Check Stonehenge at the door, please

 

“The Druid Path: A Modern Tradition of Nature Spirituality” is a recent book by American author John Michael Greer (JMG). There are omnivorous readers, but I´m not sure what to call JMG. Omnivorous writer? “The Druid Path” is a relatively short book, introducing JMG´s personal take on the Druid Revival, a rather heterogenous spiritual movement that goes back to the 18^th and 19^th centuries, when a number of eccentric Britons decided to “revive” the traditions of the ancient Celtic Druids and rather inevitably spawned an entirely new tradition instead. Throughout the book, JMG depicts the Druid Revival as highly individualist, non-dogmatic and non-political. It´s not even a “religion” sensu stricto, but rather a craft (“Druidry” rather than “Druidism”) which can be combined with many different religions. Thus, many early Druid revivalists were Christians, one of the earliest even being an Anglican vicar!

Every Druid is called upon to follow his or her (yes, there are female revival Druids too) Awen or unique individual destiny. If there are any dogmas at all on the Druid path, it´s the firm conviction that everything in the universe is a manifestation of the One Life, and that nature should be at the center of spirituality. This pantheist idea can be combined with both polytheism and monotheism at higher elevations. JMG´s book emphasizes practice rather than theory, and is mostly geared towards solitary practitioners of Druidry, who for one reason or another don´t want to join a local “grove”, let alone a national organization.

One important Druid Revival practice is the mere observation of ordinary nature, including the animals and plants that surrounds us even if we live in suburban or urban settings. Procuring a field guide to the local fauna or flora thus turns out to be a basic Druid activity. Discursive meditation (which is different from Eastern meditation) and various rituals are also important, and so is divination. One purpose of the practice is to connect with the two main energy currents within the One Life, the solar current from above and the telluric current from the bowels of the earth. The divination is based on the otherwise unknown Coelbren alphabet, but another system uses the more famous Ogham. The book ends with a chapter on self-initiation.

There´s relatively little on the almost-annual Druid Revival gatherings at Stonehenge in “The Druid Path”, perhaps ironically, since this decidedly non-solitary ritual is what constantly propels Druidry into the public limelight. I heard of modern Druidism already as a teenager, both because I read a book on occult topics featuring – guess what – a photo of bearded guys with funny banners at Stonehenge, and because some high school buddies had visited the place and reported on the constant three-way clashes between Druids, hippies and the British police which supposedly took place there during the 1980´s. It´s probably still kind of rowdy there even today, with the hippies being replaced by techno-rave fans! But OK, if solitary practice is your goal, it might indeed be better to conduct your rituals and observations in some less crowded setting closer to your domicile…

Another thing *not* mentioned in JMG´s book is Wicca, since – ahem – meso-pagan Druidry isn´t, you know, Wiccan. Don´t worry, though: the same publisher who kindly gave us “The Druid Path” has also published assorted books on Wicca, dutifully promoted at the back cover of JMG´s volume! Funny detail: apparently, the Wiccan founder Gerald Gardner once shared a ritual sword with a prominent Druid revivalist, the two men even making a schedule on when each of them would use it. Or is that just a Druid urban legend? Or perhaps a *Wiccan* urban legend? Hmmm…

Modern Druidry is very niche, so it´s difficult to know who might be interested in a dead-serious introduction to it, but if you are, this could be a good little gateway to this particular form of nature spirituality.