Druidism (Keledoni)

The religion of Keledon is based around a cycle of myths and the Druidic priesthood. National epics such as the tales concerning the life of King Sothar are known everywhere while each local town and village also has its own legends and myths. Lay followers don't require a priesthood to conduct their ceremonies or make their charms. They know where to go, and every family has its lore. The Druids, however, are the people of true learning, and are respected as wise men and women, magistrates, healers, diviners, and so on.
Keledoni Druidism, and the folk religion that surrounds it, are deeply rooted in the land and natural cycles, both wild and agricultural. The fertility of the land is entwined with service to the spiritual, and tied intimately to the monarch of the land; kingship is not a place of only temporal and political authority, but also spiritual.
==The Otherworld==
The Keledoni believe that there is a spiritual world that lies alongside the physical realm. Sometimes called "The World Through the Mists", "The Grey Realm", or "The Land Behind", this world can be slipped into by mortals and is populated by faeries, spirits, gods and heroes. The Land Behind is sometimes visited by mortals in dreams.
It is said that the highest ranking Druids know how to slip between the worlds with ease.
The Land Behind is a varied and expansive place, within which are different realms representing the Four Elements as well as the Land of the Honoured Dead and others.
It is also said that time does not pass there as it does in the mortal realm. Tales tell of mortals slipping into the Grey for a night and returning to find that months or even years have passed. A great deal of Druidic lore concerns how to contact, treat with and make peace with denizens of the Otherworld.
==Roots==
Druidism developed long, long ago when the ancient clans of Keledon first encountered, and learned from, the Ashani. The ancient Keledoni tribes believed in a series of powerful spirits and legendary heroes as well as the spirits of wood and stream, wind and mountain. The Ashani philosophy of the four elements became highly influential among the Druids, and the Keledoni. From these two streams arose the sacred priesthood.
By the time Sothar KesGalen unified the disparate clans of the land into a single kingdom, the Ashani influence on the Druids was nearly a thousand years old. The ancient stone circles and megalithic sites that dot the land remain sacred to Druid and layman alike. Druidry is an expression of Keledoni culture, and makes little sense apart from it. The very practice of its rites and magic are deeply intertwined with the land itself, and with the people who have long inhabited it.
== Holy Days ==
The year holds eight sacred, or High Days. Paramount among them are Endless Day and Longest Night. The first is the apex of the power of the sun, of growth and a celebration of life and kingship. The fertility of the land is celebrated and ceremonies are held across Keledon in every village and town. Longest Night is the apex of the moon and of darkness, and is a more fearful time when the power of the spiritual world is less contained. To the common folk it is a time to gather in safety; to the Druids it is a lengthy night of divination, ritual, ceremony, and might. The remaining festivals occur approximately every six weeks, each being a celebration of the agricultural and natural cycles prevalent at that time. 
== Kingship ==
The concept of kingship in Keledon is deeply entwined with ancient beliefs, lore, and expectation. The monarch is deeply connected to the land and its spirits, taking on responsibilities to the people, but also the spirits, animals and plants. The coronation rites reflect all of these, and no one sits upon the Falcon Throne without making a sacred pilgrimage to the Woodmere, a sacred lake in The Haft. This connection is considered deeply spiritual; times of plague or famine are the responsibility of the monarch, as are times of plenty and peace.
==Organization==
The greatest among the priesthood of Druidry is the Myrthin, the Great Druid. Subordinate to him are the three Archdruids, who make their homes in the Three Enclaves. From the Enclaves the wisdom of Druidry flows. Both the Myrthin and the Archdruids are attended by fellow Druids of appropriate knowledge and merit. Individual Druids are essentially able to tend to their own affairs, so long as they answer the summons of a Druidic council and maintain the principles of their vocation.
The Myrthin, who may be male or female, serves the great gods and spirits of the Keledoni land and people directly; the day-to-day minutae of running the Druidic Order is generally the province of the three Archdruids, although the Myrthin retains the right of veto over any decision made by the Three.
Within Druidry there are also other accepted roles. Bards in Keledon have usually studied music and lore with the Druids and their role as storytellers and keepers of knowledge is a respected one.
==Training==
Druids study and memorize a vast amount of knowledge and lore. Beginning when they are children they are taught the mysteries of plant and animal, rock and stream. They are taught to survive alone off the land, and to make peace with its animal inhabitants. Magic and natural lore are also studied, including healing, herbalism, astrology, and woodcraft. When adolescence comes, the boys and girls are separated, and trained according to different methods. The boys are trained on the Path of the Sun, learning to function as priests of the active, solar, expansive principle. Girls are trained according to the Path of the Moon, and learn to work as priestesses of the passive, lunar, restrictive principle. As adults the two genders merge together again into a single priesthood, representing the masculine and feminine principles of Nature. The Three Archdruids of the kingdom always have a female member, the Archdruid(ess) of Draoi, and a male, the Archdruid of the Whitestag. The Archdruid of Capel Derwydd can be of either gender, for the essential training of males and females is conducted in the Whitestag and Draoi respectively.
By the time a student has progressed enough to join the ranks of the priesthood he or she will have memorized thousands of stanzas of poetry--the chief medium through which Druidic lore is transmitted. Students are also eventually taught a secret form of communication known only to members of the priesthood.
Within Keledon the word 'bard' has a specific meaning separate from 'minstrel' or 'troubadour'. Keledoni Bards have undergone a lengthy period of instruction under the Druids. While they are not themselves true members of the order they are taught a great deal of historical and mythological lore, as well as songs and tales that are central to the Keledoni identity. Bards may expect more support and trust from the Druids than may other, complete outsiders. As Bards as welcome throughout the kingdom they also serve as an information network, gathering information and bringing it back to the Enclaves. Bards are allowed to enter the Enclaves, but only by permission and with an escort.
Category:Religions
== DetailsCategory:Keledon ==
Type: Polytheistic. Keledoni beliefs include many gods, spirits and heroes, but doesn't consider any of them to be a supreme being. Magic (what the Ashani call kwiryen) is talked of, and personified, as the Dragon, and the mists that divide the worlds are his breath. Indeed, the Dragon is also a metaphor for the order of things, power and authority. 
Gods: Many. Each region, and sometimes each town, in the kingdom has its own local gods and spirits in addition to a few greater ones venerated across the kingdom. Such beings are not worshiped per se, but offerings are often made to gain their favor or attention. They are worked with. They are not worked for. 
Symbol: No one symbol represents the collected faith of Keledon. Artistic motifs such as knotwork, stylized animals, and spirals are commonly used both culturally and religiously. The Druids specifically are often represented by an oak leaf. The hawk, as a symbol of the kingdom, is often employed to represent the land and its people, but it is not an 'official' symbol.
Texts?: None. The lore of the Keledoni belief system is passed on orally, as songs, tales and epic poems. The Druids, during their training, memorize thousands of bits of wisdom and lore in the form of brief poems and mnemonic rhymes, but even in written form these are not 'sacred' texts.
Divine Interaction: Spirits and faeries are everywhere in the natural world, and its not unusual to interact with them. Sudden gusts of wind, or the unexpected appearance of animal, and many other occurrences can be the sign of a spirit. It's possible to move between this world and the Grey, or Land Behind the Mists, but very difficult. Mortals interact with the spirit world more frequently in their dreams. 
Afterlife: After death the spirit returns to the halls of its ancestors in the Grey, but can be sentenced to wander in punishment for great crimes. 
Worship: Collective worship occurs at the various celebrations scattered throughout the year, including on the solstices and equinoxes, as well as at agricultural festivals that coincide with first planting, first harvest, final harvest, and so on. Offerings of produce are made, games of skill played, dances held. The common people speak excitedly about the last celebration and look forward happily to the next.
Holidays: The Keledoni celebrate Endless Day not as a triumph but as the apex of one end of a cycle., corresponding with Longest Night. The former is a joyous, Beltane-like celebration, and the latter a more somber affair, characterized by bonfires roaring through the night and unspoken fear. The birthday of the monarch is often celebrated too. Various harvest festivals are held in the autumn, and celebrations welcome the coming of spring.
Clergy: The Druids form a societal class of teachers, wise wo/men, and arbitrators. They are encouraged to move among the common people, and to lend their skill, aid and wisdom to them. Villages often also have cunning wo/men, who are expert in low, or folk magic, and in herbal remedies and cures.
Clergy Function: advisers, counselors, magistrates, healers, wise wo/men.
Clergy Lifestyle: Oaths of service; secrecy; loyalty; celibacy for full Druids as long as they remain members of the Order. Druids devote a good deal of their time to work with the spirits and the natural world.
Clergy Family: Lower ranks of Druids, such as bards and novices, may marry and have families, but are thereafter forbidden from taking on the full responsibilities of a Druid. Those Druids are meant to serve the Gods and the people; family would interfere with that obligation.
Creation Myth: None. The world has always been, and always will be.
Major Myths / Symbols: Tales of King Sothar; tales of legendary heroes, monsters and deeds. 
Major Sins: cowardice, violating hospitality, falsehood, disloyalty, betrayal, theft
Major Virtues: Bravery, wisdom, courage of the underdog, honor, loyalty.
Coming of Age: 14
Marriage: Encouraged. Pre-marital relations not frowned upon, but pregnancy expected to lead to marriage. Marriages need not be lifelong, but are generally expected to be.
Death: Burial, often with cherished objects from life that may be needed in the next world.
Category:Druidry