Anyone Can Be A Druid

Contents

1: What is All This?
2: What Highly Educated Druid Authors and Leaders Say

What is All This? 

Anyone can be a Druid. That’s what this is all about. It is that simple. Unfortunately in recent years, there has been an increase in gatekeeping and/or folkish (ethnocentric) attitudes that you somehow have to meet specific racial criteria to be a Druid, or that we should not be using the term Druid to describe ourselves due to various factors. The following is a nine item response to an amalgam of misguided gatekeeping attempts by people (some of whom also have ethnocentric biases) adjacent to the modern Druidic community.

  1. The ancient Druids are gone. They’ve been gone since well before the first Viking incursions in Europe. If you’re going to refer to the ancient Druids, then use the word ancient before it.
  2. The word Druid has a new use, and has been in use since 1717 when the Druidry Revival Movement started. It is sometimes called modern Druidry, contemporary Druidry, and neo-Druidry. Since it is in well-established current use for the last three centuries, just Druid/Druidry/Druidism is perfectly fine.
  3. Modern Druids don’t need a different word to describe themselves. 
    1. Consider this analogy: Ships have a port side and a starboard side. Starboard means steering board which was a rudder on the right-hand side of a ship, before rear-centered rudders were widely used. Port was then the left side of the ship: the side that pulled up to docks in port (in order to not damage the rudder on the starboard side). Ships haven’t had starboards for about a thousand years, but we still call it the starboard side.
    2. Therefore, even though ancient Druids haven’t existed for about 1,500 years or so, and the modern ones are different, it is acceptable to still call the modern ones Druids.
  4. Druidry has been revived, inspired from what information we do have, and adapted as if they would have continued to modernize and evolve over time.
  5. You do not have to be born into Druidry in order to be a Druid. Your race or ancestry does not apply.
    1. Historically, you never had to be born into Druidry. A Greek family in the Massalia colony could send their children to the Druid schools because they knew it would be an excellent education.
    2. The concept of race is a construct that only dates to the Renaissance. The suggestion that you need to be a certain race in order to be a Druid is not only offensive and discriminatory but also historically nonsensical.
    3. You do not need to have “Celtic Blood” to practice Druidry. Celtic blood is a misnomer. Celtic is not a race or ethnicity. Look that up if you disagree. The classical Keltoi was the Greek name for a single Iron Age tribe among many with the same material culture. The word Celt later became a blanket term for anyone who shared and used those common material goods or spoke a similar language. This included common metallurgy, pottery, artwork, clothing and fashion accessories, etc. If your tribe used any of those items in your material culture, your culture was therefore Celtic. Celtic material culture was widespread across almost all of Europe: From the British Isles down to Iberia and across to Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and Anatolia (Turkey). They are Celtic, but not of any one ethnic origin or race.
      1. So here’s the zinger: If you don’t like Druids today calling themselves just Druids because they’re different than the ones from 2000 years ago, then you probably shouldn’t call yourself Celtic unless you’re descended from the one small Keltoi tribe in Gaul, because that was before the word Celtic changed to a modern meaning. Gotcha!
  6. You don’t have to study for 19 years to be a Druid anymore.
    1. This is true in most cases. There are dozens of modern Druid orders now, and they all have their own rules, so perhaps some order out there might require it. Most of them certainly don’t require it.
    2. Consider the state of modern education vs the Iron Age. In ancient times, school was for the wealthy and the privileged. Less than 10 percent of Iron Age peoples received any education or literacy at all. Nowadays we all go through a K-12 system, receiving 13 years of education. A bachelor’s degree would bring that up to 17, and a master’s degree would bring that up to 19. But we’re also empowered to learn things on our own beyond schooling. We have access to libraries and the World Wide Web to gather information and expand our knowledge, albeit in varying degrees of quality and veracity. The ancient Druids were specialists in a few areas, but we would excel beyond their knowledge in other areas that would astound them.
  7. You don’t necessarily have to be initiated into a Druid order.
    1. Yes there are Druid orders that require initiations, but not all of them require it.
    2. Different Druid orders are allowed to establish their own traditions and methods of initiation.
    3. Many Druid orders have provided resources on how to be a solo Druid.
    4. Therefore, being a solitary Druid is valid.
  8. For anyone who still thinks not just anyone can be a Druid, we're continually collecting quotes from books or other media sourced from well-renowned modern Druids (some with advanced education and degrees if it means that much to you) highlighting that anyone can be a Druid.
  9. We really don’t need to explain ourselves to you. Our validity is thoroughly established. Anyone can be a Druid. Pull your head out of your ass if you disagree, and drop your folkish racism.

What Highly Educated Druid Authors and Leaders Say

"Druidism is open to anyone who wishes to be part of it, however imperfect in understanding." p. 81

Scharding, Michael, et al (2004). A Reformed Druid Anthology. (2nd ed.). Northfield, MN: The Drynemetum Press.

"To be a Druid, you can of course, simply decide to be one... you can do that; you can just be a Druid."

Carr-Gomm, Philip [Philip Carr-Gomm], (2022, September 19) Tea with a Druid 223: On the Equinox & Initiation [Video file]. YouTube.

"People of all cultural backgrounds can find kinship within Druidic ritual and celebrations of the passing year." pp. 8-9

Eason, Cassandra (2003). The Modern-Day Druidess: A Practical Guide to Nature Spirituality. New York, NY: Kensington Publishing Corp.

"You don't need to be Irish to explore and study Irish Paganism... You don't have to have Irish ancestry, your DNA doesn't give you an automatic carry card."

O'Brien, Lora & O'Sullivan, Jon (Hosts). (2023, August 16) Becoming a God, & Being Irish and Pagan. (Season 3 Episode 2) [Audio podcast episode]. In The Irish Pagan School Podcast. The Irish Pagan School.

"Today there are many different ways that a person can become a Druid. There are a lot of books, websites, and videos out there that you can use to learn about modern Druidry and many even include instructions on how to initiate yourself as a Druid at the end." p.87

Foxx, Marjorie, (2024). What is a Druid? Short Answers to Common Questions About Druids. Monee, IL: Foxx Press Book Publishing.

"You are free to pursue your interest in Druidry through whatever means you wish. It isn't necessary to join an Order unless that is what you want to do..."

(OBOD Office, personal communication, September 20, 2022)