\[ **keywords:** #Druidry #Religion ] --- > [!cite] Citation > Carr-Gomm, Philip. *Druid Mysteries: Ancient Wisdom for the 21st Century*. Rider, 2002. EPUB. > [!abstract] > Chief Druid Philip Carr-Gomm shows how the way of Druids can be followed today. He explains: > > - The ancient history and inspiring beliefs of the ancient Druids > - Druidic wild wisdom and their tree-, animal and herb-lore > - The mysteries of the Druids’ seasonal celebrations > - The Druids’ use of magic and how their spirituality relates to paths such as Wicca > > This guide will show how the wild wisdom of the Druids can help us to connect with our spirituality, our innate creativity, the natural world and our sense of ancestry. The life-enhancing beliefs and practices of this spiritual path have much to offer our 21st-century world. --- ‘Jesus was born in the spring or autumn, when shepherds in Judea watch their flocks. And yet we celebrate his birth at Christmas’ [[Carr-Gomm, Druid Mysteries, 2002|(Carr-Gomm 2002, chap. 3)]]. ^5c7322 ‘Even though it is not found in the Bible, one of the cornerstones of Christianity is the doctrine of the Trinity, introduced by the Gaulish Bishop Saint Hilary of Poitiers in the third century. Some scholars suggest that the saint was inspired by the Druids, who still flourished in Hilary’s third-century Brittany and who organised their ideas in triads and worshipped Goddesses grouped in threes’ [[Carr-Gomm, Druid Mysteries, 2002|(Carr-Gomm 2002, chap. 3)]]. ^c03a0e ‘Christianity seems so substantial and solid, and fundamentalists believe that it is one body of teaching handed to them by God through the Bible. But once you study Christianity, you discover that it has modelled much of its ritual, mythology and structures on the pagan religions from which it evolved. The layout of churches comes from the design of classical pagan temples. The priests’ vestments are modelled on classical pagan vestments. Even the church calendar is founded on the pagan festival cycle. The Bible suggests that Jesus was born in the spring or autumn, when shepherds in Judaea watch their flocks. And yet we celebrate his birth at Christmas. Up until the fourth century Jesus’ birth was celebrated in May or September. Then it became the custom in Rome to celebrate it at the time of the winter solstice instead’ [[Carr-Gomm, Druid Mysteries, 2002|(Carr-Gomm 2002, chap. 3)]]. ^0724e4 ‘But a spiritual tradition should not be treated like a fossil — if it is to be of value it needs to grow and evolve, and adapt to the needs of the people and of a world that is constantly changing’ [[Carr-Gomm, Druid Mysteries, 2002|(Carr-Gomm 2002, chap. 6)]]. ^03e9a3 ‘In the times of the Ancient Druids, a woman could divorce a man for a number of reasons: if he was so obese that he was unable to make love, for example, or if he preferred to sleep with men, if he beat her leaving visible marks, or if he spread malicious stories about her. Under the Christian post-Druidic law in Ireland, divorce was illegal until 1995 – even if a husband or wife was physically abusive’ [[Carr-Gomm, Druid Mysteries, 2002|(Carr-Gomm 2002, chap. 6)]]. ^a166e8