Spiral SpiritHistorical Druids
The Druids were the religious functionaries of the Celtic peoples who lived in northeastern Europe and Britain in ancient times. These peoples included the Gauls, who lived in what the areas that are now France, western Germany, and parts of Belgium and the Low Countries; there were also Celts that lived in the far north and the British Isles — the ancestors of the Welsh, Irish, Scottish, Cornish, Breton and Manx people of today.
Most of what we know about the ancient Druids comes from the writings of the Romans who encountered them in the quest for the expansion of the Empire. Julius Caesar wrote:
"The [druids] are engaged in things sacred, conduct the public and the private sacrifices, and interpret all matters of religion. To these a large number of the young men resort for the purpose of instruction, and they [the Druids] are in great honor among them. For they determine respecting almost all controversies, public and private; and if any crime has been perpetrated, if murder has been committed, if there be any dispute about an inheritance, if any about boundaries, these same persons decide it; they decree rewards and punishments..." (De Bello Gallico, Book VI, Chapter 13)