There is a certain cosmic sensitivity in the myths and legends of the Celtic peoples. A feeling that things are bigger than they seem. Power flows under the skin of the world to the Celtic mind, accessible along the path of dragons and the mouth of stones. It was the Druids who were able to see it, interpret it for their Celtic brethren, trace the lines of power, and show them where to build their villages and hallowed places.
A mystery
The Celts are a mystery even now. They once spread far and wide across Europe, from the forests of Germany to the hills of northern Italy. Its greatest concentration was perhaps in Scotland, Ireland and England. The Celts of Britain are what many modern people think of when they hear the word ‘Celtic’. But in truth, they were a people who stretched from one end of ancient Europe to the other, and left their mark on the face of the continent, though they themselves are mostly gone.
druids and dragons
Celtic druids and dragons, on the other hand, are more familiar to the modern mind. What do you think of when you hear the term ‘druid’? A robed figure, a mistletoe in one hand and a scythe in the other, standing on a stone slab and a screaming victim. Horror movies have a lot to answer for in terms of our familiarity with the concept of the druid. In reality, the druids were the priests and seers of the Celts. The druids grappled with the cosmic on a daily basis, pitting their knowledge against the brute force of the mystical energies the Celts believed permeated their lands. They would point out the best places to till the ground or hew stone or build a house, and they would show their people the places best to avoid. Also, they had a strange relationship with the concept of the dragon.
Dragons, though commonly thought of as fire-breathing marauders, were, to the Celts, indicators of places of great power. Where dragons trodden mystical energy flowed, and where they dwelled were invariably places of great holiness and mystical harmony. While dragons were dangerous, they were also indicators of fertility, of life. ‘The Way of the Dragon’ was the Celtic term for the ley lines. And ley lines, to the uninitiated, were land-spanning extensions of mystical power. The druids hunted these lines and made a ley line map for their people, instructing them to build their temples and homes along the lines to collect the energies.
Dragons, Druids, and Celts are inextricably linked by these bands of power. For the Celts, dragons, though deadly and terrifying, represented the continuation of life and health. They were omens of a good harvest, of a year of abundance. And the druids were the ones who found the dragons and interpreted their meaning for a certain group of Celts. For these ancient peoples, everything hummed and crackled with the lightning bolts of the gods. Where the dragons walked, the lightning was visible, and where the druids indicated, the lightning was controllable for the good of the Celts.
