The Druid Revival In Ireland (originally published in Touchstone magazine, July 2007)
Over the last twenty years there has been a slow and steady increase in paganism
in Ireland which has gathered pace in the last few years. This article is an
examination of that re-emergence of paganism and a look at what direction it
might take in the future.
The seeds of the pagan revival in Ireland were sown not here but in the UK in
following the repeal of the Witchcraft act in 1951. Following this repeal two
strands of esoteric thought emerged into the mainstream via two men who have
become very well known in magical circles.
The first person was Gerald Gardner, author of several books, most notably ‘Witchcraft
Today’ which blew the lid off what had until then been a religion practiced
in total secrecy. It was Gardner who coined the term ‘Wicca’ and
almost single-handledy created a new form of the ancient pagan religion that
existed throughout Europe up until the middle ages. It is from Gardner’s
foundation that the Wiccan religion has grown, evolved and spread throughout
the western world.
The second person, who lead the other main strand in neo-paganism, was Ross
Nichols. Nichols was a contemporary of Gardner, the two men knew each other
and some say that they were in fact good friends. What is definite is that Ross
Nichols was chairman of the Ancient Druid Order (a freemason like druid order)
however he left the order and established the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids
(OBOD) which was set up as a vehicle for returning to celtic spirituality.
OBOD fell into chaos for some time following Ross’s death, however his
successor Philip Carr-Gomm eventually took up the reins again in 1988 and has
continued the process of exploring celtic spirituality in a modernized form
of druidry, gradually moving away from kabalistic and Masonic forms of ritual.
This re-emergence that took hold in Britain transferred to Ireland to some extent,
although this process was to some degree hampered by the much later repeal of
the Witchcraft Act (1983) in the Republic. Subsequent to the British pagan revival,
which is largely focused on British traditions, the Irish revival has gathered
pace but seems to have taken place in a slightly different way to in Britain.
Wicca has become very popular in Ireland, but as elsewhere it has subdivided
into several strands such as Faerie and Celtic Wicca. As with the original Wicca
these are primarily based on a combination of Kabala based magical systems (originating
from Jacobs ladder, Key of Solomon etc) with elements of Celtic and Neolithic
goddess worship. The Celtic/Faerie Wicca strands would tend to incorporate somewhat
more of the native celtic elements than Gardnerian/Alexandrian Wicca, however
they still operate within the basic semitic magical tradition.
The druid revival in Britain could be described as pan-celtic – it draws
on the traditions of Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, Northern England, Brittany and
Ireland. England itself, where the revival seems to be strongest is the country
which is least celticised, due largely to the influence of the Romans and later
on the Saxons and the Normans. Ireland, in contrast to England, despite conquest
and many attempts at cultural genocide has retained the bulk of it’s celtic
cultural heritage and still retains the native language in pockets round the
country (an gaeltacht).
As a result of the strong cultural heritage in this country the druidic revival
in Ireland seems to be split to some degree. There are those who take a nationalistic
or purist approach to druidry and those who are somewhat more eclectic in their
approach.
The main ideological difference it seems would centre around the magical systems
employed. Most of western esoteric tradition has its roots in kabalistic magic
which originates in the middle east, however this is not the case with celtic
magic. The druids and shamans of the pre-christian period had a system that
shares some of the concepts found in kabalistic magic, alchemy and witchcraft
and also in helenic and vedic culture. However the expression and practice of
these concepts is often quite different from what we know of druidic culture.
A basic example of this would the elements, kabalistic magic has 4, Chinese
has 5 and Celtic magic had 3 – sky, sea and land.
The divide between the pan-celtic and eclectic druid is not clear cut, it is
more of a continuum with druids appearing at any point between the two extremes
and in fact peoples’ ideas and beliefs are prone to change over time as
their knowledge and experience changes.
At one end the purist is hell-bent on preservation of celtic practice to the
exclusion of all else, those who take this approach often have extreme political
beliefs as well, which is clearly demonstrated in the alliance between celtic
purists and those on the political far right. At the other end there is the
‘anything goes’ druid who like a magpie will absorb or assimilate
anything that they find useful, even if it flies in the face of the tradition
that they have chosen to follow.
Fortunately the bulk of druids in Ireland seem to fall somewhere in the middle,
they have a respect and reverence for the ancient traditions of the Irish druids
and a genuine desire to rediscover celtic wisdom, however, they realize that
in the modern world respect and tolerance for other spiritual paths is essential.
There is at present some conflict between the two camps, with derision being
heaped on ‘eclectics’, foreign traditions and those who follow non-celtic
paths by a small but extremely vocal and politically motivated minority. The
bulk of Irish druids it would seem do not wish to be involved in this conflict
and wish to just practice their beliefs as they see fit. It may be the case
that their practices are a synthesis of several different traditions, but at
the end of the day we have to ask ourselves if intention is of lesser importance
than technique? I personally would have more time for those of pure intention
who lack skill and knowledge than I would for the erudite but arrogant bigot!
The world has become a very small place, no-one can live in total isolation
any more. While I value and wish to protect celtic culture from being overrun
by other cultural values I think that it is essential that we remain tolerant
and open minded, as I believe that failure to adapt and partake in exchange
with other cultures eventually leads to cultural death.