There is a certain cosmic sensitivity towards 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 into the Celtic mind, accessible along the path of the dragons and the mouth of the stones. It was the Druids who were able to see it, interpret it for their Celtic brethren, follow the lines of power, and show them where to build their villages and sanctified places.
In the mystery
The Celts are a mystery even now. They once spread the length and breadth of 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 Great Britain are what many modern people think of when they hear the word ‘Celtic’. But in truth, they were a people who spread from one end of ancient Europe to the other, and left their mark stamped on the face of the continent, though they themselves are, for the most part, gone.
Druids and dragons
Druids and Celtic 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, 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 faced the cosmic on a daily basis, comparing their knowledge with the brute force of the mystical energies that the Celts believed permeated their lands. They would point out the best places to till the land or carve stone or build a house, and show their people the places to avoid. Furthermore, they had a strange relationship to the concept of the dragon.
Dragons, though commonly regarded as fire-breathing marauders, were, to the Celts, indicators of places of great power. Where dragons stepped, mystical energy flowed, and where they rested, were invariably places of great holiness and mystical harmony. While dragons were dangerous, they were also indicators of fertility, of life. ‘The Path of the Dragon’ was the Celtic term for ley lines. And the luminous lines, for the uninitiated, were the stretches of mystical power that crossed the earth. The Druids searched for these lines and made a ley line map for their people, instructing them to build their temples and homes along the lines to harvest 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 harbingers of a good harvest, of a year of plenty. 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 sparkled with the lightning of the gods. Where dragons walked, lightning was visible, and where druids indicated, lightning was controllable for the good of the Celts.
