There was also some speculation that the druids and Brahmin priestly caste share a common Indo-European heritage.

A few years ago I studied gender roles within Hinduism, and discovered that there was greater religious equality between men and woman (in the priestly class at least, I think). Over time , however, as the rituals become more complicated things became more male dominated, and woman’s roles became purely domestic.

When I was a Christian I always viewed God as more than male, despite all the endless Biblical references to God as he and father, the verse ‘God created man and woman in his image’ seemed to have more of an influence over my thinking. I didn’t think of god as male and female, but rather transcending gender.

At the moment I’m not sure if it would be better to think of the divine as both male and female or containing masculine and feminine principles, or transcending gender.