The Oak and the Weed: Mistletoe and Myth in the Druidic Canon

Mistletoe and Myth in the Druidic Canon

The Oak and Weed

“A thousand Dreams within me softly burn:

From time to time my heart is like some oak

Whose blood runs golden where a branch is torn...”

From “Evening Prayer,” Arthur Rimbaud: Complete Works. Translated from the French by

Paul Schmidt. Harper Colophon, 1976.

The Druids are central to the cultivation of esoteric mythology.  Because little empirical evidence documents the holistic lifestyle and culture of the Druids, traces of history are pieced together through archaeological records, excavations, and written histories from the Roman era accounts and poetic verse. Early scholarly attempts to quantify ritual and pagan religious practice are often theatrical observations of the Druids, accounting for much of the identity and relationships to the natural, biological world.  Even as Pliny the Elder, in Naturalis Historia, (77-79 A.D.) conveniently observed and identified “mistletoe” as a singular plant championed by the Druids, the medicinal properties and subsidy to the culture is largely speculated.  Known in Gaelic as uil’-ice, Mistletoe (lat: Viscum album) has transgressed from ancient culture as a mythical and magical all-heal plant to a formidable icon in post-pagan Christian society.  Yet, the medicinal value is undermined and certainly suspect of use to early Celtic society.  Identified in genus as a parasitic shrub, the species is favored to grow virally on many deciduous trees, including the Oak.  The true power of mistletoe does reside with the dual symbiotic essence of the plant, and especially symbolizes the histrionic story the Druids exemplified.  Looking at both an anecdotal world and evidence-based literature, this talk attempts to construct a contemporary space for medicinal uses and practices with mistletoe built on the mythical and misunderstood canon of the Druids.

“The true power of mistletoe does reside with the dual symbiotic essence of the plant, and especially symbolizes the histrionic story the Druids exemplified.  Looking at both an anecdotal world and evidence-based literature, this talk attempts to construct a contemporary space for medicinal uses and practices with mistletoe built on the mythical and misunderstood canon of the Druids.”

4000 BC Approximate date of first documented Proto- Indo European culture, which is believed Druidic, near the Black Sea.

900 – 500 BC Hallstat Period. (Rise of the Celts)

500 – 450 BC Druids, the intellectual class of the Celts (their own word for themselves, meaning "the hidden people"), begin a thousand year floruit. The foundation of Druidic wisdom colleges in Gaul (France) and the British Isles. [Irish: Druí; Welsh: Derwydd]

70 BC Druids arrive in Britain and gain control of the ruling classes.

15 BC End of La Tene period. Begin of Roman control in Celtic nations.

14 - 37 CE Druids are wiped out in Gaul by Tiberius.

54 CE Claudius prohibited the existence of Druids.

59 CE Suetonius Paulinus begins to clear Britain from the Druids.

61 CE Roman forces, led by Suetonius Paulinus, attack and massacre a Celtic settlement on Mona (Anglesey), destroying sacred sites and artifacts. Druids participate in the battle.

432 CE St. Patrick arrives in Ireland and spreads Christianity. Foundation of the Celtic Church. Several Druids may have converted to Christianity by now.

…..

1710 CE First known attempts to unify various Druid societies/groups in England. Druids slowly re-emerge from underground.

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http://www.druidcircle.org/library/index.php?title=Druidic_Timeline

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