Druidry, sometimes termed Druidism, is a modern spiritual or religious movement that promotes the cultivation of honorable relationships with the physical landscapes, flora, fauna, and diverse peoples of the world, as well as with nature deities, and spirits of nature and place. Theological beliefs among modern Druids are diverse; however, all modern Druids venerate the divine essence of nature.
The Grand Druid of Brittany Gwenc'hlan Le Scouëzec stands at the centre surrounded by the Archdruid of Wales and the Grand Bard of Cornwall, at the celebration of the hundredth anniversary of the Gorseth of Brittany in Hanvec, year 1999.
Modern Druidry takes its name from the Iron Age druids referred to in various Greco-Roman sources, as depicted here in a nineteenth-century illustration.
The Druid Order Ceremony at Tower Hill, London on the Spring Equinox of 2010
A group of druids of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids in the early morning glow of the sun, shortly after having welcomed the sunrise at Stonehenge on the morning of the summer solstice.
A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. While they were reported to have been literate, they are believed to have been prevented by doctrine from recording their knowledge in written form. Their beliefs and practices are attested in some detail by their contemporaries from other cultures, such as the Romans and the Greeks.
Imaginative illustration of 'An Arch Druid in His Judicial Habit', from The Costume of the Original Inhabitants of the British Islands by S.R. Meyrick and C.H. Smith (1815), the gold gorget collar copying Irish Bronze Age examples.
An 18th century illustration of a wicker man, the form of execution that Caesar wrote the druids used for human sacrifice. From the "Duncan Caesar", Tonson, Draper, and Dodsley edition of the Commentaries of Caesar translated by William Duncan published in 1753.
The Druidess, oil on canvas, by French painter Alexandre Cabanel (1823–1890)
Druids Inciting the Britons to oppose the landing of the Romans – from Cassell's History of England, Vol. I – anonymous author and artists