The Mistery of Belicena Villca century , and you will have no doubt that the English publication is affected by a strange rickets , although in the Spanish essay you see the same purpose of making the Druids look good .
Immediately afterwards , Uncle Kurt placed Volume VII of the Encyclopedic Dictionary in my hands , a work in 25 volumes that was undoubtedly smaller in size than the Encyclopedia Britannica . I looked for the aforementioned article and read :
DRUID ( from the lat . druida ; from the cimric druiz or deruiz , from dervo , holm oak ): m . Priest of the ancient Gauls and Britons .
– Druid : Hist . Much has been argued about the etymology of the word druid . Etymologists have even turned to Hebrew dictionaries to see if they found anything in them that would give them any idea about it . The druid name is an appellative like most radical nouns of all languages . In Gallic language draoi or druids means diviner , augur , magician , and druidheatch divination and magic . It ' s also been said that this word is derived from the Greek voice δρυς which means holm oak , because they dwelt and taught their doctrines in the forests , and because , as Pliny the Elder says , they did not make their sacrifices except at the foot of a holm oak ; but this etymology , even if it has in its favor the reason of antiquity , since it is from the time of Pliny , does not for that reason cease to seem purely whimsical , for it is not very natural that Druids were to take their name from a foreign voice . Others hold that word druid is derived from the British voice dru or drew , which also means holm oak , and that the Greek word δρυς is derived from this . Of the many Eastern etymologies that have been presented seems the most acceptable the Sanskrit form druwidh , which means poor indigent , because the druids , like the priests of all nations , had to take a vow of poverty . The arguments in favor of the eastern origin of the druids are very worthy to be addressed , since not for other reasons , because it has been accepted by many writers of antiquity . Diogenes Laertius and Aristotle place the druids and the Chaldeans alongside the Persian and Indian magicians , opinion shared with them by a large number of writers . The divinity of the brahmins bears a great resemblance to the druidic divinity . The importance that the druids gave to oxen is another singular coincidence ; the druidic mysteries also have great analogy with the mysteries of India . In the magic rod of the druids you can see the cane sacred to the brahmins . Both had the same consecrated objects : they wore cloth tiaras , and the symbolic circle of Brahma , as the crescent , symbol of Siva , were druidic ornaments . Great were also the analogies between the idea that the Druids had of a Supreme Being and that found in the sacred works of India ; so it does not seem very risky to suppose great relations between druids and Indian and Persian priests .
There were druids not only in the Britain inhabited by Gallic peoples , but also in the Cisalpine Gaul and the southern valley of the Danube , also inhabited by Gallic peoples ; but there were none in Germania , as without any foundation claim those who say that the Germans are the brothers of the Gauls and are called by the imaginary name of Celts ; or more clearly and definitively , the priests of the Germans did not bear the name of Druids .
According to Caesar , in his work De Bello Gallico , in whose book VI he deals with the manners and customs of the Gauls and Germans , druidic science was invented in Brittany and from there it went to Gaul . Although it is evident that Gaul was inhabited before Brittany and the Ireland , strictly speaking , it is possible that the hierarchical organization of the druid corps and the system of its doctrine was invented in Brittany . However , it is more credible that there were several schools of druids in the Continent and in the islands , and that one or some of Brittany were more famous for the instruction given in it or in them would be more complete . Indeed , Caesar does not say that everyone who wanted to enter the druid class were obliged to go to study in Brittany , but those who wanted a more complete instruction . A new proof that Britanny was not the main center of the druid organization , is that their general assemblies were held in a consecrated forest , in the country of the Carnutes , which was considered the center of Gaul . It has been believed that this forest was in the vicinity of Dreux , and that this city took its name from the druids ; but this is no more than an assumption , since Dreux ' s name ( Duro-Cath or Caz ) means a fort near a river .
In the work already cited De Bello Gallico , Caesar says that all men who belonged to the upper classes in Gaul , figured , already among the nobles , already among the druids . These were the ones in charge of the religious leadership of the town , as well as the main interpreters and keepers of the laws . The druids had the power to impose the most severe punishments to those who refused to submit to their decisions .
Among the penalties that could be imposed , the most feared was that of expulsion from society . The Druids were not a hereditary caste , were exempt from field service and paying tribute , and for these exceptions and privileges all the young men of Gaul aspired to be admitted to the Order . The tests to which a novice had to submit sometimes lasted twenty years . All Druidic science or
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