Druids: Preachers of Immortality

By Anne Ross

Druidism was the religion of the Celts. The richest source of information about the druids is the vernacular material from Ireland and Wales. The author's familiarity with the gaelic texts strips away modern myths about the Druids.

• Language: English
• Publisher: The History Press
• Release date: Aug 1, 2004
• ISBN: 9780750952484

Anne Ross

Anne Ross has been drawn to the Maine scene as have many other artists. She has traveled the country widely with her camera which has changed from a Polaroid to a 35 mm SLR and now to a digital camera. Over the years her work has been published by The Smithsonian, UNICEF, and a N.Y. Times book cover. In 2006, over 30 of her photos were published in a book about the Reeves – Reed Arboretum in Summit, N.J., now listed in the National Historic Register. Beauty abounds.

Reviews for Druids

[Suresh Ramaswamy Mjf · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

“Druids: Preachers of Immortality” by Anne Ross is an extremely well researched, well written and informative book. I really enjoyed reading it.

Transgressing from the book and its subject matter, as Europe came out of the Dark Ages, the Middle Ages proved quite profitable for the fair skinned Europeans. In the past millennium the Roman Church had consolidated its hold and influence over the naturally beautiful Europe. Aided by strong armies and additionally in case of some countries strong navies, the European powers spread its influence eastward towards Arabia, Indies and Orient and westwards towards the yet undiscovered New World – the Americas. Proselytising strongly in spreading the message of love and forgiveness taught by Jesus the Christ, the Europeans were uncivilized savages who put to death the non-believers, destroyed places of worship, desecrated idols, and took women into slavery both for domestic drudgery and sexual variety – much like the Islamic bigots do today. This then was the civilizing effort of the Middle Ages Europeans.

The same tactics were followed earlier in the Dark Ages as Christianity was spread to the land of Celts in the first millennium of Christianity. And the sufferers were the so called savage pagans and their priests – aka Druids. Try as hard as they could, however, the Druids and their culture, skills and knowledge survived almost till the end of the second millennium.

The author’s unparalleled familiarity with the Gaelic texts, and her ability to see Druidism through Celtic eyes strips away modern myths about the Druids. Indeed in the nine chapters of the book the author has highlighted that the Druids (apart from Pagan practices like human sacrifice, etc.) lived in harmony with nature and drew much of their skills and powers from natural forces. Since the Druids were believers in gods other than Jesus Christ, they were deemed devil worshippers and their magical skills were deemed black magic. With their knowledge of natural rhythms, the Druids harnessed the powers of nature and used it for beneficial or malefic purposes, which modern science admits is a possibility.

In nine chapters Anne Ross starting from ‘The Druidic Origin’ takes us through the entire gamut of Druidism for the past 2,500 years or so. And she also reminds us on more than one occasion that the history of Druidism goes far back into the mists of time to the pre-historic era.

Extremely well-written and eminently readable, the book, is a handy compendium on the story of Druidism. For people interested in history and in the ancient religion, I would recommend this book as a must read.