Bards, Ovates and Druids
"Among all the Gallic peoples, generally speaking, there are three
sets of men who are held in exceptional honour: the Bards, the Vates, and
the Druids. The Bards are singers and poets; the Vates, diviners and natural
philosophers; while the Druids, in addition to natural philosophy, study
also moral philosophy."
Strabo Geographica written at the end of the first century BC
The Druids organised themselves into three distinct groupings, in which
each group had specific functions and tasks to perform, and a specific training.
Fortunately, the classical texts give sufficient information to enable us
to form a picture of the nature of each of these groupings, and once we
have done this we can then consider their relevance in contemporary Druid
training.
Bards, Ovates and Druids
The Order
The Druid Path
The Druid Grove