| I
think there are a lot of people out there who love
and revere Nature, and who desire to protect Nature
from the greed that threatens it, who are without
knowing it, Druids.
They may not call themselves “Druids”
but that is what they are (I met a lot of these folks
when my sons were young and we were all in Scouting
together).
I
think that if you in fact call yourself a Druid
and have an affinity for Nature, then, no matter what
else you might be, or think, or do, then you are in
fact a “Druid.”
If
you happen to also believe that “Nature
is good,” then you are a Reformed Druid,
at least in the declared sense.
I
don’t think your spiritual path or you belief
system necessarily needs to be of a Celtic orientation.
I don’t think you yourself or your family need
to come from a Celtic country, speak a Celtic language
nor do you even have to like Celtic culture or music
or anything. You can still be a Druid.
That happens to be because of how other religions
have evolved over time. If the ancient Druids
had survived, and if they had migrated over from Europe
to America, and if they had continued to thrive here,
what would their religion look like here today? I
doubt very much that a lot of Celtic culture would
still remain intact. I doubt very much that a lot
of Welsh or Gaelic would be spoken or prayed or sung
in Druid
services. Maybe a little taste here or there, but
not a lot. The Druids
would become modern and American. In fact I believe
that if the spirit of the ancient Druids
is alive today, then it is alive within the Reformed Druids of Gaia, and that group is very much
like what I think the ancient Druid
religion would be like, if it had survived.
Now,
that’s not to say that perhaps pockets of “orthodox”
Druids
might also survive, clinging to the Celtic culture
and perhaps doing services in Welsh. Like Judaism,
Druidry
might have ended up with many parts, but I think the
largest part would be very Americanized, just as Reform
Judaism is very Americanized.
A
study of how Judaism has changed and grown and evolved
since times ancient would surely parallel the path
that ancient Druidism
would have taken.
In
fact, modern Druidism,
without any connection to the ancients, has actually
branched in much the same way.
In
America, the oldest Druid
group (founded in 1912) is the Ancient Order of Druids
in America (AODA). They are still barely alive, with
branches mainly in California and the Pacific North
West. If you drive around some towns in Northern California
you run into remnants of AODA’s past, in the
form of buildings in downtown areas, much like those
the Masons and Odd Fellows built. I don’t know
a lot about AODA other than that, but if they say
they are Druids,
then they are.
The
next oldest Druid
group (founded in 1963) is the Reformed Druids
of North America. Most of the better known Druid
groups are actually branches from this family tree.
By the simple affirmation that “Nature is
good” one becomes a member of this 4000
(+ or -), “non-prophet, ir-religious, dis-organization.”
Other groups that are part of this family are Order
of the Mithril Star, New Reformed Druids
of North America, Missionary Order of the
Celtic Cross, Ar nDraiocht Fein, Henge
of Keltria and more. The best information sources
are at http://geocities.com/mikerdna, and http://mithrilstar.org
I am a member of the Reformed Druids of North
America (RDNA), a charter member of the Reformed Druids
of Gaia and one of the founders of Order
of the Mithril Star (OMS). My Grove, Cylch
Cerddwyr Rhwng y Bydoedd Grove (Eureka CA) is
a member of RDNA and Mother Grove to both the RDG
and OMS. The OMS itself, is “officially”
in schism from RDNA, but that notwithstanding, individual
members and Groves of OMS retain membership in RDNA
and for that matter, other Druidic
groups as well.
That’s
what autonomy means – you get to be autonomous.
Druid
orthodoxy began to appear in the late 1990’s,
under such labels as “Celtic reconstruction,”
“Celtic revivalism,” and “Celtic
restoration.” Some of these disparage the
use of the word “Druid”
to describe themselves, and others (in the manner
that Ultra-Orthodox Jews view Reform Jews) will declare
that only themselves, and those like them have the
right to the title “Druid”.
I
think that’s very un-Druid-like. But, some require
a feeling of superiority over others. Some dude reads
“21 Lessons of Merlin”, or some
such other drivel, and decides he is an expert in
all things Druid-like,
and declares “Celtic restoration” (or
whatever) to be the “one and true revival
and reconstruction of ancient Druidism”,
even though there are Druids
who know better and have been around 30 to 80 years
longer, and even though archaeologists and historical
anthropologists tell us that even today, we know practically
zip about what the ancient Druids
believed, or how they practiced (many well written,
“scholarly” books written by Neo-Pagans
having now been debunked by actual scientists).
Regardless,
they’re Druids
too. They may also be shmucks. That’s ok (every
family has them) – they are my brothers and
sisters, and I accept them regardless.
I
think though, that in a broad sense, all of us are
“revivalist – reconstructionist –restorationist”
Druids,
because we are all in our own ways doing Druidism
exactly the way the ancient Druids
did: “……the old fashioned way:
making it up as we go!” (Jim Fox-Davis,
“Ancient Keltic Church”) It always
amazes me that people don’t grok the simple
yet obvious fact that all religious systems are purely
the inventions of human thought. Somewhere, at sometime,
someone invented every cult, sect, religion, spirituality,
and philosophy that exists. Over time we forget who
all these someones’ were, but regardless, someone
had to make it all up.
And
that, in my opinion, is what a Druid
is: a person who is in love with Nature and is making
their religion up as they go.
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