Heathen Druidry exploration and personal practice. In 2002, an article by Brian Bates, author of The Way of Wyrd i, appeared in The British Druid Order (BDO) publication Druidry: Rekindling the Sacred Fire. Entitled Wyrd Druidry ii and named for one of the most defining Heathen understandings; that of the great web of wyrd or fate, the article offers a number of points to consider in creating a synthesis between the two traditions of Druidry and Heathenry. Re- published by the BDO in 2002, the article has held a deep fascination for me since my first reading of it, not least because it is the only published writing I have found to date that offers any insight on the subject. I have lost count of the times that I have combed its scant four or five pages over and over, word by word, hoping, craving and wanting more. It is short, simple and says so little, (to the point where you do not even have to have read it for this article to make sense) and yet, at the same time so very much about an important strand within Druidry. It is a path that cannot be easily labelled or defined; Bates himself states that he is not really sure what Wyrd Druidry is, but like many of the best ideas it starts with a feeling that there s something there. More than ten years on, there is not only something there, but something that is growing and real, certainly within my little corner of the UK Druid community and from observation, in other pockets too. Here then, I take up Bates original challenge to go exploring, and examine how that dialogue between the two traditions holds the potential for deep inspiration and ancestral connection. Of course it goes without saying that this collection of thoughts is entirely my own, from a particular perspective. It is an offering of ideas rather than a wish to speak for anyone else, and it is born from the identification of myself as both a Heathen and as a Druid and from a deep love of both, where my religion is wholly and equally an expression of the two. Whatever one feels about the melding of traditions, it is undeniable that there are those within Druidry, who honour the gods and lore of the Norse, Germanic and Anglo- Saxon traditions as their primary sources of inspiration and Awen. I write from the perspective of one who was trained as a Druid, finding my Heathenry as a part of that journey, however I know others who have come to the same place through a primary connection with Heathenry but have been drawn to identify with the Druid. I suspect that the perspective from that position may be subtly different, and I place that here as a possibility and subject for further exploration. Within my own practice as a Heathen Druid, I use Runes rather than Ogham, for divination and guidance, the Eddas and Sagas are treasured as rich sources of learning and inspiration, the Old English leechbooks, herbals and spellcraft are what quicken my pulse and make my soul sing, and the Goddess to whom I am devoted finds her name in these texts. But this is not Heathenry in the modern, accepted sense of the word; a reconstruction or contemporary revival of historic Germanic Paganism. In just the same way, it stretches the breadths and depths of modern Druidry beyond what many are comfortable with, after all, Druidry is a tradition most commonly associated with the Celtic tradition, culture and source material of Iron- Age Britain.
Within both traditions, strong reconstructionist elements are found, more so within Heathenry than Druidry, where many would say that some degree of reconstruction derived practice is defining. There are those rare few Heathens who almost completely reject this kind of practice, finding inspiration in the lore but using it as a jumping off point for exploration rather than a defining aspect of their practice, but this tends to be more true within Druidry where, on the other end of the spectrum, there are those who take almost no notice of any kind of lore at all, crafting a practice which is entirely devotional and experiential. If there is friction to be found between Heathenry and Druidry or a non- acceptance of those of who incorporate elements of both traditions into their religious practice, this may well be a source, because it is impossible to reconstruct such a practice from the lore. The envisioning of such a thing must come entirely from our own journeys, explorations and experiences. My practice as a Heathen Druid places equal emphasis on taking inspiration from the lore and source material and upon my own personal relationship with the gods and the world around me. Of note here, is a term common within modern Heathenry; UPG or unverified personal gnosis. This is a term used to describe knowledge or personal experience that comes from one s own relationship with the gods, spirits or ancestors and which is not verifiable in lore. The degree to which that UPG might be accepted by the wider community will depend on how many others have had similar experiences with the same deity or spirit and what kind of a Heathen you are. Neo- pagan Heathens tend to be very comfortable with the term and with knowledge gathered in this way, whilst more traditional or reconstructionist Heathens may not consider accepting anything that cannot be found within the lore and may even take offence at the suggestion. Generally though, there are large parts of modern Heathenry that are well accepted UPG, simply because the lore is so patchy in certain areas and there is a commonality of experience to support it; but there is a wide spectrum of perspective on this. Heathen Druid practice takes this concept of UPG to a different level, finding a commonality and a shared practice that for me at least, is entirely logical. It would probably be fair to say that the Heathen Druid, perhaps more so than any other group within either community, will place strong emphasis on UPG and in addition, may not much mind if this is not overly corroborated; personal relationship and experience with spirit and deity is considered to be of greater importance. Consequently, the Heathen Druid is not easy to define, describe or label and the question that could be asked is; why not just chose one or the other and stick with it? The answer to this question is complex, but will crucially depend on how one defines Druidry, or the Druid in the first place. A short examination here is worthwhile in framing the context of further exploration. There are many different ways to define Druidry and it may even be said that there are as many different definitions as organisations. Whilst it would be impossible to represent them all here, I have chosen just a few of the more well- known, and it should be noted at this point that I am writing from the perspective that Druidry is a religion or spiritual path rather than a cultural or fraternal pursuit. These definitions have shifted and changed over time, will no
doubt continue to do so, and range from the delightfully simple to the complex. The BDO, the source of Brian Bates original article, simply stated in 2002 that; Everyone who calls themselves a Druid is one, unless all the other Druids say they aren t. iii The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids currently state on their website (2013) that Druidry; draws upon the inspiration of the ancient Druids, who were the guardians of a magical and religious tradition that existed before the coming of Christianity, and whose influence can be traced from the western shores of Ireland to the west of France and perhaps beyond. Caesar wrote that the Druids originated in Britain. iv Meanwhile, The Druid Network (TDN) offers perhaps the most complex definition to date, presented in the forward to its constitution, which was accepted in 2010 by the Charities Commission for England and Wales. TDN acknowledges Druidry as: the native spiritual tradition of the peoples who inhabited the islands of Britain and Ireland, spreading through much of Europe. Though many consider it to have been a religion or political force that came to Britain with the influx of culture concurrent with the Iron Age, it is increasingly understood, and within the Network acknowledged, to be of an older indigenous if ever-evolving religious tradition sourced within these islands that cannot be defined by or limited to the reverence of one deity or a pantheon. v Within both the OBOD and TDN definitions there is a sense that Druidry originated within Britain, could be considered native and was in existence before the coming of the Romans. Perhaps most importantly to this article, within the TDN definition, Druidry cannot be defined by reverence of one deity or pantheon. Whilst there are those who would disagree with the above and who do define their Druidry by the reverence of a single pantheon or mythology, most commonly Welsh, Irish or Gaulish, the majority of Druids do seem to revere, in addition, deities outside of these pantheons, their connections often nourished by their own sense of a diverse ancestry. I certainly do not dismiss the gods of the Celtic Iron Age and indeed have relationships with some of them, the difference is that where mythology is concerned, they are not my primary source of inspiration. Within Heathen Druidry, where deities are named, usually although not exclusively, they are those of our Saxon, Germanic or Norse ancestors: Woden strides the heath- land with cloak, eye- patch and felt hat, heavy with rain, Thunor rolls across the sky in the thunder and storm, and Freyja is mistress of love, magic and the rolling grey sea. There are giants in the mountains and valleys, wights in the barrows, elven folk in the hollow hills and runes in the bare branches of the oak. Perhaps most simply, the Heathen Druid s polytheism might be a little softer than the hard polytheism of the Heathen and there may be a greater tendency toward the deep green, religious animism and pantheism more commonly found within Druidry. The Heathen Druid s gods might be primarily recognised within powers of nature, be that human nature as Love, Anger or War, or non- human nature as Moon or Sun, Rain, Storm or Sea. It
is this devotional relationship first and foremost with nature and the landscape of the British Isles that many would consider to define them as Druids. The question here most crucially for the Heathen Druid is whether the practice of Druidry is connected most strongly with the Celtic Iron Age, or whether it is connected most intimately with and born out of the indigenous religious practices of the isles of Britain and relationship with that landscape. Either perspective could be sensibly considered, but I favour a theory in support of the latter, particularly considering that most of what we think we know about the Druids, not to mention much of modern Druid practice, was written by the Celtic revivalists in the 18th and 19th centuries. This is well explored by Ronald Hutton (2011) in his book Blood and Mistletoe vi in which he traces the history of the Druids. Hutton suggests that the ancient Druids have left us with almost no reliable evidence and this leaves us free to reimagine, reinterpret, and reinvent the Druids. Indeed this has been done by successive generations to suit various purposes, from the religious to the nationalist. It could even be suggested that the Druids are most closely associated with the Celts simply because the contemporary Roman source material is the earliest we have that makes mention of them. It is not at all outside the realms of possibility that such a priesthood has existed in one form or another for as long as the British isles have been inhabited, evolving with each subsequent wave of migration to serve the needs of the people and the land. Amongst all the talk of native or indigenous, it is often forgotten that the Celts represent a wave of migration, or at least of culture, into the British Isles, just as the Germanic, Saxon and Norse do. Each brought their own unique ingredients to the melting pot which has left an imprint on the people, the landscape and religious practice. But most crucially, each built upon and evolved what was already here. Genetic and archeological records have now largely discounted the theory of the Saxons wiping out the Romano- British in England vii viii, preferring instead, a theory of cultural exchange and intermarrying throughout the dark ages which, it could be argued, kept Britain pagan for a good few hundred years longer than it might otherwise have been. With this understanding, it is possible to see the Druid as reaching far beyond the relatively short, culturally specific, time period we classically ascribe, both further back into the past, and as a vital and continuous stream which flows into the future. Indeed OBOD state that the practice of Druidry was replaced with Christianity by the seventh century, suggesting the Order recognises some form of Druidic practice extending into the dark ages. Mention of the Druids certainly continues into the Saxon period following the fall of the Roman Empire, within various texts of the era. One example can possibly be found in the Old English word dryman. In its strong, masculine case, it means magician or sorcerer, as a weaker verb, to sing aloud (an echo of older shamanic voice practices, perhaps?). Whilst the exact etymology of the word dry is not known and there is no definite, direct connection with the Old Irish druí (druid, sorcerer), or the Welsh dryw (seer) ix, given the similarity in both spelling and meaning, it is entirely sensible to consider that all three may have come from the same root and suggest a continuation of some form of Druid priesthood, seer, or healer, into this later period, although perhaps far removed from our modern conception of it.
The Druid could then be imagined as a British Priest or Spirit Worker, connected to the landscape of the British Isles, framed by the culture, people and political system within which it exists not dissimilar similar from the Shaman used within other traditions. This is a particularly relevant to modern Druid practice today, which often contains a number of elements of a Shamanic type practice. The modern Heathen Druid then truly is both things; neither one nor the other, naturally expressing a plurality and diversity which is definitive of the British people. An understanding of the Druid as a person, practitioner or priest, with a way of working that is intimately connected through devotional relationship with the landscape of Britain, but who is not bound or defined by deity or pantheon, allows the space for the individual to find primary sources of inspiration from many different places. For the Heathen Druid this is the literature and lore, of the Anglo Saxon, Germanic and Norse traditions, born from a deep love, devotion and service to these gods and recognition of the rich contribution these people and stories have made to our pagan heritage. I consider the Druid to be who I am and how I practice, whilst Heathenry is my religion. The wild soul of the Heathen is too present in me, too defining to be ignored whilst the Druid guides my feet and calls me home to find myself rooted in the lands of Britain. i Bates, B, (1983). The Way of Wyrd. Century, London. ii Bates, B, (2002). Wyrd Druidry. In: Shallcrass, P, Restall Orr, E (eds) Druidry: Re-kindling the Sacred Fire. British Druid Order, Wiltshire. iii Shallcrass, P, Restall Orr, E, (eds) (1995). The Druid Directory. BDO Wiltshire. iv OBOD website http://www.druidry.org/druid- way/what- druidry accessed 27/11/2013 v The Forward to the Constitution of the Druid Network http://druidnetwork.org/about- the- druid- network/the- constitution- of- the- druid- network/ accessed 27/11/2013 vi Hutton, R, (2011). Blood and Mistletoe. Yale University Press, London. vii Prior, F, (2005). Britain AD: A Quest for Arthur, England and the Anglo-Saxons. Harper Perennial, London. viii Oppenheimer, S, (2007). The Origins of the British: A Genetic Detective Story. Robinson. London. ix Pollington, S, (2011). The Elder Gods: The Otherworld of Early England. Anglo Saxon Books, Ely.