trace their antiquity by means of calculations based upon the precession of the equinoxes ?

Of these four, the two principal were the 1st of May, or Beltane, and the Ist of November, or Samain. Beltane, or May Eve, was a time of rejoicing at the return of the sun. Relics of its observance remained until quite recently among May Day customs, among them being that of passing cattle between two fires in order to avert disease. In Oxfordshire, where there are strong traces of Druidism, May Day is still kept enthusiastically by the children, and the custom at Magdalen College, where, on May morning, the choir sing a Latin chant at sunrise on the top of the tower, has a distinctly Druidical flavour.

Of the November festival there are also many survivals. This was the feast of the dying sun, when, with the waning of the light, the powers of darkness became more powerful. It was a time, too, when the dead were believed to approach more nearly to earth, and when divination was practised. Few of those who at Hallowe'en go upstairs with a lighted candle in order to see, by looking into a mirror, the face of their future lover are aware that they are keeping alive the last faint flicker of a Druidic festival. Samain, like all the others, was a fire festival, and the bonfires of the Fifth of November are probably the old 'peace fires' of the Druids, now lit in honour of the Gunpowder Plot.

References to Druidism among classical writers are few, and give, on the whole, little information. Cæsar, De Bello Gallico, book vi., speaking of the Gallic Druids, says:

They take charge of religious matters, they manage the public and private sacrifices, and interpret the tenets of religion. To them a great multitude of youths betake themselves for the sake of instruction, and they are held in great respect among them. The institution itself is supposed to have been devised in Britain, and to have been thence transferred into Gaul.

Cæsar further states that the Druids were exempt from military service and taxation, that their teachings were not committed to writing, that they employed Greek letters, believed in the immortality of the soul, and reasoned about astronomy, natural science, and theology.

The Druidic priesthood consisted of three orders, the Druids, Bards, and Ovates. The functions of the two latter grades probably varied widely in different places and at different times. Possibly the two degrees of Ovate and Bard were at one time preliminary stages in the progress of the aspirant towards the rank of Druid, and later, as the institution became corrupt, were separated into distinct divisions, each with its particular honours and duties.

All the great priestly orders of the ancient world had three main stages or degrees, as, for instance, the akoustikoi, mathetai, and asketai of the Pythagoreans, and the Druids were no exception. Later, when the true secrets were lost, the secular and exterior side of the institution would remain and be adapted to other purposes.

The training of candidates for the priesthood was as complete and thorough as any of which we have record; for (according to Cæsar) a course of twenty years' study was undergone in order to qualify for the highest degrees. These studies included philosophy, astronomy, geometry, medicine, and natural science. As was the case in Egypt, the priests were responsible for all education, and it was common for the sons of noble houses to attach themselves for a longer or shorter period to the Druidic seminaries.

Of the actual rites and religious practices of the Druids little definite information has come down to us. The Welsh Druids appear to have commemorated the Flood on May Day, or Beltane. On this occasion a mysterious object, called the Avanc, which may have been a kind of ark or shrine, a symbol of the ' enclosed sanctuary of Ked,' was drawn by oxen from the depths of a sacred lake and then carried in procession to the grove.

The oxen represented the oxen of Hu, Hu the Mighty, or Hu Gadarn, a deified patriarch of the island of Britain.

The mistletoe was to the Druids a profoundly significant symbol. It was gathered at the new moon after the winter solstice. The priest, clad in a white robe, ascended the tree and cut the mistletoe with a golden sickle. It was caught by others in a white cloth. Two white bulls were then sacrificed.

On the question of sacrifices, it must be remembered that the recorded observations of Druidic practices date from a time when the institution was already corrupt. It is difficult to imagine how, in the period of its purity, Druidism could have countenanced any kind of animal, and still less human, sacrifice. It may be remarked in passing that, although charges of extreme barbarism have been brought against the Druids in this connection, there is no definite proof that human sacrifice formed any part of the original religious practice of Druidism. The fact that the priests were also the administrators of justice and were responsible for the execution of criminals may have given rise to misconceptions in the minds of superficial observers, while there is no doubt that monastic writers, in many cases endeavoured to bring discredit on the older faith in every possible way.

Of the rites of Samain, or November Eve, one of the most striking was that of the renewing of the fire. All private domestic fires were extinguished on this feast, and might be relighted only from the sacred fire. Exclusion from this privilege was a very heavy penalty and equivalent to excommunication.

Samain was also a feast at which all disputes were settled.

The Gaelic term for it is La Mas Ubhal (the Day of the Apple Fruit), which, anglicised into lambswool, became the term applied to a drink composed of sugar, apples, and ale which was brewed at this season.

Among other Druidic ritualistic practices was that of walking round the altar in a sun-wise direction (deisul). Among trees the oak was especially venerated, and some etymologists have derived the word 'Druid' itself from the Greek δρύς, though it is more probable that there is an older root which is the parent of both. The rowan, or mountain-ash, the hazel and the apple tree-which, like the oak and several others, is a host to the mistletoe-were also held sacred. In many localities a stick or cross of mountainash is still believed to be a protection against evil spirits. Rain water, which was collected in stone fonts, several of which are still in existence, was also used in their ceremonies, probably for the purposes of lustration.

We come now to the consideration of the philosophy of Druidism. Almost the only record of this which has survived is that contained in the Welsh Triads. The authenticity of these as Druidic fragments is questioned by some scholars. But a consideration of the interior evidence contained in the Triads themselves sufficiently proves them to have been the work of profound philosophers and sages; moreover, the atmosphere of the thought expressed in many of them is quite different from that of any Christian writings, so that if they did not originate from the Druids it is difficult to imagine who the authors of them can be.

It is interesting to note that the same imputation of forgery has been cast on some of the most sublime of the world's sacred scriptures, such as the Chaldean Oracles and the works ascribed to Hermes Trismegistus. The reason for this is obvious. The true secrets of the mystery teachings were never committed to writing, but handed down orally. The Druids, especially, were adepts in the use of the memory. Therefore, as long as the institution of Druidism was in a pure and flourishing condition, there would be no possibility whereby any fragment of the sacred wisdom would be inscribed. When at last any such record was made it would be long after the system had become corrupt. In these circumstances it would be inevitable that the fragments, when at length collected by one who was probably more or less ignorant of their true significance, should be chaotic and obscure, containing much that is foreign to the original teaching.

The task, therefore, of separating the ancient from the modern is not easy, but when the basic doctrines are considered in the light of other evidence and other systems of thought, it will be found that in the Triads are embedded the remains of a profound and comprehensive philosophy.

The principle of triplicity was fundamental in Druidism, and one of the bases of its philosophy was that of the three Circles of Existence.

There are three Circles of Existence: the Circle of Ceugant (Infinity), where there is nothing but God, of living or dead, and none but God can traverse it; the Circle of Abred, where all things are by nature derived from death, and man has traversed it; and the Circle of Gwynvyd (Felicity), where all things spring from life, and man shall traverse it in heaven.

There are also

The three states of existence of living beings; the state of Abred in Annwn (the Abyss, the Great Deep); the state of liberty in humanity; and the state of love, that is Gwynvyd in heaven.

The soul of man is conceived of as being created by God in the state of Gwynvyd, but as falling from that blessed state into the Circle of Abred in Annwn.

Abred may be regarded as the objective physical world, the world of matter and hence of suffering, while Gwynvyd is the subjective world, the world of ideas, of archetypal perfection. Beyond is the Circle of Ceugant, the Absolute.

Three things are necessary in Abred: the least of all animation, and thence a beginning; the material of all things and thence increase, which cannot take place in any other state; and the formation of all things out of the dead, hence diversity of existence.

The three necessary occasions of Abred: to collect the materials of every nature; to collect the knowledge of everything; and to collect strength to overcome every adversity and Cythraul, (the principle of destruction) and to be divested of evil; without this traversing of every state of life, no animation or species can attain to plenitude.

Having been made familiar with the three principal calamities of Abred-necessity; forgetfulness; and death,' which are also 'the three instrumentalities of God in Abred for the subduing of evil and Cythraul, and escaping from them towards Gwynvyd '— man obtains

The three victories over evil and Cythraul: knowledge; love; and power; for these know, will, and can do, in their conjunctive capacity, what they desire; they begin in the state of man and continue for ever.

By these victories he attains to Gwynvyd, with its three restorations- primitive Awen (or Genius); primitive love; and primitive memory; because without these there can be no Gwynvyd.'

There is a close parallel between these ideas and the Greek conception of the soul's descent into the realms of generation for the purpose of becoming self-gnostic.

That pure Druidism was monotheistic is evidenced by many of the Triads.

There are three primeval Unities, and more than one of each cannot exist: one God; one truth; and one point of liberty, and this is where all opposites equiponderate.

Three things proceed from the three primeval Unities: all life; all goodness; all power.

God consists necessarily of three things: the greatest in respect of life; the greatest in respect of knowledge; and the greatest in respect of power; and there can only be one of what is greatest in any thing.

The above quotations are from Barddas, by the Rev. J. Williams ab Ithel.

Such, in brief, are some of the methods of approach to the investigation of this neglected subject. With the many fascinating questions which arise from it, such as those of the original home of Druidism, the nationality of the builders of the stone monuments and the date at which they were erected, the connection of the Druidic mysteries with those of Egypt and Greece, it is impossible to deal, for each one of these might provide material for whole books.

There remains that most important question of all: What influence has Druidism on our life to-day ? We are living in an age of quest, of intense scepticism, when the basic principles of all that is most vital in human thought and conduct are being ruthlessly assailed. Science and religion are at war and there is none to reconcile them. Learned thinkers quarrel over the nature of man, his origin, his destiny, over the purpose of life itself. Is it then a small thing that in our own land, over 2000 years ago, there were men who had solved these problems, who had answered the riddle of the universe, and attained to the peace that is brought by true knowledge? One has only to remain near one of their old sanctuaries to be conscious of a quiet that is deeper than that of Nature, a serenity like that of a great cathedral. It is to the past that we must go for the solution of the problems of to-day-not only to Druidism, but to the mystery religions of Egypt and Chaldæa, to the religious philosophy of Greece. There are to be found the answers to all questions, the principles upon which all true progress depends. To do this is not to put back the clock of history, for the sages of these countries rose to heights of which modern thought is not even aware, nor is it to waste time in idle speculation, for nothing is, or can be, more practical than the knowledge of truth.

Druidism is not dead, for that which was highest in it still lives as the spiritual heritage of the land where it flourished. If the mere outer trappings of its worship still survive over 2000 years after its fall, how much more must the influence of those wise and