Religions of the world

Celtic Druidism: History, beliefs,
practices, myths & Neopagan revival

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Overview of Druidism:

According to a passage in an Wikipedia essay on Druidry (since deleted):

"Modern Druidism (a.k.a. Modern Druidry) is a continuation of the 18th-century revival and is thus thought to have some, though not many, connections to the Ancient Religion. Modern Druidism has two strands, the cultural and the religious. Cultural Druids hold a competition of poetry, literature and music known as the Eisteddfod amongst the Celtic peoples (Welsh, Irish, Cornish, Breton, etc). Modern religious Druidry is a form of Neopaganism built largely around writings produced in the 18th century and later, plus the relatively sparse Roman and early medieval sources." ₁

Cahan Tiarnan, writing about religious Druidry, said:

"Contrary to wrong beliefs, Druids have always been and still are religious, not only believing in, but also knowing reincarnation is real. Furthermore, Druids know there are many Gods and Goddesses. One cannot be a 'Christian, Wiccan, Moslem or anything else' and a Druid. They will contradict each other."

"A pernicious misconception about the Druids, both past and present is the accusation of human and animal sacrifice. Modern Druids do not practice any form of human or animal sacrifice. Any evidence that the ancient Druids did is very sparse and not well substantiated. In other words, there is very little, if any proof that Druids practice or practiced human or animal sacrifice." ₂

This section deals only with religious Druidry. Cultural Druidism is beyond the scope of this religious website. It is practice widely in the UK where followers merge it with their own faith -- typically Christian. You might Google cultural druid for more information on that topic.

Topics covered in this section:

	Ancient Druidism
	Beliefs, practices, and celebrations
	Druidic groups and information sources

References used:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

"Druid," Wikipedia, at: http://en.wikipedia.org/
Cahan Tiarnan, "The Celtic Holidays," at: http://www.celticholidays.ca/

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Copyright � 1997 to 2010 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2010-APR-24
Author: B.A. Robinson
Hyperlinks last checked: 2007-MAR-30