Druidry 101

[Sundance]

Hey, everyone. I have been reading about particular spiritual paths with Paganism, and so far, one that catches my eye is Druidry. With that said, I would like to know: What do Druids believe? How do they practice their faith? Any Druids here on RF? How did you decide to become a Druid? How can I learn more? Could I follow Druidry? Thank you kindly. Blessed Be! )0(

 

[Nakosis]

Hey, everyone. I have been reading about particular spiritual paths with Paganism, and so far, one that catches my eye is Druidry. With that said, I would like to know: What do Druids believe? How do they practice their faith? Any Druids here on RF? How did you decide to become a Druid? How can I learn more? Could I follow Druidry? Thank you kindly. Blessed Be! )0(

This is one of the books I read on it. Told both as a story and a practice. I liked it and recommend it if you are interested.

The 21 Lessons of Merlyn: A Study in Druid Magic and Lore: Douglas Monroe: 9780875424965: Amazon.com: Books

 

[Quintessence]

The first thing to understand is, like pretty much any other movement within Neopaganism, that Druidry is not uniform. There are several different Druidic organizations, each of which has a somewhat different flavor and orientation, and there are also some individuals who identify as Druids and have no affiliation with any of these organizations. What you may want to do is start looking at the websites and publications of these three major movements within Druidry:

The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids - Druidry.org
Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship | ADF
AODA.org - Welcome

Speaking in very general terms, Druidry is a form of Paganism and is therefore, typically polytheistic. Some Druidic organizations are more flexible about that than others, but in practice, they're pretty much polytheistic. It is one of the more explicitly nature-centered branches of the Neopagan umbrella, which is a major reason why I decided to formally affiliate and identify as a Druid recently. The practices of Druidry reflect that: holidays and celebrations focus on various aspects of nature, particularly the solar cycle. Like Neopaganism as a whole, Druidry holds a magical worldview: the world is sacred and enchanted, if not divine in of itself. The practice of magic (aka, spellcraft) is also sometimes a component, but not always. Although Druidry evokes pre-Christian, Celtic culture, it is not limited to that. Druidic organizations tend to be very up-front that they are contemporary, and some place more emphasis on historicity than others.

Beyond that, I'm most familiar with OBOD, since I'm currently working through the Bardic grade with them. OBOD in particular places great importance on imagination, the otherworlds, and storytelling. It also encourages service to the community – and by community, I don't just mean merely the human community, but the real community of all things on this planet. All in all, I would describe it as similar to Unitarian Universalism, only with a very strong nature-centered bent and a love of mythic storytelling. I joined OBOD because the time was right; I wanted something that would further develop and foster my practice, and it has definitely done that. One could say that my path has essentially been Druidic since long before I actually started identifying as one, but I'd felt reluctant to use the term without a formal affiliation.

If you have any other specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

 

[Sundance]

The first thing to understand is, like pretty much any other movement within Neopaganism, that Druidry is not uniform. There are several different Druidic organizations, each of which has a somewhat different flavor and orientation, and there are also some individuals who identify as Druids and have no affiliation with any of these organizations. What you may want to do is start looking at the websites and publications of these three major movements within Druidry:

The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids - Druidry.org
Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship | ADF
AODA.org - Welcome

Speaking in very general terms, Druidry is a form of Paganism and is therefore, typically polytheistic. Some Druidic organizations are more flexible about that than others, but in practice, they're pretty much polytheistic. It is one of the more explicitly nature-centered branches of the Neopagan umbrella, which is a major reason why I decided to formally affiliate and identify as a Druid recently. The practices of Druidry reflect that: holidays and celebrations focus on various aspects of nature, particularly the solar cycle. Like Neopaganism as a whole, Druidry holds a magical worldview: the world is sacred and enchanted, if not divine in of itself. The practice of magic (aka, spellcraft) is also sometimes a component, but not always. Although Druidry evokes pre-Christian, Celtic culture, it is not limited to that. Druidic organizations tend to be very up-front that they are contemporary, and some place more emphasis on historicity than others.

Beyond that, I'm most familiar with OBOD, since I'm currently working through the Bardic grade with them. OBOD in particular places great importance on imagination, the otherworlds, and storytelling. It also encourages service to the community – and by community, I don't just mean merely the human community, but the real community of all things on this planet. All in all, I would describe it as similar to Unitarian Universalism, only with a very strong nature-centered bent and a love of mythic storytelling. I joined OBOD because the time was right; I wanted something that would further develop and foster my practice, and it has definitely done that. One could say that my path has essentially been Druidic since long before I actually started identifying as one, but I'd felt reluctant to use the term without a formal affiliation.

If you have any other specific questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

The OBOD sounds very interesting to me. Thank you for the information.