Faces of Druidry – an article by Potia
What is Druidry? What do I mean when I refer to the Faces of Druidry? There is no simple answer.
Personally I think that Druidry is a family of related paths. Some are more closely related than others and for some the only thing they have in common is that they use the term Druid.
I like to think that we all have in common the principal of respecting each other’s opinions and beliefs but I know this isn’t always true. I like to think we all honour and respect nature and most do but there are always some that will argue definitions of what that actually means. Within particular Druid Orders members tend to share a lot more of the same goals and principals but not always. So where does that leave us?
My own definition (at present) of what makes a Druid is someone who is inspired by Celtic myths and lore to work with the Spirits of the land they live in, their ancestors and their own Gods in whatever form they feel these beings take; who strives to honour and respect those around them even when they disagree with them; who works to improve themselves and the lives of those around them in whatever way they can; who takes responsibility for their own actions and for their own learning and development.
Am I a Druid? The answer to that will probably depend on who you ask and how they define the term Druid. I began on the Druid path with Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids and I am a now Druid Companion of the Order but I feel I have barely begun on my path. My path has changed since I began and is still changing. My practice is now heavily influenced by reconstructionist ideas although I am not sure if I could be fully described as a Celtic reconstructionist.
In this article I am going to introduce three different types or Faces of Druidry, revivalist druidry, reconstructionist druidry and solitary druidry. I am going to try and explain a little about the philosophies and practices of these three faces of Druidry. It is not possible to be fully comprehensive in an article but hopefully you will gain an understanding of the diversity of experiences that may be found within Druidry.
Romantic-Revivalist Druidry
Revivalists are those who base their Druidry on the information developed at the time of the Druid revival in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Orders on the extreme end of this spectrum tend to share features with fraternal lodges and esoteric societies. One of the writers that is often turned to by such Orders is Iolo Morgannwg who among other things wrote the Barddas. His writings draw partly upon texts available to him at the time, part interpretation and inspiration and part forgery.
The Druid revival seems to have really begun in London in 1781 with the foundation of the Ancient Order of Druids but the seeds were laid much earlier than that and are bound up with early nationalist movements and ideas about megalithic sites. This early Druidry seems to have generally been followed by fairly wealthy gentlemen of a liberal Christian outlook, scholars who were inspired by the idea of an educated elite in Britain’s ancient history.
Revivalist Orders tend to consider Druidry to be a philosophy that, if the practitioner wishes, can be blended with other faiths. Rituals tend to focus on the four solstices and equinoxes as the more important festivals although Orders may celebrate all of the 8 festivals also known to many as the wheel of the year.
Some revivalist Orders have very elaborate rituals and some are a bit simpler. Many rituals will be performed within cast circles including the calling of the classical four directions of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The inclusion of the classical concepts of elements is something that probably derives from ideas of alchemy which in turn draw on Platonic ideas. They are not very likely to have been used at all by our Celtic ancestors although they may have known of the classical ideas. Many revivalist groups also include the Druid’s vow and the Druid’s Prayer as part of their rituals. The Druids Vow is usually said or sung three times in the ritual and the words are:
“We swear by peace and Love to stand, heart to heart and hand in hand. Mark O Spirits and hear us now confirming this our sacred vow.”
The Druid’s Prayer is:
Grant, O Spirits, Thy protection
and in protection, strength
and in strength, understanding
and in understanding, knowledge
and in knowledge, the knowledge of justice
and in the knowledge of justice, the love of it
and in the love of it, the love of all existences
and in the love of all existences the love of Spirit and all Creation.
There are a few variations on this and the original came from Iolo Morgannwg’s Barddas.
Many of the larger established modern Druid Orders have been influenced to some extent by revivalist materials.
Members of Revivalist Orders may or may not be Pagan and they may have a range of different views about Deity. Some Orders are male only and some are mixed, some may require a new member to be introduced by an existing member or to be a descendant of an existing or former member and others will accept anyone who wishes to join. The oldest of these orders is the Ancient Order of Druids but perhaps the best known of Orders heavily influenced by revivalist traditions is OBOD, (Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids). They also draw on a great deal of more recent scholarly material so they could be said to blend revivalist and reconstructionist approaches.
The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (OBOD) is probably the largest modern Druid Order in the UK and possibly in the World. It has members in many countries throughout the world although most are probably either in the UK or in the United States of America. OBOD weaves together 5 strands of information in its teachings. These are:
Old Celtic Myths and Legends plus triads recorded by early Christian clerics
Teachings from the Druid Revival period
Teachings from Ross Nichol and others from the time of OBOD’s founding 40 years ago – this probably includes material influenced by Gerald Gardner too as Nichols and Gardner were close friends
Teachings from Philip Carr-Gomm – current Chief of the Order and trained in psychology and psychotherapy
Contributions from contemporary scholars and specialists in Druidry and Celtic spirituality.
(Summarised from the information on the OBOD website last accessed 28 April 2006. )
The second branch of the druid family I am going to talk about is reconstructionist Druidry.
Reconstructionist Druidry
Reconstructionists do a great deal of front line research and scholarship into their paths. The term Druid is not always used for those reconstructionists that can also be said to walk a Druid path. They may use terms such as the “Brythonic tradition” in the case of those working with ancient British material of which the largest body of material is Welsh or “Gaelic traditionalist” in the case of those often focussing on Irish lore but who also may work with lore from other Celtic lands. The term Celtic Reconstructionist is an overarching one that is usually accepted to include the more specific terms and it is this term I will use in this article.
Celtic reconstructionists (CRs) are usually polytheists and often work with deities that are part of a known Celtic pantheon. They may also work with less well known local deities. Celtic reconstructionists do not usually cast circles for their rituals but may use some other means of honouring the place they are working in such as walking round with some incense or striking the ground with a staff, but equally they may not do anything special to honour the area of their rituals. They do not usually call to the classical four quarters as they have nothing to do with the worldview of the peoples known to us now as ancient Celts. Celtic reconstructionists often work with the three realms of Earth, Sea and Sky and these are not necessarily seen as separate planes but as the earth beneath our feet, the sky above us and the waters that surround the British Isles. They sometimes work with fire as an aspect of divine energy and do not usually consider it to be an element. A group of CRs who wrote an article on the path for the Witchvox site in America wrote the following: “Fire, particularly fire arising from water, can be seen to symbolize imbas or awen — divine inspiration. Some see it as the central pivot upon which the cosmos turns — a spiritual equivalent to the world tree.”
(From the Witchvox website, last accessed 28 April 2006.)
CRs if they celebrate any particular seasonal rituals usually only celebrate the four Gaelic festivals of:
Samhain
Oímealg
Bealtaine
Lughnasadh
In addition to these festivals they may hold rituals or gatherings in honour of particular deities they work with, possibly on days known to be special to those deities. Their rites are often relatively simple but may include some form of ritual offerings such as libations, toasting the ancestors or deities and sharing of gifts of some kind. Many Celtic reconstructionist rituals have a great deal in common with Heathen rituals.
Celtic reconstructionists (in common with most other reconstruction paths) encourage research and scholarship of Celtic lore such as the Mabinoginon and the various ancient Irish manuscripts. Many also encourage the learning of one of the Celtic languages such as Welsh or Gaelic. One of the reasons for encouraging this is that with the language can come a better understanding of the Celtic view of the world. Developments of the Celtic reconstructionist path are usually based on currently available research but that is, of course, open to interpretation. There is also a place for what is called unsubstantiated personal gnosis (UPG) or in other words inspiration in an individual’s path but it is heavily encouraged to be clear about what is inspired and what is based on research when discussing things with others. Individuals are also often encouraged to develop skills and learning that would fit with what is known of the skills and learning of ancient Druids.
Many Druid Orders and individuals even if they are not fully reconstructionist are influenced by materials from CR scholars. The only CR Orders I know of are based in America, in the UK it seems that Celtic reconstructionists are either solitary or gathered in small local groups.
An example of a Celtic reconstructionist Order is Imbas (based in America) and they say the following (with further elaboration on their website):
“WHAT WE MEAN BY CELTIC RECONSTRUCTIONISM
- Reverence for the pre-Christian Celtic deities.
- A connection with the ancestors and the land spirits. In a modern context, this means a concern for family, in its broadest sense, and a deep environmental awareness.
- A connection with the Celtic past. We strive to be as historically (and mythologically) accurate as the state of the evidence allows. When gaps in the evidence, or the realities of modern life, make it necessary to create something new it should be:
- *As consistent as possible with what we do know about the pre-Christian Celts and their legacy.
- *Clearly presented as a recent innovation. We frown on attempts to advertise something modern and invented as ancient and historical in order to give it an authority (and marketability!) it does not deserve.
- A balanced approach to understanding Celtic religion which relies on both sound scholarship AND poetic inspiration without mistaking one for the other.”
(From the Imbas website, last accessed 28 April 2006.)
The third type of Druidry I am going to talk about is that of the solitary druid not belonging to or wanting to belong to any Druid Order. One term I have recently come across for some of the individuals walking this type of path is Feral Druid and I admit this is a term I like.
Solitary Druidry
The following description was written by one of the members of the Druid Network, Craig Cartmell, about being feral and he has kindly allowed me to quote him.
“One who is feral is one who has reached out and tapped the savage and primitive heart of their being and their connection to the ancient and undiscovered strength of their land.
Their dreams are full of raw emotion, nature red in tooth and claw, surprising and frequent perspective changes as the dreamer transforms themself through many forms, stag to fox to salmon to oak to pool to beetle to woman to man to wind etc.
To be feral is to have gone through a perspective shift on the world such that at a thought you can see the real world overlaid with its wilder self.
Trees move and sing, the land thrums with lines of energy, the sky coruscates with wild light and chaotic intensities. Indeed the difficulty once you experience this perspective shift is drawing your senses back to the mundane reality of now.”
From Craig Cartmell, TDN Forums
From talking to a range of solitary individuals walking a Druid path this type of feral state is not uncommon but the key thing about solitary Druidry is that it is just that – solitary. Each individual will develop their path in a way that suits them. They may use forms of rituals found elsewhere, they may not. They may celebrate festivals common to many other Pagans and they may not. If they celebrate seasonal festivals common to other types of Druidry they may time them according to what their local environment is doing and not by any calendar date.
Rituals for the solitary practitioner may be formal and involved but more often are very simple and usually outside somewhere. This form of Druidry is frequently not about joining anything but about being and can be very experiential. In many cases individuals walking this type of path have done so for many years before finding out that what they are doing can be called Druidry and that there are others doing similar things.
There may be as many solitary Druids as there are members of the various Druid Orders but as they often simply walk their path on their own we may never know.
Conclusion
Three different types of Druidry, revivalists, reconstructionists and solitaries. What do these different forms of Druidry have in common? Very little. I believe all draw some level of inspiration from the ancient past of these lands and individuals walking these paths may refer to themselves as Druids. They often have different views on many aspects of the forest of Druidry such as deities, how and when rituals should be performed, what sort of training an individual should have to be called a Druid. Sometimes they agree on things and often they do not.
These paths are three of the different faces of Druidry. The actions of those that walk these paths will speak much louder than any words I can use in describing them as I would hope my actions do. I walk my own path, sometimes with others, sometimes on my own. I have, at different times, walked with revivalists, with reconstructionists and as a solitary. I am one of the many faces of Druidry in the modern world.
References and Resources
The resources listed below are just a few I have found interesting and useful. This is not an extensive list.
Hutton R (2000) “The Origins of Modern Druidry”
Revivalist Orders/groups
Ancient Order of Druids
Order of Bards, Ovate and Druids
Ancient Order of Druids in America
Reconstructionist Orders/groups
Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF)
Henge of Keltria
Imbas
Networks
The Druid Network – https://druidnetwork.org
This article was first published in Pagan Dawn and was submitted to The Druid Network by the author.