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Traditional British Druidry

History

The original Druids were the priests and philosophers of the ancient Celtic peoples of Britain, Ireland, Gaul, and other areas settled during the great Celtic invasions of the first millennium BCE. Very little is actually known about them, their teachings, or their practices—a few scraps written down by Greek or Roman writers, some bits preserved in the writings of Irish and Welsh monks, the evidence of archeology, and comparative data from other Indo-European traditions are all we have to go on. According to the sources, it was forbidden to write down Druid teachings—all of their lore was passed down by word of mouth—and both the Roman Empire and, later, the Christian Church put a good deal of effort into stamping out every trace of Druidic tradition and teaching they could find. As a result, Druidry in its original form was essentially extinct by 750 CE.

Efforts to revive the Druidic teachings were apparently being made in Wales as early as the high Middle Ages, to judge by traces in Welsh bardic literature of the time. Old records claim that a Druid group, the Mount Haemus Grove, was formed at Oxford as early as 1245, during the medieval revival of Platonic and Pythagorean thought. It was not until the Renaissance, though, that the first stirrings of what is now Traditional British Druidry began to take shape. Many Renaissance thinkers sought what was called the prisca theologia or "primal theology", a revelation of the truth of things which had been given to humanity in the earliest times, and might be recovered by studying and working with the remnants of ancient spiritual and magical traditions. The fragmentary lore of the Druids was an obvious resource for this project, and especially in England, efforts were under way by the seventeenth century to recover the Druid wisdom of the past.

William Stukeley (1629-1697) was a major figure in this revival; he was the first scholar since ancient times to make a serious study of Stonehenge and other megalithic monuments, and tradition has it that he refounded the Mount Haemus grove at Oxford in 1694. In 1717, according to tradition, Stukeley's friend and student John Toland (1670-1722) founded a Druid organization in London, from which most groups in Traditional British Druidry trace their descent. Ever since, Druidic groups of one sort or another have been a continuing presence in the English scene, giving Traditional British Druidry a heritage of more than three centuries of continuous existence. Like Pagan groups of every sort, these groups have gone through an almost continuous process of change and reformulation during that time.

Some of these changes are worth mentioning. Druidry in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries was profoundly shaped by the work of Iolo Morganwg (1747-1826), who studied with one of the last traditional Welsh bards and later tried to assemble the remaining fragments of bardic lore into a coherent whole. He has been accused of forging many of the documents on which he based his system; if this is true, Morganwg himself stands out as a spiritual visionary of the first order, and much of the material he introduced remains central to Traditional British Druidry to this day.

Also important in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Druidry was the Helio-Arkite theology. Scholars of the time, wedded to a Biblical view of history, postulated that between the primitive monotheism of Noah, on the one hand, and the Pagan faiths at the beginning of recorded European history, on the other, lay a religion that used the Sun and Noah's Ark as its sacred symbols. This idea was enthusiastically adopted by Druids, who used it to suggest that ancient Druid teachings (which were held to be pure Helio-Arkitism) were closer to the original, primal revelation of truth than was modern Christianity. While Helio-Arkitism turned out to be a figment of scholarly imaginations, in Druid hands it became an effective way to pose hard questions about the supposed superiority of Christianity and modern thought generally.

In the latter part of the nineteenth century, Druidry was profoundly influenced by the contemporary occult revival launched by Eliphas Levi (1801-1875) and popularized around the world by the Theosophical Society from 1875 on. Existing Druid rituals and practices were reshaped and expanded in the light of the wider Western occult tradition during these years. The collapse of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the most influential English magical order, in the years after 1900 brought many capable occultists into Druid orders, where they shared their knowledge freely.

The renaissance of modern Paganism that began in the 1960s marked the beginning of a difficult time for Traditional British Druidry. The differences between current Pagan ideas and the approaches evolved by "trad Druidry" over the last three hundred years are not small. At present, Traditional British Druidry survives in a handful of fairly small groups in England and elsewhere. In the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (OBOD), the world's largest Druid order, which has its roots in Traditional British Druidry but has embraced much of the modern Pagan outlook, large elements of the more traditional approach are still to be found.


Core beliefs


Different Druid orders have different approaches to Druidry, and attempts to hammer out a common code of beliefs have rarely gotten far. What unites Traditional British Druidry is a reverence for the lore and legend of the ancient Druids and a commitment to traditions of knowledge and practice evolved over the years since the Druid revival of the seventeenth century, not adherence to a particular creed. Still, some elements of belief are common to most traditional Druids.

Concepts of Divinity: Many traditional Druids and Druid orders are comfortable with monotheistic ideas of the Divine to an extent that startles most other Pagans. While it's by no means universal, and there are polytheistic and Goddess-oriented currents in Traditional British Druidry, the word "God" (or its synonyms in Welsh and other Celtic languages) gets used surprisingly often. This is rooted in a tradition of syncretism—that is, the belief that all religions are ultimately talking about the same thing, and that it's perfectly possible and sensible to make use of symbolic forms from different traditions where this is useful. Thus, for example, the four archangels of the Elements (drawn from Jewish Cabalistic sources) play a role in quite a few traditional Druid ceremonies. Much use is made of traditional Celtic forms of the Divine as well, and Iolo Morganwg's image of Divinity as the abstract and transcendent Hen Ddiheniaidd, "the uncreated One," is also influential.

Reincarnation and the Evolution of the Soul: The writings of Iolo Morganwg include a powerful vision of the origin and destiny of the human soul, which many traditional Druids have adopted. In this vision, each soul starts out from Annwn, the primal cauldron of form, and journeys outwards through the circles of Abred, which are the myriad forms of life on earth. Every soul must experience every form of life, from the simplest one-celled organism to the most complex and intelligent animal and plant forms, "doing all and suffering all" in the course of its pilgrimage. Reaching the human level at last, each soul has the chance to make the leap to Gwynfydd, the enlightened life, or to fail and fall back into Abred. Those who achieve Gwynfydd go on to ever higher modes of spiritual evolution, but retain the knowledge of Abred and can participate in the life of Abred at any level they choose. Those who fall back into Abred work their way back up to the human level and try again, as many times as needed, until they achieve Gwynfydd. This "purposed evolution of all toward the better and best," to use a description from an old ritual, gives Traditional British Druidry a deep reverence for life in all forms, and an essentially optimistic view of the possibilities for good in all beings.

Sacred Geometry and Geomancy: Much of the lore of Traditional British Druidry is rooted in the earth by way of the ancient megalithic stone circles and monuments of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany. Since the first days of the seventeenth-century Druid renaissance, these have been a major focus of study and speculation, and the tools of sacred geometry, numerology and geomancy have been drawn on systematically In these systems of thought and understanding, ancient monuments such as Stonehenge are mandalas of Druid wisdom, to be explored through study and meditation. A large body of interpretive writings, many of them unfortunately now out of print, have been produced over the last three centuries in the quest to learn ever more from these great symbols of stone.

The Arthurian Legends: Similarly, the legends of King Arthur and the knights and ladies of his court have been a major resource for Traditional British Druidry for centuries. In the Arthurian legends, many Druids have held, important spiritual teachings are found, and can be understood and applied through study and meditation. Arthurian symbols and imagery play a pervasive part in traditional Druid work; one of the major officers in most Druid Groves, for instance, is the Pendragon, and the sword Excalibur appears frequently in ritual work.

Inclusiveness: Traditional British Druidry, it's worth mentioning, is not restricted to members of one ethnic or cultural group. While there have been a few Druid organizations with ethnic (and in some cases, frankly racist) agendas, these are by far the minority. Traditional Druids generally see Druidry as one branch or aspect of a primal wisdom which has been revealed to all peoples in different ways. This ties into the syncretism mentioned earlier, and also leads Druids to welcome followers of other religions to their public ceremonies, and in many cases to combine Druidry with other spiritual paths themselves. There has been a particularly large overlap between Traditional British Druidry and the Celtic Christian Church in many of its modern forms, and both Buddhism and Western magic of the Golden Dawn variety have interwoven with Traditional British Druidry in a range of creative ways.


Role of clergy


There are no clergy as such in most branches of Traditional British Druidry. In onee sense, each Druid is his or her own priest, while in another sense Druidry is more a spiritual path than a religion, and focuses on direct relationships between the individual and the spiritual realm, rather than submitting such relationships to the mediation of clergy. Most traditional Druid groups do have between one and three grades of initiation, and experienced initiates of the highest grade (if there is more than one) function as teachers, initiators, and advisers to the less experienced. It's relatively uncommon in Traditional British Druidry, though, for Druids to officiate in rites of passage and other functions usually assigned to clergy; still, it's not unheard of, and seems to be becoming more common as time goes on.


Organization of groups


As with most Pagan traditions, Traditional British Druidry consists of a free mix of groups and solitary practitioners. Groups, called "Groves," are headed by a Chief, Chief Druid, or Archdruid (who may be of either gender), and have a wide range of structures, from the relatively informal circle around a teacher, on the one hand, to large orders with a complex structure derived from fraternal lodge sources, on the other. Some Groves trace their ancestry back to John Toland's London Grove in 1717, while others are of more recent vintage. As with most Pagan movements, there has been a good deal of "amoeba politics" in Druid circles, with Groves expanding to a certain point and then splitting into two or more pieces over issues of practice or personality conflicts.

One common structure for Druid Groves has three chief officers: the Chief, who instructs and guides the Grove; the Pendragon, who is the "strong right arm" of the Chief and often guards the entrance to the circle; and the Scribe, who keeps records and handles the ordinary business of the Grove. These form the Triad, the executive body of the Grove. There are often other positions with important functions in ritual.


Holidays


The four principal holidays of the Druid year are:


Alban Eiler, "the Light of the Earth," which is the spring equinox;
Alban Heruin, "the Light of the Shore," the summer solstice;
Alban Elued, "the Light of the Water," the autumn equinox; and
Alban Arthuan, "the Light of Arthur," the winter solstice.


These are the four "Alban Gates" or gates of light, through which light from both the physical sun and the spiritual realms of being streams down upon the earth. Of these, Alban Arthuan is the beginning of the Druid year, while Alban Heruin is the most important festivity, celebrated in many Groves with ceremonies at dawn and noon.

Some modern groups rooted in Traditional British Druidry, most notably OBOD, have added the four "cross-quarter days" - Imbolc, Bealteinne, Lughnasadh and Samhuinn - to the four Alban Gates, and so follow a ritual calendar closely akin to the Wiccan eightfold year-wheel.


Standards of conduct


Traditional British Druidry draws on a rich heritage of Welsh and Irish bardic lore in setting its ethical standards. The maintenance of peace is an essential standard of conduct; the ancient Druids were famed for their power to part armies on the verge of battle and bring about a peaceful settlement to the quarrel. To this day, in most Druid ceremonies, the presiding Druid must proclaim peace to the four quarters before any other action can take place. The ethical principles of Druidry are founded on what modern philosophers call "virtue ethics" - that is, virtues such as courage, honesty, and fairness form the standards which Druids strive to follow, and those who make a habit of wilfully violating these standards are unlikely to be welcome in Druid Groves. Outside its ethical principles, Druidry has no particular requirements in terms of daily behavior, no taboos to avoid or observances to enforce. The exercise of virtue in everyday life, the studies and spiritual practices of the Druid tradition, and the celebrations of the Druid year make up the life of Traditional British Druidry.


Ways of worship


Some sense of the traditional Druid approach to worship and ceremony may be sensed from the Universal Druid Prayer, which in one form or another is common to nearly all traditional Druid groups. For the word "God" in the first and last lines, many groups now substitute "Spirit," "Goddess", or "God and Goddess", depending on their preferred image of the Divine.

The Universal Druid Prayer

Grant, O God, Thy protection;
And in protection, strength;
And in strength, understanding;
And in understanding, knowledge;
And in knowledge, the knowledge of justice;
And in the knowledge of justice, the love of it;
And in that love, the love of all existences;
And in the love of all existences, the love of God and all goodness.

Traditional Druids tend to be very fond of ceremony, and the public ceremonies at the four Alban Gate days are often as complex and lavish as the resources of the Grove will allow. White robes are standard for Druids - in orders that include the lower grades of Bards and Ovates, Bards wear blue and Ovates green - and staves, colorful banners, ceremonial swords, and musicians playing on the harp and other traditional Celtic instruments are very much in evidence. It makes for great ritual theater as well as, in many cases, a powerful and genuinely moving experience.

Most systems of Traditional British Druidry also include a selection of personal spiritual disciplines for the use of members. These vary widely, but certain forms of meditation are much practiced, and energy work devoted to formulating and energizing the Body of Light is also common. These are less colorful but at least as important as the public ceremonies, since as a wisdom tradition, Druidry has as a major focus the spiritual development of its initiates.


**copeid in part from Witchvox**

...^-^

3nodding

stephieannejanine is very good at doing these lessons ^_^

^_^ Me too, that's why I'm going back to college this fall to be a teacher.