WEBVTT - Why Don't We Know Much About Druids?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Bolga Baum Here. Pay pretty much any

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<v Speaker 1>topic on the planet, and you can go straight to

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<v Speaker 1>Google with as many questions as you like, emerging from

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<v Speaker 1>your search with answers from at least a few solid

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<v Speaker 1>original sources. A glaring exception to this fact finding rule

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<v Speaker 1>of thumb, though, is the Druids. We spoke by email

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<v Speaker 1>with Owen Jaris, journalist who specializes in history and archaeology,

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<v Speaker 1>and whose name I hope I am pronouncing correctly. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>what's fascinating is how little we know about the Druids.

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<v Speaker 1>The written references we have are written by non Druids,

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<v Speaker 1>and their writings may be affected by anti Druid Roman sentiment.

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<v Speaker 1>When and where the Druids originated, and much about their

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<v Speaker 1>practices remains unknown. In fact, famed Roman general and statesman

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<v Speaker 1>Julius Caesar is considered the world's pre eminent expert on

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<v Speaker 1>all things Druid, and the fact that he died in

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<v Speaker 1>forty four b c. May indicate just how little we

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<v Speaker 1>actually know about this class of Celtic speaking experts in

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<v Speaker 1>magical and religious practice who inhabited northwestern Europe about two

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<v Speaker 1>thousand years ago. But we also spoke via email with

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<v Speaker 1>Mariah Williams, a lecturer in Celtic studies at UC Berkeley.

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<v Speaker 1>She said, because we don't have any accounts of druids

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<v Speaker 1>from early Celtic speaking people's themselves, there remains an air

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<v Speaker 1>of mystery around them. Perhaps this air of mystery is attractive.

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<v Speaker 1>Without concrete evidence of who druids were and what their

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<v Speaker 1>role in society was, they can be shaped to fit

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<v Speaker 1>different molds for different purposes. The basic definitions of Druidism

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<v Speaker 1>as we know it can be tied to two main sources,

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<v Speaker 1>ancient Greek and Roman writings and portions of medieval Irish literature.

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<v Speaker 1>The former sources have an advantage in that these writings

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<v Speaker 1>originated from people who were actually alive at the time

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<v Speaker 1>that the druids existed. The main issue, however, is that

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<v Speaker 1>almost all of these writings relied on second hand information,

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<v Speaker 1>and none of it was very fleshed out. Williams said,

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<v Speaker 1>according to the accounts of classical authors, who will have

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<v Speaker 1>had their own biases, and only some of whom may

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<v Speaker 1>have been direct witnesses, Druids seemed to have been a

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<v Speaker 1>learned class of Celtic speaking peoples who may have wielded

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<v Speaker 1>some political authority and who acted as religious intermediaries. Some

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<v Speaker 1>Greek sources described them as philosophers. According to Caesar, they

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<v Speaker 1>had to spend twenty years in training. Caesar also said

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<v Speaker 1>that there were two groups of men in Gaul, which

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<v Speaker 1>is a historical region of western Europe inhabited by Celtic

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<v Speaker 1>tribes who were considered honorable, the druids and the nobleman,

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<v Speaker 1>and that because druids were in charge of public and

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<v Speaker 1>private sacrifices, many people went to them for instruction. It's

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<v Speaker 1>also thought that the druids assembled annually to review all

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<v Speaker 1>legal disputes. The other main source of Druid knowledge, ancient

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<v Speaker 1>Irish literature, has the advantage of being produced by a

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<v Speaker 1>society that once included druids and involved more frequent references

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<v Speaker 1>to the group. But this source also has two big problems.

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<v Speaker 1>Like the Greek in Roman texts, the ancient Irish texts

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<v Speaker 1>also include widely varying depictions of druids, and so it's

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<v Speaker 1>hard to glean whether they were considered wise powerful figures

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<v Speaker 1>or quote savage pagan priests. The other main problem is

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<v Speaker 1>that these accounts were written long after Druids had ceased

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<v Speaker 1>to exist, hundreds of years after the Irish were largely

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<v Speaker 1>converted to Christianity. What is known about the Druids can

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<v Speaker 1>be boiled down to their basic roles in society. Jara's

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<v Speaker 1>credits scholar Sir Barry Cunliffe with much of what's known

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<v Speaker 1>about the Druids today. Jaras said, as Cunliffe wrote in

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<v Speaker 1>his book Druids a very short introduction, the Druids performed

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<v Speaker 1>a variety of roles, including quote philosophers, teachers, judges, the

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<v Speaker 1>repository of communal wisdoms about the natural world and the

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<v Speaker 1>traditions of the people, and the mediators between humans and

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<v Speaker 1>the gods. The ancient form of druids and seems to

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<v Speaker 1>have died out during the Middle Ages before being revived

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<v Speaker 1>centuries later, although there may be little to no continuity

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<v Speaker 1>between ancient drudism and more modern forms. One major misconception

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<v Speaker 1>about the Druids is that they were the group responsible

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<v Speaker 1>for building Stonehenge, the iconic English monument constructed of massive rocks.

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<v Speaker 1>While you may have heard that the Druids built the

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<v Speaker 1>mysterious landmark to serve as a Temple. The approximately five

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<v Speaker 1>thousand year old site is actually thought to predate the

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<v Speaker 1>group by at least a few thousand years. Jaras said,

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<v Speaker 1>One important thing to note is that while modern Druids

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<v Speaker 1>have a special reverence for Stonehenge, there's little evidence that

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<v Speaker 1>the ancient Druids did. Stonehenge was constructed between about five

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<v Speaker 1>thousand to four thousand years ago, while the earliest written

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<v Speaker 1>references to Druids date back two thousand, four hundred years.

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<v Speaker 1>While the Druids may go back further than the surviving

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<v Speaker 1>written records, it's a big jump to say that they

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<v Speaker 1>were involved with Stonehenge. While little is known about the

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<v Speaker 1>original ancient Druid, Jaris says he can see why modern

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<v Speaker 1>people continue to be fascinated by this enigmatic group quote.

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<v Speaker 1>The fact that ancient Druidism is poorly understood makes it

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<v Speaker 1>easier for people to put their own beliefs and hopes

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<v Speaker 1>into modern Druidism. Today's episode was written by Michelle Konstantinovski

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by Tyler. Playing. For more and listen lots

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<v Speaker 1>of other curious topics, visit how stuff works dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Brain Stuff is a production of I Heart Radio or

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