how many people have completed bard course obod

What is the value of the OBOD course?

“The OBOD course arguably represents one of the major documents of British spirituality from the late twentieth century.” Since then the course has been developed, revised and expanded for the 21st century. Here are some reactions to the course from members: The greatest value of the OBOD postal course is this: it exists.

What training do we offer our bards and Druids?

See this recent article about us in The New Statesman. Our training course includes membership of the Order and is divided into three stages that correspond with the three traditional schools of the Bards, Ovates and Druids. We also offer courses in Celebrancy.

What is the Order of Bards Ovates&Druids?

When you enrol on this course, you join the Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids and begin an adventure that thousands of people all over the world have taken. It works with the ideas and practices of Druidry in a thoroughly practical, yet also deeply spiritual way.

Can you convert to Druidism?

Druids do not seek to convert everyone else to Druidry. According to the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS), there are approximately 30,000 Druids in the United States.

How long does it take to become a druid?

They studied ancient verse, natural philosophy, astronomy, and the lore of the gods, some spending as much as 20 years in training. The Druids were said to believe that the soul was immortal and passed at death from one person into another.

Do druids still exist today?

It also is a niche group compared with other organized religious or spiritual groups. Information on the exact number of druids in the U.S. isn't readily available, but a 2001 study by the American Religious Identification Survey shows that out of more than 200 million people interviewed, 33,000 identified as druids.

Can you be a druid and a bard?

Druids and Bards make for a surprisingly strong support caster. If you like the idea of having a spell or two on hand to buff your allies but don't want to spend every action you have on healing, then this might be the combination for you.

Are druids born or made?

Other classes have easy explanations for how they came to be: fighters and monks trained, wizards studied, clerics and paladins prayed, sorcerers and oracles were born that way, and so on, so forth. Druids, however, do not seem to have any explanation for how, exactly, they became druids.

Do druids believe in god?

Druids were polytheistic and had female gods and sacred figures, rather like the Greeks and Romans, but their nomadic, less civilised Druidic society gave the others a sense of superiority. This renders some of their accounts historically uncertain, as they may be tainted with exaggerated examples of Druidic practices.

What drugs did the druids use?

Druids used mushroom in conjunction with sweat houses to enhance their hallucinogenic experience and gain more knowledge. In some societies, mushrooms were consumed by the common people.

Did any druids survive?

(Unlike their ancient predecessors, no human sacrifice is involved.) Indeed, Druidism is alive and well today and enjoying a late 20th-century revival of sorts. The Eisteddfod still celebrated annually in Wales, is held during the first week of August each year.

What language did druids speak?

Druidic was actually a language subgroup composed of two distinct but similar languages. The vast majority of druids spoke Drueidan; those from the Moonshaes spoke a language called Daelic.

Do bards sing?

Bards were originally Celtic composers of eulogy and satire; the word came to mean more generally a tribal poet-singer gifted in composing and reciting verses on heroes and their deeds. As early as the 1st century ad, the Latin author Lucan referred to bards as the national poets or minstrels of Gaul and Britain.

What is a modern day bard?

Damh the Bard – is a modern-day Bard whose spirituality and love of folk tradition is expressed through his music, storytelling and poetry.

What does bard mean in slang?

bard is another word for poet Roses are red, violets are blue—poets they're called, but you can call them bards, too. Bard is an old-fashioned synonym for poet.

Train in Druidry

When you enrol on this course, you join the Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids and begin an adventure that thousands of people all over the world have taken. It works with the ideas and practices of Druidry in a thoroughly practical, yet also deeply spiritual way.

Train to be a Celebrant

Celebrancy is the art of being able to design and lead Weddings/Handfastings, Funerals, Baby Namings & other Rites of Passage. We have developed two online training courses, which together constitute a well-rounded grounding in the art of celebrancy.

What is the Order of Bards?

OBOD – The Order of Bards Ovates & Druids – is a mystery school, a community around the world, who love nature and want to follow a magical, spiritual way that respects and protects the natural world in all its beauty. Members work with spiritual teachings that combine the inspiration of the ancient druids and the old stories with contemporary ...

What is the order of bards, ovates and druids?

The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids works with Druidry as a spiritual way and practice that speaks to three of our greatest yearnings: to be fully creative in our lives, to commune deeply with the world of Nature, and to gain access to a source of profound wisdom. Read more.

How many festivals do druids celebrate?

Druids love and respect the natural world and celebrate eight special festival times during the year. They work to develop their creativity, to foster community and compassion, and to study spiritual teachings.

What are the characteristics of druidism?

One of the most striking characteristics of Druidism is the degree to which it is free of dogma and any fixed set of beliefs or practices. In this way it manages to offer a spiritual path, and a way of being in the world that avoids many of the problems of intolerance and sectarianism that the established religions have encountered.

Is there a dogma in Druidism?

There is no dogma in Druidry, or Druidism as it also known, so you will find a wide range of beliefs amongst Druids. But most will believe in a realm or realms beyond or in addition to the physical world; in the continuity of the soul after physical death, perhaps through reincarnation; in the interconnectedness of all life, ...

Do Druids believe in the afterlife?

Most Druids believe in some form of afterlife. The ancient Druids believed in the transmigration of souls, which means that after death we can reborn as humans or even animals. Just as many Buddhists and Hindus hold to this belief, so do many Druids.