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An Olive among the Oaks--
An Introduction to ADF Druidry
and Greco-Roman ReligionTi. Luscus Silvanus
Hallowed Oaks Grove, ADFIt has been my experience as a Greco-Roman pagan that the reconciliation between authentic Hellenic or Roman religion and the spirituality of ADF can initially be awkward. Indeed, the terms "Hellenic Druid" or "Roman Druid" seem to be contradictory in nature. In groves which are predominantly Norse-centric or Celtic-centric, Roman and Hellenic worshiper can feel isolated from the rest of the group or at odds with festivities which may not seem congruent to their own beliefs. The reason for this uneasiness is three-fold: first, the cosmology embraced by ADF may initially seem incongruent with Greco-Roman religion. Second, the calendar systems of the various Greek states and the Romans were structured differently from the "wheel of the year" adopted by ADF; and third, the connection between Greco-Roman religion and Druidry is not readily apparent. However, with study and personal practice, members of ADF who are drawn to Hellenic or Roman religion can certainly find a fulfilling way to not only practice Druidry, but also honor the ancient religions of Greece and Rome alongside their fellow Druids who follow other traditions.
ADF was founded upon the principle of celebrating Indo-European religion, and both Greek and Roman religions belong to this tradition. A full exposition of the Indo-European nature of Hellenic and Roman religion is beyond the scope of this article, but I will gloss some of the basics of Roman and Greek rite as they are celebrated in the context of ADF, in the hope that Druids who find themselves drawn to these vibrant and beautiful religions will be reassured that the spiritual inheritance of ADF Druidry belongs as much to them as it does to anyone else. Though for the sake of simplicity I frequently use the term "Greco-Roman religion"--proper care should be taken to distinguish between the two, and each is certainly worthy of its own study. An excellent introduction to the Indo-European tradition of Rome can be found in Archaic Roman Religion Vol. 1 by Georges Dumezil (1970, University of Chicago Press), and those interested in Hellenic paganism may refer to Greek Religion by Walter Burkert (Harvard University, 1985).
The argument that Greco-Roman religion and ADF Druidry are theologically incompatible is uninformed and insubstantial. Similarities between the cosmology and practices of ADF and those of ancient Rome or Greece far outweigh the differences. In all three cases we find a preoccupation with the relationship between humans and the spiritual beings upon whose favor we depend for survival. The Three ADF Kindred: the Ancestors, the Land Spirits, and the Shining Ones, are present in both Roman and Greek religion. In Roman rite, libations and offerings to the ancestors were central to Roman cosmology in the form of manes or di parentes, or protective ancestor spirits. Romans believed the world to be filled with other "divine spirits or power[s]," (Adkins, 164) called numina. And most notoriously, the Romans celebrated an impressive pantheon of Gods and Goddesses. We can find the same parallels to the Kindred in the religion of the Greeks. To them, the chthonic gods of the underworld must be appropriated in order to care for the dead and ensure the fertility of the land, and the deceased are offered wine so that as "libations seep into the earth, so the dead will send good things up above," (Burkert, 195). In Ancient Greece, the “gods were thought to control the forces of nature and have their own place in the natural world,” (Buxton, 133) and some of the most well-known myths of all time come from Classical Greece, stories of powerful Gods and Goddesses who were very much involved in the lives of their worshiper, for good or ill.
In daily practice, too, do we find similarities between ADF and Greco-Roman religion. ADF urges its members to develop their own personal "hearth religion" within the home, as a form of daily devotion. For the Romans, the lararium, or household altar, was the place to honor the spirits of the home, the ancestors, and the Gods. For the Greeks, the hearth is "an offering place for libations and small gifts of food; the beginning of a meal is marked by these offerings," (Burkert, 170). Magic is another aspect of religion that ADF and Greco-Roman religion share. In his essay “Greek Magic, Greek Religion,” Robert L. Fowler observes, “Magic was a normal and ubiquitous part of everyday life in the ancient world. This is an undeniable and important fact,” (Buxton, 317). In regard to the Romans, he states, “the ever present fear of these dark forces is sufficiently attested by the ancient foundation of Roman law, the Twelve Tables, which specifically outlawed the use of charms to harm crops,” (Buxton, 321).
Other facts, often overlooked, reveal an interesting connection between ADF Druidry and Greco-Roman religion. For instance, just as the tree is a central symbol in ADF cosmology, the Greeks often worshiped in sanctuaries where "[the] distinctive feature is a large, imposing tree," and despite the predominance of temples, "an important part of religious life was enacted out of doors...processions would make their way to those places where the deity could appear in dance beneath the tree" (Burkert, 28). The Romans "thought of places such as woods, springs, or caves as supernatural or divine places," (Adkins, 165). The libations which we offer at ritual come by their name from Greek words leibein and loibe, acts in which the Greeks offered drink to their dead and to the Gods. In reference to the honor that ADF pays to the "Earth Mother" in the standard liturgy, Versnel observes of the Roman goddess Bona Dea:
The picture of Bona Dea as a goddess of fertility, as a goddess of fertility,
a kind of 'Earth Mother,' whose cult focused on the protection and promotion of
agricultural and female fertility, invariably involves reference to primevalantiquity. (Festival, 1992).The Greeks also revered the Earth Mother. During the rites of Thesmorphia, Greek women secluded themselves in order to worship and honor Demeter, whose festival was primarily meant to" [promote] human and cereal fertility," (Festival, 1992).
Despite the similarities in theology and practice between ADF Druidry and Greco-Roman religion, the main stumbling block for many Roman and Hellenic pagans in ADF is the "wheel of the year" feast cycle which is constructed of the agricultural and solar festivals of mostly Western-European or Scandinavian origin. Although Roman and Greek calendar systems incorporated many of the same elements, the cycle of feasts was considerably more complex, so much that it has been remarked that in Greece "there are virtually as many calendars as there are cities and tribes," (Burkert, 225). In addition, differences in climate and social structures, and the contrast between rural and urban societies resulted in agricultural celebrations and seasonal festivals which did not occur in synchronicity with those of Western Europe, the Slavic Lands, and Scandinavia. Fortunately, there is enough correlation between the calendar of ADF and those of Greco-Roman religions that followers of these latter paths can raise their glass in unison with grove members of other traditions. For the purpose of this article, I will focus solely on the Roman calendar, though the Hellenic calendar can similarly be adapted for use within ADF.
In order to celebrate the Feast Days as a Roman pagan within ADF, it is necessary to make some changes to the Roman calendar. Although there may not be a corresponding Roman feast for each of the ADF High Days, a willingness to depart from a strict Reconstructionist view is all it takes to make this transition. For instance, while the Celtic Druids in your grove celebrate Samhain (November Feast), a Roman Druid might celebrate Lemuria and/or Parentalia. Although not occurring at the same time in the calendar year, Lemuria has many similarities to Samhain. During this time the Romans made offerings to their ancestors in order to secure their protection and blessings, while simultaneously engaging in magic to drive off the spirits of the restless dead, the larvae. George Thaniel explains:In turn, we have a basis for distinguishing sharply between two different concepts of ghosts: the concept of the Di Manes, 'the good spirits,' who were honored under the official title of Di Parentes in the festival of Parentalia (Ovid, Fasti 2.533 ff.), and the concept of the Lemures, 'the noxious spirits,' who were propitiated in the festival of Lemuria. (Lemures and Larvae, 1973).
The Goddess of fruit harvest, Pomona, can perhaps also be offered to at this time. A similar correlation can be found for all the ADF Feast Days, and there is no reason that there can't be other interpretations of what constitutes the most appropriate substitution. An example of Roman feasts alongside similar ADF Feast days:
November Feast
Lemuria , Parentalia
Celebrations for the deadWinter Solstice
Saturnalia, Feast of the Sol Invictus
Winter Festival, Celebration of the Invincible SunFebruary Feast
Lupercalia
pastoral, agricultural, & female fertilitySpring Equinox
Liberalia
Celebration of male and female fertilityMay Feast
Floralia
In honor of Flora, a vegetation goddessSummer Solstice
Bacchanalia
Celebration of grape harvest with drama, wineAugust Feast
Ludi Apollonares
Games in honor of ApolloFall Equinox
Opalia
Feast in honor of the Earth Mother, harvest
Though there are countless other ways of organizing the Roman feast calendar in conjunction with ADF, it seems to work best in a group setting when the elements of the celebration correspond with the most general Indo-European significance of the feast. In addition, followers of Greco-Roman religions may choose to honor other feasts within the historical calendar on their own.
Perhaps the most important aspect of establishing the importance of Greco-Roman religion within ADF is the examination of the relationship of the ancient Druids to Greece and Rome. The intermingling of Greco-Roman and Western European religions is a controversial subject within academia, but it must be discussed here to illustrate the complexity of the relationship between Greco-Roman religion and ADF. In his article "The Druids and Romanization", Norman Dewitt states "The steady influence of Hellenic culture upon Gaul for generations before the Roman era, however hard it may be to define, cannot be overlooked by the historian. " He is speaking of the account in Strabo in which the Celts are described as Philhellenes. Dewitt asserts that "the integration of the Greco-Roman and Gallic religions took place quickly and quietly". Dewitt does not suggest the total saturation of Gallic religion with Greco-Roman culture , but rather in political and social terms, the relative ease with which the two religions intermingled. As the Roman influence on Gaul deepened, the identity of the Druids began to change: "The [name] 'druid' became the generic term applied to practitioners of augury and old magic, inheritors only of the name and least rational and reputable functions of the greater Druids of a former age", he continues, "the true Druids were now educated gentlemen of Roman Gaul, who, as a class, had accepted and furthered what was best in the new order of things". Jane Webster discusses the intermingling of Roman and Celtic deities in her article "'Interpretatio': Roman Word Power and the Celtic Gods". In it, she claims that there are many instances of pairings between Celtic divinities and Roman gods, but also admits that for the Romans, "foreign gods were not simply viewed in terms of the Roman pantheon--they were converted to it by force".
It is beyond dispute that the Greco-Roman religion and the religions of the Gallic peoples had a dynamic relationship, each affecting the other to some extent. This same symbiotic situation still occurs within ADF, as Greco-Roman Pagans practice alongside their Indo-European brothers and sisters all the while continuing to pursue the wisdom and practices of ancient Rome and Greece, seek the knowledge of their forbears, and engage in vigorous debate over established and emerging scholarship. It would be a great waste for Greco-Roman Pagans to set aside the liturgy, theology, and fellowship offered by ADF simply because it can be a challenge to find a place at the table. This is, after all, one of the most appealing characteristics of ADF--followers of any tradition are continually challenged to unearth and relive the religion and practices in fresh ways, even as we preserve those ancient aspects that drew us to them in the first place. Some change is inevitable, but like language, religions will die when their adherents cease to adapt and reinvent the principles upon which they worship. Through study, practice, and personal devotion, followers of Greco-Roman religion can embrace the vision ADF offers and take their rightful place in the dialogue between the Indo-European followers of Druidry.
Works Cited
Adkins, Lesley and Roy A. Dictionary of Roman Religion. New York, Facts on File: 1996.
Burkert, William. Greek Religion. Cambridge, Harvard University, 1985.
Buxton, Richard. Ed. Oxford Readings in Greek Religion. Oxford University, 2000.
Dewitt, Norman J. 'The Druids and Romanization'. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. v 69 (1938) 319-322.
Thaniel, George. 'Lemures and Larvae'. The American Journal of Philology. v 94 no. 3 (Summer) 1973. 182-187.
Versnel, H.S. 'The Festival of Bona Dea and Thesmorphia'. Greece & Rome. v 39 2nd ser, no. 1 (April) 1992. 31-55.
Webster, Jane. "'Interpetatio': Roman Word Power and the Celtic Gods". Brittania v 26 (1995) 153-161.