by Paul Krul
It is commonly thought that Druids in the old days performed human sacrifices to the gods. The three main sources for this belief are Roman and Greek writings (especially those by Julius Caesar), archaeological findings of ritually killed people from the Celtic Druidic era in several locations and lastly Celtic mythical legends about sacrifices. However, as I’ll explain in more detail later in this article, neither of these three sources is actual evidence for human sacrifices. This might seem a trivial matter after thousands of years, but unfortunately some religious groups use this “evidence” to proclaim all druids, in the present and past as
people involved in dark and evil rituals. Further, an important part of Druidism is an intellectual pursuit for knowledge and skills. For those two reasons this article has been written.
Roman/Greek Writings
In several Roman and Greek writings it is mentioned that Druids performed the execution of criminals and prisoners of war in religious ceremonies, in which Druids were present in varying degrees of involvement. Other writings give specific details about a number of rituals which were supposed to be executed by Druids.
Both Roman and Greek writers however were not directly witnesses to such rituals; they were told about them indirectly by merchants, Roman soldiers and other sources. None of them can be considered neutral in any way, nor would most of them actually be able to witness a Druidic ritual. For the most part, the stories Classical writers tell are therefore unfortunately very unreliable.
Some of the Classical writings, and later a small portion of the Christian writings, about Druidic sacrifices were with good intent and had reliable sources. They most likely have the basic facts right. However, as we can
see with the Roman interpretation of the early-Christians performing the Mass, this does not mean accuracy in any way. In the early days of Christianity, the Roman heard about Christians performing the Mass, in
which they drank the blood of the Lord and did strange rituals with newborns, etc. Now we know that these are symbolic acts, but the Romans did not, and in most cases could not, know this. The same goes for Druidic rituals: though the actual ritual might have been described, the symbolism of it was lost.
Archaeological Findings
On August 1st 1984 the reasonably intact remains of a human were found near the border of Wales. It was a so-called “bog-body”, a mummified remains of sorts, the man had been simultaneously drowned, strangled and clubbed. (This reference is to Lindow Man, exhumed in Cheshire, England, a body preserved naturally in the peat. Ed.) Since no evidence of attempts at self-defence were found, it was and still is assumed by many that it was a sacrificial killing, and because of the age of the body, that it was human sacrifice in a Druidic ritual.
Hundreds of bog-bodies have been found throughout Europe in various states. Now, though plausible (and possible) as this may be, there are too many assumptions and other possibilities. A main category of other possibilities is that these bodies are not related to Druids in any way (no writings describe rituals fitting those bodies). It could have been local religions, cults, executions of criminals, victims of criminals (including serial killers) and many more possibilities. The bog-bodies prove that in the Druidic age, people were killed in
ritualistic ways, nothing more or less.
Imagine this situation: “The condemned person is awaiting his sentence, while he gets his last meal, a religious man offers his support. The condemned person is led from the cell and brought to the execution area. There with the religious man present, praying and watching, the man is executed according to protocol.” This might describe the execution of a murderer in the Celtic era with a Druid presiding. Or it might be the execution of a more recent murderer in the USA with a priest present. In both cases we can say there was a religious presence, there was a ritual involved, a person was killed, the person had a last meal. Would this make all executions in the USA (and many other nations) part of Christian human sacrifices? Of course not, that’s ridiculous. Just as it’s ridiculous to assume on even less evidence that a large part of Druidism was sacrificing humans in rituals.
Celtic Rituals and Mythical Legends
An important source sometimes forgotten in this matter is that of the Celtic legends. With little knowledge about the legends, most non-Druids can’t say anything about them, and many Druids who have a basic knowledge ignore them because they do seem to indicate human sacrifices. There are multiple stories and rituals in which people are killed; however, both the stories and rituals are symbolic.
One of the better known rituals is, in fact, a transition ritual, in which person(s) are “locked” into a house after which the house is set on fire. What most people don’t know, however, is that such houses had a point in the wall which was so weak the occupant(s) could break through in a second to leave and end the ritual.
Further such houses were generally built in order for the fire not to reach the actual place of the occupant(s).
In other stories and rituals the same is shown, symbolic human sacrifices, rituals of rebirth (which are found in most religions; baptism could most be considered one of them). Not a single story, ritual or legend talks about human sacrifices in anything but a symbolic way.
Conclusion
I have examined the three main sources of the human sacrifice myth. None of them show any scientific evidence (or plain logic) to show that Druids were involved in human sacrifices. This despite heavy propaganda by Romans and later Christians to try and demonise Druidism and Druids.
With this in mind there is plenty of reason to say with confidence, and supported by both facts and logic, that Druidism and Druids were and are not involved in human sacrifices. It remains possible that Druids were
involved with executions of criminals or prisoners of war, but again this is pure speculation and even if it wasn’t, wouldn’t indicate any other rituals of human sacrifices.
Sources
“The Druids, Celtic priests of Nature” by Jean Markale