The Druid Network Explained

The Druid Network
Type:Religious Charity
Charity Number:1138265
Founded Date:February 2003
Founder:Emma Restall Orr
Area Served:Officially an English and Welsh charity but with worldwide membership and interests.
Focus:Druidry
Num Volunteers:c. 20
Num Employees:None
Num Members:c. 500

The Druid Network is a British druidic (neo-pagan) organisation providing a source of information and inspiration about modern Druidic traditions, practices and their histories.[1] It was founded in February 2003 by Emma Restall Orr, and approved as a religious charity in the United Kingdom in 2010.[2]

Organization

The Druid Network was created in 2003 to help its members and those in society understand and practice Druidry as a religion. "Its practitioners revere their deities, most often perceived as the most powerful forces of nature (such as thunder, sun and earth), spirits of place (such as mountains and rivers), and divine guides of a people (such as Brighid, Rhiannon and Bran)."[3] "Although many see them as robed, mysterious people who gather every summer solstice at Stonehenge—which predates the Druids—believers say modern Druidry is chiefly concerned with helping practitioners connect with nature and themselves through rituals, dancing and singing at stone circles and other sites throughout the country believed to be "sacred."[4]

A major project of The Druid Network is called Honouring the Ancient Dead, a programme developed in cooperation with the Manchester Museum (U.K.) for the proper and dignified treatment of human remains at ancient archaeological sites in the United Kingdom.[5]

Charity status

In September 2010, the Charity Commission for England and Wales agreed to register The Network as a charity.[6] [7] This was in response to beliefs that of "nature as a core element of Druidry" that involves worship as "a divine being or entity or spiritual principle."[8] Through this decision, the ancient practices of Druidry that have been embraced in a new manner by has been determined to be a religion, with the result that The Druid Network has been assigned charitable status.[9] [10] [11]

The Inter Faith Network

The Druid Network applied for and was initially rejected for membership in The Inter Faith Network in 2012. Two years of dialogue followed involving a discussion at the House of Lords in November 2012, which involved representatives of some twenty different faiths in a debate which was led by the Reverend Peter Owen Jones and a legal opinion from human rights lawyer John Halford.[12] TDN was eventually admitted to The Inter Faith Network on 29 September 2014[13] and admitted as a full voting member on 19 October 2016.[14] [15]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: What is Druidry? . The Druid Network . 2013-12-21.
  2. Web site: Aims and Ethics of The Druid Network . The Druid Network . 2013-12-21.
  3. Web site: The Constitution Of The Druid Network. March 7, 2010. The Druid Network.
  4. Web site: Druidism now recognized as a religion in Britain. Oct 3, 2010. www.telegram.com. en. 2020-05-10.
  5. Web site: British Archaeology, Issue 77 - Emma Restall Orr . 2004-06-24 . British Archaeology . 2011-08-06.
  6. News: Druidry to be classed as religion by Charity Commission . . 2010-10-02 . 2010-10-02.
  7. Web site: The Druid Network - Decision made on 21 September 2010 . . 2010-09-21 . 2010-10-02.
  8. Arlow. Ruth. Adam. Will. 2011. The Druid Network: Charity Commission for England and Wales: September 2010 Charity – druids – advancement of religion – public benefit. Ecclesiastical Law Journal. en. 13. 1. 127–128. 10.1017/S0956618X10001134. 0956-618X. free.
  9. Web site: Decision of the Charity Commission on Druid Network. 21 September 2010. GOV.UK. en. 2020-05-10.
  10. Owen. Suzanne. Taira. Teemu. 2015-01-01. The Category of "Religion" in Public Classification: Charity Registration of The Druid Network in England and Wales. Religion as a Category of Governance and Sovereignty. en. 90–114. 10.1163/9789004290594_006. 9789004290594.
  11. Book: Weller, Paul, 1956-. Religion or belief, discrimination and equality : Britain in global contexts. Purdam, Kingsley., Ghanea-Hercock, Nazila., Cheruvallil-Contractor, Sariya.. 2 January 2014 . 978-1-4411-6620-3. London. 856194609.
  12. News: Interfaith groups refusal to admit Druids sparks row . The Times . 2012-12-01. Gledhill . Ruth .
  13. Web site: TDN to join the Interfaith Network . October 2014 . The Druid Network . 2020-07-09.
  14. Web site: UK Druids trailblaze on interfaith row . 15 December 2016 . The Wild Hunt . 2016-12-15.
  15. Web site: The Druid Network and The Interfaith Network . Church Times . 2012-12-14.