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Deasuil

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

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(Celt. deas, "the south," and suil, "a way"), a Druidical ceremony consisting in pacing thrice round an earthen wall, which encompassed the temple externally, and which is still visible at Stonehenge (q.v.). The route represented the course of the sun, being from the east southward to the west. This custom, as a religious rite, is of great antiquity, and very extensive. The benediction of the Deasuil was long used in Ireland, Wales, and the Scottish Highlands, and is said to be at present not entirely extinct. Gardner, Faiths of the World, s.v. (See DRUIDS).