A New Tradition of Neopagan Druidism
                   (c) 1984 P. E. I. Bonewits
            Reprinted from "The Druids' Progress" #1

   As  many of you may know (perhaps from reading my  book  "Real 
Magic"  or Margot Adler's "Drawing Down the Moon"),  I've been  a 
priest  of  the Reformed Druids of North America  ("RDNA")  since 
1969.  I've  led groves (congregations) in Berkeley and Minneapo-
lis,  and founded others elsewhere;  published newsletters  (both 
Druidic  and  general Neopagan);  and wrote most of,  edited  and 
produced  "The Druid Chronicles Evolved",  (the closest thing  to 
official scriptures the RDNA has). I'm also a priest and elder of 
the  Craft,  and I've been a Neopagan magician and occultist  for 
nearly twenty years.
   I've studied, practiced and written about many different forms 
of  magic and religion over the years,  yet always I find  myself 
going back to Druidism. Many people have written to me to tell of 
similar  spiritual histories,  of their knowledge that  they  are 
meant to walk a Druid path.  Yet what can we, who wish to worship 
and  to grow as Neopagan Druids,  do for fellowship?  The Masonic 
Druids  have much to teach us,  yet they are  not  Neopagan.  The 
"Druidic"  traditions of Wicca are interesting,  but they're  not 
really very Druidic.  The members of the RDNA have no interest at 
all in being organized by anyone,  nor in recruiting and training 
would-be Neopagan Druids.  There doesn't seem to be any organized 
group  of people trying to reconstruct what the Paleopagan Druids 
actually believed and did,  nor trying to apply such knowledge to 
creating a Neopagan religion fit for the Space Age.
   What can we do?  We can do it ourselves! Thanks to the work of 
such scholars as Dumezil, Ross, Piggott, Duran and others, we now 
have  a  sizable  amount of realistic  data  about  Indo-European 
Paleopaganism and its clergy.  But how do we apply this knowledge 
to creating a modern Neopagan religion? What does it mean to be a 
Druid  in the 1980's?  Using accurate information as  a  starting 
point,  how  do we create rituals and fellowship,  art and music, 
polytheologies and lifestyles that will give meaning to our lives 
and those of others?
   Well,  of course, I have my own vision of Neopagan Druidism. I 
see  Druids as artists and intellectuals,  magicians and  clergy, 
holders  of  the highest wisdom their cultures  (or  subcultures) 
have  to  offer.  This is what they used to be,  and  what  (with 
sufficient  hard  work and dedication) they  could  be  again.  A 
number  of  people  have told me that they share  my  vision  and 
approve  of  the ways in which I think it could be  accomplished. 
So,  after  a great deal of soul-searching,  I've decided to  try 
once again to see what I can do to create a form of  "reconstruc-
tionist" Neopagan Druidism.
   Theis is an announcement of, and an invitation for your parti-
cipation in,  the creation of: Ar nDraiocht Fein. The Irish words 
(pronounced  "arn  ree-ocht fane") mean "Our own  Druidism,"  and 
that's what I have in mind --  a brand new form of Druidism,  not 
just Pan-Celtic, but Pan-European. By this latter term, I mean to 
include all of the European branches of the Indo-European culture 
and language tree -- Celtic,  Germanic,  Slavic, Baltic, even the 
pre-Classical Greek & Roman.  Paradoxically,  this would resemble 
the original Paleopagan Druidism far more than any efforts of the 
last  thousand  years.  It would be based on the  best  scholarly 
research  available,  combined with what has been learned  (about 
art,  psychology, small group politics and economics) through the 
theory  and practice of modern Neopaganism,  and my own knowledge 
of  the  polytheological  and practical details  of  magical  and 
religious phenomena.
   I've already started this project,  through the organizing  of 
my  notes  and the beginning of a new book.  The purpose of  "The 
Druid Handbook" will be to enable anyone who has a copy to  start 
up  their own Druidic grove,  or to practice as a solitary Druid. 
Everything  necessary will be  included:  history,  polytheology, 
liturgy,  legal structures, art and music, calendars and customs, 
etc.
   ADF is an idea I have been wrestling with for years:  a Neopa-
gan  Druid Order whose members would not be ashamed  to  honestly 
compare  themselves with the original Druids.  This requires  ma-
ture,  dedicated  and  talented people who are willing to  invest 
both time and energy over a long period (remember,  the  original 
Druids took up to twenty years each to be fully trained, and they 
had an intact tradition).
   At  this point in the birthing process,  details are in  short 
supply, but the general outlines are becoming increasingly clear. 
I  can  at  least  give you some specific ideas  as  to  what  Ar 
nDraiocht Fein will and won't be:
   ADF  will be a Neopagan religion based on solid (but  imagina-
tive)  scholarship  in the fields of  linguistics,  Indo-European 
studies, comparative religion, archeology, anthropology, Celtic & 
Norse & Baltic & Slavic studies, history, musicology and polythe-
ology.  The  scholars we will be basing our research  on  include 
Georges Dumezil,  Mircea Eliade, Anne Ross, Stuart Piggott, G. S. 
Littleton,   Marie-Louise  Sjoestedt,  Proinsias  MacCana,  Myles 
Dillon,  Nora  Chadwick,  etc.  We  will not be  accepting  Lewis 
Spence,  Margaret  Murray,  Robert Graves,  Merlin Stone,  H.  P. 
Blavatsky  or  Iolo Morganwg as scholarly  authorities  (although 
some of them may provide poetic inspiration now and then).  If we 
have  to fill in gaps in our knowledge with our own  imagination, 
spiritual visions and/or borrowings from non-IE sources,  we will 
go ahead and do so,  but always in full awareness of what we  are 
doing (and with full documentation of the process).
   ADF  will be developing a slow,  careful and steady system  of 
training  for Druidic clergy,  equivalent to that gone through by 
professional  clergy in other religions.  We will not be  in  any 
hurry  to initiate people (though we may create and publish self-
dedication rituals for the first level of  participation),  since 
an obsession with rank and titles is usually counterproductive to 
actual spiritual, artistic and scholarly growth. A correspondance 
course  has  been  suggested and I'm willing to give  it  serious 
consideration, once we have the basics figured out.
   Although  our primary focus will be on the beliefs  and  prac-
tices  of  our Indo-European ancestors,  and on how these can  be 
adapted to modern circumstances,  we will not tolerate racism  or 
nonsense  about  "Aryan blood." The Indo-Europeans were a  motley 
assortment of tribes speaking related languages -- not a  "race." 
All  of our ancestors are of mixed blood,  and most of the  black 
people  in  America  have (however involuntarily)  some  European 
genes.  So  anybody,  regardless of their race or color,  who  is 
sincerely  interested in participating in ADF will be  made  wel-
come.  Similarly,  the IE peoples are known to have had both male 
and  female  clergy,  and those tribes influenced by  shamanistic 
practices  frequently  had  clergy who were  ambiguous  in  their 
gender identification.  For these historical reasons,  as well as 
the  fact that ADF is a Neopagan religion,  we will not  tolerate 
sexism nor restrict membership or rank on the basis of gender  or 
affectional preferences.  Having said all that, let me add that I 
have  no  intentions of letting extremists of any persuasion  use 
ADF for purposes not in keeping with our original goals.
   We will have a carefully structured hierarchy, based on actual 
skills and knowledge obtained and demonstrated,  with both upward 
and  downward  mobility.  The training system  will  involve  the 
setting  of  specific  standards in all the areas  necessary  for 
functioning at the different levels,  and these standards will be 
published in the Handbook and widely disseminated throughout  the 
Neopagan  media,  in order to prevent false claims of  rank.  Our 
primary approach is going to be the attainment not just of compe-
tency, but of excellence. Democratic safeguards will be built in, 
but we do not expect everyone in ADF to be qualified for (or even 
interested  in)  attaining the rank of  clergy.  After  all,  the 
original  Druids were only a small percentage of their Paleopagan 
communities, and not everyone has (or needs) a clerical vocation. 
Nor  will rank in other Neopagan organizations guarantee  equiva-
lent rank in ADF,  since we have no way of knowing what standards 
other groups are using, nor how strictly enforced they are.
   The Ancient Druids were polytheists rather than mono- or  duo-
theists;  so our main approach will be a pluralistic one.  We are 
not going to promote any One True Right and Only Way of Druidism, 
merely whatever happens to work for us.  This means,  among other 
things,  that  we  intend to maintain friendly relations with  as 
many  other Druid organizations as possible,  and will  encourage 
our members to investigate these alternate Druid paths.
   We are going to take our time putting the whole system  toget-
her. Based on solid research and a knowledge of the mistakes made 
by  other  Neopagan groups in the past,  we can create  something 
magnificent.  But like an oak tree,  it will take time to  become 
strong,  and we have no intentions of trying to force its growth. 
Within  two to three years we should get the primary seeds plant-
ed. Then the results will be up to the individuals who have heard 
the  trees whispering in their ears,  and who know that they  are 
meant to walk a Druid way.

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This  article  has  been reprinted from "The  Druids'  Progress", 
issue #1, and is copyright 1984 by P. E. I. Bonewits. "DP" is the 
irregular journal of a Neopagan Druid group called "Ar  nDraiocht 
Fein",  founded  by Bonewits (author of "Real Magic").  For  more 
data,  send an S.A.S.E.  to:  Box 9398,  Berkeley, CA, USA 94709. 
Permission  to distribute via BBS's is hereby  granted,  provided 
that the entire article, including this notice, is kept intact.
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the entire article, including this notice, is kept intact.
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