If this is a short introduction, how in the name of Teutatis does the *long* one look like?

“Druids: A Very Short Introduction” by Barry Cunliffe is a very *long* introduction to, among other things, Druids. Nor is it that easy to read, due to its dense nature. The author is British and an Emeritus Professor of European Archeology. So this is how a professor abridges his chosen topic – he essentially doesn´t. LOL! Neolithic burial practices, Bronze Age and Iron Age ditto, every landfall of Greek explorer extraordinaire Pytheas, medieval Irish chronicles and the difference between the Posidonian and the Alexandrian tradition in ancient Greco-Roman writings about Druids are some of the subject-matters covered. For a moment, I almost suspected that the author wanted to take us on an extended journey through modern Freemasonry as well, but he resisted the temptation, instead giving us an overview of the Breton Neo-Druid revival! But yes, he does mention British and Welsh Neo-Druidry, too, even including a funny photo of a young Winston Churchill being initiated into a slightly burlesque Druid order. I mean, the guys surrounding Churchill look like Santa Claus, even spouting false white beards…

Most of Cunliffe´s book is on the serious side, though. What surprised me was his positive view of the ancient written sources – I assumed the paradigm is to disbelieve everything they ever said about the ancient Celts and their esoteric priesthood. Maybe it is. Perhaps Cunliffe belongs to an older generation? We are dealing with an *emeritus* professor, after all. The author reaches the conclusion that although Druidry isn´t Neolithic, and hence isn´t associated with Stonehenge or similar megalithic sites, it could nevertheless be very ancient, more specifically from the Early Bronze Age. Curiously, Cunliffe never mentions the Indo-European invasions. Doesn´t he believe they happened? He does believe that the Celts originated in Atlantic Europe and that the Iron Age La Tène culture was therefore at the periphery of the Celtic world. Druidry itself might very well be of British origin.

The author takes the Greek and Roman sources seriously, including the stereotypical description of white-gowned Druids with golden sickles gathering mistletoe from oaks. The story does sound logical from a religious viewpoint: oaks were sacred to the Celts, and mistletoe is rare on oak trees, so obviously mistletoe was seen as having mysterious properties when it *did* occasionally grow on oak. Nor are the stories of gruesome human sacrifice entirely made up. The ancient Celts did have a bizarre cult of severed heads, as proven by archeological digs. Many ancient sources ultimately go back to a now lost work by Pytheas of Massalia, a Greek explorer who sailed around Britain at some point during the 4^th century BC. He may have reached even further north.

According to Cunliffe, Celtic religion was lunar in character, while also having strong chthonic overtones. Or shall we say undertones? The most important deities were a sky god and an earth mother, with the former “civilizing” the latter by ritual sexual intercourse. Metamorphoses played an important role, too, but the author says little about this. The Druids, the Vates and the Bards were the priestly castes. The Druids were the philosophers, the teachers and the intermediaries between humans and gods. The Vates were augurs, while the Bards were poets skilled at both celebrating and attacking people through the power of their words and music. Some ancient sources note certain similarities between the Druids and the Greek Pythagoreans. Thus, both believed in an immortal soul and reincarnation. In the author´s mind, these ideas could have developed independently among the Celts, but another possibility is of course that the Druids were influenced by Pythagoreans, or even the other way around! In the Irish sources, we can see how Druidism is gradually replaced by Christianity, and how the Christians become progressively more hostile to their pagan precursors. Druids and Vates disappeared, while the Bards remained. The author doesn´t seem to believe that any authentic bardic tradition has survived into the modern world, however.

This means that all attempts to resurrect Druidism are essentially fake. The notorious 19^th century forger Iolo Morganwg is whipped by the book´s author several times, as is James Macpherson´s “Ossian”. Taliesin probably wasn´t real either. Since the book is supposed to be a “very short” introduction, he doesn´t go into the Arthurian mythology which, of course, includes Merlin. Cunliffe refers to modern “Druids” as “Neo-Pagan” and seem to have a slightly Wiccan understanding of their message. Above all, it´s Green and connected to hippies and new environmental sensibilities. That these groups are included in a work on the ancient Druids isn´t surprising. For starters, the Druid Revivalists gather every year at Stonehenge, often to the chagrin of the police or secular revelers. Also, Druidry has become part and parcel of British identity, and of course Celtic identities, too. What otherwise struck me when reading “Druids: A Very Short Introduction” is how stillborn Celtic Reconstructionism must be. There simply isn´t any way in which ancient Celtic religion can be meaningfully reconstructed today, since it was an integrated part of the cultural, social and political matrixes of the Celtic societies, forever gone. Even apart from that little detail with the severed heads…

With that, I end this very short review. Recommended.