Sublime

Then, in the 1690s, the Druid Revival began in earnest when John Aubrey, the writer and antiquarian, turned his attention to the stone monuments of Wiltshire.

Who, then, was in charge; and of what? Had Britannia seceded from the empire or been abandoned by it? Were the emerging lords of the fifth century descendants of ancient tribal families, now styled as magistrates or provincial officials? Were they arriviste entrepreneurs and industrialists; retired army officers, perhaps? Some, possibly, were Chris

This revival of interest and the gaining of inspiration from Celtic mythology – from stories and accounts of the old Gods and the ancient Druids – has never diminished.

those whose families had done rather well out of being incorporated into the European superstate and who regarded themselves as thoroughly Roman; thoroughly civilized. Latinized and urbane, they lived in stone houses in a well-mannered landscape which, by the fourth century, was studded with substantial rural settlements, small towns, fancy villas

Although there were plenty of Roman writers describing the ‘hateful rites’ of the Druids, it’s doubtful that any of them saw these practices first hand. Historians suggest that all these descriptions, particularly those of human sacrifices, may go back to one original source – the Greek historian and polymath, Posidonius. And he probably didn’t wit

As we settle into this new century it is of vital importance that we reconnect with our Druidic roots. Tom Cowan, Of Ancient Shapes and Memories

From all this evidence, Stephen Aldhouse-Green and his team concluded that the dead man had most probably possessed some kind of spiritual function among his people.

For most of that period, the land concerned was a peninsula of the European mainland, representing a remote hilly margin to the great plains which now lie under the North Sea and to which archaeologists have given the name ‘Doggerland’.

We had been brought up in a culture which portrays Paganism and Christianity as entirely antagonistic religious perspectives. How could such astonishing resemblances be explained?