On the Origin of the Word; Druid

The word Druid stems back to old Celtic and the Prefix ‘Dru-‘ meaning ‘Oak’ and suffix ‘-id’ meaning ‘Knowledge’. Thus Druid translates to ‘Oak Knowledge’ or synonymously ‘Deep Wisdom’.

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high priests of the oak were the Druids, whose name derives from the ancient terms dru meaning “oak” and wid, “to see or know”. The Druids were those who had “oak knowledge”, and this is what the author yearns to achieve: “I am seeking oak knowledge. I have experienced what so many other people know. That being by an oak tree has some kind of calming effect. My mind is stilled. I am able to accept the present. I am able simply to be myself more easily. And in those moments I don’t seek answers as to why that is. I simply accept the composed balm which the presence of oaks offers.”
“

-International Oak Society

Oak Trees are known to be old, strong, and robust. A pillar for society with good wood and strong support, a symbolic foundation for society and tribal life.

To have Oak knowledge is to have deep wisdom that transcends most commonfolk, to know more, see more, and be the care taker as well as the sort of prophetic or far seeing seer and play the role of medicine man or shaman for the tribe as well. An elder of sorts that has experienced much.

Nowadays, Druids are contemporarily known for their wisdom with nature. Through the propagation of Druidic myths in Video Games and Pop Culture, Druids play a mystic role being one with the treefolks and flora and fauna.

Tech Tree;

If you think of technology as a ‘tech tree’ where the newest or frontier technology relies heavily on the preceding technology, then you’ll see that there is ‘Oak Wisdom’ in our modern technology. What I mean is that to be able to have nice technologies like fasteners, one would need a screwdriver, and that combinational recipe of tech and tools allows for the formation of more advanced technologies and tools. Essentially simple tools help make and shape more complex tools. One cog allows for many cogs which allows for traps, clocks, and other mechanisms.

Perhaps a Techno-Druid would be accurate for the Mavericks and Polymaths that play within the realm of modern sciences and engineering. Similar to Red-neck engineering.

The Cool part about this example above, is that knowledge is the same way. You need to have a foundational base to receive the learnings of more advanced knowledge. Sure- you could simplify it, but you may miss out on some specific interactions and mechanisms on how things work.

For instance, To understand how Nuclear Power works. You need to know how Fission works, how that heat energy is converted into usable electrical energy. For that, you need to know a basis for how Fission works, you need to know how Atoms bond and decay and that there is a release of kinetic energy.

It also doesn’t hurt to know fluid dynamics and Heat Transfer as well as electrical engineering and mechanical engineering to understand how piping works and also to understand how Electrical turbines generate electricity through motion and transfer of energy in the form of enthalpy from steam.

The simple explanation of Nuclear Power would be Hot Fissive Rock make Steam spin Pinwheel make Sparky-Sparky. But that’s not sufficient nor adequate knowledge to operate a nuclear reactor.

The whole point of the above is to help illustrate the idea that wisdom and knowledge is built ontop of eachother, much like branching out a tree.

If you learn advanced concepts or ideas without a strong base, you could end up in an unstable thought form or tree of wisdom. You need a strong foundation and base to help ‘build strong roots’ to support your tree. As one would say;

“Beware of Unearned Wisdom” -Carl Jung

Oak Leaf in Culture;

Additionally the modern symbology still relies heavily on the Oak Knowledge. You may see that being represented by an Oak Leaf. For instance in the United States Military, there are ranks of officers that wear specifically an Oak Leaf either gold or silver.

There are several practicing societies and groups and enclaves of Druids today in the modern world. They teach and explore Herblore and working with Nature, to be one with the Trees.

If you’re truly interested in the Path or Dao of the Druid, just ask the Trees. The Oldest and Biggest Trees tend to have the knowledge that you seek if you’d like to venture down this path. You just got to be patient and learn how to ‘listen’ to what they have to say.

Epilogue

I was told by a friend this;

“Humans don’t need to learn how to be Humans from watching other Humans, speak to the Trees, the Trees will tell you how to be Human.”

And rightly so, if you try to look at yourself for a reflection of who you are, you won’t have a comparison to know who you are. So you need a mirror, and trees are one of the many great teachers that can teach you things, especially about Nature and Humanity.

And also this nice Buddhist proverb to help you;

“No tree can grow to Heaven unless it’s roots reach down to Hell.”

So, go hug a tree, and do your own due diligence in learning how to communicate with other life forms. Limit not yourself to a singular modality of expression, try many, master a few.

Afterall, Words aren’t the only method of communication- Yet it still stands that,

Words Mean Things.