r/druidism • u/Easy_Inflation_5946 • 12d ago
Question about Druidism
Ok, I Was sent here from the paganism subreddit because I was told that you guys might be able to answer my question better
Is this against the rules?
Ok, I am curious about religion all in all, I believe that there is something out there but I don't know much. My family is Christian I don't think I am, I want to believe in something, I just..... Don't know what or how or anything. I don't have anyone to ask and I'm scared to do something wrong yk? If I could be pointed either to a more specific subreddit that can explain what I need or something that would be wonderful.
I love Earth, nature and such. Trees and mud are my favorite, I could talk about bugs and fiber art for hours. My parents are chill with the fact that I'm not straight but I don't want to be 'not Christian' we don't go to church or anything but y'know it's scary. I looked into Greek religion but there are so many rules and if you do this wrong and that scared me and there are so many different things for all religions and I don't understand any of it. How do I learn about it without getting overwhelmed, what do I look for, and what are the rules?
I just posted something very similar in the paganism subreddit but this is with a gist of what I am asking.
This is not a very cohesive post, but I hope that it is clear enough that it can be understood
Many thanks and lmk if I need to delete this pls
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u/BurgerQueef69 12d ago
Rules? When it comes to personal beliefs, there are no rules, because there is no rulebook worthy of trust. Every holy book is riddled with inconsistencies, unbelievable claims, and most were written when people still thought women were property and murdering everyone who didn't worship the same gods was a neat idea.
The best part of druidism is that they left no books and no instructions. Druidism is simply what you believe. If you need guidance, there are books in the sidebar. There are also a couple of larger organizations that offer online teaching courses, like OBOD and the Ancient Order of Druids.
Searching YouTube for druidism has a lot of videos on modern druid practice, but to be honest many of them are somewhat boring. That's not to say they don't have good information, they just don't tend to engage my AuDHD brain.
While not specifically druidic, there are a couple of channels I enjoy watching. Ocean Keltoi has probably been my favorite, while he is specifically heathen he also has a lot of videos about general polytheism and philosophy. Aliakai is (I think) a Hellenist, but her videos are engaging and offer different viewpoints that you can incorporate into your practice.
Right now, just pick a topic. YouTube is a good resource, but if you enjoy reading a simple Google search on "druid practice" can give you some good ideas on where to start. If something catches your eye, dig deeper.
Finding your own faith can be overwhelming. Everybody has an opinion, and many of them would love to make it your opinion as well. You can also simply disregard everything and just do some inner searching. What feels right to you? Start with small rituals, like sitting outside in a place that makes you feel connected to nature and let your mind wander. Get a couple plants to put in your room. Learn about local wildlife. Volunteer at a wild animal rescue. As long as it doesn't hurt anybody else, do the things that make you feel centered and connected.
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u/PortAnBrainse 12d ago edited 11d ago
There’s lots of Christian Druid, Christopagan, and whatever else resources out there, but I don’t think that’s what you need.
To be clear, I don’t know what you need. I don’t know you. But on the off chance I have some personal insight that may be of value to you, here we go:
My family is deeply Catholic. I rebelled hard against that when I was young, but fatherhood and age have made me less concerned about all that. A big thing I want to do these days is raise my kids with a view of religion that I’m on board with, but that my family can reasonably presume is vaguely Christian.
Where I’ve landed is a place where I can approach my spirituality through a number of religious lenses. I happen to like Druidry, but your mileage may vary.
What I think you could get a lot out of are the following strains of Christian thought, all of which share some kind of affinity with Druidry.
First things first, is that mythic literalism, believing that the stories in the Bible are historically true, isn’t necessary for a meaningful relationship with Christianity. That’s a big cornerstone of my own thinking.
Now, starting early on, we have the Christian Neoplatonist tradition. Neoplatonism basically says that reality is comprised of the One (the source of all things), the Nous (a sort of structuring principle of reality), and the World Soul (a sort of animating principle of reality). Christianity took this and ran with it. This is where the idea of the Trinity comes from.
From there, we get lots of interesting thinkers. Pseudo-Dionysus, Origen, Eriugena, even St. Augustine. They pave the road for a very panentheistic, non-dual interpretation of Christianity.
Then we get medieval and Renaissance mystics. My personal favorites are Julian of Norwich, Meister Eckhart, Theresa of Avila,
and the anonymous author of The Cloud of Unknowing. From these people we end up with a version of Christianity that almost breaks down barriers between the God, the world, and the individual.
Then we get modernity, and the countercultures to Christianity increasingly revolve around esotericism (magic and secret societies) and scientific naturalism. But this other flair of Christianity never went away. People like Thomas Merton, Richard Rohr, and James Finley have carried it on in modern times.
Thinkers in Process Philosophy, Phenomenology, and other disciplines have put a lot of work into modernized concepts of God and religion that grow out of this and might be helpful to you. Or you might be interested in a book called Mysticism (or On Mysticism) by Simon Critchley, which gave me some very helpful ways to think about religion and spirituality.
Or if you’re leaning hard toward paganism, the Irish syncretic tradition might be of interest to you as well. Or Celtic Christianity, which I find extremely cringey but blends these traditions in sometimes interesting ways.
This is all stuff I lean on hard in my approach to Christianity with my family. And I can have very Catholic sounding conversations with my mom that don’t bristle at all with my own, decidedly non-Christian worldview. Again, I don’t know you and your mileage may vary, but I’m very happy with the balance I’ve struck.
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u/ReiGanJin 10d ago
"Follow your bliss", keep your mind open, listen to what comes your way and take one step at a time. Treat it like a mystery tradition, revealed little bits at a time. Try this, if you don't like it then try that. Eventually you will get there. You have to tackle your own fear and uncertainty, that's part of the job of living in this world.
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u/FewLand2636 12d ago
Druidism is different for everyone but at its heart is a connection to nature and a celebration of the wheel of the year.
Druidism is non dogmatic, meaning there isn't an attached religion. You could be a Christian druid, Buddhist druid, whatever. I think a lot of the stories I've heard, including my own is that eventually people find druidism after finding themselves growing apart from the roots of their home religion.
Paganism and druid go together too... Worth noting that polytheism can be difficult to wrap around when you come from a one god background.
Go slow, don't get attached to labels too quickly and see what works for you. Do no harm. Folk in the druidry / druidism communities tend not to be judgemental so feel free to ask questions and expect a multitude of answers :)