Fellowship Not Dogma
It has been said that if you get three Druids in a room that you will end up with at least nine different sets of beliefs and viewpoints. Modern Druids and modern Pagans are a highly individualistic and eclectic bunch. Our ability to share both common ground and sometimes vastly different ideas and views while still getting along is a great strength. So too is the diversity of our membership. OSC welcomes Druids of all genders, races, backgrounds, and orientations.
It is not our intent to push any set of rigid beliefs or dogma on anyone. While OSC has a distinctly fraternal revivalist flavor of Druidry, we respect and honor that other flavors of Druidry exist. Certainly, within OSC we work within the framework of Druid beliefs, practices, and mythologies. To do otherwise would be to renounce ourselves as Druids altogether. Within that framework there is much flexibility. Members are free to view Druidry as a religion, a spiritual path, or a philosophy. Members may view Druid beliefs and mythologies as supernatural or as lessons and stories to help make us better people. Members may view Druid ritual and magick as real magick, as engaging Jungian archetypes, as psychological exercises, or even as engaging reality through quantum mechanics. As an organization, we do not feel it our place to tell you what to believe, only to provide knowledge, information, and experience so that you can make educated decisions for yourself.
As for diversity, OSC respects a pluralistic form of diversity. Diversity is not always about having every possible type of individual represented in the same Grove. Certainly, that is one possibility for OSC Groves. OSC respects that in the past Druid Groves and schools often separated into peer groups based on gender. Fraternal Druid organizations were often separated into men’s groves and women’s circles. Even ancient Druids and Druidesses may have studied in separate schools and groves. Women were highly honored in Celtic cultures, and we certainly feel the title of “Bandrui” (female Druid) or Druidess should make a comeback for modern times. OSC allows for the formation of Groves and Triads that are either coed or single gender. We also allow for both coed and single-gender LGBTQ Groves. We respect the right of Transgender individuals to join groves that best match their gender identity. We realize that some people may feel more comfortable and at home in a coed environment and others in a single gender peer group, so we allow for both. The existence of single gender groves within our organization should not be seen as license to disparage or disrespect the other sex or gender. We do not condone nor tolerate exclusionary politics or hate within our Groves.
Before closing this section, we would like to point out the dangers of “Fundamentalist Druidry.” Despite the diversity of beliefs within Druidry, there are some Druids and Druid organizations who view Druidry as exclusively “their own.” Often these folks are strictly reconstructionist and seek to suppress or disparage any Druid or Druid organization that believes differently than they do or who doesn’t follow their strict ideas of how the ancient Druids believed or practiced. Rather than sharing their beliefs and practices in a constructive way, they seek to either force their own version of Druidry or make fun of those they feel are less knowledgeable than themselves. You will often find these folks calling those who don’t believe or practice as they do “fake Druids.” They are also keen on banning Druid books and authors who don’t fit their version of Druidry. They are often especially rabid when it comes to denouncing revivalist Druidry and many of the key figures in revivalist Druid history. There is no room for “Fundamentalist Druids” within OSC.