About the Reformed Druids of North America

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This information is from the Oakdale Grove site (Oakdalegrove.org), and from the pamphlet entitled ”RDNA” that was given out at the RDNA 60th anniversary celebration in 2023.

The Reformed Druids of North America was founded at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1963 by then-student David Fisher and several others. It was created as a semi-serious protest against mandatory chapel attendance, which the college required at the time. Fisher did not intend RDNA to be a religion, but rather a means for one to experience spirituality in Nature regardless of religion, or lack therof.

Early members had different religious backgrounds, such as Judaism, Christianity, Agnosticism, Atheism, and others. Fisher later became an Episcopal Priest and is professor emeritus at North Central College with a PhD in Philosophy. Today, individuals of even more faiths, including neopagans, identify with the RDNA. The RDNA has little dogma beyond the Two Basic Tenets. They allow for flexiblity and inclusion that appeals to a diverse range of spiritualities. None of the founders were pagan, but after a few years there were many neopagan members in the RDNA as well.

1: The object of the search for religious truth, which is a universal and a never-ending search, may be found through the Earth-Mother, which is Nature; but this is one way among many.

2: And great is the importance, which is of a spiritual importance, of Nature, which is the Earth-Mother; for it is one of the objects of Creation, and with it do we live, even as we struggle through life do we come face to face with it.

The tenets are interpreted by some in two common simpler fashions. To some, both tenets simply mean “Nature is good”. Others, usually of a more agnostic persuasion, might say “Nature is Nature”. Other than the Two Basic Tenets of Belief, nothing more is required of those who wish to become a Reformed Druid.

At the core of the RDNA "pantheon" is the Earth-Mother. After all, she is the only one mentioned in the Two Basic Tenets. Nine other deities are commonly invoked. Don't worry if a deity you hoped to see isn't listed below. When the Reformed Druids originally hashed out the details, the deities in the list seemed like enough to get started with. Plenty of other gods and goddesses have been mentioned in RDNA ceremonies over the decades including Greek and Vedic deities. So if you hoped to see some different Celtic deities in the RDNA, you are certainly at liberty to incorporate them and still call it Reformed Druidism. So here is the list of the more common deities mentioned or invoked in the Reformed Druid movement:

• Earth-Mother aka the Mother Earth- Nature with a capital N, open to interpretation.
• Be'al-  According to some Druid Revival resources, an ancient Irish supreme being (see below). Some in the RDNA community interpret Be'al as Lord if compared to the literal meaning of the Canaanite titular epithet Ba'al. Open to interpretation.
• Dalon Ap Landu- Patron of the 3rd Order. The name was sloppily back-translated in 1963 by founders of the Reformed Druid movement to mean Lord of the Groves, who is an entity mentioned by the first century Roman historian Lucan. To some druids today, Dalon is less of a deity and more of a dryad, concept, or thoughtform entity, open to interpretation.
• Grannos- Gaulish god of healing springs, patron of the 4th Order
• Braciaca- Gender-ambiguous Brythonic deity of grain, malt, and drink, matron/patron of the 5th Order
• Belenos- Gaulish healing deity with solar associations, patron of the 6th Order
• Sirona- Gaulish goddess of healing springs (consort of Grannos), matron of the 7th Order. In the RDNA she is also indicated as a goddess of lakes and rivers, though historical evidence of this is lacking.
• Taranis- Gaulish spelling of the pan-Celtic god of thunder, patron of the 8th Order
• Llyr- Welsh god of the sea, patron of the 9th Order
• Danu- Irish fertility goddess, matron of the 10th Order

The baseline of Reformed Druidism is that it functions like an open-source spirituality. The rituals and language in the RDNA are symbolic and are not necessarily meant to be interpreted literally, but you can if you want to. This way, participants interpret things in  ways that are meaningful to themselves. It's more of a philosophy (with rituals and rites of passage) that have appealed to people of a wide range of existing beliefs. The RDNA is the oldest form of 20th century Neo-Druidry, but isn't necessarily Neo-Pagan.

Isaac Bonewits created the NRDNA in 1976 to appeal to neopagans. The NRDNA adapted a few influences from various pagan groups including Wicca among others. The NRDNA is still considered fully part of the RDNA; they kept the Two Basic Tenets of Belief, they kept the same organizational hierarchy, they kept the ordination lineage to the RDNA's founder David Fisher, and the clergy retained voting rights on the RDNA Council of Dalon Ap Landu. The NRDNA was Isaac Bonewits' first attempt at creating a worldwide pagan church. Previously in 1974 Isaac wanted to push legislation for the RDNA to declare itself an "Eclectic Reconstructionist Neopagan Priestcraft." Almost all the non-pagans in the Council vehemently disagreed, and a lengthy debate ensued. The result was the formation of the NRDNA which still has active Groves and Protogroves today.

SDNA: SCHISMATIC DRUIDS OF NORTH AMERICA

When Isaac created the NRDNA, he was also developing the exclusively neopagan SDNA: The Schismatic Druids of North America. In this offshoot, Isaac kept the customs and rituals of the RDNA & NRDNA, but detached from the Council of Dalon AP Landu entirely, permitting him to pass any legislation he wanted. He created new bylaws for Groves to regularly report to the SDNA Mother Grove or be deemed inactive. Above all, anyone who desired to become SDNA clergy had to declare themselves neopagans or he wouldn’t ordain them. All SDNA clergy still required an ordination lineage back to David Fisher of the RDNA. The small handful of SDNA Groves fell apart and dissolved by the early 1980s. Isaac took inspiration from the SDNA and re-emerged with ADF in 1983 which is in fact a growing global neopagan church, but has zero formal connection to the RDNA. There are currently no active SDNA Groves, which means whoever creates the next one gets to be the new SDNA Mother Grove, with all due authority. You would just need to find an RDNA or NRDNA clergy to ordain you.

The Hasidic Druids of North America was co-developed by Isaac and others who were looking for a syncretic hybrid neopagan offshoot of Schismatic Druidism for people of Jewish descent. They added so many laws and restrictions to the HDNA that it became difficult to view the group as a branch of Reformed Druidism. Arch Grove may have been the only known HDNA Grove, but it is no longer active.

There was only one Grove (Evergreen) that incorporated Zen philosophy with Reformed Druidism to the point that they created a whole offshoot. Evergreen Grove was eventually absorbed into Emerald Grove in 1997 and is now regarded as an RDNA Grove. Zen Druids likely take much inspiration from Alan Watts.

There have only been one or two EDNA groups as far as we can tell, and they've only ever been Protogroves since they don't believe in the practice of ordinations to the First Order, Second Order, or Third Order. This means an EDNA protogrove is run by a group of individuals who regard each member on equal bearing.

Deliberately lowercase, the order of druids minor is for the most part classic RDNA but with the added principles of Humility, Humanity, & Observance. It incorporates a few philosophical ideas espoused by Marcus Aurelius, Pelagius, and St. Francis of Assisi. It is definitely a more overtly contemplative branch of the Reform.

The Reformed Druids of the Earth-Mother is basic Reformed Druidism but for those beyond the North American continent.

Reformed Druidic Wicca was founded as a branch of the RDNA in 1983 as a hybridization of Reformed Druidism and eclectic Wicca. RDW was developed in 1983 by Thomas Harris and led by Sterling Munholland, a priest in the New Reformed Druids of North America (NRDNA). Around 1994-1996 the name was changed to Missionary Order of the Celtic Cross (MOCC). The members of MOCC are also a very diverse amalgam; a good number identify as Celtic Pagan by varying terminology, another portion of the membership identify as Christian. With the parent group being located in Oklahoma, some MOCC members also practice their Cherokee spirituality. Buddhist, Hindu, and several other world religion practitioners also make up the demographics. Overall, MOCC is adept at embracing diversity and religious pluralism, though this branch is geared toward those who do believe in a supernatural higher power.