Druidry

[Thorn]

I've just recently become fascinated with the ADF (www.adf.org/core/) and am seriously thinking about joining.

Normally, I wouldn't consider anything that calls itself "druid" because it smacks of make believe and bad history. But in this case there appears to be a lot of emphasis on academics and little or no tolerance for that sort of 18th and 19th century revivalist-type romanticism.

They're also reputed to have excellent study programs. The Dedicant package is included with membership, so I should be able to confirm that part fairly easily.

[Summer]

I have been wondering about how some of the modern day druids might get some of their knowledge of the old druid ways. And I was wondering if any of you thought that there could be ancestors/ancient druids working as spirit guides for these modern day druids on a personal level teaching them some of the ancient druid ways? After all, in the Santeria way, that is quite common from my own experience. I think on rare occasions this might be a possibility.

[Thorn]

debbie said:

I have been wondering about how some of the modern day druids might get some of their knowledge of the old druid ways. And I was wondering if any of you thought that there could be ancestors/ancient druids working as spirit guides for these modern day druids on a personal level teaching them some of the ancient druid ways? After all, in the Santeria way, that is quite common from my own experience. I think on rare occasions this might be a possibility.

There is no knowledge of the "old druid ways" as a whole, or even anything like a working system. Most of the stuff you hear about was made up in the 1900's and has since been discredited. The druids were an oral tradition and the last one died around 900 CE.

Any modern group claiming to recreated druidry as it was, is one to be very, very wary of.

However, it is possible to take what we do know of the druidic faith through archeology and the writings of contemporaries (Caesar, etc) and use that as an inspiration to build a modern path. This is all the ADF claims to do.

There might be ancestors or spirit guides helping individual druids, but anything they learn that way would not be accepted The Way It Was^TM by the (reputable) groups as a whole without something outside of the individual's head to back it up. On the whole, the good ones seem to be a rather scholarly lot. It's the only reason I'd consider go near anything call itself "druidry" actually. I'd feel like an complete idiot running around Stonehenge in a long white robe...

[jennscott87]

I studied Druidry for a while when I was trying to find my "path". I found many books, but soon realized that they were all just theory's of Druidry. It is true that the Druids did not believe in writing their ways down, but kept it alive by oral tradition. In fact the only thing we can claim to know about them was written by the romans, who some would say were more interested in killing them than any thing else. It just seemed odd to me that modern day Druids base most of their beliefs on things that where written by their enemy's. Others say that Druidry was not even a religion but more of a scholarly path (if you may). But that is just what some people say and may be entirely false. I did not stay on the Druid path, and am now practicing Wicca and claim nothing.

Blessed Be

[Summer]

I can see why you would choose the Wicca over the Druidry Jennscott. Welcome to the board!

[Thorn]

Actually, not everything is based on Roman writing. Celtic Reconstructionists, and the more scholarly neo-druids, use evidence from myth, folk practices, and archaeology as well. Granted it's a lot less information than, say, the Greek Recons have, but it is a starting point.

You are aware that Wicca is a brand new religion as well? With just as big a tradition of bad scholarship and bad history as most druid revivals? So, I don't see how this would be a factor in choosing one over the other.

Personally, I'm more interested in what they're teaching now, rather than where they came from - unless it's an outright lie (i.e. unbroken line of practice going back to the "druids who built stonehenge" or from the "9 million village wise women burnt by the Christians".)

Wicca worked for me for a while, but in the end it wasn't a great fit. Too biologically focused.

Druidism... Maybe. The way ADF does it. I'm still investigating.

[nightowl]

thorn said:

debbie said:

I have been wondering about how some of the modern day druids might get some of their knowledge of the old druid ways. And I was wondering if any of you thought that there could be ancestors/ancient druids working as spirit guides for these modern day druids on a personal level teaching them some of the ancient druid ways? After all, in the Santeria way, that is quite common from my own experience. I think on rare occasions this might be a possibility.

There is no knowledge of the "old druid ways" as a whole, or even anything like a working system. Most of the stuff you hear about was made up in the 1900's and has since been discredited. The druids were an oral tradition and the last one died around 900 CE.

Any modern group claiming to recreated druidry as it was, is one to be very, very wary of.

However, it is possible to take what we do know of the druidic faith through archeology and the writings of contemporaries (Caesar, etc) and use that as an inspiration to build a modern path. This is all the ADF claims to do.

There might be ancestors or spirit guides helping individual druids, but anything they learn that way would not be accepted The Way It Was^TM by the (reputable) groups as a whole without something outside of the individual's head to back it up. On the whole, the good ones seem to be a rather scholarly lot. It's the only reason I'd consider go near anything call itself "druidry" actually. I'd feel like an complete idiot running around Stonehenge in a long white robe...

[Summer]

Welcome Nightowl.