Founded in 1912 as the American branch of the Ancient and Archaeological Order of Druids, the AODA is a traditional Druid Order with its roots in the Druid Revival of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The AODA is emerging from a recent period of inactivity to present the teachings and practices of traditional Druidry in today's world.
The AODA envisions Druidry as a path of nature spirituality and inner transformation founded on personal experience rather than dogmatic belief. It welcomes men and women of all national origins, cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and affiliations with other Druidic and spiritual traditions. Ecological awareness and commitment to an earth-honoring lifestyle, celebration of the cycles of nature through seasonal ritual, and personal development through meditation and other spiritual exercises form the core of its work, and involvement in the arts, healing practices, and traditional esoteric studies are among its applications and expressions.
We have our study program for all three degrees complete and listed publically on our website along with a growing network of study groups as well as groves.
In addition, AODA supports Earthcraft, (http://www.earthcrafters.org/) a program of outdoor activity, personal development, and environmental service for people ages 4 to 94. Inspired by the Woodcraft movement founded by nature writer Ernest Thompson Seton who introduced the movement in these words: "Our purpose is to learn the outdoor life for its worth in the building up of our bodies and the helping and strengthening of our souls; that we may go forth with the seeing eye, and the thinking hand, to learn the pleasant ways of the woods and of life, that we may be made in all ways masters of ourselves."
