The Druid Heritage Society

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Secular and Social Druidism

The Druid Heritage Society and Religion

The Reclamation of Celtic Roots and the Hereditary Druid

Druids of The Druid Heritage Society are independent and hereditary Druids who seek to inculcate and practice one or more of the following. . .

• establish and maintain within families their own hereditary Druid line;
• discover, reveal, and maintain the Celtic roots and traditions of the Druid's family line;
• find and maintain genealogies;
• find, study, and recommend to family members the best in Celtic books;
• correct and restore Celtic names within the family;
• introduce and make known Celtic music and art within the family line;
• maintain Celtic legends and stories;
• keep alive Celtic methods of healing;
• discover and make known Celtic wisdom;
• commemorate in a manner which the Druid thinks appropriate the traditional Celtic festival days and other societal celebrations which would enrich a family's Celtic tradition.

The Society believes that these activities are best undertaken by the person who, traditionally, took care of these matters -- the Druid in the family line. The Society further believes that to be a Druid, one needs Celtic hereditary descent, social standing, learning, and a Geis.

Celtic Descent, Social Standing, Learning, and the Geis

• By hereditary descent, we refer to men and women of either Celtic birth or descent through paternal or maternal parents or grandparents of any generation.
• By birthright, we mean that Druidism is based on one's Celtic birthland or the Celtic birthland of one's maternal or paternal ancestors. We believe that those who were born in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Breton, the Aran Islands, and certain other select sites pass on their Celtic heritage through heredity, and we further believe that the "dormant" Celtic heritage may be awakened and reclaimed through a practice of the secular Druid tradition.
• By Initiation, we mean the passing on of Druidic status and power through the permanent granting of the Geis.

Secondly, we hold that tradition requires that the Druid be in the professional class. In modern times, the professional class includes . . .

• teachers, professors, administrators, and support staff in public and private education at all levels;
• the health professions;
• the clergy;
• the legal profession at all levels;
• military non-comissioned and commissioned officers;
• law enforcement officers of all ranks;
• fire safety personnel at all ranks;
• those with advanced, earned academic degrees (the M.A. and its variations, the M.F.A., and the Ph.D. or other doctorate);
• and those persons who have retired from or once worked in these fields.

Thirdly, we hold that Druids must be learned about the Celtic Tradition, not only in general, but in particular. Intelligent study of Celtism is essential so that one can discern among the legends, lies, folklore, and facts that have accrued to Celtic studies. No Druid should teach or hold absurdities about the Celtic tradition. While most Druids of this Society hold college and university degrees, these are not essential to proper learning and scholarship in Celtic studies. Unlike Caesar, we do not wish to spread falsehoods about the Druidic and Celtic tradition which we cherish.

Finally, and most important, it is the Geis -- the traditional charge (or, sometimes, taboo) -- that makes one a Druid. For us, it is the Geis, following one's Druidical training, that gives one the status and power of Druid. Nothing else will work. One may have the descent, the status, and the learning, but without the Geis, one is not a Druid. The woman or man of Celtic origin or descent may seek a Geis and hold it personally or, as a family ArchDruid, may also pass it down to other blood family members of direct Celtic descent. The Geis is traditional, usually very old, is created and granted by a very, very special person (a warrior patriarch or someone of royal or chiefly status), and often remains within a family line. It appears unlikely that a "new" Geis has been created and granted since 1900.

The Forming of The Druid Heritage Society

For decades, the Geis was kept in the family as a precious Celtic heritage, but, finally, only a few family members were interested in the family's Druid and Celtic tradition. Thinking that the Geis in the family might be lost or abandoned, the Druids of Gryphon-Christy decided to establish a stable Society whose members, after qualifying, could also receive the Geis and become hereditary Druids in or for their own family line. The Gryphon-Christy Geis is now passed on to members of the Society (no longer just Gryphon-Christy family members) during one of its triannual pilgrimages to a Celtic homeland (usually, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Breton, or the Aran Islands).

Entering the Society

To learn more about reclaiming one's Celtic heritage through The Druid Heritage Society, click HERE

Note that --

• . . .we respect all Druid groups . . . and that
• . . .our beliefs and practices reflect our own structure and procedure, based on heredity and the Geis and are not to be construed as criticisms regarding Druid Orders.

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