this kind of drug extracted from sap of leaves and the followers drunk it and, by that time they are high is the period that believe they are talking with their god. That must be heaven, yo! It's legal to take the drug because it is part of the ritual in the exercise of religion.

caldrail

Stone circles were created within neolithic and early bronze age periods with increasing emphasis on regular communal rites involving processions over increasing distance. The actual religion isn't known to us except that it involved commemoration of life, death, natural bounty, and the annual change of summer and winter.

The druids emerge in the historical record from around 300-350BC, mentioned in greek works, and are almost always described as gauls. One source mentions druids among the galatians of Asia Minor which although technically incorrect, does rather underline the connection between druidism (known to be centered on Britain - even the Romans said so) and the tribal judges of gaulish tribes.

It appears that the gauls were as bloodthirsty in their rites as any other iron age culture, something that Caesar describes, and the cultural role of the druid is something of a moderator rather than the cruel instigator of torture normally considered, which itself is probably a hangover of anti-druid sentiment from among the Romans. Thety had initially banned citizens from druidic worship and later banned druids completely.

Human sacrifice was a gaulish trait rather than purely druidic. The Romans record however that the gauls would not sacrifice without a druid present which indicates the power these people wielded. They influenced tribal leaders and in all probability welded together iron age western europe into some form of co-operative society rather than the fight-your-neighbour-at-any-excuse culture that spawned hillforts across southern britain around 500-600BC. The celts were still violent of course, but at least the chaos and anarchy of the post bronze age economy was allowed to encompass some sort of diplomacy other than sword fighting.

Typically a druid oversaw rites in which a chosen victim was first hit on the head with a heavy object, then strangled, then finally a cut throat (notice the combination of three methods, a pointer to ritual significance). Caesar mentions the 'Wicker Man', a construction in which victims were burned alive as the popular movie depicted, but this has no archaeological evidence.

Malmudian Law emerges earlier at around 400-450BC. it consists of more than two huindred verses (247 of them if I remember right) in which the rules of society are described, always around the concept of the ritually significant number three. So for instance they stated that three members of society must not be harmed in war - Women, children, and bards.

The point here is that these verses (triads as the were called) required to be learned by heart. Druids were said to serve a long apprenticeship to ensure they'd gotten this information down pat. It seems then with such emphasis on learning (the driuids were the wise men of their time) that the use of narcotics is a little odd., and in fact, I would assume that emerges in more recent times as an excuse for drug taking in som,e hazy idea of ancient orgiastic rites. I don't doubt the celts were prone to doing so - I doubt a druid would because he had a real motive to stay clear headed.

Druids are described as worshipping in sacred groves, which the Romans destroyed if they found them. Stone circles were no more than ruins by the iron age. Stonehenge for instance, despite being a major center of worship in its heyday, had gone out of business and had been abandoned between 1900-1600BC, more than a thousand years before druids appear.

A lot is made of a system of knots in a rope that was used by druiids to record information. I don't see any source on that and so it remains another piece of folklore that can't be fixed in context.

Hope that helps.

okamido

Cheers