This is my first Christmas season as a baby Druid, although I’ve been a practicing Wiccan in the past. I love rediscovering the ancient remnants of the original Celtic druids still scattered amongst the capitalist Christian-ish consumerism, like Yule logs, decorating with holly and mistletoe, and even the use of red and green colors. I’m curious how you incorporate your Druidic practice into the winter holidays if you celebrate them? I celebrate secular Christmas with my friends/family and Yule privately.

I came across this on another Reddit group and it is fascinating! Defiantly something of interest for people wanting to connect their Druidism with their local ecologies.

Navigator | One Earth

Hi,

As I'm slowly becoming disillusioned with Islam, and the Abrahamic faiths in general; I am tentatively thinking of becoming a Celtic pagan. I've prayed to Manannán mac Lir (the god I feel most drawn to) several times, and made an offering once, though the situation I am in isn't particularly conducive to set up an alter or anything. I'm wondering what steps I might want to take to become more established, to develop more of a relationship with the Tuatha Dé Danann, in general and Manannán in particular. I thought perhaps joining a community of some sort might be the next step. I just wanted to ask here, --and I'll be repoasting this in the relevant subreddits as well--, how do druid groves function? That is to say, as a general rule, are they only for established practitioners who have taken the proper training to attend, or are they welcoming of potential converts? I live in NY, and an ADF grove is the only group I know of remotely connected to Celtic paganism. Should I try to join, or find some other group, or try to continue solitary?

Thanks

Do any of you guys use ogham for writing or is it only used as a divination tool nowadays?

Hello, imma be brief but in short my grandma gave me a deep connection to nature, Irish and Norse ancestor’s and now years later I find myself very drawn to Druidism. I’m an American just starting out and I don’t know much but I’ve got an over active pineal gland and a hunger for connection to ancestors and spirituality after leaving a cult that my parents are in and that I was indoctrinated into.

So I’ve been reading about Celtic Gods and Goddesses and I’ve been open to let one or more connect with me. I didn’t feel a strong curiosity or interest in any particular one but I feel very drawn to my birth month of May and Beltane. I feel a strong pull to a deity there but I don’t know enough history and mythology to pin point who or what this could be. Anyone have any insight they would be willing to share with me?

So I don't really know if I can articulate this properly.

I leaned Druidism from my great grandmother when I was a child up to 12 when she passed away. She was a beautiful old Scottish women who migrated to Australia in her 20s.

Since her death I continued with other family members but around my 20s I moved away for various reasons all to do with Adulting in these modern times.

So I lost contact with my group and slowly let modern life gets in the way of my practice until recently when I have started to return to it.

This relative (sort of) because looking up bdruidism on the internet I am rather shocked by how organised Druidism is. We only ever practiced in our group (or grove I guess you would say, though we used that as the alter not the group). We also seemed to practise a different way to what the main groups do.

I don't really know the point of this post other then sometimes reading posts here and books I seem to feel we are practicing different beliefs.

Signed "Rather Confused".

Hello, I discovered druidry within the past year. At first I was so excited to learn everything but I have hit a dry spell where I'm wanting to go deeper but struggling to figure out what I'm doing. Have any of you had experience with OBOD and their teachings, community, and events? I was raised in a cult and I'm hesitant to lean back into spiritual community at all, but I really don't know where to go on my own without joining a specific community.

Sometimes, while tending to the earth, we find the most profound wisdom, not in the soil or the plants, but in the quiet whispers of Spirit. Today, as I worked in my garden, I felt the call to share my journey with you. Maybe, just maybe, my story can offer shelter to someone who feels lost, wandering, and in need of guidance.

A Year of Transformation

At 43, this year has been a monumental one—full of grief, revelation, and profound personal transformation. My uncle passed away, and this loss opened the door to painful truths I could no longer ignore. I discovered that my mother, someone I had always trusted, was the abuser in my life. This truth forced me to cut ties with my entire family, a decision that shattered me but also set me free.

Through this painful journey, I was confronted with the reality of my mental and physical health. I was diagnosed with CPTSD, ADHD, Major Depressive Disorder, and chronic pain. The root of this pain stems from years emotional, physical and sexual abuse, as well as medical neglect and the undiagnosed hypermobility disorder I’ve lived with my whole life.

Healing Through Darkness

It has taken me a lifetime to reach this point—a place where I can finally acknowledge the trauma, the pain, and the losses that have shaped me. Yet, through every dark moment, I have found light. This light comes from the incredible love and support of my husband, my "green flag" angel, and my two beautiful children, who have been my constant anchor. On days when I thought I couldn’t go on, they were the reason I kept pushing forward.

This journey, though painful, has brought me back to my roots. I’ve reconnected with my Pagan beliefs, with Nature, and with my calling. My faith in the spirit of all things, and my ability to heal and be a light to others has come my calling. Like Hecate, who once guided me through my darkest times (I still class myself as a devotee), I now feel a deep pull to do the same for others. After spending so long in the shadows, I’ve learned how to navigate them—and now, I’m here to light the way for anyone who needs it.

A Message of Hope

I want you to know—you will be OK. No matter where you are in your journey, the universe has a way of guiding and protecting us. Even in this world that often feels heavy and overwhelming, healing is possible. We can heal together.

If you are struggling, I urge you to reconnect with Gaia, the Earth. Step outside and take off your shoes. Feel the coolness of the earth beneath your feet and imagine roots growing deep from your body into the soil. Let the heartbeat of the earth reassure you that you are safe, you are cared for, and you are not alone.

So it is. ��

Thank you for listening to my story. May it bring you peace, and may we all continue to walk this path of healing together.

With love and light,
SWL

shewholistens

I'm and Irish American druid who practices his faith. I often pray to the earth in a religious sense and give thanks for its blessings. But as I am also deep in my irish heretige, I also pray to the Tuatha Dé Danann, like the The Morrígan and Brigid and the others in Tír na nÓg (or Otherworld) I'm curious to find if there's others like me who follow the old ways in a modern light like I do. May harmony find you all.🌄🤎

Hi all,
I’m 9 days sober and really starting to reflect on the journey. I’ve found a lot of support in terms of practical steps, but I’m curious about the spiritual side of recovery. I’m a Druid, and I’m wondering if anyone here has experience with battling alcohol addiction while also connecting with their spiritual practices? How do you incorporate the natural world, rituals, or your understanding of the divine into your recovery process?
Any thoughts, experiences, or advice would be deeply appreciated. Thanks!

I live next to (2min walk) an old Druidic fountain, built by the Gauls. I can't really find any information on the cults of the time with these fountains. Anyway, if you have any ideas for something I could do other than meditate, I'm interested.

I believe that our deaths rise to the sky to appear to us like stars. They can then send us visions, visit our dreams or even appear to us for a short time. They deliver prophecies and their bodies are sprinkled with a kind of stardust.

Is it valid for me to pay tribute to these friends who lived on Earth? Is it possible to consider this as a religion?

Good morning !

After researching Druidry, I want to try it. I want to get started because I was a druid in another life. I want to go back to what I was, I want to be... Me.

The problems: I'm a minor, and I can't really go out into nature alone, and I don't have much spending money.

How can I relearn Druidry?

Thank you very much to those who will help me

Good mornig! Posted a few things this morning, and a comment said that it wasn't essential to be related to a deity to be a druid. I'm hating, so it's impossible for me to be a druid? Am I something else? Do druids master magic, even weakly? I'm lost. I REALLY feel connected with nature. I feel like I'm a Yaelork character (absolutely incredible musician) but is this an affront? I have a lot of help.

I've had a number of odd events stretching out over about a year now. More specifically, I'm having things show up where I have no reasonable explanation insofar as I can tell as to how or why. The first set of things is waking up and finding a number of oak leaves in my bed. I go to bed with a freshly made bed, fresh clothes and no leaves and after making my bed in the morning there are leaves. This happened three times. My door and windows are shut at night. Some time later there are no leaves, but sticks under the same odd circumstance. Lately, I've been finding stinging insects in my laundry that is kept inside, the first time was a honeybee and tonight it was a common paper wasp (I think). They were both relocated outside, the bee flew at my face and escaped before things went into the wash, the wasp went through the wash cycle and came through it totally unharmed insofar as I can tell. I've never had these types of things happen before and the fact they are showing up in waves is rather curious. Coincidentally, they've also occurred when I am more focused on studying druidry and not when I'm not as active with things for one reason or another. Is there a deity with a particular association to these things that might be trying to direct my attention?

Maybe all coincidence but after so many odd things I'm starting to wonder.

Hi everyone! I've been raised Christian but recently have been looking into paganism and other religions, trying to find what 'fits me' best. I have always wanted to 'worship' (that's the word I've been taught as a Christian, idk if it's right) nature and I've always felt like I have a connection to nature. I'm asking for a bit of guidance / direction as I am 15 and have autism, so I have minimal time to research and get a bit overwhelmed as there's so much info! Any advice would be appreciated on how to get into druidism/anything else related. Sorry if I said anything disrespectful 🙏

I'm a wildlife biologist and do a lot of field work, so I'm constantly exposed to poison ivy, oak and sumac.

I'm ashamed to admit I'm a bit plant blind, so half the time ( probably more than half ) I don't even register that I may be walking through or touching poison ivy, oak or sumac.

The thing is- I've never gotten a reaction. I've been an outdoor person since I was little, so Ive been in contact with these plants probably thousands of times by now. When I looked into this many said that I may just not be sensitive to the oils yet but will most likely become sensitive with increased exposure. It's been years- is that increased exposure?

I was out the other day doing field work. My lovely girlfriend was helping me dig some holes and the next morning she has a giant rash on her arm. It got worse over the next 48 hours and we eventually got her a steroid shot for it. It's getting better now. I was just surprised because I had touched everything she had touched and, yet again, I didn't react to it at all.

Might be silly to think this way ( shhh it's fun ) but I like to believe the forest is protecting me. I am not careful at all when I'm out in the woods ( chastise me later please ) and I spend 70% of my time in the woods. I get pricked and poked by thorns and burrs but I've never once gotten any rashes or reactions from poisonous plants and I'm choosing to believe it's a special little boon the forest gave me in return for my devotion :)

I like to picture myself as a little forest nymph skipping happily through all the poisonous plants with no care in the world. I doubt this will last forever based on the research I did but for now I'm enjoying feeling like a magic forest creature!

I have just finished studying the OBOD Bardic grade, which I thoroughly enjoyed as an inspirational, and I am considering going on to study the Ovate grade. However, I have been discussing this with my OBOD mentor and they mentioned concerns that I am not fully embracing the druid training, and that they feel the Ovate grade may not be for me.

I am a philosophical materialist and I perceive druidry to be a 100% psychological approach to venerating nature. I do not believe in any form of Otherworld other than imagination , or the reality of Deity other than being psychological creations. I do not consider myself a Druid with a capital D, as I have found nothing in the course that makes me feel any connection to a particular way of viewing my world other than my own. However, I fully understand that my opinion is my opinion, and I am respectful of everyone's approach to their druid path. Indeed, it was the freedom to revere nature without doctrine that drew me to the OBOD training in the first place. I thought I was beginning a course that was personal in nature, and not reliant on any specific way of studying.

My mentor is concerned that my "lack of Spiritual belief means [I am] not fully embracing the true meaning of druidry and that it could be perceived as being disrespectful by not allowing the essence of the druid training to move [me] towards spiritual growth".

I have tried to explain that I did not sign up for the training for spiritual growth but as a way to engage more fully with my veneration of nature, which I believe the course has done.

I feel quite hurt by my mentor's comments, but I am willing to accept that cherry picking aspects of the druid training may seem disrespectful, and I regret that. What concerns me though is that all the way through the training there is constant encouragement to find your own way through the course and make it personal to you, so I don't feel I was given a clear understanding of what was expected of me.

Has anyone who has done the OBOD training come across this problem?

Can anyone please explain what the main tenet of the Ovate grade is, and what I might be missing? My mentor doesn't wish to discuss it in detail, simply saying that my approach to druidry will not gel well with the Ovate grade.

Thanks in advance.

I'm new to all this, I connect very much with animism, but I also believe there are many deities that exist, are these two things compatible while following a druid path? Sorry if this is a stupid question, I'm just trying to learn as much as I can. Cheers!

If you could recommend only one, which one would it be? Or it could be something you read recently and thoroughly enjoyed. :)

I’ve had anger issues for most of my life and was raised Christian (Baptist and then Methodist) so every time I asked what Christianity said about it I’d get something along the lines of “don’t worry, Gods got it”. However, anger is a very natural emotion and I just want to know if there’s any info about it on this path. Even something like reassuring or something.

(My anger issues have gotten better as I’ve gotten older but I still struggle from time to time)

Edit: love all the responses and different POV’s, thank you to everyone that has replied so far and to the ones who have yet to. Blessed be and safe travels to everyone on their paths! :)

Hey all. I've been trying to learn about druidry and I'm trying to do the perennial course in living druidry. It's a free course that is based round the seasons and year. But I struggling with the kinda very open ended nature of it. I've never been one for journalling or that sort of thing. I've always preferred very structured learning and topics where there's a definative right and wrong. So how do I do this course? I think I just need more guidance or even just seeing examples of other journals to kinda guide me where I'm meant to be. I'm sure once I've done a few I'll get the hang of it but at the moment, each moon comes round and I find I've not managed to get the last one done.

I realise maybe this isn't the right course for me at the moment but im not sure what else to try. I'm interested in the OBOD course but I really can't spend that much money on it at the moment. Any suggestions?

That matches mine.

Been a self taught spiritual nature person for many years. Started reading up on iron age Celtics to learn about one of my ancestral indigenous religions and loved the learning! I want guidance/deeper practice and wonder if Druidism might be a good spot for me. But... It's super important to me that the ethos of the learning and beliefs matches mine. Can you all point me to some resources that will help me quickly get the flavor of a group or organization? (I looked at the reading list and felt overwhelmed!)

Here's me:

• mom, mid-40s, eastern US based (and want to connect with nature here!)
• value a deep connection with nature, spiritual connection with humans, animals and plants. Love contemplative practices, altar creation, and working with plants. I always felt weird because gardening felt like a spiritual exercise!
• love structure (celebrating Samhain, Imbolc, Yule and May Day) but allergic to dogma. Love introspection, not preaching.
• not theistic, particularly, and not super into spells, hexes, etc., but very interested in the spiritual/mysterious nature of thing called life.
• love to have community and mentorship, (but not a church).
• I'd love to connect with spiritual-minded mentors, but nervous because that's such a vulnerable position- wanna make sure the vibe is right/trustworthy

Anyhoo, I was reading on this sub about OBOD and AODA and they both seem like potential candidates - love that they have courses. I'll definitely check out OBOD'S podcast. But are there books (or I suppose websites or podcasts) that would help me get a better idea of either of these groups, or another tradition that might be a good fit?

Thank you, I know this has been asked so much but still thank you! And hello!

The full moon is upon us. Remember to set out your crystals for a moon bath recharge and to fill up your jars of moon water.

The full moon is also a powerful time for magick. Get out there and howl your heart out, dance, and rejoice, for this moon shines on us all.

Do you have any moon rituals or observances?

May the light of this moon shine down peace and prosperity onto you and yours. Blessed Be.

/I\

Hello all, I am an American druid and i am quite frightened of what may become of our National Forests here once our new president is in office. I really hope all the stuff i'm seeing is just fear mongering and not actually true but the worry remains all the same...I wish all my fellow druids especially Americans peace and i pray that my worries are unfounded.