A Guide to Modern Druid Practice

When you think of druids you may conjure up images of an ancient and extinct race of men wearing robes and bearing scythes, but what of modern people who call themselves druids? What are their practices, beliefs and what is the cultural basis and history of those beliefs. To answer these questions let's first look the history of druidism and how it has evolved into modern practice.

The majority of what we know about traditional Celtic druids comes to us from the writings of the Ancient Romans. To Romans the Celts were so different as to be almost alien to their understanding. While some of the things that were written are a little fantastical and biased, when you put the information together with hard evidence a clear picture evolves of what the life of Druids might really have been like. Druids were a learned scholarly class of people in preChristian Celtic society. Druids served as the doctors, lawyers, philosophers and clergy in their communities. Besides being learned astronomical observers and mathematicians they were also responsible for keeping the religious lore and traditions of their people alive.

What were the beliefs of the ancient Druids? While an exact doctrine of the Druids will never be found there are some things that are known. Unlike other pagan traditions, who set their calendars and holidays according to the phases of the moon, modern druids like their ancestors measure out holidays and years by a solar method. Also , like their traditional counterparts modern druids revere education, astronomy and even astrology. Times of day and meteorological occurrences often take precedence in magickal and ritual work over phases of the moon.

Given the mysterious and forgotten origins of ancient druidry it only makes sense that those who practice it accept that they can only rely on reconstruction and innovation in their practice. One organization that takes innovation to new heights is The Reformed Druids Of North America, or the RDNA as it is more commonly known. Neither very religious or very serious the RDNA offers an umbrella organization of sorts that accepts anyone based on the acceptance of their two tenants, and leaves decisions of a religious nature to the individual. A sister organization to th RDNA is Ar nDraiocht Fein : A Druid Fellowship. The ADF takes the business of Druidry a bit more seriously, offering members the option of training and a defined set of neo pagan practices. Probably one of the most well known druid organizations is The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids, which does claim to have a line on the true practices of druids. OBOD as it is more commonly known professes that it dates back into the early 1700's, and is set far apart from the others in the fact that membership requires enrollment in rather expensive coursework.

The beliefs and practices of the ancients may never be revealed or fully understood, but given the effort that those who hold interest in it are willing to put toward reconstruction and discovery , we will be seeing more druid organizations and more defined practices emerge. The most important thing to keep in mind when looking at druid organizations and considering membership, is that the religions of the Druid was a nature religion, not a revealed religion. Nature religions are defined by the fact they continually evolve, grow and develop, unlike the revealed or book religions, therefore be wary of any organizations with demanding dogma or anyone who claims to have all the answers.