by Searles O'Dubhain
What does a Druid actually believe? The question invites endless debate — Druidry has never had a central creed, and many practitioners prize that openness. Yet practitioners still have beliefs, and articulating them clearly is its own act of spiritual discipline. In February 2004, Searles O'Dubhain posted to alt.religion.druid the belief statement he and his wife Deborah had maintained for seven years on their website, The Summerlands. The document is direct and unpretentious: no obscurantism, no hedging. It presents a Neopagan Druidic worldview rooted in a creative deity, many gods, reincarnation, and the inherent equality of spiritual paths.
There are often debates about what Druidry actually is; about whether and what/who are the deities; about who/what each of us believes. My own beliefs are fairly straight forward and have been public knowledge for many years. Here's what my wife and I have posted about them on our website, The Summerlands, for the past seven years:
Searles and Deborah's Beliefs
This list is by no means all inclusive — it is just a general overview and quick scan of what we, as the leaders of this community, are and are not about. This list is compatible with many, but not all, pagans' beliefs. One of the good things about paganism is that we are not all cookie cutter critters. Different beliefs are fine as long as the people holding them respect the beliefs of the other members of the community. We welcome you to share your Ways with us.
We believe in a Creative Deity.
We believe in many Gods and Goddesses as faces of our Creator.
We believe in Reincarnation.
We believe in the Sanctity of Nature.
We believe that Spirit is in everything and is all around us. We are all connected.
We believe we are a Spirit who inhabits a body rather than a body that has a spirit.
We believe in the Equality and Balanced Working between Men and Women.
We believe in Honor, Truth, and Justice.
We believe in a Three-Fold Law which says that anything we do, positive or negative, will return to us 3 times over.
We DO NOT — believe in (let alone worship) a "devil" or "hell." Ours is not a religion based on fear or punishment or a desire for power over others.
We DO NOT — "molest children," "torture animals," "drink blood," "eat people," or "worship evil" in any form.
We DO NOT — proselytize our beliefs, nor do we seek to make converts to our Ways. We believe that no single spiritual path is superior to another, providing it is right for the person following it, AND it is not forced on anyone else.
Each of these beliefs is based on concepts that can take lifetimes to completely understand. It is within those lifetimes that I think each of us has the opportunity to achieve a lasting truth through understanding, revelation and communion.
Colophon
Written by Searles and Deborah O'Dubhain. Originally posted on their website, The Summerlands, and shared with alt.religion.druid on February 28, 2004. Searles O'Dubhain was a prominent Druidic teacher and community leader in early online Druidic circles. The document represents a practitioner creed of the Neopagan Druidic tradition as practiced in the early 2000s.
Preserved from the Usenet archive for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026. Original Message-ID: [email protected]
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