néodruidisme

Néodruidisme, or Neo-Druidism, is a modern spiritual movement that seeks to revive or reinterpret the religious sensibilities traditionally associated with ancient Druids of the Celtic world. It is not a direct historical continuation but a contemporary reconstruction influenced by folklore, classical sources, Romantic literature, and esoteric currents.

Practices typically center on the veneration of nature and the cycles of time. Adherents often observe a Wheel of the Year with solstices, equinoxes, and cross-quarter festivals such as Beltane and Samhain. Rituals are commonly conducted outdoors or in symbolic circles, and may involve music, storytelling, invocations, offerings, and the use of ritual tools. Leadership may be described as druids, ovates, or bards; organizational forms range from loose networks to formal orders, including the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.

Beliefs vary, but most Neo-Druids emphasize immanence—divinity or sacred presence perceived in nature—along with ecological ethics, personal development, and mythic storytelling. Some groups are polytheistic or pantheistic; others adopt animist, monotheistic, or pluralist frameworks.

History and presence: Neo-Druidry emerged from eighteenth- to twentieth-century Romantic and occult currents and broadened after World War II, spreading internationally, particularly in the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and North America.

Scholars categorize néodruidisme as part of modern paganism. Debates concern authenticity, reconstruction versus invention, and questions of cultural appropriation and continuity with ancient Celtic religious practices.