Frequently Asked Questions

What do Druids do?
What does the word Druid mean?
Is Druidry a religion?
What are the Druids' religious holidays or festivals?
Do Druids all go to Stonehenge at the Summer Solstice?
Who were the Druids historically?
How can there still be Druids today?
Can women be Druids? I thought the ancient Druids were all old men with white beards!
What is the Druid's attitude to other religions?
Can I be a Druid and still be a Christian?
What is the difference between Wicca and Druidry?
Do I need to be a Bard, Ovate or Druid, or is it possible to be a little of all of them?
Do I need to speak or study one of the old Celtic languages?
Are all Druids polytheistic?
Are there any Druidic creation myths?

To submit a question for inclusion on this page, please email us.

What do Druids do?

This is an enormously simple question, often asked yet fairly hard to answer. Revering nature, ancestry and heritage as sacred, the practice of Druidry requires a great deal of dedicated learning. Studying the environment, a Druid will celebrate the cycle of the seasons, becoming involved with ecological work and in the protection of the earth and its nonhuman inhabitant. Studying human nature, the Druid will work on self-knowledge, seeking understanding of emotions, reason, consciousness and free will. Finding his sources of inspiration, he will nurture and express his creativity to inspire his community or tribe. Studying his ancestry and that of his people, and the landscapes of his people and his ancestors, he will learn of his heritage, history and pre-history, exploring the stories of his ancestors, mythologies and folklore. Many will learn Celtic or ancestral languages, music, storytelling or oratory. In all these, the Druid will find his gods, showing his devotion to them with offerings, prayer, creativity and commitment to live honourably.

In other words, there is no part of life where a Druid is not engaging with his gods, his ancestors and the evironment - lighting a fire in the hearth, tending the garden, caring for children, watching the sunrise. The journey of the Druid is to learn how to interact in all things respectfully, responsibly, as an act of devotion.

What does the word 'Druid' mean?

There are many proposed answers to this question! Most involve wisdom and trees in one way or another. A 'Druid' is wise in the ways of nature. The most common interpretation combines the Celtic words for 'oak' and 'wisdom'.

Is Druidry a religion?

If we define 'religion' as a spiritual practice that involves devotion, reverence or worship of deity, then for the vast majority of Druids the tradition is indeed a religion. However, because many Druids find the word religion is still drenched in associations of hierarchical, dogmatic, liturgically-based monotheism, the word itself is rejected. They use instead the word 'spirituality', feeling it better describes the autonomy and freedom of Pagan religious understanding and expression. There are some who reject (what they perceive to be) religion in all forms, but are drawn to Druidry as a philosophy of honour and sanctity.

While The Druid Network welcomes people of all faiths and none, the tenets and objectives of its Constitution are based upon Druidry as a religion, ancient and modern.

What are the Druids' religious holidays or festivals?

Druids revere nature and the changing cycle of the year, and their celebrations reflect this. Whether celebrating in groups (known as Groves) or individually, they will honour this ever changing relationship through 'the cycle of the year'. Since the mid twentieth century, this cycle - also known as the wheel of the year - has been made up of eight festivals: Samhain (31 October), Winter Solstice, Imbolc (2 February), Spring Equinox, Beltane (1 May), Summer Solstice, Lammas (1 August) and Autumn Equinox. Of these the Summer Solstice is the most well known to the general public, with its relationship to the celebrations at Stonehenge. Some Druids will only celebrate the seasonal festivals (Samhain, Imbolc, Beltane and Lammas), others focus on the solar festivals (the solstices and equinoxes). In addition some groups may celebrate the cycle of the moon.

For more information on festivals, see our Rites and Celebrants pages in Druidry in Practice.

Do Druids all go to Stonehenge at the Summer Solstice?

Druids have had a long history of being connected with Stonehenge at the solar festivals and many feel it to be an important temple. However, because Druids feel too the importance of tribe and locality, those who don't live close to Stonehenge tend to have a less connection with it, if any at all, preferring temples (ancient and modern) closer to home.

Given the huge numbers who now attend this ancient monument at dawn on 21 June each year, very few Druids are present on this date (often less than two dozen amidst the 20 000 revellers). Many Druid groups have private access to the temple close to the solstice but away from the crowds, giving them the peace and space to meditate with the stones, the ancestors and the sun.

For more information on Stonehenge, see our Sacred Sites pages in What is Druidry.

Who were the Druids historically?

Strictly speaking, when we ask 'who were the Druids', we are speaking of the intellectual caste of 'Celtic' society, what many understand to be preRoman culture of Iron Age Europe, through the first century BCE (before the Common Era or the birth of Christ). Druids were to the Celts what Brahmins were to within Hindu society: the leaders, lawyers, poets, teachers, physicians, artists, and priests of society. In this way, 'Druid' is a functional term, not an ethnic or religious one, albeit within its own cultural context.

Many Druids are not so specific when they look back on the history of their heritage, acknowledging that the priests of that Iron Age society would have held the legacy of their ancestors. Extend Druidry into prehistory, many feel their Druidry roots back simply into the priesthood of ancient Britain and Europe.

How can there still be Druids today?

No one can trace a birth lineage of Druids from old times to the present, though some try and some maintain documented claims to prove it.

The spirit of the Green World, however, has a life of its own. It surrounds and enfolds us, whether human culture and history are aware of it or not. From time to time this spirit - the spirit of Druidry - breaks in upon the world anew, and expresses itself in new places and new contexts. In this way, contemporary Druids are both new, and old.

Can women be Druids? I thought the ancient Druids were all old men with white beards!

Most of the artwork and poetry we have portraying Druids dates from the Romantic revival of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, a time of rampant patriarchy, and therefore women are noticeably absent.

But in the old tales, Celtic women shared status and authority with men. To mention just three who were sorceresses as well as warriors - Scathach in Scotland, who trained the great Irish hero Cuchulain; Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni peoples in south eastern Britain; and Aoife in Ireland, who changed King Lir’s children into swans.

Contemporary Druidry is practised by women and men alike, carrying on its established tradition. The balance is around equal, though on many internet forums it may feel as if there are more men than women posting comments, and in workshops there are often more more women than men present. At public ritual, there is often a more balanced ratio.

What is the Druid's attitude to other religions?

The great majority of Druids are Pagan, polytheistic or pantheistic, so their attitude is naturally pluralistic, tolerant of other beliefs and ideas. Because Druidry isn't defined by one god or the worship of a specific handful of gods, there are Druids who are also Christian, and some may follow other religious paths. Within Druidry, while most Druids will revere gods of Celtic heritage, many honour the gods of ancestors who came to Britain: the Romano-British, the Saxon, Viking and so on. Accepting the existence of all gods, there is little difference to the Druid if someone worships a Hindu, Christian or Saxon deity. A person's measure is taken by their actions, their generosity, honesty and responsibility, not by the names of the gods they swear by.

For more information on interfaith, see our Interfaith pages in Druidry in Practice.

Can I be a Druid and still be a Christian?

It depends. If, like some, your interest in Druidry is as a philosophy of life, you may find no problems in combining its ethics, morality, and ecological emphasis with your Christian doctrine. If however you believe Druidry to be a religion, you may find it difficult to reconcile the open-ended polytheism of its Paganism with the exclusive monotheism of Christianity. Where religious Druidry is perhaps more a pantheistic spirituality, what to the Pagan will be the overarching great spirit of nature can find some union with the Christian God.

Walking between two worlds can be an enlightening adventure. However, these two worlds can be very different and you must be prepared to deal with purists who find your adventure offensive. Most religious Druids are polytheistic and have little trouble recognizing the validity of deities of other faiths, as long as no claim is made for exclusivity. The most important consideration is, does it work for you?

What is the difference between Wicca and Druidry?

This is a complex question that many have spent a good deal of time on, for answers can vary according to the individual practice of those who are responding to the question. If someone has studied a great deal of Wicca before moving into Druidry, their Druidic practice will reflect that.

The distinguishing features given here may appear generalisations and extremes, but they still hold some validity.

In Wicca, it is common to honour the goddess and her divine consort, while Druids tend to be more polyethistic and animistic. Deity is often acknowledged as most important in Wicca, together with anthropomorphised spirits or entities, while Druidry tends to honour the environment, spirits of place, and the ancestors first. Druidry is very much focused upon Britain and Ireland (with some finding its heritage within other European landscapes), its gods and mythologies being of these islands, while Wicca more readily works with gods from any tradition, land and culture.

Wicca often has a focus on creating change through spell working to improve lives, while the focus in Druidry is inspiration and creativity. In Wicca, the cardinal directions and four elements of earth, air, fire and water, are always key, while in Druidry these can be left out, the focus as often being upon the three worlds of earth, sea and sky.

Wiccan ritual groups (covens) tend to be closed, held in private, and are often fairly secretive; Druid ritual groups (groves) are usually open. Wicca is generally an initiatory tradition and formally taught whereas Druidry is more personal and experiential, its teachings openly accessible. Wiccan ritual is more often held indoors, while Druid ritual is usually held outside.

Do I need to be a Bard, Ovate or Druid, or is it possible to be a little of all of them?

Many teachers and teaching groups will give instruction in Druidry moving from one element of the tradition to the next, starting with Bard, moving through Ovate to Druid. Some Welsh and Irish systems include other elements of the tradition. This is thought to be traditional and useful, the student building upon skills one by one.

However, many who have trained long and hard within Druidry, having studied all the levels, find they naturally tend towards the one where they are most skilled. Some don't proceed in training, stopping where they feel comfortable.

Those who don't go through any formal training are as likely to feel they have skills naturally in one area or another, feeling the distinction between the three (or more) roles is not important.

Do I need to speak or study one of the old Celtic languages?

Some Druid Orders, Groves or groups do insist that a student learns one of the old Celtic languages - Welsh, Breton, Manx, Irish Gaelic, Cornish or one of the Scottish languages. This is most often true of groups that are either based in the Celtic diaspora, especially Australia and North America, where Druidry is very much a religious tradition of ancestral roots, or of reconstructionist groups in Britain and Ireland. There is certainly often felt a rich benefit can be gained, and a deeper connection to the ancestors made, when we know the language.

There are as many groups who feel it is more important to live honourably and pour time and energy into an immediately relevant skill or task than spend time learning an ancestral language if it is not local to where you are living.

Are all Druids polytheistic?

No. Druidry is not defined by its understanding of deity, allowing each individual to explore and experience their own connection with deity and the sacred. Indeed, this pluralism is central to Druidry. Because the majority of Druids do profess to be polytheistic, there is a broad acceptance of all gods - those we personally have a relationship with and those that we don't.

Are there any Druidic creation myths?

The ancient Druids left no written texts of their own of any kind, so our perceptions of their beliefs and mythology have to be made by inference from two sources. The first are the accounts of Greek and Roman writers, who were their contemporaries, albeit often hostile and variably-informed ones. The second is the much later literatures of medieval Wales and Ireland. Both these types of source are extremely problematic and difficult to interpret.

One topic that is not addressed in either type of source is the issue of creation myths. We have absolutely no idea whatsoever how the ancient druids or Celtic peoples viewed the creation of the Universe, or what deities, spirits, or cosmic processes they may have regarded as responisble for it. This is a disappointing answer, I know, but an honest one.