Chapter 11

Rites and Customs Among the Two Peoples

 

We have just established that Druidism was none other than a form of Baalism that the Israelites, as Celtic peoples, brought with them to Europe, during their successive migrations.

The two religions, having the same source of inspiration, had nearly the same pagan doctrines, that is to say, false and erroneous theories.  We are now going to examine some of them to execute a quick comparison between the Celtic practices and those of ancient Israel, for the truth, however masked and denatured, sometimes makes itself known through the veil of paganism!

 

Punishment By Fire and Water

 

Immortality of the soul was a predominant doctrine among the partisans of Baalism as well as among the Celtic peoples.  The Druids “proclaimed the immortality of souls and that of the world, while they nevertheless believed that a day of fire and water would prevail over all the rest” (“La Gaule et les Gaulois,” Zeller, pp. 36-38).

Note that this form of punishment, “by fire and water,” is particular to the Israelites.  Their prophets always had advised them of divine chastisement, which would judge them by fire.  Thus the prophet Isaiah wrote:

“By fire the Eternal executes His judgments, by His sword He chastises all flesh,” Isaiah 66:16.

Later, Malachi declares:  “For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as a furnace: and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble,” Malachi 4:1.

Concerning punishment by water, who is not familiar with the story of the flood (Genesis 7), and what happened to the evil world whose thoughts were only evil continually?

 

The Counterfeit of the Feasts of the Eternal

 

Although punished and taken into captivity, Israel never abandoned its beliefs and pagan practices for which God had punished them.  In the seventeenth chapter of the second book of Kings, we learn that the children of Israel entirely abandoned the commandments of God, making two calves of molten metal, prostrating themselves before all the host of the heavens and serving Baal.  The Eternal even reveals that they made their children pass through the fire — a practice which was repeated by the Gauls — and that they indulged in divination and enchantment. 

Each year, in May and in October, the Druids offered Baal human sacrifices by rites more or less similar to those of the Israelites.

These pagan feasts, celebrated in the spring and fall, seem to be the Satanic counterfeit of the Feasts of the Eternal (Leviticus 23), notably the “Feast of Weeks,” also called the “Feast of the Firstfruits” (during the era the Israelites offered animal sacrifices “in burnt offering to the Eternal”), and the “Feast of Tabernacles,” fixed at the first of autumn.

This is why there was a new captivity, this time under the Roman yoke, because these Israelo-Celts took these names to their abominable pagan religion!

 

How Did the Druids Reckon Time?

 

Remember that the Druids have not left one writing.  Certain historians think that the responsibility for this fact falls to the Gauls who nevertheless knew writing (Les Gaulois, Pernoud, p. 66).

The transmission of religious customs orally was a fairly common practice among the ancients.  All of it was made with the aid of symbols, and the rites were transmitted mouth to ear, from one generation to the other.  Obviously, it could not have been otherwise concerning Baalism, which has not left us one writing!  These practices have come to us by traditions and national customs of the countries who adopted them.

But how did the Celtic people calculate time?  How did they count the days, the months, and the year?  The answer cannot but surprise you.

As for what were the days, they counted from sunset to sunset!  “The Gauls counted the days by the number of nights,” states M. Courcelles-Seneuil (Le Dieux Gaulois, p. 66).  Julius Caesar, who understood neither its reasoning nor its origin, ridiculed this idea.  The Roman, in general, attributed it to the pagan religion of the Celts; however, not one pagan religion counted the days from one evening to the next.

From where then did the Celts take this habit?  Historians are incapable of explaining it, as they never want to admit that it could originate in the Bible!  If it had been a question of the pagan religion, the Gauls would have counted the day according to the sun, in the same manner as other nations — and not at all from one evening to the next!

No, this Druidic custom was not of pagan origin.  The Gauls had inherited it from their ancestors, before being taken into captivity by the Assyrians.  This national custom was founded on the original instructions that the Eternal had previously given to the children of Israel who always counted the days “from the evening . .  to the following evening,” Leviticus 23:32.  In fact, the Jews observed it still at the time of Jesus Christ, Matthew 27:57; Luke 23:54.

As for months, it is also curious to state that the Celts, following the example of the Israelites, counted them according to the moon — and not according to the sun, as did their neighbors. 

To be precise however, there was a slight difference in the manner of determining them.  While the Israelites began the month at the new moon (I Samuel 20:5, 18, 24-27, etc.), the Celts, according to Pliny, counted from the fifth day following the new moon.

According to several historians, the Celtic year began in autumn, at the end of the harvest (Ancient Religions, Fredenburg, p. 27), as did the civil year among the Jews, and the Israelites.

 

Some Social Customs

 

One of the customs of the Gauls, which Caesar spoke of was their strange practice of placing their children in the homes of respectable families so that they would be thus elevated.

This interesting custom was practiced somewhat among the Israelites, especially among nobles of the country.  One may find an example of this in the book of Judges where Ibzan, who had thirty sons (Judges 12:9), “and thirty daughters, whom he sent abroad, and took in thirty daughters from abroad for his sons.”

Another striking example is perhaps that of Ahab, king of Israel, when his seventy sons were sent, by Jehu, to the chiefs of Jezreel, in order that all the posterity of Ahab would be destroyed (II Kings 10:1, 6).  Here, this practice had a double motive!

Let’s notice also, by way of curiosity, that a great similarity existed between the family life of the Celts and that of the Israelites.  The father was the head of the family and exercised an authority little known in other nations.  The wife submitted to him in all things, and was occupied only with her domestic concerns.

The Celtic society, as that of the Israelites, was divided in tribes, of which each one kept its national traits, and particular characteristics (The Greatness and Decline of the Celts, Hubert, p. 198).

In conclusion, we would not be ignorant of a particular custom, widespread among the Israelites as well as among the Celts, relative to the right of redemption.  According to the Bible (Leviticus 25:25) if a brother becomes poor and sells some of his possessions, he who had the right of redemption, in other words his next of kin, would come and redeem what his brother had sold.

Among the Celts, the law was not very different.  One had the right to redeem at any time the property sold by one of the members of his family (Some Sources of Human History, Plinders, pp. 95-98).