The Nine Strands

It is difficult to define what druidism is, in essence, because of a lack of accurate historical recordings of the time as well as broken ancestry. Instead we must try to assemble ancient Druidism like putting together a jigsaw puzzle in which we don‘t have all the pieces. Druidism is also non-dogmatic, which means there are no absolute regulations that every Druid must follow. With that said, I think this is more of an asset than a disadvantage. For comparison sake, Druidism can be looked at in much the same manner as constructing a skyscraper: If you have a solid foundation, then it doesn’t matter as much how many floors you add or what shape it eventually becomes because the strength comes from the foundation, making it able to hold more than it appears. Replacing Druidism with the skyscraper then, means that building a foundation of certain core elements or guidelines and then allowing that flexibility allows for more free thinking which lets the individual explore the world on their own terms instead of being handed the information. I also think that doing this creates a stronger sense of spirituality because each person has to do the work on their own which creates more meaning in both spirituality and life in general.

Despite the grey areas in theory and practice, there are nine dimensions that are the foundation of Druidism, not to be seen as strict rules of dogma, but more as a guideline to understand what we mean when we talk about Druidism. The dimensions, or strands, are tribal, art, healing, metaphysical, seership, ritual, natural philosophy, teaching, and service.

The tribal dimension is important because it gives us our cultural identity. Druidism is rooted in Celtic tradition and if we aspire to study Druidism, then we need to understand the history of its beginnings. The Celts were also very artistic people who loved beauty in all of its various ways of expression. Through various arts they found their divine inspiration, or “awen“. Healing was an important aspect of Druidism in ancient times, but I think this aspect may be even more important in this day and age because innovation has become so central to our lives. We now take for granted the health of the Earth, and we assume it and all of its resources will always be available whenever we need them. The metaphysical aspect is the understanding of the universe and as such, is both the most important aspect as well as the least clearly defined. It includes not only the cosmos of the Celts themselves, but also encompasses land, sea, and sky, and the otherworld. Seership relates to the metaphysical because Druidism is concerned with contact with the other world through wisdom and healing, and the three realms listed in the metaphysical aspect, and is related to the Shamanic idea of underworld, middleworld, and upperworld. Ritual is the flowing together of all things and through this, we can shape as well as become the object of shaping, and ultimately follow our hearts. Natural philosophy is important because Druidism is largely concerned for the environment and its preservation. Teaching is an important aspect because it keeps Druidism alive through knowledge passed down through the generations and in various ways of communicating the teachings of both past and present. Service is at the heart of Druidism, because not only are we here to serve our own purposes but we also exist to serve the Earth and its inhabitants.

I believe personal experience and global preservation to be at the heart of Druidism both past and present. In ancient times, not only did they have personal experience to draw from, build on, and add to, but they also had a closer relationship with ancestry and the importance of the passing down of knowledge through the generations. This was is an important aspect when understanding the tribal and metaphysical aspects of Druidism as well as the other strands to a smaller degree. I think that, even though they had the advantages of ancestral lineage, they also probably adapted their spirituality and practices to fit their current needs, just as we have done today.

In today’s Druidism, we draw on what we think we know of the past with what we do know has actually survived, and we combine that with our knowledge of today’s modern world and the predictions of the direction where trends seem to be moving towards in the future. We aspire to preserve not only the past but to heal the Earth in the present so that the future will be as bright as possible for not only future generations but for the Earth and all concerned, thus, preserving the way of life of Druidism. I choose to look at this idea as both a pattern and a cycle of life, whereby the only way we can preserve the Earth is to keep Druidism alive to protect it, and the only way to do that is to see that there is still an “Earth” around to be preserved by the Druid way.