Can you still be a Druid if your main Deity is not Celtic?

[AtroposHeart]

I want to be a Druid, but the problem is my main Goddess is Hestia, who is Greek.

I feel very called to druidry, but wonder if I worship a Greek Goddess that I might be mistaken? I don't think I am, since I do follow most of the Druid beliefs.

I just need to know.

[treegod]

I believe Hestia is on the Druid-approved list.

But really, it's a lot simpler: we are drawn to diverse things, for different reasons, and they may not always be culturally "homogenous". I feel quite drawn to a few non-Celtic deities, and it works for me.

[Ephraim Aegir]

I don't see why not. One of the things is that there is no fixed way. It's intent that is important. Get the understanding and intent behind it right, and it's fine.

[StephenThomas]

Sure...it's fine. Instead of wearing a cloak and hood at gatherings, you have to wear a toga, that's all. I'm kidding!

It's fine. You follow the path that calls you.

[Aphritha]

My main goddess is Aphrodite, and we work within Druidry together just fine! Work with what you like!

[Heddwen]

The beauty of druidry is that it is a path that is compatible with many religions ...or none. Go with your heart.

[DJ Droood]

I want to be a Druid, but the problem is my main Goddess is Hestia, who is Greek.

I feel very called to druidry, but wonder if I worship a Greek Goddess that I might be mistaken? I don't think I am, since I do follow most of the Druid beliefs.

I just need to know.

It is a very valid question. I don't have a deity, yet feel attracted to modern Druid spirituality, and identify with many of the druid practices and ideas I have come across. I think the answer is yes. If you (or I)want to be a Druid, I think we can, without having a Celtic deity.

[Skyewolfe]

It is a very valid question. I don't have a deity, yet feel attracted to modern Druid spirituality, and identify with many of the druid practices and ideas I have come across. I think the answer is yes. If you (or I)want to be a Druid, I think we can, without having a Celtic deity.

I am in the same place DJ Droood. I am curious though, does anyone have a resource they would recommend regarding deities

?

[Art]

You just need to remember that all the truly good deities speak Welsh.

[ShadowCat]

When I read the question in the topics list, my first answer was:
You can even be a druid if you don't have any deities to work with....

I think it's been said really well above: druidry accomodates all religions including "no religion"....

[Bracken]

Oh, there are so many comedians here, aren't there?
Welcome to the forum, AtroposHeart.

[Chris Boydston]

What they said!

OBOD and even ADF have people who practice in Greek traditions. Perfectly fine.

[craigen]

How very intresting this question came up ...
Here is my two pence worth, for me a Druid was a priest of the ancient world, they had many priests in many different nations and called them many different things. Out god's are our god's and I for one did not choose my patron daity, who is from the Egyptian pantheon.
To be a Druid today, for me is to be on a spiritual path, some of us have god's and some don't. And that's just fine.
Just walk your own walk through the woods!

[DaRC]

I am curious though, does anyone have a resource they would recommend regarding deities

I've always found this article very useful, the Imbas site also has some Celtic deities there
http://imbas.org/articles/basic_celtic_deity_types.html
although I agree that OBOD druidry, as a philosophy, has the range from atheist-Druid through the Celtic deities and on into Eclectic-Druid.
I don't work with the Celtic deities particularly (well unless I'm in a modern Celtic country... when in Wales and all that)

[Fox]

I am curious though, does anyone have a resource they would recommend regarding deities

I've always found this article very useful, the Imbas site also has some Celtic deities there
http://imbas.org/articles/basic_celtic_deity_types.html
although I agree that OBOD druidry, as a philosophy, has the range from atheist-Druid through the Celtic deities and on into Eclectic-Druid.
I don't work with the Celtic deities particularly (well unless I'm in a modern Celtic country... when in Wales and all that)

Or you can trawl through this lot:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_deities

[Phi92]

You don't even have to like Celtic culture to be a druid.

Druidry is a world religion today and it's compatible with a wide variety of views.

Just like you don't have to be interested in eastern Mediterranean culture to be a Christian

That's how I see it

[Treeshrew]

Phi 92: You don't even have to like Celtic culture to be a druid.

Agreed! I see Druidry as being based on reverence for Nature, which is everywhere and everything. Celtic deities, other deities, no deities, all of that is up to each idividual Druid, I think.

[skydove]

If you practice OBOD druidry you can work with who you feel drawn to, but I have recently had an experience with non OBOD druids who were extremely defensive and threatened by the 'use' of non celtic deities in Britain feeling you should work with those deities of whose land you inhabit. I was quite shocked by their passions, being used to the tolerance and finding your own way approach expressed and supported by OBOD, though understood their reasoning in support of their own particular group ethos.... I am still recovering!

[elementalheart]

I would firmly be on the side of the "OK to access spirituality through any deity or none" and for me there is none in particular that are intrinsic to my study of druidry at this point.

Tho personally I have some draw to and long established (pre-OBOD study) link with some of the Celtic deities, and past history exploring my relationship to some which are not Celtic, not all of them feel "right" for me in terms of what I'd view as a deity in terms of specific belief systems, and I wouldn't take on any route that insisted I take on the whole Celtic package as a job lot "religion", let alone excluded any other form. Nor do I feel that all the ones specified within the gwersi are necessarily either useful to me or a requirement for OBOD membership/study/progression. I have never been given that impression anyway.

I study the symbolic nature of the deities in the various myths and legends told, and explore what they mean to me and how I might express the same symbolism. Those that "speak to me" and those that don't, they're all expressions of various cultures and various historical settings, often with comparable archetypes or roles. Giving them one particular name may help some people connect and put off others - each to their own path (and deities) I say.

[Michael C. Page]

You could also go with the theory that the anicent celts tried not to have too much a fixed pantheon or images of that pantheon, because they recognised that the Gods changed from place to place as well as changing as the land and seasons changed.

Once you have wrestled with that a bit, go ahead and add the concept that the Divine is Limitless and you'll be all-right...well we hope anyway.