Druid Today

What is a Druid and how on earth anyone can be one today! Let us reiterate that the title refers both to women and to men. Although being a Druid originally meant being of the magical order of the Celts, today it is essentially a matter of self-definition. It may sound like a circuitous definition, but being a Druid means identifying oneself as a Druid, and choosing to follow the tradition of the Druid path.

You may be thinking, however, that simply declaring oneself a Druid does not a Druid make. There must be something - a belief or training perhaps - that graduates and qualifies the aspirant into the title of Druid. At present, this is difficult to answer, and until an answer appears you can do what we and many of our friends do; consider yourself a "Druid in training."

One of the central meanings of the word Druid throughout this book is "tree wise." What it means to be "tree wise" will become clear as we consider the depth of direct experience in nature that the Druids set for themselves. A friend of ours captured this intensity in the line: "When your forests were cut and burned it was my hurt, burning on my skin." The face of the Green Man with vegetation disgorging through his open mouth is an image from the surviving European folk tradition of Druids uttering "tree wisdom." Incidentally, we do not believe that Druids are limited to knowledge of trees specifically mentioned in the Celtic tradition. The Druids adapted wherever they went, and if they had gone to America or Australia they would have worked with the trees they found there.

To clarify exactly what we mean by a Druid, we offer the following descriptive lists. The first describes what the Celtic Druids were, based upon textual and other verifiable sources. The second dispels some of the popular notions that have accrued around ancient Druidry, especially in recent centuries. The third goes on to describe what a Druid is or might aspire to be today, given that the social context in which Druidry once flourished no longer exists. This part of the list is somewhat idealistic. The fourth describes what present-day Druids are not. The lists are open to revision.

A Druid was…

• a philosopher, scholar, and teacher.
• a carrier of the Celtic cultural, magical, and spiritual tradition as it existed in northwestern Europe from about 500 B.C.E. to about 500 C.E.
• in the direct line of the Native European Tradition with its shamanistic origins.
• a spiritual leader who presided at divinations and sacrifices and who praised the many gods and goddesses (polytheism), and the spirits of place (animism).
• a magician, seer, diviner, and geomancer.
• a political advisor to the chieftains and nobles.
• a lawyer, historian, astronomer, calendar-keeper, and genealogist.
• a bard, musician, poet, and storyteller.
• a person of skill, one of the gifted people (Aes Dana), a craftsperson, a healer.
• one who knew the land and its history intimately, and who taught the knowledge of trees, herbs, rivers, animals, birds, and a reverence for such knowledge.
• one who underwent long training to achieve personal integrity, self-discipline, and self-knowledge, and inspired others through teaching and example.
• a public servant available to support and help others, to lead at times, and to be a judge in arbitrating disputes, settling conflicts and other ethical matters.

A Druid was not…

• a priest or priestess of Atlantis, a member of a lost tribe of Israel, or a member of any culture other than the Celtic.
• a builder of the pre-Celtic stone circles, although early "proto-Druids" may have organized the last stage of building at Stonehenge that took place about 1600 B.C.E.
• a convert to early Celtic Christianity.
• a proponent of particular religious beliefs nor did Druids study at great colleges.
• always impartial - a Druid served a chieftain and a tribe, and was not necessarily free of local loyalties and superstitions.
• usually a king or queen.

This article is continued...