Orders of bards, ovates and druids

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Order of Bards (English 'Order of Bards, Druids & Ovates'), OBOD called, is a neodruidischer Order headquartered in England . It has become one of the liveliest druid associations with members in all parts of the world. According to its own information and the publication in the magazine "Touchstone" and the teaching books, the current membership is currently 17,000 members worldwide.

History of the Order

OBOD was founded in 1964 by Ross Nichols , a poet, artist, and historian, the chairman of the 1874 by Dr. Wentworth Little 'Ancient Druid Order' ( Ancient and Archaeological Order of Druids ), which was founded by an assembly of Freemasons, was a successor to the AOD and whose lines can be traced back to 1717 at the meeting in the 'Apple Tree Tavern' in Covent Garden , London to let. This was the same tavern where the Masonic lodges and other Druid orders met. Since then, the ADO has exclusively performed ceremonies in Stonehenge together with the Druids of the Universal Bond (An Druidh Uileach Braithreachas, or ADUB) and this right still applies today. After the death of ADO chairman Robert MacGregor in 1964 and the division of the ADO, Ross Nichols took over part of the order and formed a religious community from it.

Nichols was a friend of Gerald Gardner , and while Gardner was working on the introduction of Wicca into the modern world, Nichols turned to the practice of modern druidism. He combined the cultivation of Celtic mythology with the art of bards and introduced the celebration of all eight annual feasts in addition to the training courses for initiations in the three degrees, in accordance with classical forms of the tripartite division of the priestly degrees. Philip Carr-Gomm took over the reign of the order in 1988 after the death of Ross Nichols. The previously personal training courses have now been designed as distance learning and sent to members around the world. In addition, a network of tutors has been established who are responsible for the three grades of Bard , Ovate and Druid . Members meet at festivals and so-called camps all over the world and thus there is a worldwide network of learning groups called 'seedgroups' and 'groves' as communities. Philip Carr-Gomm handed over the leadership of the Order in 2020 to his successor Eimear Burke .

There is also a public website, private pages of the groups and the order, several internet forums, the monthly magazine Touchstone, which is only sent to members. Other magazines such as Druidenstein, Serpentstar, the Druid Magazine or Il Calderone are freely accessible as PDF files on the Order's Internet and Facebook pages. Magazines are also published quarterly in Dutch and Australia.

List of chairmen from 1717 until today

  • John Toland 1717-1722
  • William Stukely 1722-1765
  • Edward Finch Hatton 1765-1771
  • David Samway 1771-1799
  • William Blake 1799-1827
  • Geoffrey Higgins 1827-1833
  • William Carpenter 1833-1874
  • Edward Vaughan Kenealy 1874-1880
  • Gerald Massey 1880-1906
  • John Barry O'Callaghan 1906-1909
  • GW MacGregor-Reid 1909-1946
  • Robt. AF MacGregor-Reid 1946-1964
  • Ross Nichols 1964-1975
  • Phillip Carr-Gomm 1988-2020
  • Eimear Burke since 2020

Goals of the Order

Over the years the OBOD has successfully developed its doctrine of druidism . For over a year, students are guided as a 'journey' through ancient Bardic stories introducing ancient rites and mysteries . The course uses insights from the fields of history, mythology and psychology to develop the spirituality of each student as well as their inner skills. From a certain degree of self-discovery, an inner attitude emerges naturally, a view of things that would like to work towards the earth, to regard the whole cosmos as holy (God-bound, God-sprung and therefore per se as divine) and therefore to respect and preserve it.

The virtues of the former Masonic lodges are still part of the religious branch of the OBOD, which is also based on the content of the Barddas and the writings of the Pherrylt (which probably correspond more to those of the Culdeer ).

At gatherings, the members enjoy the narrative art of the bards (old sagas and myths, as well as modern songs and stories, based on the appropriate context), for example accompanied by harp , guitar or bodhrán . It is not uncommon for the participants to sit around a campfire. They hold ceremonies and workshops and also meet tutors and leaders of the order or the groves there. One member once said, "We invented a way to research and 'immerse' in old stories and myths so that they became reality and an entertaining game. All of this happened between two fields and a forest, we hold druid sweat lodge rituals and Initiations from and great communal ceremonies under the stars ".

Atypically compared to many other Druid orders, the OBOD accepts members regardless of their religion. B. means that people of Christian faith can also become members there without necessarily having elements of faith that are otherwise "typical" for druids such as B. To conform to reincarnation . In this respect, Druidism in the sense of the teaching of the OBOD does not necessarily have to be understood as a religion in the actual sense, but can be more or less accepted as an attitude or way of life, for example, depending on personal feelings.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Christianity and OBOD (Christianity and OBOD) . Retrieved November 16, 2011.