Are you an OBOD Druid, or another Druid, or a Druid at all?

[wolf560]

I think that the commonality that we share ... is most of us are OBOD druids.

...I think there is probably a majority of non-obod members....I'd be surprised if people who identify as "druid" would even be in the majority.

Thanks DJ Drood..... Great Suggestion, so here it is;

Are you an OBOD Druid, another Druid, or not a Druid at all (see options below);
They are listed as I remembered them (sorry, no slight intended to anyone seriously)

[wolf560]

What do you all think?
Give the poll about a week or so?

[Dendrias]

Do You mean: Having the title "druid"? or seeing myself as druid, although not member of any of these?

[Heddwen]

Good idea Mr Wolf and here I stand waiting to be proved wrong!

Obviously I have not been here as long or as consistantly as DJ Drood, therefore these are just my observations. Sorry to be picky but just a few things, what if we belong to more than one group i.e. you are a wiccan obod who is also a member of nod,( like me). Are we including the members here who spend time getting the 'feel' of druidry before signing up to the obod course? The term 'druid' has oft been discussed here, its such a broad term that is subjective to personal interpretation it could mean anything, also no training is required to call yourself a druid, this could be the largest group in your survey. The religious groups as far as I know do not require a training course eg, hindu druid. do you specifically want to look at the organisations that we belong to or trained with or do you just want to clarify how we define ourselves?

[wolf560]

Do You mean: Having the title "druid"? or seeing myself as druid, although not member of any of these?

Both actually Dendrias..!!!
I feel both are accurate since the title "Druid" is useful in only certain areas and places.
The title, for example, does not confer a free cup of coffee at most coffee houses (LOL).
If one were to want to teach the craft to another then I feel the title would be important.

.... Are we including the members here who spend time getting the 'feel' of druidry before signing up to the OBOD course? The term 'druid' has oft been discussed here... do you specifically want to look at the organisations that we belong to or trained with or do you just want to clarify how we define ourselves?

I feel all are important actually Heddwen...!!!
It is important to some like me that our education be recognized by others (especially considering my College of Druidry no longer exists). While for others they consider themselves to be Druids after completing their own regimen of study.

I actually believe that there should be a way of "testing out" of the coursework in some way or of one system recognizing the efforts of its initiates rather than making them go through the long paces all over again.

In Gaelic (since that is "my thing") it would be "Oinich Draoi" ( "Honorary Druid")
Perhaps "Oinich Draoi Toisaigh" (Honorary Druid Initiate)

Just a thought to consider since for me it would be repeating my Barddic, Filidh, and Druidic education all over again a decade after completing it with my previous school, which is just really dis-heartening in so many ways....

[DJ Droood]

I'm glad we can select up to 12 options, wolf....although it may not be enough for some....

[Heddwen]

All are important here, however for the purpose of this study it is difficult to define (for some). For example, I am training with obod and am a member of nod without undertaking the training there. I wholeheartedly agree that there is no point in duplication, although if all these trainings are with mystery schools how will we ever know if they are the same type of thing? I have seen the NOD course material for the bardic grade it is very good, but IMO OBOD has the edge, there is more emphasis on experiential learning, it is much larger offers more support and contact opportunities as a big organisation can do.
I have undertaken more than one training, I worked a coven for many years the training there was 'on the job' with additional workshops. Next I trained more formally and very intensely with a large cult like organisation. I won't go into detail here but just to say I worked the wheel of the year in a different way, yes starting from the beginning but with knowledge. Now I am with OBOD, I learn their way and without going into detail for obvious reasons I am learning some similar things and some new things. There is a set way of doing things the OBOD way.I've always maintained that every time we work the wheel of the year there is something new to learn.
By the way I have voted for OBOD and NOD in the survey, even tho I have not undertaken their training. I did toy with voting for Other Druid too but decided against it.

[wolf560]

I'm glad we can select up to 12 options, wolf....although it may not be enough for some....

Hello DJ.... I tinkered with the notion of researching every single group that had ever existed but gave up eventually. There are more than 30 some odd groups I found and I think I merely scratched the surface overall. Since I am a member of several groups and completed at least one complete course of study I felt it 'right' to allow people to select multiple choices.

I wholeheartedly agree that there is no point in duplication, although if all these trainings are with mystery schools how will we ever know if they are the same type of thing? .

Hello Heddwen... I toyed with the idea of limiting people to one or two or three choices but after awhile decided that it is important to some that they have completed so many different forms of learning.

I completed the Bandarach College of Druidry education (Bard- Filidh-Druid) in 2002 after nearly 20 years of (mostly) library study. I did not have either the internet or face-to-face contact to help me and so relied upon the mail and a typewriter. I was told that in order to be taken seriously in my Wiccan Coven, I had to complete all three degrees of Witchcraft which I did in 2003. By organizing a 300 (+) member group of solitaires and covens in 2004 I was made an Elder in North Carolina. During that time I also began the BDO, ADF, and OBOD coursework as well. Since all three required that I pay for the coursework I never got past the first levels in any of them and so remain an initiate of all three.

I guess it would make me feel better to have something tangible to show for all the years of hard work and study that this has entailed. It is more for my own self-gratification I suppose but it has been a very long road with little to show for it but my own feeling of having completed something I suppose....

[Heddwen]

Hi W560, if I'm right, you were wiccan before you came to formal druid education? I didn't take any wcraft degrees as our coven was anti hierarchy, well apart from the boss! I don't know enough of other druid orders, but OBOD takes a similar line, which I like. So I'm not sure how having leadership roles, elder roles, titles, letters before or after the name fits in with this. I'm wondering what the point is of joining so many organisations, I really have done very little with NOD apart from signing a petition.
Another thing, the BDO website seems to be down, do you need to take a course to join?
Also, I thought that TDN was a network, I can't see anything about joining there.

[Heddwen]

To be honest with you this whole thread is now looking a bit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4Z_b-06BDk

[wolf560]

LOL...!!!

I Love the Judean Popular Front..!!!

Draoieacht (Druid Craft) first and foremost, Cailleacheacht (Witchcraft) came decades later as I tried to join a broken community's diverse pagan groups. I succeeded beyond anyone's wildest dreams and yet ultimately failed horribly in the end.

The point to joining so many groups is so that I have the chance to meet a great many people. Being able to talk to other people and learn from them (or vice versa) has been truly remarkable and I look forward to meeting more people. I am very fortunate to have spent almost five years studying with and amongst some very knowledgeable Druids. The BCD relied on the top three people (Chief Bard- Chief Seer-Chief Druid) and they were with us in a real time chat every Saturday for nearly 2-3 hours. This ability to talk to and have these three "Top Druids" respond weekly was of immense value.

I started my studies on the Druid path in 1982; Witchcraft and Shamanism were not really of interest to me back then. As with any other study, answers to questions led to more questions to answer and the path never truly ended. The BCD was probably the best thing we had going for all of us and I miss it terribly.

I completed my Druidic education in 2002 but have continued to study under many other people. The thought that more knowledge was out there has led me to interact with as many other people as possible. This led to my founding the Order of the Star in north Carolina in 2000 and my joining the ADF, OBOD, and the BDO that year. The Coven my wife and I founded had two people that insisted that "to be in our Coven, you have to learn how to be a Witch". I completed all three degrees of Witchcraft following a Celtic Wiccan coursework in a single year (2003). The Eldership was bestowed upon me because I was the first person in that town to Ever get the Covens and solitaires to stop fighting and celebrate two years of Major Festivals together without fighting.

In 2000 I began working with a new student in the Bandarach College of Druidry. Torc P.A.C. Bloos was just starting his journey and had requested of our ArchDruid (Jack Simpson) that he needed a mentor. I was the Student Liaison for the College and volunteered to help Torc. he was one of the brightest and most energetic Druids I had ever met and I was very impressed with his knowledge and dedication. Torc went on to become a driving force behind The Druid Network (TDN). Unfortunately this was the year that I left for Iraq and never returned until just this year. I have unfortunately lost contact with Torc.

The BDO (British Druidic Order) website has been suffering difficulties for quite some time. Although I had completed their Bardic course and was working on their Ovate course they lost their server and with it all the data they had been collecting for years. They wrote me about six months ago to say that they really had no clue where my education was but were prepared to continue from the second year. The cost of that was just a bit too much for me (over 200 English pounds I think) so I am delaying re-starting.

The BCD (Bandarach College of Druidry) website was active a year ago but I have not been able to get in contact with Jack simpson (the Chief Druid) or Rayner (the Chief Seer). The Chief Bard (Black Wolf I think) was in the British Special Forces in Afghanistan three years ago and I have not heard from him either. The BCD website is also defunct now.

TDN (The Druid Network) is, to me, a valid Druid source as it puts Druids together so they can learn from each other. Not all Druids come from the same stock and don't always agree with each other. The OBOD says it has "no Dogma" (which it for the most part does not) but there are other groups such as the AODA (Ancient Order of Druids in America) that have a very specific Dogma (they believe in Four Elements and you have to follow that in order to remain). TDN has none of these and relies upon the Gnosis of two Druids discussing a thing between them and each learning something from the exchange.


To me, this is the single greatest thing a place can do for a group of Druids....
Put them together so they can learn from one another...

[Huathe]

I am a NOD Christian Druid.

[Badger Bob]

The BDO (British Druidic Order) website has been suffering difficulties for quite some time. Although I had completed their Bardic course and was working on their Ovate course they lost their server and with it all the data they had been collecting for years. They wrote me about six months ago to say that they really had no clue where my education was but were prepared to continue from the second year. The cost of that was just a bit too much for me (over 200 English pounds I think) so I am delaying re-starting.[/color]

Wolf, have you had a look at the BDO site just lately? The BDO is in the process of rebuilding and the first tangible fruit of that will be the new Bardic course out soon.

I started in 82 as well but since I was 13 I had to wait a few years until I could join a local group. In the meantime I read voraciously and learned a fair bit of woodcraft and readily available stuff like sacred geometry, meditation and ceremonial working (the Arkana series of books were a godsend in those early days) with a few likeminded folks from college. I then joined a local group affiliated with the BDO and a correspondence course based in Scotland. After a while the local group drifted away and I finished university and work intervened so I looked for somewhere else to lay my cloak. I shadowed OBOD from the late 90s having heard some bad things about it, I later found out that the people who were denigrating OBOD had never actually had anything to do with the order, they were just the kind of people who don't like any kind of organization. After a while lurking on the forum I finally joined and a few years later I found the BDO was getting back into it again so I joined TDN and am currently waiting to see how things pan out with the BDO. Still very happy to be an OBODy though and ploughing through my last pass of the Ovate Grade at the moment (third time through I might feel I have done it justice). I also keep an eye on what is happening over at the NOD but I wouldn't call myself a member of NOD. There is too much emphasis on the Irish tradition for me with the NOD, I feel happier with the Welsh tradition (I'm closest to my Welsh roots through my grandparents) but I lurk around their forum as there are some great people on there. All these groups demonstrate what I feel is best about much of modern Druidry, there is so much to learn from everybody and just because you study with one group doesn't mean you can't also talk to another group. My inner hippy tells me this is the way we are supposed to be.

[wolf560]

Hello Badger Bob..!!!

If the BDO can make the come back I would truly be very very happy...!!!

I was thrilled to see that the British Druidic Order had survived after I got back last year. I truly hope they can rebuild again and I would happily re-join the ranks of the BDO.

I have tried to find what I did on the second year course but alas it was just too long ago to find out where I hid all my coursework. Hopefully they will accept me back in to the second year program so I can complete that one as well.

I feel all the coursework in most of the Druidic groups is worthwhile if nor nothing else the fact that you meet so many other great minds all striving to understand Druidry.

[Bartholomew]

Lovely people. Good poll. I have answered to the best of my ability. Thank ya very muchly.

[wolf560]

How long should this poll run?

A week or so or longer?

[DJ Droood]

How long should this poll run?

A week or so or longer?

might as well just let it run until they harvest it.

[Heddwen]

I guess it would make me feel better to have something tangible to show for all the years of hard work and study that this has entailed. It is more for my own self-gratification I suppose but it has been a very long road with little to show for it but my own feeling of having completed something I suppose....

I understand totally where you are coming from, here are my thoughts. Firstly, the path does involve self development, but its not about having attained a title, the amount of order memberships, follower numbers or any role bestowed by others (just who are these others to be dishing out roles anyway.) Again, OBOD is clear on its non patriarchal, non hierarchal approach, it is written within the the main body of the OBOD website.

Secondly, the path is about ourselves, its about being strong, clear and confident in your path...without the need for the approval, admiration or subservience of our peers. Experience is relative, its about quality and relevence of the experience too.

Thirdly we don't know if all the orders druidic trainings are of equal standard they would have to be accredited to university, this is impossible due to the Mystery nature of the teachings.

[DJ Droood]

its about being strong, clear and confident in your path...without the need for the approval, admiration or subservience of our peers. Experience is relative, its about quality and relevence of the experience too.

I think I have yet to meet a "follower" or "congregant" in neo-paganism...seems like everyone is a High Priest/ess, Druid, Arch Druid or what have you...it makes it fun, though...it makes every gathering feel like The Synod of Whitby

Secondly, the path is about ourselves

Truer words have yet to be spoken.

[Aitrus]

Currently a Hedge Druid, but I'm still researching on my own and trying to decide which course I wish to sink my hard-earned savings into.