Druidry

Druids are "engaged in things sacred, conduct the public and the private sacrifices, and interpret all matters of religion." The Gallic Wars Book 6

I have a keen interest in things Celtic. Years ago I bought myself a kilt and all the trimmings. I headed off to the closest Scottish games and marched with my clan name in the grand entrance. What a blast. The event starts with the clans entering the arena and then followed with a huge pipe and drum band parading toward the grandstand. The band is composed of a bunch of smaller bands that come to the event to compete. I was sitting in the stands the first time I witnessed this event. Wow!!! I can't adequately express the experience. The pipes resonate in every fiber of your body. I could fully understand why they played the pipes entering into battle.

I used to listen to a lot of Celtic music. I love the Gaelic language and even spent some time trying to teach myself Gaelic. But, it was just too hard to stay motivated when I didn't have anybody to give me feedback on my pronunciation and etc. I read bits and pieces about my clan name and Scottish history. I read some Irish folk lore. I especially enjoyed reading the stories about Cúchulainn. Although, that was 15 plus years ago and I've forgotten most of it. :)

It was an easy decision to start studying druidry. I looked into several druid organizations before narrowing it down to three. I had read books written by members of The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD) and enjoyed them very much. Those books have been on loan for quite a few years now, I can't remember their titles. But,OBOD is based in England and I wanted to work with an American druidry group. I considered Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF) but, ended up choosing The Henge of Keltria because of their Irish focus. I joined The Henge of Keltria, bought their ritual book and other material, set up an altar and performed my first druid ritual. Later, I had an opportunity to attend a ritual with a local grove in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Too long of a drive to make a habit of though. Basically, I was in the outer court of The Henge of Keltria. I started considering taking my membership to the next level about the time The Henge of Keltria moved operations to California. They sent out notice they would only consider new students to their druidry course that could and would commit to completing their course within a rigid time frame. I knew from experience my job often required me to work a lot of 12 hour days and a 7 day work week for extended periods of time. Therefore, I knew I couldn't make such a commitment. Without a local group to work with and not being able to take it to the next level, that pretty much ended my stay with The Henge of Keltria. No hard feelings. Life just got in the way.

OBOD has a druidry course, so, I purchased the Bard course. I never did finish it. Life got busy, the lessons got packed away. Time passed, living arrangements changed, etc. It just didn't happen. Oh well, maybe one day. To be honest, without belonging to a local OBOD grove, I'm not terribly motivated.

There are a lot of people that claim that druidry is a religion. At least from an ancient point of view, I'm not sure I agree with that based on what I have read. It is possible the early druids were members of an intellectual caste that was a repository of knowledge and because of their status in their society they had the power to be judge and jury in many areas of life including religion. It is also possible they were the equivalent of a priestly caste. But, a priestly caste is not a religion, they are only representatives of their religion. A Catholic Cardinal is a representative of the Catholic religion. But, a Cardinal is not a religion. Either way, my interest in druidry is in the acquiring of knowledge in an orderly fashion.

Cited works:

Caesar, Julius. Caesar's Commentaries on the Gallic and Civil Wars: with the Supplementary Books attributed to Hirtius. Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia Library. http://etext.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=CaeComm.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=6&division=div2

"Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF) is an international fellowship devoted to creating a public tradition of Neopagan Druidry."
Ár nDraíocht Féin. http://www.adf.org/core 2008

"The Order of Bards Ovates & Druids is a spiritual group dedicated to practising, teaching, and developing Druidry as a valuable and inspiring spirituality."
The Order of Bards Ovates & Druids. http://www.druidry.org

"The Henge of Keltria is a nonprofit religious corporation dedicated to providing information, training, and networking to those who practice or who are interested in Keltrian Druidism, Druidism in general, and the evolution of mind, body, and spirit through a Celtic Irish context."
Druidism for the 21st Century, The Henge of Keltria. http://www.keltria.org 2007

I did a google search on Cúchulainn and thought this website looks cool.
Warriors, Heroes & Villians - Cúchulainn. http://www.shee-eire.com/magic&mythology/Warriors&Heroes/Warriors/Males/Cuchulainn/Page1.htm