In short, the New Order of Druids (or N.O.D. in short) was formed as a "Free Celtic Online Community for those who seek the Druid Path", but in the mean time, it has grown to become much more than that, also implementing an Online Druid College called "Grove of Dana", and founding local groves in the world. So why the name "NEW" Order of Druids? The Druids and their wisdom don't just belong to the past, they can also be our future, and Druidism constantly grows with the world, grows to something new, listening to the voice of the future. A Druid order that continuously grows toward the new, remains "new" and never becomes old, dusty, rusty or outdated and stuck in time. Instead, we continue to be a growing, dynamic, living, thriving and evolving Druid Circle, adapting the wisdom of the timeless Druids into the world of today.
The New Order of Druids is not specifically mesopagan, neopagan, or bound to any particular religion. We welcome people from anywhere in the world, seeking spiritual growth or interest in the Celtic Culture or Druid Path, regardless of age, gender, skin colour, language or religion. We believe that everyone deserves the chance in life to learn, to grow and to exchange.
Make sure to read the Nine Ideals of the New Order of Druids.
WHO ARE WE?
The New Order of Druids is a non-profit community, mainly operating on the internet through website, webboard and chatroom, but also through meetings and establishing local groves. The N.O.D. HeadQuarters is established in Belgium, but has people cooperating in many aspects of it (moderating, monitoring, mentoring, guiding, ...) from other parts of the world. The people in our community can be either male or female, young or old. We make no restrictions on that, neither on the location where people live. We have people from Europe, America and Australia, and welcome people from all over the world. The intention is, of course, to attract people who show interest in the path we present, and take it serious. You can be Celtic, Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, or atheist, it does not matter, as long as you are willing to have an open mind.
WHAT DO WE DO?
Our Community Circle has three main goals: to learn, to grow, to exchange.
We provided the website with as much information as possible on both the Celts and the Druids, from a historical and spiritual point of view.
Apart from the website, we provide means of communication over the internet so people can meet and talk. This happens mainly on our webboard, college and chatroom. The chatroom is free for everyone to join, but to join the board and college, and thus the actual Circle, means you need to apply for membership first. This we do to make sure that people join with truthful intentions. Of course, all this is and always will be FREE of charge.
MISSION STATEMENT
In the ancient Celtic Era, it was easy to find a Druid who could train and teach you (or was it?), but we came to the conclusion that even with all the technology available today, existing options to grow a Druid are still very difficult to find. There are, of course, several modern-Druid organisations in Europe, North America and Australia, but not everyone has the ability to join one, for reasons such as distance or religious convictions of their family. It is often the curious teenager who wants to explore his or her own inner path, who is being held back by the parents-for many people in this world still think Druids to be worshippers of Satan who sacrifice humans and animals. Alternatives for such people would be books, or study packages that some Druid organisations offer with membership by mail (or online), but then there occurs the problem of money. Not everyone has the money to pay for memberships, courses and workshops, or tons of books. At the New Order of Druids, we asked ourselves the question: is it right that those who don't have the means, for whatever reasons, should be denied a chance to learn? Isn't true wisdom priceless?
The concept of the New Order of Druids was founded by David Dom (Belgium) in 2002, and was opened in January 2003. The fundamental ideas on which we based this organisation, is to offer a totally free-of-charge alternative for people through the means of internet, with three main goals: to learn, to grow, to exchange.
The New Order of Druids (N.O.D. in short) is, in truth, a free online community Circle for people of all ages young and old, for both men and women, no matter where in the world you live. Members are, of course, free to join other Druid organisations as well, and both "newbies" as experienced people in Druidism are welcomed. The N.O.D. cannot be called either a mesopagan nor neopagan organisation, for people of both paths are welcomed, and encouraged to follow their own path within. Rather than following an abstract path, or basing our Circle on the abstract past, we endeavour to honour the living Celtic cultures and capture their true spirit. Of course, people are free to follow their own religious convictions, be it Christian, Jewish, Muslim or even atheist, and this freedom will be respected among our members-for we strive to seek similarities, not differences. Our highest priorities within our grove, is to honour the free will of the individual, as well as that of the grove.
THE N.O.D. BOARD OF GOVERNORS AND GENERAL ASSEMBLY
The Board of Governors exists of three members, who form the "HeadQuarters" of the N.O.D. in Belgium. These three members are vital to establish a non-profit organisation according to Belgium law. All three, plus two more, also form the General Assembly.
CHAIRMAN: David Dom
PROCURATOR: Jenni Heiden
SECRETARY: Christine Verbiest
OTHER MEMBERS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY: Ben Verhaevert, Lily Demuynck
A full list of N.O.D. functionaries can be found here: N.O.D. Documents
THE HIGH COUNCIL
The Council is formed by members of the New Order of Druids, who work together to increase the quality of the services we offer to our members, and vote on decisions that need to be made. These members are not necessarily all Druids, some are also Bards, and Ovates, both men and women from different parts of the world, some are young and some are older people. The intention of this Council is to guide the Circle and sometimes, make decisions in the best interests of all the members. It's intention is not to RULE, but to guide and serve, if and where necessary. The Council generally presides over the N.O.D.'s online community.
THE DRUID SENATE
The Druid Senate exists of the various leaders of local groves of the New Order of Druids. This Druid Senate was established to increase communication and cooperation between the different local groves.
THE GROVE OF DANA ONLINE COLLEGE
The College is administered by the College Coordinators, who are also members of the Council. They supervise all practical implementation of the courses and other college-related decisions. They work together with a team of mentors and make the necessary decisions to give the students a positive experience in the college.
THE HISTORY OF THE NEW ORDER OF DRUIDS
It all once began with a simple website called "Gate To Avalon", founded by David Dom (Phoenix) from Belgium, and Jean-Claude Pretre (Myrrdin) from France, on August 16, 2002. Gate To Avalon was no more than a simple, and small, Celtic website with but very limited information. It would take over four months for the website to grow into something more: a community. David had heard a call to unite people with the same interests, a task set upon him by the Gods, although he did not understand this until several years later. The community was launched with the opening of the web board on January 24, 2003, and soon the very first members began to join. Among these first members were Jason Kirkey (Awenydd / Solasdana / Idircheo) from Massachusetts, USA, who offered his help to the community, by setting up a "free training course" for the members on May 3, 2003.
The community was growing steadily, and more members found their way to the Gate To Avalon. Soon, it became apparent that the community had a need of better structure, and on June 11, 2003, the actual "Druid Circle" was officially founded with the creation of the "High Council" by Phoenix, Myrrdin, Awenydd and Teperis. Less than a year after the first opening of the community, the Circle had grown to become "The New Order of Druids", and launched its very own domain name "druidcircle.net" on February 23, 2004.
May 30, 2004 was the date that saw the birth of the Online Druid College: the Grove of Dana. An entirely new system had been installed on the server to run the college with, and an entire "Bardic Course" had been created by Awenydd. On September 2, 2005, the first meeting of the "Nervii Nemeton", the Mother Grove of the N.O.D. took place in a pub called Celtic Ireland, Belgium, where the Mother Grove was spiritually founded. On May 27, 2006, the New Order of Druids became an official non-profit organisation in Belgium, and attracted a lot of attention from the Belgian press: the news was announced in newspapers, on the radio and on television.
OFFICIAL INFORMATION
New Order of Druids VZW
Correspondence address: Oudestraat 109, B-2610 Wilrijk, BELGIUM
Company number: 0881.581.134
RPR Antwerpen, afdeling Antwerpen
Bank account # 779-5939906-48
IBAN: BE11 7795 9399 0648
BIC: GKCCBEBB
Bank: Belfius Bank sa/nv, Pachecolaan 44, 1000 Brussel, Belgium
Link to the N.O.D. Constitution
Link to the Membership Regulations and Privacy Policy
Link to the Kruispuntbank Ondernemingen Belgium
Click here for the New Order of Druids logo
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