Welcome to the public forum of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA). We are glad you have found your way here.
We have a saying, “ask 5 Druids what Druidry is and you’ll get 10 answers”. This thread is an opportunity to see what some of those answers are, from the Druids themselves. These are individual opinions and interpretations and should be taken a such.
Before I introduce my personal beliefs allow me to set the general foundation with some background.
Truly ancient Druids existed in pre-Christian Iron Age Celtic societies (Britain, Gaul, and Ireland). It is said the Druids were the intellectual and spiritual leaders. They served as priests, judges, teachers, and philosophers. Preserving history and law entirely through oral tradition. Therefore, no written documentation exists from any original sources. These ancient orders were largely suppressed or absorbed by the Roman Empire and the rise of Christianity.
What we call Druidry today, or Modern Druidry, has no direct unbroken historical continuity with the ancient Celtic priesthood. It is mostly broken into two camps. An 18th-century Revival movement inspired by the Industrial Revolution and a 20th century Reconstruction movement which attempts to bypass the romanticized Revival period entirely, relying strictly on modern academic scholarship to resurrect actual pre-Christian Celtic practices.
The AODA as well as the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (OBOD) are examples of Revival organizations, while Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF) leans more towards the Reconstructionalist camp.
More info. Frequently Asked Questions – Ancient Order of Druids in America
Now for my personal beliefs.
I am an Animist. For me this means I see a spark of the Divine in all aspects of creation. From a grain of sand on the beach to a supernova, a long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away.
I have personal issues with the phrase God, so I usually substitute Universe or Divinity.
To me Divinity has 3 fundamental principals.
• All powerful.
• All knowing.
• Everywhere.
I am also someone who needs a certain amount of tangible evidence in my belief system. Enter the Wheel of the Year. I can see the sunrise move across the sky and feel the changing of the seasons, this is the easiest way for me to observe the Divine. So it is through a lens of Druidry in which I look upon my Animistic existence. I see Druidry as just that. A lens. Behind the lens a Soul can practice whichever belief they hold true. Druidry just focuses the closely held personal belief system onto the natural world. Therefore, we can have Druid Buddhists, Druid Christians, Druid Judaism, Druid Hindus, Druid Agnostics, etc.
Even though most people can’t see it, I see that all the major belief systems are uniquely tied together. For an all knowing, all powerful Divinity which is everywhere at once, certainly can appear to people as individual manifestations of what is most familiar to each of us in our unique geographical area. To argue the contrary is to deny the three fundamental basics of Divinity in the first place.
So for me, my personal practice of Druid Animism, is a reconnection to nature. Of which I can see, feel, and hear the things that directly link me to Divinity. I recognize this by keeping holy the eight days of the Wheel of the Year, knowing fully that this is a modern construct, which appeals deeply to me personally.
Belief. I have to say honestly that the more I explore reality more difficult it becomes for me to have certainty of belief. I would describe what I have as a gratitude practice. I try to experience each thing and be grateful for it. I would say that the closest thing I have to a belief system is that, to some extent, I recognize that I have the ability to choose what I experience, to choose how I react to it, and to choose what I will believe about it. I am not claiming that I am an expert at it, or even that I am very good at it. However, in the absence of an unshakable cosmology of reality it seems like the best way to proceed.