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The Druid path


trancelikestate

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I've considered myself a non practicing pagan for some time. I hold pagan ideals but follow no set path or practice. Feeling in need of direction I've found myself quite interested in druidry. Spiritual enlightenment through an ancient form of nature worship seems right down my ally.

I was wondering if there are any practicing druids here?

What organizations do you belong to? Please share your experiences, likes and dislikes. Can you explain the differences in the various druid groups and what are your recommendations and suggestions for a curious young man in search of more?

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shame you don't live in britain TLS, it's the big druid get-together at stonehenge in 3wks time for the summer solstice, you'd love it!

:-)

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shame you don't live in britain TLS, it's the big druid get-together at stonehenge in 3wks time for the summer solstice, you'd love it!

:-)

ya too bad, I'd love to see the ceremony whether I decide to join an order or not

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Me..Me...Me I hope you like to read. There are not a lot of them in my part of Florida. I just hooked up with a local Druid, but I got a year and a day of study before I am officially in. I been part of an Eclectic Pagan circle for many years, but no Druids in it. I'll post you a reading list to help you out, but it is time for my nap.

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Me..Me...Me I hope you like to read. There are not a lot of them in my part of Florida. I just hooked up with a local Druid, but I got a year and a day of study before I am officially in. I been part of an Eclectic Pagan circle for many years, but no Druids in it. I'll post you a reading list to help you out, but it is time for my nap.

That would be great, for me or anyone else thinking of druidry. Up where I am in Canada I don't think there are many druids either, or at least no groves that I can find. I've read "The Mysteries of Druidry" by Brendan Cathbad Myers, PH.D. and have done enough research to get me interested but pending further research I may end up joining and recieving more formal training from one of the big organizations and going from there.

Right now I am leaning toward The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids as the other big name, the Order of Ancient druids, seems more like an attempted reconstruction and a club rather than spirituality. I do believe the OBOD has tried to add more of a spiritual aspect to the reconstruction. Then there is the Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF) which also intrigues me and tend to be more active in North America and cost less to learn from. All this is assumptions I've made based on my own interpretations of their websites of coarse so someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Edited by trancelikestate
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Ya, OBOD has an ok organization but the training is pricey, ADF is less expensive and has a good program. I'll say this Reconstruction is kind of a misnomer. There isn't much to reconstruct. The Druids and their kind didn't write much down or it was burnt. That is most likely a good thing. What is left has filtered down though Romans, (who were killing them) Christian monks and a lot of 18th century stuff of questionable origins. The Celtic people were a wild bunch and they did a lot of fighting each other. The Druids, Bards were their priest class. Druids where kind of the lawyers, judges, and priests. Bards were the story tellers, musicians, artist, and newsmen. Modern Druidry is just that, modern.

That being said, it is still a valid path. It is an Earth based path. It is not a revealed religion. There is no sacred text. It is a path of experience though meditation, the study of the Earth, history, science, or as a Bard art, music, poetry, and story telling. Gods are not mandatory. I do a Bardic circle twice a year and we circle and share poety, art story telling and music. The Ritual is only a small part of it and is mostly to get everyone on the same page. I don't use Gods or Goddess, I use energy and ancestors. Right now I am studing the stories of the Welsh people and their meaning.

The Mabinogion, Jeffrey Gantz.

Cauldron Born, by Huges is good.

I have learned a lot from Damh the Bard (David Smith) You can find him on youtube and facebook.

You can find Druids and other Pagan in your area at Witchvox.

There are lots of books, you have to kind of sort them, to find what is right for your path. Remember though, your first and last teacher is the Earth.

Edited by Darkwind
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Ya, OBOD has an ok organization but the training is pricey, ADF is less expensive and has a good program. I'll say this Reconstruction is kind of a misnomer. There isn't much to reconstruct. The Druids and their kind didn't write much down or it was burnt. That is most likely a good thing. What is left has filtered down though Romans, (who were killing them) Christian monks and a lot of 18th century stuff of questionable origins. The Celtic people were a wild bunch and they did a lot of fighting each other. The Druids, Bards were their priest class. Druids where kind of the lawyers, judges, and priests. Bards were the story tellers, musicians, artist, and newsmen. Modern Druidry is just that, modern.

That being said, it is still a valid path. It is an Earth based path. It is not a revealed religion. There is no sacred text. It is a path of experience though meditation, the study of the Earth, history, science, or as a Bard art, music, poetry, and story telling. Gods are not mandatory. I do a Bardic circle twice a year and we circle and share poety, art story telling and music. The Ritual is only a small part of it and is mostly to get everyone on the same page. I don't use Gods or Goddess, I use energy and ancestors. Right now I am studing the stories of the Welsh people and their meaning.

The Mabinogion, Jeffrey Gantz.

Cauldron Born, by Huges is good.

I have learned a lot from Damh the Bard (David Smith) You can find him on youtube and facebook.

You can find Druids and other Pagan in your area at Witchvox.

There are lots of books, you have to kind of sort them, to find what is right for your path. Remember though, your first and last teacher is the Earth.

Thank you Darkwind for the input and resource suggestions.

Ya I understand true Druidry died with them 2000 years ago, but the ideals interpreted with the modern revival, are more or less what I already personally believe and therefore intrigue me. I like the fact that it is a "religion" (or more so a philosphophy) that has no absolutes. Spirituality through the natural world is ultimately what I believe. Granted I don't need an organizations structure to acheive this, mentorship and community are also the reasons I was considering joining an organization. More so to complement my own evolving beliefs. As I've stated where I am there arn't alot of druids or pagans in general to discuss ideas with.

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There might be more than you think. They kind hide because we get a lot of flack, you can lose you job over it. It is not as bad as it used to be but it still happens. More and more people are coming to the Pagan path. I think it is going to become a major force in the west in this century. Go to Witchvox and look for festivals. Festivals are a good place to find like minded people. I have met more than a few Canadian Pagans.

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My uncle is a druid. He practically lives at Stonehenge.

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My uncle is a druid. He practically lives at Stonehenge.

Do you know which Druid organization he is affiliated with?

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Do you know which Druid organization he is affiliated with?

The Stonehenge druids I think.

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Do you know which Druid organization he is affiliated with?

.

most probably the hermetic order of the golden dawn, they're the ones usually performing the rituals at the festival. I usually have a chat with their high druid, uther pendragon while i'm there, and i'll post you some photo's of him doing the ceremonies while i'm there!

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The Stonehenge druids I think.

.

.....or he could be part of the stonehenge & amesbury druids.

they're a bit more radical than the HOGD, very vocal when it comes to gatecrashing public meetings about the (alleged!) renovation of the 'henge.

which one's your uncle Rogue, i've met them all at one time or other, so I must've met your uncle at some point!

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I have ofter wondered why they don't build another one at another site for Rituals. Stonehenge is such important archaeological site people being people they will do a lot of damage. I have been know to get up after festival and ritual at our ritual grounds and pitch a fit over the mess left over. Get their drunken asses out of bed. We don't let them use our private one.

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One can easily volunteer themselves to help clean after a festival.

There is no reason why this important site cannot host cultural festivals that respect both sensitivity and its importance.

When our city has festivals of any kind they always have in place a plan of who and how the cleanup will be done beforehand.

Are you cool with the Druids?

You'll need to be if you're going to apply to be the general manager of Stonehenge. For the first time, English Heritage -- a government body that oversees the site -- is looking for the "brightest and the best" to care for the site in Wiltshire, and one of the general manager's main functions is to liaise with Druid leaders, BBC reports.

Stonehenge General Manager Sought To Liaise With Druid Leaders

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unfortunately, I can't post pics on my posts, for some reason the uploader on here won't work, but I CAN upload profile pics, and i'll show you some pics i've taken from various festivals at stonehenge, and you'll see that the place is remarkably litter-free!

most people who go respect the site. you are given rubbish bags on entry, and nearly everyone uses them. damaging the site is virtually impossible. the stones have been there 5000yrs, through storms, hurricanes, and earthquakes, so people partying amongst them won't damage them. you do get the odd couple of idiots who try to climb the outer ring of trilithons, but they try to do this faced by very angry mobs of people who drag them back down before they get very far and are immediately arrested.

the greatest damage of the site has come from the government, who thought nothing of building a main road straight through it, so any damage we do would be nothing in comparison.

stonehenge is a living site, it deserves to be filled with celebration, not isolated. when the govt. banned the old festival in '85 it caused riots that carried on for years, until they opened it back up to the public in 2000.

people have always been drawn to the place, they have a need to be there, that no police exclusion zone or fencing can stop.

i've been arrested several times down there for running roadblocks and cordons, because the place is ours, it belongs to us, not the government, the police, and especially not the english heritage, the body responsible for the site, who deem it worthy enough to make £5million a year out of the place, but won't put a penny back into it for desperately needed renovation!

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.

.....or he could be part of the stonehenge & amesbury druids.

they're a bit more radical than the HOGD, very vocal when it comes to gatecrashing public meetings about the (alleged!) renovation of the 'henge.

which one's your uncle Rogue, i've met them all at one time or other, so I must've met your uncle at some point!

Yes that's it, Stonehenge and Amesbury druids. Can I send you a PM and tell you who my uncle is?

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Can I send you a PM and tell you who my uncle is?

.

sure you can rogue, open doors have always been the key, so please, feel free!

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