The modern message is about climate change, the environment and community connection
This is one of the biggest weekends of the calendar for druids. And this year, they’re trying to get with the times. As they gather at ancient sites such as Stonehenge to celebrate the summer solstice, today’s druids are keen to shed their image of old men with long beards, and have embraced TikTok to spread their pagan message.
They’re modernising in other ways, too. Research by a leading British group of druids has found that, despite a patriarchal history, 56% of those in the the movement are women. Druidry originated in the ancient Celtic world, when its members, often with great influence, acting as political advisers, religious leaders and legal authorities. They left no written records, but Greek and Roman philosophers and historians wrote about their culture.
Different groups have varyingcreeds, but the British Druid Order (BDO) describes its beliefs as “animistic, recognising all things as imbued with spirit. It is polytheistic, acknowledging many gods and goddesses. It is shamanic, knowing the reality of spirit worlds and their inhabitants. We honour our ancestors of blood and of spirit.”
Helping people to understand the natural world is more relevant to druidry than ever
Amanda Hart, elder of the British Druid Order
The two biggest druidic organisations in the country, the BDO and the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (Obod) have about 20,000 members between them. Many smaller groups have ranks of up to 1,000.
Amanda Hart, an NHS chemotherapy nurse from Devon, is a BDO elder. “[Druidry] has a very feminine balance to it,” she said. “We don’t know what it was like in ancient times, because the only people who wrote about it were Roman historians with an agenda. But there were eyewitness accounts of battles in Anglesey when the Romans invaded Wales, and they speak of both male and female druids, the women wearing black and looking like furies, running among the warriors, cursing the Roman soldiers. So we know there were definitely very powerful female druids.”
In today’s world, says Hart, druidry dovetails with concerns about climate change, the environment and community. “We encourage people to have a connection to the natural world, but also to their communities and one another.”
Modern druids are also embracing social media. Facebook is one of their main platforms, but the BDO has also recently started a TikTok account to promote itself. Recent posts include praise for the yew tree, sacred for druids, and videos explaining “sometimes being a druid is watching the sunset”, or “watching a butterfly in a meadow”.
Younger members, finding their way to druidry via social media, are bringing a greater hunger for activism. Fern is a member of the Red Rebel Brigade, which dresses in crimson robes and attends anti-war and climate change protests. “Druidry suits me because it’s deeply spiritual but also practical and down-to-earth. Love is at the core of what we do, but we aren’t afraid of the dark, and that is the perfect complement to my work as an environmental and anti-war activist,” she said.
The celebrations this weekend run from the solstice, in the early hours of Saturday morning, to the official midsummer, on Tuesday. Despite the modernisation, British druids will still don long robes and stand in circles. “That’s the most brilliant thing about it – going out into the trees and standing there, a lot of us robed, and we sing the Awen [a traditional druid poetic chant],” said Hart.
“Standing at Stonehenge in white robes is lovely, but going into city centres, working with kids, looking at plants and animals, helping people understand the natural world is more relevant to druidry now than ever. The interface between nature and the population – it’s our work, going forward.”
Photograph Jake McPherson/SWNS
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