This is an enormously simple question, but is not easy to answer in a definitive way. Any answer will always contain a somewhat individualistic view-point born of the journey taken by the person answering this question. There are some general priniciples that Druids today have adopted and these can be seen within that journey of the Druid. With that in mind, the following is offered as but one example of an individuals own experience that may fit within the scope of what a Druid may do.
The path that defines the activities of the Druid, often starts with the acquisition of awareness and connection, sometimes born from the skill of observation. This awareness and connection may take form through –
- Observation of the natural world.
- Observation of the passage of time.
- Observation of the changing seasons
- Observation of the self and its place within the natural world.
This skill of observation that can feed awareness and connection is not confined to just the medium of sight however. Observation is tied to the other senses, the way something or somewhere feels, smells and sounds building that awareness. This complex process, when recognized within the Druid, leads the Druid into greater numbers of experiences and relationships.
These may be facilitated through the land, the ancestors, the other than human communities, the other life-forms sharing the web and the human and natural environmental landscapes. The experiences and relationships building within the Druid through each and every interaction weave ever more complexity within and without of the Druid.
By entering into relationships using that information, the potential is present for the Druid to further encounter the heritage, history and prehistory of personal family, tribal and other human and non-human communities in their local and non-local environments. Revering nature, ancestry and heritage as sacred through the aquired information, the practice of Druidry therefore requires a great deal of dedicated learning.
Studying the environment, a Druid will celebrate the cycle of the seasons, becoming involved with ecological work and in the protection of the earth and its nonhuman inhabitants. These encounters could then go on to shape and inform how the Druid consequently interacts with this interactive web and reveal to them the processes, skills and tools to use when engaging with this work. Sometimes interactions with and through the web may introduce other life forms to the Druid who share this common medium and relationships are then initiated, experienced and built upon by either party.
Studying human nature, the Druid will work on self-knowledge, seeking understanding of emotions, reason, consciousness and free will. Finding the sources of inspiration, they will nurture and express their creativity to inspire their community or tribe. Studying the ancestry and that of their people, and the landscapes of their people and ancestors, they will learn of the heritage, history and pre-history, exploring the stories of ancestors, mythologies and folklore. Many will learn Celtic or ancestral languages, music, storytelling or oratory. In all these, the Druid will find their gods, showing devotion to them with offerings, prayer, creativity and commitment to live honourably.
These processes logically lead the Druid into considerations of the personal, cultural and environmental ethics within the web of life and will then usually reveal to them, a changed understanding of their current place within it. Walking this pathway, built from and of these interactions, inevitably leads to more and stronger connections between the Druid, the web and the other life forms sharing this web. The Druid may then go on to experience a personal religious understanding that is expressed through integration into their new found emotional geography.
In other words, there is no part of life where a Druid is not engaging with their gods, ancestors and the environment – lighting a fire in the hearth, tending the garden, caring for children, watching the sunrise. The journey of the Druid is to learn how to interact in all things respectfully, responsibly, as an act of devotion.