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 The Reformed
Druids of North America (“R.D.N.A.”) started out as
a quasi-religious Mesopagan protest
against coerced religion at a small midwestern college, back
in 1963 c.e. The RDNA was invented in order to test the freedom
allowed by the college’s rules requiring
all students to attend church. Much to the surprise of the founders,
even after they had won their protest, many of the Druids wanted
to continue the movement. The prayers to the Earth-Mother and
the old Celtic divinities, combined with Zen meditations, Christian
mystical writings and the Founders’
anarchistic philosophy now represented a valuable part of their
spiritual lives. Graduates of Carleton
College spread the Reformed Druid movement wherever they
went.
 It was in Berkeley, California that
one of these alumni, Robert Larson, became the local Archdruid
for a group of people, including myself, who were already thinking
of ourselves as Neopagans. Under our influence (and my own not-entirely-appreciated
agitation) an increasing overlap between RDNA and the Neopagan
community began to form. Today, the handful of active RDNA groves
(congregations), such as those led by Stephen Abbot in California
and Joan Carruth in New Hampshire (see photo on right) are almost
all Neopagan and are using the name “NRDNA”
(for New RDNA), while other Druidic movements,
such as ADF and Keltria,
have grown from the RDNA’s trunk
as specifically Neopagan branches.
According to one Reformed Druid document,
The Book of the Law, the Basic Beliefs of Reformed Druidism
run thusly:
“The object of the search for religious
truth, which is a universal and a never-ending search, may be
found through the Earth-Mother; which is Nature; but this is
on way, yea, one way among many. And great is the importance,
which is of spiritual importance, of Nature, which is the Earth-Mother;
for it is one of the objects of Creation, and with it do people
live, yea, even as they do struggle through life are they come
face-to-face with it.”
This has since been abbreviated, in The
Outline of the Foundation of Fundamentals, to the following
statements:
“1. Nature is good! and the second is
like unto the first: 2. Nature is good!”
The material realm is personified as the “Earth-Mother”
(or Mother Nature), one of the oldest archetypes known to humanity.
Many now apply this name to the biosphere as a whole, in order
to emphasize our dependence upon Her (though She is usually called
“Gaia” then). The nonmaterial essence of the universe(s)
is called “Béal” (which is believed to be an
ancient Celtic name of an abstract divinity, based on
“Bel” or
“shining one”),
and the concept is rather similar to some versions of the Native
American idea of the Great Spirit. Thus a polarity (not a dualism)
of matter and energy, female and male, darkness and light, is
established; but it is vital to realize that neither half of
the polarity is believed to be superior to the other.
The “object of
Humanity’s search” is called “awareness,”
and is defined as “unity
with Béal.” a task that can
only be accomplished by also attaining unity with the Earth-Mother.
Thus Reformed Druids are urged to develop all the different aspects
of their beings — physical, mental, emotional, psychic,
artistic and spiritual — in order to attain the required
state of dynamic balance that will lead them towards awareness.
Beyond these fundamentals, the philosophy
and (poly)theology of Reformed Druidism are kept deliberately
vague. It is up to each Reformed Druid to work out her or his
own path towards awareness.
The Reformed Druids are organized into congregations
called “groves,” each with from three to ten or more members (though
dozens of others may show up for major holiday celebrations).
Only a handful of these are still active, though a couple of
dozen have been founded over the years. Every grove is an independent
entity, and each may operate its own “flavor”
of Reformed Druidism. At times there have been
groves practicing (among the Neopagans) Norse, Wiccan, Eclectic,
Zen and even Hasidic Druidism. The older RDNA groves (i.e., the
ones run by original Carleton graduates) often continue to mix
Christian, Taoist, Native American, and other mystical traditions
with their Druidism. Individuals frequently follow more than
one variety at a time, depending upon their personal interests.
Attempts to keep any sort of national structure
going have been fruitless due to the strong individualism of
the members.
Obviously, Reformed Druidism is a uniquely
American phenomenon. Because of its tolerance for theological
and philosophical differences, its lack of discrimination against
women and other minority groups, its sense of humor about itself,
and its distrust of all organizational structures, it is drastically
different from most other philosophical and religious movements
that have called themselves “Druidic”
previously.
And yet the Reformed Druids do have some fundamental
concepts in common with the Paleopagan and Mesopagan Druids who
preceded them and the Neopagan Druids who developed from them.
Down through the ages, their communities have known how to tell
who the Druids among them were, because the role of the Druid
has always been clear — scholar and artist, poet and priest,
philosopher and magician — the one who seeks, preserves
and extends the highest wisdom her or his people are capable
of handling safely, and who uses that knowledge and inspiration
for the benefit of their community.
For more information about the RDNA, and to
read former Carleton Arch Druid Michael Scharding’s senior thesis, A Reformed Druid Anthology,
visit A
Psuedo-Official Homepage of the RDNA maintained by the Carleton
Grove of the RDNA. If you can physically visit Northfield, Minnesota,
you might want to see the Carleton College Archives’
“Modern
Druids Collection.” According
to College Archivist, Eric
Hillemann, “the Modern Druids
Collection includes the archives of the Reformed Druids of North
America, and in particular of the Carleton grove, as well as
a reference collection on other post-1963 druidic groups (RDNA
offshoots and others) consisting of donated publications and
other material.” St. Olaf’s College across the street from Carleton supposedly
also has a collection of Mesopagan Druid materials which may
have influenced the founders of the RDNA. For more on how ADF
was influenced by my participation in the RDNA, read my essay
on the Origins of Ár nDraíocht
Féin.
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