Entering The Druid Heritage Society

Druidry in

The Druid Heritage Society

The Druid Heritage Society seeks to establish hereditary Druids in other family lines. Membership in The Druid Heritage Society has three levels:

Associate member (a single $12.00 entry fee; there are no other fees)
Full Member (a single $25.00 completion fee; there are no other fees)
Druid (no fee)

The Associate Member in the Druid Heritage Society

Everyone begins as an Associate Member, a person who is steeped in the Celtic tradition, especially in the tradition of the region whence he or she traces descent. To be an Associate Member of the Society, one must ...

pay the entry fee (see below);
send an email to the Society with the following information:
- evidence of Celtic descent by giving a brief written account of the family's Celtic oral tradition or (if one plans to seek the Geis and become a Druid) a sound genealogical record showing Celtic descent;
- an explanation regarding why one seeks to be a member of the Druid Heritage Society;

After paying the entry fee and upon our receipt of these emails, an email will be sent providing the information needed for beginning study in The DHS.

The Full Member in the Druid Heritage Society

Once the Associate Member completes the studies and submits the required documentation, the person submits the completion fee of $25 and requests the Full Member certificate. Only Full Members are eligible to become Druids.

The Druid Heritage Society Study Program

The training of the Society is self-paced and self-directed. The training covers

Druid history;
Druid spirituality;
Druid transformation.

There are no tests. Instead, when one completes each of the three levels, an affadavit is requested by the Associate Member, provided by The Society, completed by the Associate Member, notarized, then returned to The Society to qualify for the next level. The DHS provides the blank affadavit, and the notarized affadavit serves to establish that one has read and studied the texts.

The Society does not sell the books for study. The texts the Society uses are easily available from the library or from online new and used book stores (www.amazon.com or www.alibris.com or www.powells.com).

The Druid in the Druid Heritage Society

The Geis (a kind of initiation which consists of a charge and a taboo statement) receives and empowers one as a Druid. In the case of one who is establishing herself or himself as the first Family Druid in a given family and who is a Full Member of the Society, the Geis is given only at the triannual pilgrimage to a Celtic country. That first Family Druid becomes the ArchDruid of the family. Thereafter, it is preferred by the Society that the ArchDruid introduce family members into the Society and bring them on the pilgrimage to make them Druids.

Two Distinctions and their Names

The Society holds two distinctions of Druidry based upon the practice either of Personal Druidry or of Family Druidry:

The Personal Druid -- the Druid in a Family holds his or her Druidry privately and does not bring family members into the Society for the maintenance of the Celtic tradition; the Personal Druid does not hold the title of ArchDruid;
The Hereditary Druid -- the Druid of a Family brings family members into Druidry for the maintenance of the family's Celtic heritage. This person is the family's ArchDruid. The Society prefers that the Family Druid introduce eligible family members into the Society and that they be taken on the Society's triannual pilgrimage where the family member receives the Geis from his or her Family Hereditary Druid. After the ArchDruid's death, the title passes to the next Druid in chronological succession of being made, if the Druid will accept the title. If not, the title passes on to the next Druid in chronological succession who is willing to accept the title and its duties.

The two distinctions of Druids are denoted by the family name of the one from whom Celtic descent is claimed. For example, if Albert is a Personal Druid, he is known as Albert in Gryphon (since he traces his Celtic descent from Sophia Gyphon). If Kimberly is a Family Hereditary Druid, she is known as Kimberly of Gryphon (since she traces her Celtic descent from Sophia Gyphon). That is to say, the family name which follows the in or of is the family name of the one from whom Celtic descent is claimed. One might claim celtic descent from a great-grandmother/father Reilly, in which case one would be "first name" of Reilly.

Passing on the Geis

Only the ArchDruid of a family can make Druids. For example, if a Mother of a family enters the Society, completes the training, and then takes the Pilgrimage to receive the Geis, that woman is the ArchDruid of her family. She can make Druids of...

her sons and daughters of birth (not adopted children unless they have Celtic heritage);
her grandsons and granddaughters who are the natural children of her children;
her parents, brothers, sisters, and aunts and uncles by blood, as well as her blood cousins.

But that ArchDruid cannot make Druids of...

her husband;
her in-laws;
anyone outside her blood family line.

Of course, the Society prefers that anyone made a Druid by an ArchDruid would first enter the Society to take the training. The ArchDruid need not require the pilgrimage of her/his Druids, but, if so, then it is the family's ArchDruid that grants the Geis in the Celtic land.

Otherwise, only the Old One of The Druid Heritage Society may pass the Geis to anyone outside a Family line. Private Druids do not pass on the Geis unless a family member expresses interest in becoming a Druid, in which case, the Private Druid becomes an ArchDruid, with appropriate change of designation.

How To Begin the Application Procedure

First, send your $12.00 entry fee by clicking the button, below:
The $12.00 fee covers the preparation of and the Priority mailing of the Society's Associate Membership certificate. The completion of the study admits one to the Full Member level, the final stage before becoming a hereditary Druid.
send an email to the Society with the following information:
- evidence of Celtic descent by giving a brief written account of the family's Celtic oral tradition or (if one plans to seek the Geis and become a Druid) a sound genealogical record showing Celtic descent;
- an explanation regarding why one seeks to be a member of the Druid Heritage Society;

After paying the entry fee and upon our receipt of these emails, an email will be sent providing the information needed for beginning study in The DHS.

All communications, all emails, and one's membership in the Society are kept private.

To send your email, click HERE. Once your entry fee payment arrives and your email arrives, the address where to send your materials will be provided.

Have You Completed Your Studies?

If you are an Associate Member and have finished your studies and submitted the materials, you are now ready to be received as a Full Member. To receive your Full Member Certificate and status, pay your $25.00 by clicking on this button:

The Pilgrimage is always being planned, but there must be at least twelve persons in the pilgrimage group for it to happen. When twelve persons are ready to travel, the pilgrimage is finalized. We usually use an Irish tour agency which offers superior prices and accomodations. You will be constantly kept informed of Society activities.

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