The Order of Bards Ovates & Druids or OBOD is a Druidic order based in England. It has grown to become one of the most dynamic and creative druid organisations, with members in all parts of the world. It was founded in 1964 by Ross Nichols, a poet, artist and historian who was Chairman of the Ancient Druid Order which traces its lineage to an apocryphal meeting of Druid delegates at the Apple Tree Tavern in Covent Garden, London, in 1717. Nichols was a friend of Gerald Gardner, and while Gardner worked to introduce Wicca to the modern world, Nichols worked to change the practice of modern Druidry. He introduced a concern for Celtic mythology and Bardcraft, and the celebration of the full eight seasonal ceremonies in addition to arranging the teachings into three grades, in accordance with classical accounts of the three divisions of the Druids.

In 1988 Philip Carr-Gomm was asked to lead the Order. The teachings were arranged in the form of a distance-learning course and are now mailed to members all over the world. A network of tutors has grown up, many using email, and they support the students’ progress through the grades of Bard, Ovate and Druid. Members meet at camps , at workshops and assemblies in various parts of the world, and a network of groves and seedgroups also exists. There are a number of internet forums, a private members’ website in addition to OBOD’s public-access site, a monthly journal ‘Touchstone’ and quarterly journals in Dutch and for Australasia.

Over the years, OBOD has developed a way of teaching Druidry and Druidcraft that is experience-based, leading students through the course of a year on a journey through the old Bardic tales that leads to the gradual acquisition of magical skills and understanding. Although underpinned with historical, mythological and psychological material, the aim of the course and of the Order is to help individuals develop their creative and spiritual abilities through working with a tradition that holds the Earth and all of Nature as sacred.

At camps, members enjoy storytelling and music-making around campfires, hold ceremonies and create magical adventures. A member says “We’ve developed a way of exploring and ‘entering into’ the old stories and myths, so that they become exciting and educational games that take place across two fields and in the woods. We hold Druid sweathouse rituals and initiations, and big communal ceremonies under the stars.”

Links

• The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (http://www.druidry.org/)