Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 240, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 October 1911 — The Druids. [ARTICLE]

The Druids.

The Druids were evidently of very jjrent antiquity, for there cannot be much doubt that it was one of their customs that Virgil had in mind when he wrote in the “Aeneid.” vi. 142, that the “only means of access for a living mortal to the world of spirits was the carrying of a golden twig which grew In a dark and thick grove.” The resemblance of the story to the Druldlcal rite Is perfect. The Druids practiced their rites In dark groves. If a mistletoe was discovered growing upon an oak a priest severed it with a knife, and a festival was held under the tree at which two milk white bulls were ofTered as a sacrifice. This was a sacrifice to the sun god. and the mistletoe, from Its pale greenish yellow tint, was regarded as a kind of vegetable gold and was accordingly looked upon as being a fit offering to the sun.—New York American. 0 .