The Druid Order, also known as the Ancient Druid Order (ADO) or An Druidh Uileach Braitheachas (ADUB), was established in England in about 1906.
George Watson MacGregor Reid, the Chosen Chief from 1909 until 1946, was the guiding light.
- Reid was a universalist, believing that there was truth in all of the World's religions.
- He grew up at a time when the Theosophical Society, established by Russian mystic Helena Perrovna Blavatsky (see Occult l'lecursots to Witchcraft), dominated alternative spirituality in Britain. Blavatsky wrote about spirit guides who were ascended Tibetan Masters.
- Gnostic Christianity, Greek mystery schools, and Egyptian magic were all studied by other theosophists.
- MacGregor Reid's Ancient Druid Order included all of these inspirations and more.
In 1913, members of the order clashed with authorities when they refused to pay the modest admittance fee that was being levied at the time for entry to the megalithic temple at Stonehenge.
- Faced with two police officers at the temple's entrance, MacGregor Reid cast a curse on the temple's owner, during which he summoned pagan Irish gods, Tibetan Masters, and Christian angels, among others.
- The members of the Ancient Druid Order were the white-robed group photographed every summer solstice conducting their morning ritual at Stonehenge from the early 1960s until the 1980s.
- In the 1980s, when chaos erupted surrounding an illegally organized free event near the henge, ADO relocated the ceremony a day later.
On the spring and fall equinoxes, the order conducts regular rituals at Parliament Hill and Primrose Hill in London, as well as lectures.
You may also want to read more about Paganism here.
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