Druids may have been around since before the dawn of history, but their modern heirs have only now managed to achieve the status of a state-recognized religion. London’s Telegraph reports that it took a group known as the Druid Network four years to win recognition. The group now has charity status and a separate listing in official surveys of religious believers.
In 2003, the BBC estimated that there were around 10,000 Druids in Britain, and yes, they have branches here: http://druidnetwork.org/en/namerica/index.html
What is druidry? There is few bits of data in classical references to this ancient belief system, but one such site nowadays explains it thusly: 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.
Sounds intriguing, and open to individual spiritual interpretations. Do you think the Charity Board of the UK made the right decision? Do you think it may become a religion here in the states? Is it a good time to invest in monoliths? What say you?