Because the most reliable resources of evidence on Druidism, their own written scripts, cannot be found we can only make assumptions and Julius Caesar also spoke of this when stating “the Druids think it is not right to entrust their teachings to written script, though they use the Greek alphabet in almost all other matters, including public and private accounts.” (1) The real reasons for this are also unknown, but according to Julius Caesar, two assumptions can be made, “It seems to me that this (not writing their teachings down) is for two reasons. They do not want their teachings to be available to the general public and they also do not want those who are studying to rely more on writing than on their memories.”(1) However, despite the lack of reliable information, we can assume that Druids were ancient priests, who led Celtic Britain and other European regions into nature-based rituals. Among the ancient Celts, Druids were members of the highly respected ‘professional’ class, where the spiritual life of the Druids and their society’s religious life was incorporated. Among the Druids were doctors, judges, philosophers, priests, seers and other intellectuals of their culture who possessed the knowledge, both religious and philosophical. The meaning and the origins of the word “Druid” is not clearly known. In Old Irish, ‘drui’ was the singular form of ‘Druid’, and through the scholar Rudol Turneysen, a Druid was understood as a person with great knowledge. This was because, Turneysen derived the prefix ‘dru’ and ‘vid’ from old Irish, which meant ‘through’ and ‘know’. Other early classical writers had different ideas, such as Pliny, who related to ‘drus’ from the Greek word for ‘oak’ and through the word “Druid” became to mean a ...
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http://bcs.bedfordstmartins.com/everyday_writer/studentwriting/pdf/MacKintosh-SimsHistory.pdf
Of Water and the Spirit is more than simply an account of Malidoma's life and initiation, it is a detailed description of the worldview of a Dagara man, who is forcibly subjected to traditional Western thought for fifteen years and then returns to his home physically, at first, but spiritually only once he goes through initiation, or what the Dagara call the Baar. Malidoma's recount of his story, being very similar to the storytelling of an African Griot, uses amazing imagery that allows the listener to sincerely experience his thoughts and actions and the things he sees, hears, and feels throughout his early life up to now.
John Scheid is one of the world’s leading scholars in relation to the Roman World. His work, An Introduction to Roman Religion, provides an extensive analysis as well as portrait of the religion in Rome in the context of the late republic and early empire. In order to present his arguments and evidence effectively and efficiently in the publication, Scheid draws on the latest findings with reference to archaeology. In addition, the author uses history in explaining relevant meanings of rituals, auspices, oracles, and rites. The approach is also vital in the evaluation of the uses of temples and sacred ground. It is also essential to note that the book focuses on demonstration of the daily patterns of the religious life as well as observance within the context of the Roman City (Rome) and its environs.
During the turn of the 5th century, the British Isles were under control of a strong and powerful group of people, called the Anglo-Saxons. These individuals worshipped under a Pagan religion that shaped their society in many ways. During the time period when the story was written, it is believed to have followed strict Paganism beliefs. Throughout the time the story has been told, Christian monks have rewritten it, changing it around to follow a Christian belief system. Even with these changes and rewrites, the core essence of the Anglo-Saxon beliefs remain in the story. Within the epic poem of Beowulf, readers can clearly see the traditions of Anglo-Saxon culture and the Pagan religion, including importance of reputation, concept of fate,
Experiencing new worlds and encountering new dilemmas, magic, wisdom, truth: all of these elements characterizes the context of the book Of Water and Spirit by Malidona Patrice Some. Here, magic and everyday life come to an affinity, and respect and rituals are necessary tools to survive. The author portrays the Dagara culture in a very specific way. This culture makes no differentiation between what is natural, or "normal", and what is supernatural, or magical. Ancestors compound the core of communities and individuals. These higher beings are present in ordinary life activities and actions. They constitute the connection between this world and another.
Beowulf, an epic poem written in the late tenth-century, in the kingdom of the West Saxons, steeping with pagan tradition, this epic depicts nature as hostile and forces of death uncontrollable. Blind fate chooses random victims and people never feel at peace with the world. Also Beowulf ends as a failure to help heal the wounds of his society. Although there are parts of this statement which can be construed as true, for the most part, it doesn't give Beowulf the credit he deserves. For someone whose life was cut short, Beowulf did many great deeds for his time in the world.
In 1908, a statue known as the Venus of Willendorf was found in a cave near what is now Vienna, Austria. Archaeologists believe that the figure comes from 24,000 and 22,000 B.C. Similar statues have been found in a large area of Europe. The Venus of Willendorf has become a symbol of prehistoric art. Paleolithic Wo/Man believed in a multitude of gods and honored the spirit of each thing. Today, this is called Animism. As Wo/Man matured and traveled across Europe, he took his religion with him and the gods acquired different names. Wo/Man had also developed a belief in a life after death. Burial customs of the Gravettians (22000-18000 BC) showed burials with personal possessions. In some areas of Europe these ritual leaders, or priests and priestesses, became known as the Wicca, which means the “Wise Ones”. During the time of the Anglo-Saxon kings in England, the king would never think of acting on any important matter without consulting the Witan. In 2000 B.C. Babylon's Code of Hammurabi instructs people, "If a man has laid a charge of witchcraft and has not justified it, he upon whom the witchcraft is laid shall go to the holy river; he shall plunge into the holy river and if the holy river overcome him, he who accused him shall take to himself his house." By 350 B.C., the Celts had developed a priestly class called the Druids. Around the third century, AD in the pre-Christian Roman Empire, punishment by the State against witches who brought about another per...
For hundreds of years, Wicca and witchcraft has been considered the practice of the Devil. In result, many witches throughout those hundreds of years have been tortured, burned, hanged, and killed outright. Although the “witches” from the infamous Salem Witch Trials were not actual witches, it is the thought that counts. The assumption that witchcraft involves summoning the devil and sacrificing animals is extremely inaccurate, as well as a little insulting. Wicca and witchcraft has been misunderstood throughout the time it has existed, and it is actually a very beautiful practice.
Druids were known to be highly intelligent and were often an elite group. They were often the priests of the Celtic religion. The druids have no official sacred text although there are books about astronomy that were believed to be written and used by the Druids. The Druids believed that mistletoe and oak trees were very sacred. Pliny, a Roman author, stated that “The Druids (so they call their wise men) hold nothing in greater reverence than the mistletoe, and the tree on which it grows, so that it be an oak.” (Pliny, sect. 95). A noted unique feature in the Druid religion was that they made no distinction between male and female rulers. In chapter 30 of Annals, a book of Roman history, Tacitus describes the Romans first encounters of the Druids. He describes women as “running through the r...
In the Medieval times, the Roman Catholic Church played a great role in the development of England and had much more power than the Church of today does. In Medieval England, the Roman Catholic Church dominated everyday life and controlled everyone whether it is knights, peasants or kings. The Church was one of the most influential institutions in all of Medieval England and played a large role in education and religion. The Church's power was so great that they could order and control knights and sends them to battle whenever they wished to. The Church also had the power to influence the decision of Kings and could stop or pass laws which benefited them in the long run, adding to this, the Church had most of the wealth in Europe as the Church demanded a Tithe from all the common life which meant that they had to pay 10 percent of their income to the Church. The Church controlled all the of the beliefs and religion of the Church as they were the only ones who could read or write Latin and as such could decipher the Bible and scriptures which gave them all the power to be the mouth of God. The Legacy of the power and the influence of the Church can still be found, even today in modern times.
In the Old English poem Beowulf and in the Icelandic The Saga of the Volsungs, a saga representing oral traditions dating back to the fourth and fifth centuries, we see the mention of runes, which were used with connotations of magic or charms.
Webber was interested in how both the early church and the Old Testament worshipped, the problem in worship today he feels is bigger than just what instruments are used it goes deeper into the construction and substance of worship. There is defiantly a crisis in worship today. Worship in churches today lacks the ability to keep its audience interested , he describes it as dry and self-centered and says that it is because the vision of God and story in past, present and future history has been lost. Webber states that evangelical worship today fails to recreate Gods story, the evangelical worship service tries to pull out emotional responses and impart information to the congregation. Webber desires the Church
In the Old English poem Beowulf we see the mention of runes, which were used with connotations of magic or charms. Examining evidence from historic times, we find that early Englishmen were fully conversant with the Germanic runic alphabet and that runes did have special connotations.
Religion is a system of faith and worship, it goes back to more than 5000 years ago. “Religion provided a fundamental—perhaps the fundamental—lens through which people understood their world in early modern times.” (that book). It became a thing when people couldn't explain something like the sun or the earth, but as time progressed religion became more of putting fear in people life. “It legitimated political authority, justified social hierarchies, and facilitated social order by establishing codes of right and wrong.” like a building block of civilization. There are many religious creation stories on how humans, the earth and a lot more things developed. Religions were usually based on revelation using gods and goddesses. Monotheistic
Although some people believe that the Rosicrucian following is relatively new considering other much older beliefs, Rosicrucians claim much earlier beginnings for themselves than can be documented. One group even claims ties to Thutmose III, about 1500 B.C. in Egypt (Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, 1915).
Christianity is the religion that is based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and practices. An individual’s spiritual progress will define their belief structure in what Christ means in their life. Henry Chadwick discussed how Christianity emerged from the apostolic age to the division of the Greek East and Latin West in his book ‘The Early Church.’ Further discussion about the birth of Christianity can be found in the movie ‘Constantine the Great’ that the History Channel shared. There are many aspects about Early Christianity that has helped shape Modern Day Christianity and practices. Early Christianity witnessed a divide in the Greek East and Latin West, witnessed Constantine’s conversion to Christianity,