Celtic Neopaganism

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A group of Neo-druids from the Sylvan Grove of the OBOD at Stonehenge on the morning of the summer solstice 2005.

Celtic Neopaganism refers to Neopagan movements based on, or loosely inspired by, historical Celtic polytheism. There are at least three currents to be distinguished:

Neo-druidism, grew out of the Celtic revival in 18th century Romanticism.
- The Druid Order (1717)
- Ancient Order of Druids (1781)
- Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (1888)
- Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD, 1964)
- British Druid Order (1970s)
- Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF, 1983)
Syncretic or New Age
- Celtic Wicca, loose syncretism of Wicca with aspects of Celtic mythology; the mainstream Wiccan "Wheel of the Year" syncretizes Celtic and Germanic festivals; Wicca itself syncretizes aspects of many different religions and cultures
- Church of the Universal Bond
- Reformed Druids of North America
- "Celtic Neoshamanism", based on Michael Harner's controversial "Core Shamanism", a New Age current of the early 1980s focused on particular ideas of the "Otherworld"; proponents include John and Caitlin Matthews
Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism (CR), Celtic Polytheistic reconstructionism, an attempt to form a more historically accurate and authentic tradition, originates in the mid-1980s.

There is a certain amount of overlap, double membership or "cross-pollination" between some of these groups, in particular between the more historically oriented currents of Neo-druidism and CR on one hand, and more syncretic Neo-druid groups (such as the Reformed Druids of North America) and New Age or Wicca on the other.

[edit] Literature

Adler, Margot (1979) Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other Pagans in America Today
Bonewits, Isaac] (2006) Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism. New York, Kensington Publishing Group ISBN 0-8065-2710-2 Chapter 9: "Celtic Reconstructionists and other Nondruidic Druids"
Kondratiev, Alexei (1998) The Apple Branch: A Path to Celtic Ritual. San Francisco, Collins. ISBN 1-898256-42-X (1st edition), ISBN 0-806-52502-9 (2nd edition) [also reprinted without revision under the title Celtic Rituals]
Laurie, Erynn Rowan (1995) A Circle of Stones: Journeys and Meditations for Modern Celts. Chicago, Eschaton. ISBN 1-57353-106-5
NicDhàna, Kathryn Price; Erynn Rowan Laurie, C. Lee Vermeers, Kym Lambert ní Dhoireann, et al. (2007) The CR FAQ - An Introduction to Celtic Reconstructionist Paganism. River House Publishing. ISBN 978-0-6151-5800-6