Ár nDraíocht Féin

Ár nDraíocht Féin is a branch of modern Druidry founded in 1983 by Isaac Bonewits, a former member of the Reformed Druids of North America. ADF, as it is commonly known, reached out beyond Celtic cultures and embraced all pagan European cultures sharing an Indo-European language.

ADF is a spiritual organization based in academic research of Indo-European religions and their priestly castes, such as the Druids, to revive and recreate the religions of our ancestors in a form suitable for those living in the modern day. ADF was also founded as part of the Neopagan movement. Together this creates a wide range of membership between hard line Reconstructionists and mainstream Neopagans. Often ADF members are polytheist and nature oriented, yet again there exists a diversity of beliefs among members.

Most ADF members reside in North America, especially the United States. There are also a growing number of members in other countries around the world. Roughly half of the membership is solitary and the rest form local Groves. Groves are spread throughout the U.S. and Canada, with a concentration in the northeastern U.S. Groves hold at least eight public rituals a year and perform regular community service activities. Several Groves sponsor annual festivals between spring and autumn.

All members receive introductory training material, known as the Dedicant Program, with their new membership packet. The Dedicant Program is designed to be a year-long introduction to the ways of ADF Druidry, including topics such as meditative skill practice, ritual, recommended readings, consideration of ethical and philosophical issues, patron deities, etc. This program is a prerequisite for more advanced study with a Guild or the Clergy Council.

The Guilds are composed of people who share skills or interest in a common area. They are Artisans, Bards, Healers, Liturgists, Scholars, Magicians, Naturalists, Seers, and Warriors. Most Guilds have or are planning a Study Program. Clergy training is offered by the Clergy Council, which is composed of the Ordained and Dedicant Priests.

To learn more about Ár nDraíocht Féin please view our website at http://www.adf.org/ which contains pages of articles, rituals, membership details and application form, Grove listings, and more.

If you have any questions please contact us at ADF-Office [at] ADF [dot] ORG( ADF-Office [at] ADF [dot] ORG).

For a description of the study programs run by the ADF see our Distance Learning page.