The Christian-Druid Path

[lancsbard]

I am puzzled, can you tell me more about the Druid-Christian Path, what do you believe? does the Druid-Christian path differ from the Druid pagan path? Is it insular christianity ? do you practice the same rituals ? I really don't understand the Druid-Christian path please tell me more

Bright Blessings
/|\

[Aoife]

Druid-ism isn't a religion. It's a spirituality/philosophy.

(Amazingly there IS a difference between being religious and being spiritual...at least to an extent. They are admittedly similar)

[treegod]

I am puzzled, can you tell me more about the Druid-Christian Path, what do you believe? does the Druid-Christian path differ from the Druid pagan path? Is it insular christianity ? do you practice the same rituals ? I really don't understand the Druid-Christian path please tell me more

Bright Blessings
/|\

Druidry is a many varied thing, with different traditions. Even two Pagan Druids can differ from each other as much as they differ from a Christian Druid, for example, in belief, practice and tradition.

OBOD accepts members of any religion, and it doesn't describe itself as a religion, nor do its members. All OBOD druids are taught the same rituals, whatever the religion. What we do with those rituals is really up to us.
Other Druid groups do describe themselves as a religion.

Not all are "insular Christians", Christian Druids don't necessarily belong to the same church. Some are Catholic or Anglican, Baptist or Methodist, etc.

Personally, I don't call myself Pagan nor Christian, and as a Druid I am an OBOD Druid (to not generalise the term "druid"); involved with its own brand of teachings of modern Druidry. Paganism and Christianity I consider "ancestral traditions", both of which have had influence on the culture I grew up in, and so have influenced who I am today.

EDIT: there's even a thread on Atheist Druidry round here, lol.

[CleddauGal]

Raised Protestant, converted to Catholicism. I have always felt a connection to nature. I feel closer to God in the woods than in a cathedral. I feel His presence around me, I am a pacifist and I have been searching for ways to combine Druidry with Catholicism or maybe just create my own brand of Druidry with elements of Catholicism. Any ideas on how this might be done? Thanks. "peace"

Fascinating! I was raised Catholic and became Protestant four years ago and am coming to Druidry only now. I think if you look at the prayers attributed to St. Francis, as well as the wealth of material that is loosely categorized as "the Celtic Church" which historically refers to the church before the Synod of Whitby around 600 or so, and now is shared by both Catholic and Protestants with Celtic backgrounds. There is a whole lot out there on Celtic spirituality that makes a nice interface between "in the church" spirituality and "in the woods" spirituality.

Hope this helps.

[CleddauGal]

My story:

once I reached my high school years I started finding out several things about the church that I could not and would not abide.

The first was that Christians believe that other religions are false instead of just another path to enlightenment or indeed, a culture's expression of that divinity we all feel. The second was their stance on homosexuality. I'm not a homosexual but I have friends who are and I didn't appreciate how they would descend in groups upon them like a flock of vultures to "pray the gay away." I believe being homosexual is natural and is not sinful in anyway....

I am not a druid yet but I am researching it and so far this seems to be exactly what I'm looking for.

I guess I was lucky, growing up in the Roman Catholic Church of the 1970s, after Vatican Council II, when some of that nonsense went away. The documents still end up saying "But we're more right than they are" which can be annoying, but they did give other religions a bit of acknowledgement and that is what I was taught in Catholic school, along with the good science of evolutionary theory.

One of the reasons I left the RC church 4 years ago was indeed the anti-gay stance. I have found the Episcopal Church (Anglican Communion) to be very welcoming to everyone--it even has some gay bishops!--and I like that it has women priests as well. My parish is also where I started learning about the Celtic Church, to which I am increasingly turning as I begin my Druid studies.

[Gallobhaí]

The word 'truth' is a derivation of the Saxon word Trewid which meant 'quality of faith' or 'quality of correctness' but literally meant 'Tre Wid' Tree knowledge.
'Dru Wid' meant oak knowledge in Old English (Dru derives from Dar which is the old Goidelic for Oak.)
Therefore the etymology suggests that Druidism is the pursuit of truth, faith and correctness.
The connotations of oak and tree suggest that it is strong, mighty, well rooted, pan-generational (in human terms), living, nurturing and sustaining of all life and balance.

If your pursuit for truth leads you to Judeo-Christianity, Atheism, Islam, Eastern Spirituality, Science then that in itself is a Druidic journey as you are pursuing the tree knowledge of that path in all its numerous limbs, offshoots and branches.

So, In my own understanding, rather than a religion I would categorize it as a pursuit of truth, faith and correctness in a spirit of love, respect and understanding which in turn does lend itself well to any religion or institution which promotes positive morals and ethics, or the uplift and enlightenment of all men and women.


"There is a grey eye that fills with tears when it looks back towards Erin.
While I stand on the oaken deck of my bark I stretch my vision westwards over the briny sea towards Erin."
St. Columcille - Influential Christian Monk and 'likely' Druid from my locality

[Twyrch]

So, In my own understanding, rather than a religion I would categorize it as a pursuit of truth, faith and correctness in a spirit of love, respect and understanding which in turn does lend itself well to any religion or institution which promotes positive morals and ethics, or the uplift and enlightenment of all men and women.

I agree 100%

[Welsh Mythology]

There may be some sign of what very early Christian Drudiry looked like in the teachings of Pelagius. The early British trend of accepting free will as opposed to St Augustine's pre-determined sinners may hint at what the remnants of British druidry looked like after its contact with the early Church. The first period of British saints and the folklore that surrounds them is another sign that Christianity and Drudiry intermingled very early on. Allthough a good chunk of hard historic evidence is missing, there is nothing wrong with making the assumption based on the little we do know. If modern Christian Druidry is looking for a root, I would imagine a study of Pelagius and the early British Saints to be a rich source of nourishment.

[Azvanna]

I was so inspired this morning in church. The main worship song this morning was Hillsong's Ocean (Where My Feet May Fail). It's exactly how I am feeling at the moment as my Christianity branches out into Druidry, but after singing this I felt so deeply encouraged. I want to share some lyrics with you:

'Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever you would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Saviour'

I feel very safe in Christ. That protection makes me feel very brave

[ailm]

[quote="Gallobhaí"]The word 'truth' is a derivation of the Saxon word Trewid which meant 'quality of faith' or 'quality of correctness' but literally meant 'Tre Wid' Tree knowledge.
'Dru Wid' meant oak knowledge in Old English (Dru derives from Dar which is the old Goidelic for Oak.)
Therefore the etymology suggests that Druidism is the pursuit of truth, faith and correctness.
The connotations of oak and tree suggest that it is strong, mighty, well rooted, pan-generational (in human terms), living, nurturing and sustaining of all life and balance.

If your pursuit for truth leads you to Judeo-Christianity, Atheism, Islam, Eastern Spirituality, Science then that in itself is a Druidic journey as you are pursuing the tree knowledge of that path in all its numerous limbs, offshoots and branches.

So, In my own understanding, rather than a religion I would categorize it as a pursuit of truth, faith and correctness in a spirit of love, respect and understanding which in turn does lend itself well to any religion or institution which promotes positive morals and ethics, or the uplift and enlightenment of all men and women.



I heartily concur!

[scotty the bard]

I have never understood Christian Druidry, for me, its another way of saying Celtic Christianity
For me, Druidry is a philosophy and a way of life Christianity seems so dogmatic
I visited Holy Island (Lindisfarne) a couple of years ago and I found the place very spiritual and I got the feeling that early Christianity was a nature based religion and a meditative type of practice and that's type of spirituality I could follow
I don't know any Christian Druids, Celtic/Druid Christianity does interest me has a spiritual path, I would love to create that feeling I had at Holy island.
so with all that, how do I mix Druidry with Christianity........(or isn't that the way ) is their any good book I could read ?
What about the God and Goddness in Christianity ?
How do Christian Druids few Jesus...... devine or human ?
And what about the Bible ?

Bright Blessings

scotty the bard

[Crinia]

Hello Scotty

I call myself a Christian Druid and I certainaly can't speak for anyone but myself. The way I see things it isn't Christianity that is dogmatic it is the Church that is dogmatic and you don't need a Church to be Christian.
If you are interested in nature based Christianity there is a Church called the Forest Church there are few around. I found this podacst about a forest church intersting http://nomad.libsyn.com/nomad-52-bruce- ... est-church there is also a book called Christo paganism - an inclusive path by River and Joyce Higginbotham. It is full of stories about how people work Christianity and paganism together.
The Ceile De http://www.ceilede.co.uk/ are Christian with a Druid and Celtic influence. They see God as both Mother and Father.
And Jesus? well Jesus was likely a person. Christ is Divine.
The bibe? well the Gospels provide teachings on how to know God through Jesus as Christ. There a lots of other interesting reads out there from Christian texts not included in the bible e.g. Nag Hammadi Library, also Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh and Muslim texts that are of spiritual benefit.

Tread Lightly
Crinia

[scotty the bard]

Thank you
You have given me plenty to look at there
going to buy the you recommended

Blessings

[Crinia]

Scotty

I noticed you are in the UK, if you use Facebook OCD - Order Christian Druids posts hedge church and forest church activities. For example on 6th July there is a hedge mass for the summer solstice. Maybe one of these activities will help with your search.
Crinia

[Gwion]

I have found the writings of Mark Townsend (http://www.marktownsendministry.co.uk/) very interesting. I think he just sees himself as a Christian (though he distinguishes between Christianity and Churchianity) but has left his CofE ministry to incorporate a much more pagan/druidic approach. Although there is some repetition between them I’d recommend both his “Path of the Blue Raven” (about his leaving the CofE ministry) and Jesus Through Pagan Eyes (including contributions by various pagan authors).

[scotty the bard]

Blessings to you both

Mark Townsend is an interesting bloke and I will be buying one of his books. I have just received my copy of Christopaganism The inclusive path and it looks at a pretty good book
I have been studying the history of cunning folk for a couple of years now and found that most of them were Christian, the wise men of the village were storytellers and seers. Just starting to get to grips with Christian druid /Christopaganism beliefs, it feels like I am finally home, its been a long journey

[Gwion]

I have been studying the history of cunning folk for a couple of years now ...

I read a book recently (Popular Magic: Cunning Folk in English History by Owen Davies) which I got from the local library. If you haven't read the book, it's worth a look.

Cunning folk are a fascinating and, I think, much overlooked group. The Pellar tradition seems to have persisted well into the 20th Century close by to me in Cornwall.

[Mountainheart]

I've read Townsend's 'Jesus Through Pagan Eyes' which is a collection of short essays by various people. I found it an interesting and helpful book.

Also, although he wouldn't recognise the title of Christian Druid, I find that some of the Creation Spirituality writings of Matthew Fox are helpful and inspiring.

Thx
David

[Mannan]

There are reasonable grounds to suspect that Christianity was in fact influenced on so many levels by the Celtic branch of Europe and Asia-Minor's paleo-religions. Gaulish Celtic tribes with a distinct military outlook settled in Anatolia (now Turkey) after 279BC - these peoples were same as the ones who inspired much of the Gundestrup Cauldron imagery. They were known as the Galatians, and it is possible that the Levantine regions of Galilee and Gaulanitis (Golan) were named on account of historic movements of Celtic Europeans.
We have pretty good evidence that Europe's ancient Celts believed in reincarnation, and that the act of surrendering one's own life for the greater good, sound in the knowledge you would have 'eternal life' was a feature of their beliefs. This seems to be not too dissimilar to the Christian mythos, which emphasised the importance of one man's death which his followers in the next 300 or so years were sometimes eager to follow, much to the annoyance of the Romans. Come to think of it, those Essenes at Masada had a similar outlook! It was the reason that the Romans were so eager to destroy the original druids, in fact.
The original druidism seems to have been quite different to our neopagan version. The Romans felt it to be a frightening, dangerous, violent and fanatical threat to their Pax. An 'Al Qaeda' of the Iron Age would sum it up succinctly, complete with beheadings. What an ideal pretext for attempting to destroy a whole religious system and replace it with a bunch of happy compliant consumers... Of course, the Romans then pulled the same stunt on their own pagan past when they flipped to Christianity after relocating their HQ to the lands of the Galatians and Thraco-Celtic peoples who now considered themselves 'Roman' or 'Greek'. The links between druidism and christianity are deeper and more mysterious than you could imagine!

[druidinthemist]

I am a Druid. I am a 'hereditary' Druid. I also follow my belief in Jesus and his teachings. I find no conflict between the two. My grandmother, a druid, i am told read the bible from opening to closing 4 or 5 times in her lifetime. she prepared me for my life as a druid through lessons while staying the summers with her. we would kneel and say our prayers, and then would usually come a lesson. i have no desire to read the bible. i do have a spiritual peeve--i wish the church and people would take Jesus off the cross. In churches and on crucifixes. I find it terrible to worship the suffering He experienced in his final days. I prefer to see him as the Great Teacher whose message would have gone on for many years had He lived, Had Mankind not sacrificed him. I think the thought of Jesus here to take away our sin is rediculous. If it were true He failed miserably as you can find 'sin' everywhere you look--wherever you find Man you find 'sin' especially in today's world. I long for more Peaceful days. It is good to have a forum here to share our thoughts and experiences.

peace,

druidinthemist