The Bard or Fili, as they were called in Ireland, were the poets, musicians, and keepers of tribal lore and genealogy. They were the keepers of the Word, which to the Celtic peoples was sacred and the source of all knowledge and magic. They believed it to be the very wellspring of life. It is because of this belief that the Druids never wrote any of their lore. Teaching other than by the spoken Word profaned the sacred knowledge. (more…)

The Druids were the intellectual elite of the ancient Celtic people. They were the judges, teachers, and advisors to kings, doctors, religious officials, seers, and philosophers. We have almost no information about the Druids and what they believed. What we do know comes from the writings of the Roman historians, such as Caesar, Strabo, and Diodorus Siculus. Caesar probably wrote the most about the Celts and it must be considered that while he may have admired them, he considered them to be the enemy. We must also remember that at the time Caesar was in the process of conquering the continental Celtic tribes, and was looking for support from Rome, so some of these statements must be taken with a grain of salt. (more…)