Book: Anthology by Reformed Druids
Reformed Druidism has its beginning at Carleton College in the spring of 1963 as a protest to the college's requirement that all students attend a certain number of religious services or meetings. One of the ways of fulfilling the requirement was by attending services of oneUs own religion. The Reformed Druids of North America proposed to test the degree of freedom permitted under this clause.Druidism was ideal for this attack. It had a perfect combination of exotic ritual plus some relevance to the so-called Judeo-Christian tradition. If religious credit were granted, the religious requirement could be exposed as totally ineffective. If, on the other hand, credit were denied, the college could be charged with bigotry. The initial attitude of the college was, "If we ignore them, they'll go away".
But the RDNA not only refused to go away, it grew, acquiring an advisor, and becoming a registered college organization. In June, 1964, the religious requirement was repealed. Even though the Druids rejoiced at this triumph, they recognized that their job was not over. For many members the movement had come to represent a valuable part of their spiritual lives. So there was the importance of continuing the RDNA as a protest against all coerced religion.
We still have a definate interest in the Celts, we celebrate the old holidays and full moons, but we've branched out a bit. We experiment with strange customs from a whole lot of different religions. We hold sweatlodges which are conducted in a manner similar to some Native American traditions, have an interest in meditations of all sorts and are always open to new ideas. We tend to focus on discussion of spiritual matters these days rather than protesting organized religion (many of us are members of some organized religion) but who knows what changes the future will bring.
Free eBooks (Can Be Downloaded):
Reformed Druids - Anthology 00 IntroductionReformed Druids - Anthology 07 Miscellany
John Arnott Macculloch - Eddic Mythology
