Exploring the World of the Druids.

Exploring the World of the Druids. A fitting read for the summer, perhaps, is MIRANDA J. GREEN'SExploring the world of the Druids (192 pages, 51 colour plates, 240illustrations. 1997. London: Thames & Hudson; 0-500-05083-x hardback[pounds]17.95), a veritable compendium com��pen��di��um?n. pl. com��pen��di��ums or com��pen��di��a1. A short, complete summary; an abstract.2. A list or collection of various items. of things Druidic, and adding toa fast-growing list of books on matters Celtic by this author. Tenchapters, each with the desk-top publisher's trademark ofself-contained sub-sections, and texts and images ensnared within boxes,lead the reader from Finding the Druids, to the Celts The following pages provide lists of nations or people of Celtic origin, arranged by branch of Celtic ethnicity or language grouping:Goidelic Celts list of Irish people list of Scots list of Manx people Brythonic Celts and theSupernatural, and the Druids in classical literature and thence thence?adv.1. From that place; from there: flew to Helsinki and thence to Moscow.2. From that circumstance or source; therefrom.3. Archaic From that time; thenceforth. on tochapters on sacrifice and prophecy ProphecySee also Omen.Prosperity (See SUCCESS.)Ancaeusprophecy that he would not live to taste the wine from his vineyards is fulfilled. [Gk. Myth. , and female Druids. The final twochapters chronicle the explosion of interest in things Druidic (orNeo-Pagan) in the 19th century to their explosion along with thegreening of society today. Druidism now seems so dilute that'modern paganism has three things in common', notes Green,'1. love for and kinship with Nature; 2. the Pagan ethic "dowhat thou wilt, but harm none"; and 3. the acceptance of theequality between male and female divinity'. It will not be longbefore we are all Druids at this rate.This is a book that will clearly sell; but successful niche marketingon the one hand can appear as crude exploitation on the other. In manyways this book has the feeling of one of those most successful DorlingKindersley children's books, but this time for adults: slightlymore text than pictures, but the ratio is still very high. All manner ofarchaeological evidence seems twisted and turned to reveal its potentialDruidic significance, our historical understanding of which rests on alimited number of accounts from the classical authors, principallyCaesar, Tacitus, Diodorus and others, that together would not fill thethinnest of ethnographies. Yet all sides of Druidic life receiveconsiderable attention, including a chapter on the possibility of therehaving been female Druids.For those tempted to join in, opportunities abound. A directory ofmodern Druidic organizations, at the back, provides addresses andcontact names for not just the United Kingdom (where the 24organizations are but a fraction of the Druidic legions) but also theUSA (4), Europe (7) and Australia and New Zealand New Zealand(zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. (just 3).