Digital Druidry
An investigation into the development, nature and significance of online ritual as religious experience in contemporary British Druidry.
Abstract
The paper considers the experiences of religious or spiritual Druids in the UK during the lockdown of 2020-21 caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It will examine the early attempts to deal with what was initially thought of as a very temporary situation, and how ways of meeting, communicating and performing ritual online became more sophisticated as the lockdown continued. The role of the internet in building and maintaining community will be discussed, suggesting that the rapid developments in technology brought people into Druidry who had previously been excluded or isolated. It will examine the limitations inherent in online ritual as well as the advantages, and the ways in which ritual evolved to accommodate the strengths and weaknesses of the internet. The paper will conclude that the developments that took place during the pandemic, and have continued at an unprecedented pace since, have significantly and permanently changed the way in which Druids experience ritual, community and the sense of the sacred.
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