The ancient Druid religion was created within Celtic society at around 500 B. The religion itself was manifested through observations of the natural world. These observations of nature led to the philosophical, spiritual, and ritual base of the Druid religion. The ancient Celtic people populated Gaul and the British Isles from 900 B.C. to 700 C.E.(1,2,5). These were a people of nature. At the height of their society at around 300 B.C. there were hundreds of independent Celtic tribes. Each tribe had fixed borders but held the forest and agricultural land as common ground. Some of the land was worked in common for the sick and the poor (5). The social structure was based on democratic idealism. Every person had his or her place in the tribe and officials were elected yearly. The majority of tribal business was conducted at annual assemblies where land disputes were decided, petty criminals were tried and officials were elected (2,5). The common link between all the tribes was the Druid priesthood. The Druid priests had authority over every tribal chief and could move wherever they wanted. They were the arbitrators between the tribes. Their purpose was to preserve the common culture, religion, history, laws, scholarship and science of the Celtic people A Druid would begin training at age 5 and continue for 20 years. He or she would be taught in a large group by a few Druid teachers and would be educated in astrology, magic, and in the powers of plants and animals. All of the instruction was oral and hands-on (1,2,3,4). The training was also very physically demanding. A Druid had to master and understand his or her body because it was the soul's link to nature and life. It is believed that the students would live in the sacred oak forests for long periods of time. There they would learn to communicate with nature and understand its mysterious ways. They would also learn magic based on the powers of nature.
