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Across the world and its many and varied cultures, ethnicities and tribes, there have always been some select few who serve a particular need for the community. From medicine workers, shamans, and druids we see that throughout history there have been areas of the spiritual existence that needed interventions from time to time.
These interventions occasionally took the form of rituals and may involve intoxicants, like psychedelic mushrooms. In this blog, we will look into the annals of Ireland’s past, as we will explore what we know about the druids and ‘shrooms’ of Ireland.
What is a Druid?
Ireland has always been tribal in nature, and there are detailed annals from the cycle of Kings that name many of its historic kings and chieftains. What we also have from our oldest lore is mention, and even names, of druids and the roles they fulfilled.
These were not some band of remote aesthetic mystics, but instead integral members of Irish society, many of which sat as close to the seats of power as one could without being in it themselves. Druids fulfilled the roles of advisors, natural philosophers, and yes even diviners engaged in ritual practices of farseeing or prognostication.
The role of the druid was to serve their community in matters that in some manner went beyond the mundane. From dealing with the dead, intervening in Otherworldly goings on, or calling up powers via rituals to assist in the conflicts that might embattle their tribe, the druid’s role, though powerful, was one of service to others.
One of the most well known druids of Ireland was called Cathbad and in his service to King Concobhar during the Ulster cycle, he was instrumental in the rise of Ulster’s greatest warrior, even being the one to put forward the name that still echoes in Ireland to this day, Cú Chulainn.
What are ‘shrooms’?
‘Magic mushrooms’, ‘hallucinogenic mushrooms’ or ‘shrooms’ are the names commonly given to mushrooms containing the psychedelic psychoactive compound psilocybin or psilocin.
Drugs can affect each person differently. The effects will depend on personal factors such as your physical and mental health, as well as the dose and potency of a substance. With mushrooms, your existing mood, mental health and setting will impact the effects.
There are many species of mushroom in Ireland and many psilocybin containing mushrooms are small brown, or tan mushrooms which could be mistaken for a number of non-psychoactive, inedible, or poisonous mushrooms in the wild. Some toxic varieties can cause irreversible damage.
If you believe you or someone else may have eaten a poisonous mushroom do not wait for symptoms to occur. Contact a medical professional or in Ireland reach out to the National Poisons Information Centre or 112/999 immediately.
National Poisons Information Centre: +353 (1) 809 2166. (8.00 a.m. to 10.00 p.m. 7 days a week)
Druidic Ritual and Practice
So, we have established that Ireland had a select caste of individuals who engaged in ritual practices in order to service the cultural and spiritual needs of their communities, and that there are native psychedelic psychoactive flora. Does this mean that the druids did shrooms?
Well the answer is unfortunately rather ambiguous. We know from our old lore that one did not just wake up a druid one day, that instead there was at the very minimum a decade-long commitment to education in some of the many druid schools on the island. This education involved an extensive amount of rote learning, and memorising of tales, judgements, and many others things of which we have no record. This oral tradition meant that only those who performed to an adequate standard could serve as druids, whilst also keeping much of their knowledge hidden to the layperson.
Some rituals were documented, either by outside scholars or as part of retelling of old tales, and though much of the specifics are lost to us, they do give insights into the detailed nature of the druidic arts. From harvesting and utilising specific woods or flora, to chanting and recitations in intentionally archaic or obfuscating language, the means by which druids wielded power was hidden, but the impact of that power was seen and accepted by all.
One particular divination ritual was performed when a new king was set to be crowned. Known as the ‘Tarbh Feis’ or Bull feast it was described as follows.
“A bull-feast is gathered by the men of Erin, in order to determine their future king; that is, a bull used to be killed by them and thereof one man would eat his fill and drink its broth, and a spell of truth was chanted over him in his bed. Whosoever he would see in his sleep would be king, and the sleeper would perish if he uttered a falsehood.”
From “The Destruction of Dá Derga’s Hostel”, translated by Whitely Stokes in 1910.
Comments on Ethical and Practical Processes
So here is where we must take a discerning step back from the information we have discussed and consider the wider consideration of ethical and practical processes.
At the Irish Pagan School we do not advocate for the use of intoxicants of any kind as part of spiritual practices, but neither are we the sole source of education on these matters.
What we do teach is a process of informed learning and regular spiritual practices such as deity and altar work, devotional offerings, guided journey practices, as well as Draíocht: Foundations in Irish Magic all of which is designed to help our students build a solid and powerful personal practice based on authentic resources.
Each person is on their own spiritual journey and what we offer is resources and guidance from native Irish practitioners and students of our lore and culture. We neither dismiss nor initiate people into any sort of formal spiritual practice or lineage.
It is worth considering that not every person was called or even suited to the work of druid craft. The dedicated service to a community’s spiritual needs requires not just knowledge but also levels of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual skill and fortitude that may not be commonly available to every person. This is why we can see that their communities invariably had few individuals who fulfilled this role for the greater collective.
What is clear though is that for the duration of our recorded and recalled histories, there have always been people who serve their community in matters beyond the mundane. People who pursue the deeper or hidden knowledge in this world and the Other. Whatever the term given, be it druid, wise woman, or any other word, their role was in some way always one of service to others.
🍄🟫 If you want to hear more about the The Druids and ‘Shrooms’ of Ireland, check out our YouTube video “Did the Irish Druids Use Shrooms?”
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