This article is
continued from Druid Today

A Druid is…

• one who responds to the call of the Druid tradition and expresses it in her or his life.
• a carrier of the Celtic cultural, spiritual, and magical tradition.
• a keeper of the wisdom, laws, history, and stories of the Celtic root and branch of the Native European Tradition.
• a philosopher of nature, a scholar and teacher, who is ready to learn more.
• one who seeks to know the land and its history intimately, one who honors rivers, trees, mountains, herbs, rocks, animals, and every living thing.
• one who follows a path of self-knowledge and self-initiation.
• one who praises spirit with poetry, song, the arts, offerings, and daily work.
• one who seeks to follow inner vision and the highest ideals in the pursuit of truth, justice, and the honoring of life.
• a ritualist and ceremonialist who serves the needs of the people to mark special times in the manner of the Celtic tradition.
• an earth-honoring, life-affirming humanitarian.
• a bard, storyteller, punster, poet, artist, and historian.
• a healer, astronomer, geomancer, crafts-person, calendar-keeper, and natural scientist.
• a person of honor, integrity, self-discipline, expertise, and impartiality.
• one who pursues and preserves the truth.
• one who honors the cyclical nature of life.
• one who respects all spiritual traditions.
• one who maintains deep relationships and expresses feelings as part of self-growth and meaningful interactions within the community.
• one who is willing to apply his or her knowledge in the support of others; to lead at times, and, if necessary, to assume a judicial role; to help arbitrate disputes, restore justice, settle conflicts, and decide on ethical matters.

A Druid is not…

• a carrier of patriarchal tradition and religious belief.
• a bearer of religious, racial, or sexual discrimination.
• defined by race, nationality, gender, or sexual orientation.
• one who uses magic for revenge or with intent to harm
• one who practices animal or human sacrifice.
• one who commands the elements or entities to do his or her will.

Activities

A Druid Is. Sit with a friend who asks you alternately to finish these sentences. Repeat about ten times:

• A Druid is…
• A Druid is not…

Try to avoid reversing what you said one time when you give an answer for the alternate. Instead, originate something new each time and you will go much deeper into your current understanding. Take your time.

Druidry Is. To learn a new concept, there is a four-step process. You can use these four steps to comprehend every unusual concept in this book. We have already moved along the steps for "Celt" and "Druid," so let's do the same for "Druidry":

1. Name the concept (in the case, Druidry). Concepts are categories used to group similar events, ideas, or objects. Concepts can be concrete (such as "furniture," which is a category of built things that you sit on, eat from, or put things on and in). Concepts can be abstract (such as honesty or tiredness). Is Druidry concrete or abstract, or both?
2. Define the concept. What does Druidry mean to you?
3. Give distinctive attributes of the concept. This can be tricky. For example, "bird" would seem to be an animal with feathers that flies, yet penguins are birds that do not fly. What are the relevant attributes of Druidry (is it a religion, belief system; did Celts in all of Europe practice it)? What are the irrelevant attributes of Druidry, just as flying can be an irrelevant attribute of being a bird?
4. Give examples and counterexamples of the concept. Examples of Druidry might include the various Druid organizations in the U.S. and Britain and observance of the cross-quarter days; counterexamples might include Wiccan organizations and having a high priestess in one's group.

Druid Training. Cormic man Airt was a wise king of the Irish. If he actually lived, it was in the third century C.E., when Celtic kings were required to receive Druidic training. Practice some of what he said he learned as a youth:

• I was a listener in the woods.
• I was a gazer at the stars.
• I was strong towards the powerful.
• I was not arrogant though I was wise.