The druids did not build the surviving ancient monuments in Western Europe that were once attributed to them, such as Stonehenge and Carnac in Brittany, both were constructed well before the Celtic language was spoken in these areas. There is even some argument about what the root meaning of the word 'druid' might be. The word druid now conjures up a fog of associations and connotations that can not be supported by any text in any language. One of the reasons we know so little about the druids thoughts and practices were never recorded, they were too sacred to be written down and might be read by the uninitiated, the profane or fall into enemy hands. The druids were a religious order among the Celtic people of ancient Britain, Gaul and Ireland, but many Earth religions were scattered over Europe and Asia, to say that the Order of the Druids originated from Britain is quite a sweeping statement, it was more likely a cross-pollination of ideas and beliefs, there was no scientific explanation, so religion and deities provided the answers. If the training period for a druid was twenty years then a talent for a chosen subject would come to the fore in that duration of time. A student might wish to become a priest-philosopher only to find that he had no special gift in that direction but a natural aptitude for remembering herbal medicines. The other directions for their talents could be to become judges, mediators, sages or play politics becoming court druids or a King's councillor. With this flexibility they became the cement that held together the Celtic way of life. The druids of Gaul had authority over divine worship and exercised supreme authority over legislative and judicial matters. In Ireland both men and women served as druids, but evidence for female druids among the ancient continental Celts is rather ambiguous. The Roman general Paulinus was greeted on Ynys Mon, by druids and also women in black robes, standing separately from the men, perhaps these were wise women and healers. The druids were a highly organized inter-tribal brotherhood in Gaul, one druid was elected to be arch-druid and on his death, if there was several candidates of equal merits. an assembly of druids would vote for the successor, this was not always orderly, as armed conflict was known to break out among disappointed candidates and their supporters. The druids held the religious belief that the human souls do not cease at the death of the body, but were reborn in different forms, they encouraged the warrior class to be brave in battle with this form of reincarnation, this made the druids counterparts with the Roman Flamines and the Brahmins of India.