 Hi my name is Danny and welcome to Esoteric Moment. Today I am going to do a basic video explaining what Druidry is. Druidry can be interpreted in a few different ways. It can be seen as a religion, it can be seen as a spiritual practice, it can be seen as a philosophy, or even just a way of life. Druidry at its core is about connection and inspiration. Druidry sees human existence and life as being a part of and integrated with the natural world. Druidry sees harmony in the way nature decays and grows and changes in our world. It sees humans as being an important but not exclusively higher than part of nature. Druidry sees connection in the natural world and the role that we play in both benefiting and destroying the natural world. Druids often see through this connection to the natural world a divinity. Many are animist, many see and honor the natural spirits of a place. That's why many Druids also consider themselves to be pagan. Druids also are filled with the awe and wonder of the natural world and find inspiration in everything. And that inspiration I think leads to a real lightness of spirit and joy in whatever passions they may pursue. They might be a musician, they might love to paint, they might find great joy in working for activism and social justice projects, and they might find just great joy and passion in walking the land and their neighborhood. Druids also seek to be wise and to learn not only the natural order of the world but how to be wise in their interactions with other people and whatever passions or jobs they might pursue in their life. Life is not just something that Druids do because they have to while they're waiting for a greater life after death. Life is the purpose. Being here on earth is the purpose. This is where we are meant to be. This is what we are meant to be doing. So they really relish in experiencing all the joys and heartache of life fully. Many Druids believe in reincarnation not for the purpose of reaching some higher or perfect enlightened state but to get to experience the joy and pleasures and terror and pain that comes with the experience of living here and now. Some Druids work on their own as solitary practitioners. Others work in groups or groves as they are commonly called. A grove can refer to a group of Druids. It can also refer to a sacred space in nature, often a grove of trees. They also find stone circles to be sacred. Many of the ancient burial sites in Ireland and the UK can be very spiritually important to them as well. They celebrate the seasons including equinoxes and solstices and the times in between. But because Druids might work on their own or in groups, whatever focus their celebrations take can change depending on their personal preference. There's no set path, no set ritual, and no set collection of beliefs. There's also no sacred texts in Druidry. There are certainly notable authors and historical references that are really important to many Druids practices. But there's no Bible, no writing that defines what Druidry is. When Druids work in groves, they also might belong to a larger order. So we have orders like OBOD, OBOD, which is the order of bards, obaids, and Druids. I'm a member of that organization. You also have ADF, which is an American group. It's very notable. There are probably four or five other larger orders that Druids might belong to. If Druids belong to an order, that might be where they find the authority to call themselves a Druid. They might also call themselves a bard or an ovate for the different kind of classes and focuses in Druidry. A bard being someone who really focuses on inspiration, connecting to Alwyn, and kind of living that passionate artistic life. Ovates are really focused on healing and journeying, connection to the mystical and the mystery. Druids are often as a class really focused on leadership and activism within the community, focusing on justice and wisdom. If someone doesn't belong to an order, they still might call themselves a Druid or any of those classes. It's really up to the individual in their practice to say how they define themselves and what labels do or don't work. For instance, I called myself a Druid before I ever joined an order, mainly because the order I wanted to join had a heftier price to their long-distance course in membership. Even though I was practicing on my own and connecting to Druidry as a practice, I still felt empowered to call myself a Druid even without membership to an order. I hope this gives you a little bit more perspective on what Druidry is. It's kind of a hard topic to be like a Druid is A, B, and C because it's such a diverse group of people and such a diverse group of beliefs and practices. If you are interested about learning more about Druidry, there are some great resources to get started. I would recommend anything by Penning Billington, who's an author, or Philip Cargon. There are titles such as The Druidry Handbook, The Path of Druidry, all great resources to get started, or just learn a little bit more about what Druidry might mean. You can also look at the websites of ADF or OBOD. I think those are two of the larger orders and have more resources online, so they're a good perspective of kind of the different ways an order might approach Druidry. Since ADF has a lot more ritual and reconstruction than OBOD does, but OBOD has probably a more diverse and fluid perspective on it. There are lots of Druid blogs online to give you a perspective of what a path might look like in Druidry. I'd highly recommend Nimue Brown, John Beckett over on Patheos, and a couple others that I'll leave in the description below. There are some YouTubers finally kind of crawling out and sharing more about Druidry. Bran, I'll leave a link below, is a musician and has a YouTube channel. You'll find two or three more YouTubers that do Druidry on and off on their videos on YouTube. Of course, I also write a blog and do videos here, so you're welcome to subscribe and see more about my practice. But beyond resources and reading and learning, the most important thing, I think, to getting started in Druidry is get outside. Put your hands in the soil and grow something. Take walks in your neighborhood, even if it's just filled with skyscrapers. There are aspects of the natural world flourishing in that environment, despite man-made structures. Learning to still your mind and connect to your inner voice, connect to the spirit of the place, those are all skills that are vital to a Druid's practice and can be done by anyone anywhere. In the comments below, if you want to hear more about a specific part of Druidry, please let me know and I will add it to my list of videos to do. Or if you just have questions that you want to ask me, personally, leave those in the comments below and I will reply. Thanks for watching and as always, may you find peace in the sacred grove.