One of the great conundrums we face is the historical information provided to us comes from those on the outside looking in; namely Romans and Greeks who appreciated the existence of their Celtic neighbors but were mainly interested in turning them into more Romans and Greeks by cultural and linguistic usurpation. The way to political dominance was often at the point of a spear, but even more powerful a weapon was the slower process of one language group infiltrating another in the name of progress and so-called liberation from their wicked and ignorant ways. Consequently, to use Greeks and Romans as a source for learning about druids of the Gaelic and Brythonic language groups should be taken with a grain of salt.

We know the historical druids were philosophers and community leaders. That is certainly accurate. It is a good starting point for understanding Reconstructionist Druidism. It is through journalistic and poetic interpretations of the Greeks and Romans that we find classes and subclasses of philosophers, magicians, poets, musicians, priests, healers, and so forth. In other words, the caste of "druids" represented the educated men and women of their community. They advised the leadership, arbitrated, led rituals, consulted nature, and a host of other social, educational, and metaphysical activities.

Beliefs were varied, but most people concur that the druids lived in polytheistic communities that may or may not have included devotional factions to particular gods and goddesses. There was also reverence of spirits of the land and water sources such as rivers and wells.

It should be noted that the title of priest-class did not mean all druids were spiritual leaders just as not all priests in the Roman Catholic Church are ritual leaders - but all are in service to their Church and the community. Celtic Reconstructionist druids follow the same pattern of community involvement.

what is druidism?

The "official" tradition of Druidism has yet to be established because there are hundreds of people who have formulated their own opinions on the spiritual and cultural definitions of its practice. In my experience, the philosophies and traditions of some of the major teaching orders will change with the desire to attract more followers. Although this is common in mainstream religions, Druidism is very new and has yet to establish its roots. Having anything change so dramatically in such as short period of time can make things more challenging.

I can only speak of my own definition of Druidism which is based on my long-standing involvement with the established orders of Druidism. I became independent of them for personal reasons, but I felt their basis of theology needed additional debate and rewriting in order to distinguish Druidism from other forms of Neo-Paganism. Druidism is dependent on its own history, but it is often ignored in favor of more recognizable Neo-Pagan practices (Four Directions, casting circles, Dualism, etc.). Paganacht is clearly a polytheistic, tripartite tradition. The academia that support these beliefs are required reading for Celtic Reconstructionists.

I believe Druidism includes a call to service by people who serve the Déithe (gods/goddesses) in a Gaelic or Brythonic model. Druids differ from other members of the Reconstructionist community who prefer working in home/hearth traditions that do not involve working within large groups or the general public. The services could be environmental, social, political, and even medicinal - depending on what drives the druid to go out into the world.

Págánacht agus Pàganachd, or the Gaelic (Scottish/Irish) model of Pagan spirituality, is the spiritual center of my practice. I could follow it without being a druid, but my community involvement and recognition as a druid has placed me in this field of study. Like our predecessors, I am a student of philosophy, history, language, poetry, and various arts and sciences related to the Gaelic traditions. I work within the community by performing legal and spiritual unions, being a good listener, and offering rites and rituals in a community setting. My spirituality is present in my therapeutic and ritual harp music. Lately, I've been concentrating on using the Ogam feda as a communication tool with the Déithe and have found it surprisingly accurate.

I am in no way finished with the education process. I left a larger, more popular teaching order after completing their three-year program in order to focus on P/P whose population of followers is considerably smaller. I discovered the poetic traditions of Filidecht from my teacher/friend in the Celtic Reconstructionist community and decided that a study group, rather than a "grove" would be the better choice for community involvement.