The Druid Order is a
contemporary druidry fraternal order
A fraternal order is a voluntary membership group organised as an order, with an initiation ritual and traits alluding to religious, chivalric or pseudo-chivalric orders, guilds, or secret societies. Fraternal orders typically have secular p ...
, founded in 1909 by
George Watson MacGregor Reid
George Watson MacGregor-Reid (died 12 August 1946) was a Scottish Druidry (modern), modern Druid and union activist. He established and led the Church of the Universal Bond. Little is known of his early life and birth, but MacGregor-Reid came to ...
in the United Kingdom. At various times it has also been known as The Ancient Druid Order, An Druidh Uileach Braithreachas, and The British Circle of the Universal Bond. Initiated members are called companions.
Activity
Meditation is a key activity. Druidic discussions typically cover personal experience as well as philosophical, biological, mythological, political, poetic, astrological, religious, and similar subjects. Direct experience is more important than learning acquired through books.
Public Ceremonies
For well over a century, The Druid Order has held Public Ceremonies, one at each of the Autumn and Spring Equinoxes, and one at Summer Solstice. Sometimes the location or time varies due to current circumstances.
The first public ceremony of the year, the Autumn Equinox, takes place on Primrose Hill in London.
The second ceremony of the year, the Winter Solstice, passes without a public ceremony.
The third ceremony of the year, the Spring Equinox, is held at Tower Hill in London.

The fourth and final public ceremony of the year is the Summer solstice. This event is marked by three ceremonies at Stonehenge in Wiltshire: a simple ceremony at midnight for the darkest hour, a dawn ceremony marking the rising of the Sun behind the Heel Stone, and a ceremony at noon for the fullness of the light. In recent years these ceremonies have taken place on the night and day following the 'open access' to Stonehenge on Summer Solstice itself.
The public ceremonies above are, obviously, open to all. Companions of the ordered dress in white robes and wear a cowl. They process to the place of the ceremony and form a circle with key positions oriented to the cardinal points and the Sun. Most of the ceremonies feature banners, a sword bearer leading the procession, three ladies bearing items in some way related to the season, the blowing of a horn, the reading of a scroll, representations of the elements Earth, Air, Water and Fire, wine or cider, an invocation to East, West, North and South, and words.
History
Ronald Hutton
Ronald Edmund Hutton (born 19 December 1953) is an Indian-born English historian specialising in early modern Britain, British folklore, pre-Christian religion, and modern paganism. A professor at the University of Bristol, Hutton has writte ...
writes that the Druid Order in its current form started around 1909 or 1912 when George Watson MacGregor Reid (1862–1946) led the group, influenced by
universalists. When Thomas Maughan (1901–1976), who practised homeopathy, was elected chief in 1964, some senior members and the Order's Maenarch (chairman)
Ross Nichols
Philip Peter Ross Nichols (28 June 1902 – 30 April 1975) was a Cambridge academic and published poet, artist and historian, who founded the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids in 1964. He wrote prolifically on the subjects of Druidism and Celt ...
(1902–1975) left to form the
Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids
The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids or OBOD is a Neo-Druidic order based in England, but based in part on the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards. It has grown to become a dynamic druid organisation, with members in all parts of the world.
The concept of ...
. Nichols wrote that MacGregor Reid told of a history in which John Toland, on the day of the Autumn Equinox 1716 at Primrose Hill, (where began the Welsh
Gorsedd of Bards
Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...
), called for Druids to meet at the Apple Tree Tavern, Covent Garden, London a year and a day later, and that the meeting which formed An Druidh Uileach Braithreachas i.e. The Druid Circle of the Universal Bond took place on 22 September 1717 with representatives from London, York, Oxford, Wales, Cornwall, The Isle of Man, Scotland, Anglesey, Ireland and Brittany. It was also claimed that John Aubrey, the seventeenth-century antiquarian, revitalised the Mount Haemus Grove, founded in Oxford in 1245. The claim of Toland and Aubrey as members of any druid order is thought now to be unlikely from a historical perspective. Hutton suggests any lineage prior to George Watson MacGregor Reid is a legendary aspect of the order's origins.
[Hutton, Ronald, ''Blood and Mistletoe: A History of the Druids in Britain'', Yale, 2009]
Chief Druids
*
George Watson MacGregor-Reid
George Watson MacGregor-Reid (died 12 August 1946) was a Scottish modern Druid and union activist. He established and led the Church of the Universal Bond. Little is known of his early life and birth, but MacGregor-Reid came to work on the sea ...
, 1909–1946
*
Robert MacGregor-Reid
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...
, 1946–1964
*
Thomas Lackenby Maughan
Thomas may refer to:
People
* List of people with given name Thomas
* Thomas (name)
* Thomas (surname)
* Saint Thomas (disambiguation)
* Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church
* Thomas the A ...
, 1964–1976
*Christopher Sullivan, 1976–1981
*
David Loxley, 1981–present
References
External links
The Druid Order
{{DEFAULTSORT:Druid Order
Neo-druid orders
Modern pagan organisations based in the United Kingdom
1909 establishments in the United Kingdom
Religious organizations established in 1909
Modern pagan organizations established in the 1900s