Is wicca a decendant of druidism?

Question

Just wondering because they seem very similar.

Also, where can I find all the essential writings in order to practice druidism?

Answer 1

No, it isn't.

Wicca was invented in the 1950s by Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente.

No-one actually knows for sure what the Druids actually believed, or practised; the druid colleges were exterminated by the Romans almost two thousand years ago. Since Druidism was exclusively an oral tradition, no records have survived; there are no 'descendants' of Druidism.

Modern 'druidism' is very similar to Wicca because they were both based on the same 18th century Romantic ideas.

Answer 2

Wicca is not really a descendant of anything, because that implies a continual evolution of thought, which doesn't appear to be the case with Wicca. Wicca took form in the mid 20th century and drew on many influences: some greek myth, and whole lot ceremonial magical thought, a dabbling of Celtic culture, etc.

"Druidism" covers a variety of different practices. Since the 18th century people have been showing up at Stonehenge in white and calling themselves druids. Those people, however, considered this more of a brotherly fraternity and considered themselves Christian by religion.

Some people were also investigating Druidism as a Pagan religion around the same time that Wicca was continuing to develop, and there was a lot of cross pollination, which is why Wicca and modern Druidism often show many similarities. (again however, it depends on which Druids...there are several groups of people who identify themselves as Druids today)

However, modern Druids generally admit that they are, at most, influenced by ancient Druid practices but are not anywhere near identical. (Celtic reconstructionists are the ones who attempt to accurately recreate practices) So even if you find a similarity between Druids and Wiccans, that doesn't mean that the ancient Druids were doing anything of the sort.

Unfortuantely, some Wiccans do perpetuate the idea that Wicca is a descendant of Druidism, and the claims are really painful. For example, I've heard that the idea of four physical elements is Druidic (it's not, it Greek. The Druids divided the world into land, sea and air.) I've heard that Druids called quarters (no evidence of any such thing) and that they celebrated the Wheel of the Year (the Wiccan calendar, a system of eight holidays that is uniquely Wiccan. The Druids did't even celebrate all eight holidays, and they certainly didn't ascribe the same meaning to those days as the Wiccan Wheel of the Year does.)

For Druid sources, I would suggest going to www.davensjournal.com. He's a longtime sensible modern Druid with tons of resources to suggest.

Answer 3

Not quite.

Romantic Druidism was around first, so it had some influence on the "esoteric community" that might have lent a few ideas to Gardner when he was starting things up.

Certain forms of Druidry are similar to Wicca because of the close connection between Nichols and Gardner. However, not all forms of Druidry are influenced by Nichols' work - in fact, some branches are radically different. I've seen a few folks argue that Wicca, in turn, influenced a lot of non-Wiccan Paganism simply by virtue of being so popular and available, but that's something the jury's still out on.

So, if you're speaking solely in terms of modern neo-Druidry, the Nichols-derived stuff might qualify as a "cousin" of Wicca, but I'd disagree that the other forms are related.

Answer 4

No. Wicca is a religion derived from Romantic era notions of the nature of the religions of the past, with healthy doses of ceremonial magical practice thrown in. It is no older than the early decades of the 20th century. I recommend the book "The Triumph of the Moon" by Ronald Hutton for a good history of the rise of NeoPagan witchcraft.

Druidism... I don't know a whole lot about that, except that based on what I've read, it did NOT survive in an unbroken line from ancient times, but is instead a reconstructionist religion. And based on what I've read, it has very few similarities to Wicca.

Answer 5

Greetings!

No, but they are learning to get along, as "Wica" was hiding in the same Forest as the Druids, away from the sight of those who kill, burn, and torture.

Some Druid writings are well preserved, in the Books of the Irish Monks who tried to keep the existing manuscripts alive by reproducing them, sometimes in a Christian format. And fragments survive in the accounts of Romans and Greeks, including the actual evidence found on the Continent-Coligny Calendar, Gundestrup Cauldron, and the thousands of Artefacts found throughout Europe and Asia Minor.

While Druidry is not just a Religion, it has Religious aspects, along with Science, Morals, History, Divination-etc. Scotland and Ireland were not occupied by the Romans, and the Culture continued through the Ages-and still continues, sometimes in another Form.

Gardner decided to try and link his "Witch-Faith" with Celtic Sources, so Wiccans sometimes use Celtic Gods, Festivals, Elements of Ritual, Cosmology, but they mix it with many other Ways, like Norse, Anglo, Roman, etc.

That`s just fine, they(as a Religion) are not part of the Ancient Culture, BUT, are part of the Modern Mix.

There are many sites out there, and I just found some new ones that have very interesting stuff! The hard part is separating the Chaff from the Wheat, but you will enjoy it, I`m sure!

/!\

edit:

"The Chaff" seems to have given all the Druid Folk a thumbs down!
3 times back at ya`!

Answer 6

Both are indigenous to the British Isles and both are documented more than 1,000 years ago by outsiders (the Romans for druidry, and the Domesday Book and similar content for Wicca).

No, Wicca is not a descendant of Druidry. They are parallel and equally inexact in their documented and documentable history.

Druidry follows a solar calendar in its spritual practices, and secondarily works with a lunar calendar.

Wicca follows a lunar calendar in its spiritual practices, and secodarily works with a solar calendar.

The modern-day history of both spiritual practices are interwoven, largely because practioners who actively researched their own occult history during the past couple of centuries found many of the same sources.

For example, Gerald B. Gardner was a Co-Mason, a Druid, a Witch, and a member of the OTO.

One of the points about druidry is that the druids practices oral lore-keeping, and committed their teachings to memory, rather than writing them down. (Yes, they had writing in the form of the Celtic ogham alphabet, but they didn't use it in the same way as the Roman Empire did.)

Modern druidic spirituality is available from a number of organizations in Britain and in North America.
The Order of Bards, Ovates, & Druids (OBOD)
The Henge of Keltria
Ar n'Draoicht Fein (ADF)
Reformed Druids of North America

Authors writing currently on Druidry:
Ross Nichols
Philip Carr-Gomm
John Mathews

Answer 7

Wicca means willow according to Druids. Yes, SOME branches of Wicca are descended from druidism.

Answer 8

Wicca and modern druidry are very similar, because they were 'reconstructed' at the same time, by 2 men working together. Gerald Gardner, founder of modern wicca, and Ross Nichols, founder of modern druidry, we great friends, and worked together a great deal to contruct the main tenets of their new systems.
Interestingly they were both naturists too, but Nichols did not make this a large part of druidry, other than for those who wished to work this way.

Answer 9

No writings from druids exist, because the druids were Celtic, and the Celts used oral history and tradition to pass along their rituals and beliefs--so no one really knows what the rituals or the beliefs of the druids were.

Wicca might be similar - there are simliarities in Wicca to other pagan religions, as well.

The druids were thought to be the priests - it was not the religion itself. The rank of druid was passed down through inheritance and training, so you won't be able to be a druid.

Answer 10

NO, definitely not. Wicca and druid traditions come from separate sources.

Look up Ár nDraíocht Féin in Wikipedia or visit their web site below