| There is a certain cosmic sensibility to the myths and | | | | the raw force of the mystic energies which the Celts |
| legends of the Celtic peoples. A sense of things being | | | | believed permeated their lands. They would pinpoint |
| bigger than they seem. Power flows beneath the skin | | | | the best places to till the soil or carve stone or build a |
| of the world to the Celtic mind, accessible along the | | | | home, and show their people the places to best avoid. |
| path of dragons and the mouth of stones. It was the | | | | Too, they had a strange relationship with the concept |
| Druids who could see it, interpret it for their | | | | of the dragon. |
| brother-Celts, follow the lines of power and show | | | | Dragons, while commonly thought of as fire-breathing |
| them where to build their villages and sanctified places. | | | | marauders, were, to the Celts, indicators of places of |
| A Mystery | | | | great power. Where dragons trod, mystic energy |
| The Celts are a mystery even now. They once | | | | flowed, and where they laired where invariably places |
| ranged across the width and breadth of Europe, from | | | | of great sanctity and mystical harmony. While dragons |
| the forests of Germany to the hills of Northern Italy. | | | | were dangerous, they were also indicators of fertility, |
| Their greatest concentration was perhaps in Scotland, | | | | of life. 'The Path of the Dragon' was the Celtic term |
| Ireland and England. The Celts of Great Britain are | | | | for ley lines. And ley lines, for the uninitiated, were the |
| what many modern people think of when they hear | | | | stretches of mystic power which criss-crossed the |
| the word 'Celt'. But in truth, they were a people who | | | | land. Druids hunted these lines, and made a ley lines |
| spread from one end of ancient Europe to the other, | | | | map for their people, instructing them to build their |
| and they left their mark stamped upon the face of the | | | | temples and homes along the lines in order to harvest |
| continent, though they themselves are gone now, for | | | | the energies. |
| the most part. | | | | Dragons, Druids and Celts are all inextricably linked by |
| Druids and Dragons | | | | these bands of power. For the Celt, dragons, though |
| Druids and Celtic dragons, on the other hand, are more | | | | deadly, and frightening, represented the continuation of |
| familiar to the modern mind. What do you think of, | | | | life and health. They were omens of a good harvest, |
| when you hear the term 'druid'? A robed figure, | | | | of a year of plenty. And the Druids were the ones |
| mistletoe in one hand, a scythe in the other, standing | | | | who found the dragons and interpreted their meaning |
| over a stone slab and a screaming victim. Horror films | | | | for a given group of Celts. For these ancient peoples, |
| have a lot to answer for in terms of our familiarity with | | | | everything hummed and sparked with the lightning of |
| the concept of the Druid. In reality, druids were the | | | | the gods. Where dragons walked, the lightning was |
| priests and seers of the Celts. Druids engaged the | | | | visible, and where Druids indicated, the lightning was |
| cosmic on a daily basis, pitting their knowledge against | | | | controllable for the good of the Celtic people. |