Druidism was the European outgrowth of the Indo-Aryan migration and evolved independently of its parent culture over time. Whereas those who migrated southeast into India came to establish the Brahminical tradition as well as the gurus and sadhus and what have you, those tribes that headed northwest brought the same traditions but came to understand them differently.

In India, they have the belief that physical reality is Maya, or an illusion, and that spiritual growth comes from understanding the illusionary nature of the physical realm and thinking and perceiving beyond it, making decisions beyond it. The Druids instead came to see the spirit as a presence within the world, and rather than change being proof of the illusionary nature of reality, they saw it as a natural expression of a spiritual cycle.

Those living in India saw little change in the seasons, just cycles of harsh weather punctuated by periods of more clement weather. Those who went north came to base much of their understanding around the four seasons. Each tradition has what might seem like a surprisingly decentralized organizational structure. No real hierarchy as we might think of it today.

Fae have a winter and a summer court. Indeed, that is a parallel.

There was not one organization of Druids but various groups, and I do not mean all those in the Druid sector of their culture which included also Bards and Ovates, but just the Druids proper. In India, each of the gurus operated as an authority almost in their own right, embracing and carrying on a lineage that they inherited from their own guru and spreading those teachings to their disciples. Something similar occurred in Druid society. They respected each other as peers, and there was no actual conflict between the various Druid groups. But based on their different insights into nature and the cycle of the world, they did have differing views of the natural cycle and thus justice. The Bards were the keepers of oral tradition as well as social/cultural speakers and had as much if not more power than modern celebrities do today as they were better versed in genuine wisdom.

So natural justice is somehow related to justice and justice to the natural cycles? Indeed. Druid understanding of justice was taken from their understanding of the natural cycle.

Regarding the Bards, are these narrative-tellers as in narrative-centric societies? Well, narrative keepers but also observational and motivational speakers. They also exercised the power of comedy/satire. Being humiliated by a Bard and losing face in your community had a huge impact, especially as Bards were known for keeping and exercising great wisdom in their observations.

I remember the Cynics of Greece. Indeed, Bardic satire would follow something like the classical cynical structure.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~