Modern Druidism

The History of Modern Druidism

https://druidry.org/druid-way/what-druidry/recent-history

Any study of the druids must begin with a process of demystification…

Jean Markale, The Druids – Celtic Priests of Nature

Druidism is rooted in the culture and mythology of Western Europe – in particular in those cultures which have come to be known as Celtic, which stretch from Ireland and parts of Portugal in the West to France, Switzerland and Austria in the East. We first hear of it in the writings of Julius Caesar, who in about 50 BCE wrote that Druidism originated in Britain. But some say that it originated elsewhere and much earlier, in Egypt or India, while mystics such as Dion Fortune and Rudolf Steiner point, with what they believe to be clairvoyant rather than historical evidence, to the even more mysterious land of Atlantis. Whether Druidry’s roots are indeed so exotic, or whether the historical understanding that Druidism evolved in the British Isles about 2,500 years ago is correct, the current revival of interest in Druidism depends not so much upon the ancient past as upon very recent history.

Modern Druidism, as it is practised by most Druids today, emerged out of two acts of rebellion during that fertile and tumultuous period of the 1960s. Virtually simultaneously, on both sides of the Atlantic, revolutions occurred in how Druidry was understood: in 1963 on the Carleton College campus in the USA a group called The Reformed Druids of North America was created as a humorous protest against mandatory Sunday morning chapel attendance, while the following year in England a historian, Ross Nichols, rebelled against the election of a new Druid Chief, and established his own group, The Order of Bards Ovates & Druids.

Although both the RDNA and the OBOD were initially small groups, they exerted an influence over the coming years which resulted in Druidism finally emerging in the last decade of the twentieth century as a viable alternative to the more well-known and established spiritual paths.

Prior to the mid-1960s almost all Druid activity over the previous few hundred years had been confined to the cultural efforts of the Welsh Druids and the fraternal activities of the English Druids – neither of which treated Druidry as a spiritual path in its own right. An exception could be found, however, in one type of Druidism that did focus on spiritual practice – even though it attracted only a handful of followers. At the dawn of the twentieth century a dynamic and vocal individual, George Watson MacGregor Reid, began promoting Druidism as a spiritual path that could unite followers of many faiths, and the group that he led, The Universal Bond, became a vehicle for conveying many of the ideas that had been expressed by groups such as The Theosophical Society and The Order of the Golden Dawn in the previous century. Through the Universal Bond a complex tapestry began to be woven, which drew on the inspiration of the ancient Druids, the work of the Revival Druids of the previous three centuries, the teachings of the world religions, and the Western Mystery Tradition. The group held ceremonies at Stonehenge, campaigned for social justice, and promoted the Universalist Church, which later became incorporated into the Unitarian Church.

In the 1940’s and 50’s the Universal Bond, which had gradually evolved into being called the Ancient Druid Order, attracted to it two figures who would act as catalysts for the explosion of interest in Paganism that is occurring today: Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols. Gardner became the seminal figure in the promotion of the religion of Wicca, or pagan witchcraft, while Nichols developed Druidism by focusing its concerns on Celtic lore and mythology. Both Nichols and many Wiccans were inspired by a book which has influenced much of the modern Pagan movement – Robert Graves’ The White Goddess, which claimed to have discovered a Druidic tree alphabet and calendar. Both Nichols and Gardner came to adopt an eightfold cycle of observances which now lies at the heart of both Druid and Wiccan practice.

Gardner died in 1964 and so did the chief of the Ancient Druid Order- MacGregor Reid’s son Robert. A new chief was elected, but Nichols decided he wanted to work with Druidism in a different way, and formed his own order, which has since grown to become the largest Druid group in the world. While his group was formed out of a serious desire to deepen Druidism as a spiritual practice, the Reformed Druids of North America were founded a year earlier partly as a prank to avoid church services, and partly as a protest against compulsory attendance. The initiative proved creative: since students who claimed they were Druids were obliged to hold alternative rites, they found themselves becoming seriously interested in new ways of worship – and Druidism. The writings and activities of the RDNA inspired the creation of the largest Druid group in America today, the ADF, out of which other groups have emerged to develop and enrich contemporary Druidism.

By 1969 Druids were starting to feature in the burgeoning counter-culture. John Lennon consciously or intuitively knew that Peace and Love, the cornerstones of counter-cultural idealism, were deeply connected with Druidism, and so he sang about this in his ‘Mind-Games’.

Why do we know so little about the Druids?

The powerful Celtic social class posed a threat to the Roman Empire before being subsumed by Christianity, but their origins remain shrouded in the past.

ByErin Blakemore

November 15, 2019 Were Druids peaceful priests or dangerous prophets? Did they worship nature or foment rebellion? Not much is known about the ancient social class of people known as Druids, but that has never kept people from speculating on their real nature. The earliest detailed accounts of the Druids date back to the first century B.C., but it’s likely that they had established their special role within the ancient communities of what is now Britain, Ireland, and France long before then. The word comes from a Latin transcription of the Celtic word for a social class of people among the ancient Celts who concerned themselves with prophecy and ritual.

Since Ancient Celts didn’t use the written word, all of our accounts about the Druids come from outsiders, particularly the Romans. Druids “are engaged in things sacred, conduct the public and the private sacrifices, and interpret all matters of religion,” wrote Julius Caesar in the 50s B.C., after Rome invaded Gaul (modern France). The emperor noted their interest in astronomy, education, and valor, and their habit of sacrificing fellow Gauls to gain their gods’ favor by using wicker men stuffed with live men and set on fire.

Other Roman writers also fixated on the Druids’ love of blood and gore. Pliny the Elder wrote of the Druids’ appreciation for both mistletoe and human sacrifice. “To murder a man was to do the act of highest devoutness,” he wrote, “and to eat his flesh was to secure the highest blessings of health.” Tacitus even described a battle in Wales in which Druids “[covered] their altars with the blood of captives and [consulted] their deities through human entrails.”

The pagan practitioners presented an existential threat to the Romans, who feared Druid power over the Celtic communities that Rome had conquered. Classicist Jane Webster suggests the Druids’ apocalyptic visions and rites were seen as acts of resistance to Roman conquerors, who suppressed Druids and their rituals beginning with the reign of Augustus in 27 B.C.

Christianity began to make inroads into France and the British Isles in the first century A.D., and as the centuries progressed it papered over many Celtic traditions. But Druids continued to pop up in medieval literature, suggesting that the pagan priests later became healers and magicians. Yet, since we have no written accounts from the pre-Christian Celts, it’s virtually impossible to verify any historical claims about the Druids. Nonetheless, Druids have gone through several revivals over the millennia, including a Romantic-era resurgence and a 21st-century incarnation as Modern Druidism.

Though historians had come to dismiss Roman claims of the Druids’ supposedly brutal religious tradition as overblown, the controversy about their potentially gruesome rituals was raised again—literally—in 1984. That year, a peat cutter found human remains in Cheshire, England. This was no ordinary find: Lindow Man, as he became known, had been preserved in the bog for nearly 2,000 years, and had apparently become a bog body after suffering head blows and being stabbed and strangled before being left for dead in the bog. His stomach contained mistletoe pollen, which led to the contentious speculation that he was ritually sacrificed, perhaps by Druids, or that he was himself a Druid prince. (Watch archaeologists piece together the story of Lindow Man.)

It’s tempting to speculate about the true nature of the Druids, but since most of what is known about this ancient social class comes from secondary sources, it is impossible to verify most claims. Even the term seems to have been a blanket designation for scholars, philosophers, teachers, and holy men concerned with nature, justice and magic. And archaeology doesn’t have great answers, either. “Among archaeologists there is currently no consensus over how material evidence relates to the Druids even within the same country,” writes History Today’s Ronald Hutton. “Not a single artifact has been turned up anywhere which experts universally and unequivocally agree to be Druidic.” Then and now, the idea of Druids evokes both magic and mystery.

Overview of Modern Druid Groups: Mission Statements

Religion or Spiritual Philosophy/Method?

When I previously mentioned the differences between “druidry” and “druidism,” I alluded to one of the ongoing discussions about the nature of druid philosophy and practices — that is whether Druidry/Druidism is a religion or a philosophy or set of practices that can be applied to any religion.

Three of these groups, OBOD, AODA and RDNA welcome members of any religion. OBOD considers its druidry to be more a spiritual philosophy or set of practices that can be performed by people of many faiths and there are Christian and Buddhist OBOD members. Based on intra-member communication, however, most OBOD members do seem to consider themselves Neo-pagan.

AODA, like OBOD, considers its druidry as spiritual method/philosophy and also welcomes mystically-oriented people of any faith.

RDNA is also more a way of working with one’s own spirituality and welcomes people of many faiths. The people who stuck with it after its original purpose was fulfilled seemed to find that RDNA encouraged people to really question the bases for whatever beliefs they had and, in many cases, this questioning lead to the strengthening of their original faith. A later schism, the New Reformed Druids of North America, was emphatically Neo-pagan.

BDO is harder to pin down on this issue. The Order seems to consider its path a Pagan religion, but holds open rituals that are respectful of and may include other faith paths.

ADF and the Henge of Keltria both define themselves as religions.

I shall now go into a little more detail for each group. Whenever possible, I will let the groups speak for themselves, quoting from their published materials.

OBOD

OBOD describes its basic philosophy in the following way:

Druidry and the teaching program of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids is based upon this love for the natural world, and offers a powerful way of working with, and understanding the Self and Nature — speaking to that level of our soul and of our being which is in tune with the elements and the stars, the sun and the stones. Through the work of the Druids, we are able to unite our natural, earthly selves with our spiritual selves while working, in however small a way, for the safeguarding of our planet.  (1) OBOD tradition provides ways to develop deeper and meaningful relationship with the Spirits of the Land and our ancestors and through doing so, each member is encouraged to discover his or her own relationship with the Divine in whatever way it manifests. (2)

OBOD has one of the strongest commitments to the environment that I have seen in any of these Druid groups.

OBOD considers that its form of Druidry includes the spiritual heritage of Britain throughout its history, including the Neolithic ages, the Bronze age, the Iron Age Celts, the Anglo-Saxons, the Norse, and the Normans and beyond.

The closest thing I could find to a succinct statement of beliefs was a series of statements under the title, “Druidry evokes love in us — in a myriad of ways.” This statement includes the many ways druidry fosters love of the land, the earth and the wild (nature); the love of peace (druids as peace-makers); the love of beauty (creativity and contact with “awen”); the love of justice (restorative justice); love of story and myth (relationships to the divine); love of history and reverence for the Ancestors (the past); love of trees; love of stones; love of truth (and wisdom); love of animals; love of the body (sacred sexuality); love of life (integration of spirituality with everyday life); love of sun, moon, stars and sky; love of each other (interpersonal relationships and community). (3)

The overall “flavor” of OBOD, for me, is that of a pan-British, ecologically aware and ecologically activist, awen-seeking, peace-mongering, multi-faith group for which inspiration, communion with nature and guardianship of the earth are foremost values.

BDO

The British Druid Order draws its inspiration from “native British tradition,” and the Order defines “British” as including all the peoples and spirits who have inhabited the island of Britain and the island of Ireland. BDO sees druidry as an ever-changing path that evolves with each generation.

The Order’s primary function is inviting, contacting and using poetic and creative inspiration, called “awen” or “flowing inspiration.” Its tradition draws inspiration from the sacred land and from the ancestors through their myths and mysteries. Members seek to reclaim a sense of sacred in all thing, so that they can start to heal their land, their society, and themselves.

The Order’s web site says: “Those who work with the Order are encouraged to make their own links with this spirit of inspiration, through which they might find their own energy and creativity, and thereby discover and walk their own sacred path to joy, peace, healing, ecstasy and the gods.”(4)

The overall “flavor” for me is that BDO is a pagan pan-British, awen-seeking, shamanistic, animistic group that promotes contact with nature spirits and the voice of the ancestors. While it is similar to OBOD, it puts somewhat greater emphasis on contacting flowing inspiration and seeing the sacred in all things and less on environmental activism.

AODA

The Ancient Order of Druids in America is rooted in the Druid Revival, which was inspired by what was known or believed about the ancient Druids and combines this legacy with other sources to shape a nature spirituality that is relevant to today. The AODA welcomes men and women of any religious, cultural or ethnic background. “Creativity and the quest for personal Awen — the inner light of inspiration — are among the AODA’s central values.” The AODA is a “traditional” Druid Order and it shares many features with fraternal lodges and esoteric societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. (5)

Of the groups we will look at today, AODA remains the closest to its Revival Druid roots and uses many ideas and practices from Western Magical tradition.

For me the overall “flavor” of AODA is that of a Revival druid, magically-oriented, multi-faith group that encourages nature awareness and inspiration seeking through disciplined training.

RDNA

It really is best to let the Reformed Druids of North America speak for themselves. From the “F.A.Q. about Reformed Druidism” by Michael Scharding:

Question 3. What are your goals? Answer Awareness. Yup, that’s it. Total world domination is just so out of fashion. (6)

From the Carleton Grove web site:

On deeper examination of the RDNA, it might be said to have two important purposes: (7)

1. It offers a reasonable alternative for the person who cannot stomach organized religion, or who feels that it is somehow deficient.
2. In communing with Nature, it seeks to promote a spirit of meditation and introspection, aimed ultimately at awareness of religious truth.

The Reform has only required two basic tenets of its members for the last 40 years. The long form found in the Druid Chronicles is:

• The object of the search for religious truth, which is a universal and a neverending search, may be found through the Earth Mother, which is Nature; but this is one way, yea, one way among many.
• And great is the importance, which is of a spiritual importance, of Nature, which is the Earth Mother; for it is one of the objects of Creation, and with it we do live, yea, even as we do struggle through life are we come face to face with it.

The simplified form is:

1. Nature is good.
2. Likewise, Nature is good. (8)

Again from the Carleton Grove web site:

This [the two tenants] is generally considered overly word[y] and verbious [verbose?] it has been shortened

1. The search for spiritual truth is important.
2. Nature is important and helpful in that search. (9)

And:

It is possible to take a gander of some of the other sentiment of many Druids; the material realm, Nature, is often personified as the Earth-Mother. However, the Druids do not affirm or deny any religious belief, we consist of all types of people from many different traditions and backgrounds. The Druids at Carleton tend to change over time, sometimes drastically, due to the group being based at a four year college. Every four years there is an entirely different group of people that may have very different views from those who came before them. The Druids are continually questioning and each is conducting their own personal search for spiritual truth, however they may define that, which makes it difficult to say what Druids believe. There are very few things that we all agree on, even the wording of the tenets gets adjusted frequently, but this lack of set definition, the flexibility of the group and the devotion to questioning and learning is the very thing that attracts people to Druidism. Druidism is an alternative to mainstream religion, that means that we can’t very well go mainstream ourselves. (9)

Its overall “flavor” for me is that RDNA is a multi-faith group that combines irreverence and reverence, does not take itself too seriously, sees “nature as a route to awareness,” and believes in testing one’s beliefs and concepts. After reading through RDNA materials, I can easily see RDNA as being the Discordians of the Druid community.

ADF

RDNA’s child group, ADF seems also a complete contrast. ADF seeks to create a Neo-pagan religion that is based on sound scholarship about the ancient Indo-European pagan society, practices, and, where they can be known, beliefs in the areas of linguistics, Indo-European studies, archaeology, comparative religion, anthropology, ethnic studies, history and theology, but is adapted for modern times and does not require any ethnic affiliation for participation. Where gaps exist, imagination, inspiration, visions and borrowing from non Indo-European sources may be used to fill the gaps, but that these sources are fully and openly acknowledged and documented.

ADF’s statement of what “Neo-pagan Druids” believe include: both the immanence and transcendence of Deity; Deity manifesting as female and as male; polytheism; nature worship; “cautious” technophilia; religious freedom; positive ethics; religious toleration; magic and mystery; liturgical art and science; connecting to the cosmos; “born again Paganism” — afterlife without eternal punishment, often including reincarnation; hope and action (activism to make the world better); developing mystic vision; community responsibility; authenticity (walking the talk); and cooperation and defense (of beliefs). (10)

One of the early goals of ADF is to create a form a Druidism in which modern Druids “would not be ashamed to honestly compare themselves with the original Druids.” (11)

One of the things I have gotten out of reading ADF organizational materials is that they wish to have an organization that stands toe-to-toe with other mainstream religious organizations in clergy preparation and training, in rigorous theological study and in institutions that support a large community such as a mainstream church may have.

For me, the overall “flavor” of ADF is a semi-reconstructionist, pan-Indo-European Neo-pagan group that is focused on scholarship and intellect and in adapting ancient practices and beliefs for modern use.

The Henge of Keltria

The current president of the Henge of Keltria says about her organization: “We are a positive path Celtic Neopagan tradition dedicated to protecting and preserving our Mother Earth, honoring our Ancestors, revering the Spirits of Nature, and worshiping the Gods and Goddesses of our Gaelic heritage. Our focus is on personal growth through the development of mind, body, and spirit. We place special emphasis on spiritual development fostered through study and practice of the Druidic Arts.” (12)

The previous incarnation of this statement said “Celtic heritage,” rather than “Gaelic heritage.” Recently, the Henge seem to have narrowed its focus to just Gaelic paths, but this has not been reflected in the current By-Laws, which still allow Groves and individuals to work with any Celtic pantheon. I imagine changes to the by-laws may be forthcoming.

The Henge of Keltria also has a statement of beliefs that include belief in divinity that may takes several valid forms; a belief that nature is the embodiment of the Gods and that natural law reflects the will of the Gods; a belief that all life is sacred; a belief in the immortality of the spirit; a belief that our purpose is to gain wisdom through experience and that learning is an ongoing process; a belief that morality is a matter of personal conviction based upon self-respect and respect for others; a belief that evil is a matter of intent rather than essence; a belief in the relative nature of all things; a belief that every individual has a right to pursue knowledge and wisdom through his or her chosen path; a belief in honoring the Gods through the cyclical celebration of our Celtic ancestors and a belief in a living religion that is able to change and adapt to a changing environment. Keltrians also acknowledge three foundations of practice: honoring the ancestors, revering the Nature Spirits and worshiping and Gods and Goddesses of the Celtic Tribe. (13)

The overall “flavor’ I get from the Henge of Keltria is that is a semi-constructionist, Gaelic-oriented neo-pagan initiatory mystery tradition. I also get the impression that Keltrian ritual is a central focus of practice.

These three groups have a more intellectual basis to their philosophy and practice than the previous three groups. A person in the Reformed Druids of North America is likely to give serious thought and examination to his or her beliefs. Both ADF and Keltria base their principles, stated beliefs and practices on current scholarship. Nonetheless, there is plenty of room in these groups for seeking inspiration and mystical spiritual connection.

Notes

1. The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. “The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.” n.d. Accessed July 16, 2004. <http://www.druidry.org/obod/theorder/theorder.html> 2020: “About the Order.”
2. Damh the Bard. “The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.” Published May 15, 2004. Accessed July 16, 2004. <http://www.witchvox.com/trads/trad_obod.html>
3. The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. “The Druid Tradition.” n.d. Accessed July 16, 2004. <http://www.druidry.org/obod/intro/druidtradition.html A text version was found at <http://www.druidry.org/obod/touchstone/2000annrev.html (accessed July 27, 2004) at the bottom of the page. 2020: “Druid Beliefs.”
4. The British Druid Order. ”Introducing the BDO.” n.d. Accessed July 16, 2004. <http://www.druidorder.demon.co.uk/bdo_intro.htm> 2020: “About the British Druid Order.”
5. Ancient Order of Druids in America “About the Ancient Order of Druids in America.” n.d. Accessed July 29, 2004. <http://www.aoda.org/about.htm> 2020 note: “About the Ancient Order of Druids in America.”
6. Michael Sharding. “A F.A.Q. about Reformed Druidism.” n.d. Accessed July 16, 2004. <http://www.rdna.info/faq.html> See also “Less Is More” on the same web site: <http://www.rdna.info/lessismore.html
7. Carleton Grove. “Who are the Reformed Druids?” n.d. Accessed July 16, 2004. <https://apps.carleton.edu/student/orgs/druids/questions/> 2020 note: The links have been updated.
8. Michael Sharding. “The Two Basic Tenets.” n.d. Accessed July 16, 2004. <http://www.rdna.info/basictenets.html
9. Carleton Grove. “What do the Reformed Druids believe in?” n.d. Accessed July 16, 2004. <https://apps.carleton.edu/student/orgs/druids/questions/> 2020 note: The links have been updated.
10. Isaac Bonewits. “What Do Neopagan Druids Believe?” Published 2003. Accessed July 16, 2004. <http://www.adf.org/about/beliefs.html> 2020 updated text: “What Do Neopagan Druids Believe?”
11. Isaac Bonewits. “Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship.” Published January 8, 2001. Accessed July 16, 2004. <http://www.witchvox.com/trads/trad_adf.html>
12. Topaz Owl. “Greetings.” n.d. Accessed July 16, 2004. <http://www.keltria.org/Greetings.htm>
13. Henge of Keltria. “Frequently Asked Questions” Published April 2004. Accessed July 16, 2004. <http://keltria.org/Blog1/FAQs.htm> 2020: “Frequently Asked Questions” Accessed 29 June 2020.