#OBOD Druid

[thehazeldruid]

Fairly certain I’ve lost this necklace.

Definitely need to find it again.

[skeletorswaifu]

My Experience with OBOD

Hello! A long long time ago in a galaxy far awaaaay... I said that i would have updates about the lessons ive been taking from OBOD, Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids.

Heres my take.

I think druidry is fascinating. I think i am going to stick to nature/Earth based spirituality because it is something i feel deeply connected to. However, I will not be taking the Ovate or Druid course from OBOD.

I believe they mean well, and some of the lessons are informative, if not just telling me things i already knew.

HOWEVER, there is a big emphasis on spending money. Especially when it comes to buying land or making a pilgrimage to stonehenge or other places thought to have druidic origins.

I feel like OBOD is unfortunately run by people who might never have had to experience poverty or had to worry about making rent. They talk often about changing your fiscal ways and habits to become more attuned to a spiritual or true self.

I by no means, have the money to run out and buy land. Especially not with a seed group of people I hardly know. I do not have the means to fiscally downgrade, there's nowhere for me to cut costs. My husband and i live with room mates and have two teenagers to look after now.

I believe respecting the land I'm currently on and its native people and trying my hardest to be green is good enough. I will continue to honor the land spirits and try to connect to the Earth in my own way.

I think if you have the economic means, that OBOD would be a wonderful group to be apart of. That if you have the time and you feel pulled to Druidry, that OBOD is not the worst group to join. They are open minded, inclusive, and even lean towards feminine divine.

But in the long run, i think i could have learned all of the same things from general research instead.

Thank you to OBOD for teaching me all that you have. It was fun, interesting, and I DID learn new things. The classes are simple, sweet, to the point. The poetry and songs are wonderful. It brings joy knowing there is a druid course that people can look into and learn from.

I just wish it wasn't so heavily monetarily involved and run by so many older white people. I get enough of that from my own government.

Much love, Jess.

[bardicspirit]

ᖭི༏ᖫྀ fairy garden

[re-wilding-almaguin]

Initiation

Today for the first time i finally felt ready to actually perform my initiation and enter the bardic grade formally, I have been putting it off for the last several weeks as my mind has been in turmoil with a number of personal issues. i awoke this morning finally ready to accept my life for what it is and work towards finding the balance i crave both within myself and with the rest of the world.

Having completed the ceremony i feel a sense of peace that has always been difficult for me to capture. i have also come to a decision regarding my path as a bard, while i have dabbled in a few different areas of the arts my truest love has always been cooking and not only being able to express myself through the dishes i create but working to create balance between all the ingredients i bring together bringing the harmony that i want to see in the world onto a plate.

[terrible-titles]

I recently started the Obod bard course on druidry and would love to find people actively posting about druidry to follow. You don’t have to identify as a druid, but just be curious about it, or even paganism in general, and discuss it on your blog. I don’t mind some visually aesthetic content (in fact, I quite like it!) but I do like a mix of written content in there as well. I’m not a pinterest-y type person--my favorite types of blogs allow me to read about other people’s journeys and the wisdom they’ve found.

If that sounds like you, please feel free to like this post so I can check out your blog. Also, feel free to reach out if you’d like! I’d love to find people to chat with.  

[harbinger-broth]

I've been very focused on the fact that I've been around pagans and druids since i was born. that my mother is a priestess and has hosted workshops alongside John Michael Greer, a previous archdruid of the AODA. How my parents started a grove, and were very involved in my local community when it came to druids, ovates, and bards.

but here's the thing:

it doesn't matter.

whether you are new to druidry or have been raised with these beliefs drawn into your skin by your mother's soft grass scented hands. we were born into this universe, and we all have our own paths to carve out. those new to the concept have theirs, and while I may have been shown many maps of other's paths, my own will still need to be carved by me. my own path has only really very recently begun.

there is a phrase amongst thru hikers that iI think can be applied here. "hike your own hike." I'm no better or worse than anyone else on the path, particularly because there is no one way to do druidry. hike your own hike. walk your own path. connect with others. you are standing in the same soil whether you know it or not. bridge the gap. connect. love one another.

at the end of the day, I am new to this. I am only just getting past my shins into the waters of druid practice. Someone who found out about modern druidry two weeks ago can absolutely be at the exact same depth as me. and could maybe even be further along. That is okay.

I have nothing to prove. I just have to be.

we all do.

[haloquin]

Being Bardic at Druid Camp 2023

(Before I tell you where I’ve been let me just bounce excitedly about my debut single, Red Goddess, Come – out this week. Listen here! ) It’s been a few years, as one would expect, since we’ve gathered at Druid Camp, and this year it returned to the world in a Welsh venue not too far from me. Pembrokeshire was very wet, but that’s rather the price we pay for such a gorgeous green land. Druid…

[darachinis-blog]

The Old Ones are watching... 😏 Weekend mood! 😊🌟❤️ Blessings! Emrys /|\ #druidry #oldways #paganism #pagan #heathen #druids #druidyzm #druid #occult #occultism #obod #pagansofinstagram #witchcraft #folkmagic #balticpagan #celtic #celticpagan #poganie #magic #ritual #ritualmagic #gaypagan #ovate #spiritualgrowth #magiccommunity #sorcerer #sorcery #darksouls #witchy #witchesofinstagram (w: Osterode, Olsztyn, Poland) https://www.instagram.com/p/CiAplV3NufM/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[minnesotadruids]

Is there any proof that Crowley had anything to do with the druid orders? Did he influence any teaching of druids?

Ross Nichols who created the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (OBOD) knew Aleister Crowley personally, but I don't know as to whether or not Nichols adopted any of Crowley's teachings for OBOD.

His teachings were certainly not a factor in the foundation of Reformed Druidism either. Reformed Druidism was also created entirely without the knowledge of the existence of Wicca, Thelema, Golden Dawn, Ordo Templi Orientis, or other pagan or occult practices.

The inspiration for Reformed Druidism was largely that of:

Victorian Era writings such as Frazer's Golden Bough

Freemasonry and Masonic hierarchies

Episcopalian ritual progression

Sufism, Taoism, Zen, and Vedic mysticism

Professor John Messenger who came to the Reformed Druids from Queen's University Belfast's Institute of Irish Studies and served as their advisor

Even in the later years of Reformed Druidism as the practices evolved slightly, the original influences still persist, and the methods of Crowley continue to be ignored.

[bird-of-eternia]

🌨️🌰Winter Bite🌳👑

Jack Frost nips at my fingers and nose

A reminder to respect the cold, the ice, the death. The sun smiles millions of miles away, so close I could touch it. It burns my greedy fingers as I reach lustfully for that warmth.

The shadows cool my desire, goose bumps tingling my arms.

My joints click in the grey blue of the last winter winds

Oh, to feel the heat again, my muscles ache.

Soon the holly king will fall, the king of summer rising to the throne.

I kneel on my boney knees.

Long live the holly king in his slumber

Hail the Oak King.

[thelittlehedgegrove]

12/24/2023

It's been ages since I've been on this blog, but happened upon it the other day while looking up a post I had on here about Ogham Runes, and realized just how much I miss this blog. I'm going to try to bring this blog back to life, again.

It's funny how the years change people. Looking back my perspectives on Druidry seems so different. I think, 'naive', is a good word. I wasn't wrong in what I posted before in anything about what Druidry is, but from where I am now, it shows just how much of a beginner I was to everything that Druidry really is. I hope to share more of that here.

For one thing, OBOD isn't anything like I originally thought it was back on my first journal entry. I go on about how weary I was about joining anything too 'organized' and that I didn't like the idea of levels and people over me, etc.

That was completely an incorrect assumption.

I absolutely love being a member of the Order. There is no dogma in the group and you can believe in whatever you want to believe in as to deities, deity, or none of. All the practices taught are open to interpretation to what makes you feel comfortable and connect with.

The group is more just like a big spiritual family where we can meet for wonderful gatherings online, or in person, meditate together, and celebrate. I've also been blown away by the course work. I've been going very slowly through it, but I think that works for me. It allows me to really feel and sit with each lesson and really become a part of it in my life before going onward.

Peace /|\

[thehazeldruid]

If it's alright for you to talk about why did you become a druid and with obod especially? What do you like about it? Where do you do your own thing because you don't feel the obod thing?

A Druid because the path feels right to me. My personal practice and general demeanor toward religion and spirituality in general was always aligned with druidry before I even knew it was a thing. Having been raised catholic, I was fairly sheltered from other spiritual paths.

As for why the OBOD, it was a personal choice and preference really. Most of the Druid organizations out there are, generally, the same. With a few different practices and beliefs and names for different things. But in general, the beliefs and structures are all rather similar. The RDNA was a close second choice.

What I like about it is pretty much everything. From the structure, the group itself, the members I know personally, and the more famous members that I only know of. The learning packages they offer to members as well as the other services they offer are top notch. It’s like a large worldwide extended family really.

As far as where I ‘do my own thing’ it’s kind of… all of it really. The teachings within the OBOD aren’t super structured like “you have to do this or that” it’s more a loose framework and ideology, with thought provoking ideas and mythology, methods of tying the magical to the mundane, and seeing the magical within the mundane.

It mostly all lines up as it is though, with my personal beliefs and practices.

Thank you so much for asking! If you would like to know more my dms are always open!

/|\

M.G.

The Hazel Druid

[skeletorswaifu]

I'm gonna do it. I'm signing up for the bardic course. Any suggestions/advice/study tips?

[kochemusic]

This is a magical forest theme I wrote for the dnd group campaign my friends have! https://youtu.be/cDac6zqmNlc

[paganposting]

Hey! Sorry for the question, but I was wondering where to find resources on getting into druidry/how to find a grove? I noticed you suggested not doing looking online—another thing I wondered was if it was a closed practice?

alright so this might be a long answer

i'll answer the second question first- is druidry a closed practice?

theres debate but the consensus is largely that no, it is not closed. some argue that it is semi-closed in the sense that it must be practiced only by people who have done tons of research and study on celtic history if they aren't celtic. i personally dont love this idea much, several members of my grove practice multiple religions alongside druidry like judaism or indigenous american religions. i dont feel like they should have this extra burden of proving their dedication essentially for not being white 🤷‍♂️

now- how to find a grove

first you need to know what type of druidry you are interested in. there are two main large druid organizations that i'm aware of

1) OBOD (Order of Bards Ovates and Druids)

this group is largely neopagan, focuses on welsh and british traditions, and draws heavily from arthurian mythology- although i believe their new president is an Irish woman so we'll see how that influences the order. they have a website where you can find a chapter near you.

2) ADF (Ár nDraíocht Féin or A Druid Fellowship)

this group is largely revivalist/ reconstructionist, focuses on irish traditions, and draws heavily from irish mythology. they also have a website where you can find a chapter near you.

outside of those there are of course independent groves. thats what im part of! these are more difficult to find, i would probably begin my search for one on facebook and asking around local witchy shops. lots of these groups are more informal and dont have a specific website. the advice to steer away from the internet is because you will find a lot of snake oil salesmen unfortunately.

one online source i do really highly recommend is the irish pagan school. they offer courses and online classes and guided meditations that are all extremely thorough and led by indigenous irish people. they're also launching the ogham academy which is super cool if that's something you're interested in!

for the most part youre just going to have to show up in person to a lot of places until you find somewhere that fits. also, dont be afraid of being the only druid in a different pagan group if you like that community and theyre willing to have you! i personally think that having a strong community is more important than being in a druids only club lmao

hope that helps!!!