Approaching Druidry as an emerging religious movement that offers an alternative to the mainstream materialist, consumerist culture of the United States, Kimberly Kirner analyses her own life as a Druid through the lens of her profession as a cultural anthropologist. Interweaving lively stories of her life as a Druid with accessible analytical essays drawing from an unusual array of literature from the anthropology of religion, the anthropology of consciousness, organizational anthropology, cognitive anthropology, and ethnoecology, she leads the reader into an experiential and conceptual understanding of Druidry as a way of life and as a contemporary Western new religious movement that challenges Christo-centric definitions of religion. Reflecting on three domains of the Druidic life, the author describes the Druidic worldview (place, time, and the body), community (relational spirituality), and vocation (ethics and action). These descriptions are punctuated with reflective essays that question the boundaries and nature of religion as it is generally understood in the Western world by examining how Druidry might be understood using concepts more appropriate to Druids' conceptualizations of themselves.

Explores the worldview, practices, experiences, and ethics of contemporary Druids through the stories and reflections of its author, a practicing Druid.

About the Author
Kimberly Kirner is Professor of Anthropology at California State University, Northridge, USA.


Book Information
ISBN 9781350264120
Author Kimberly Kirner
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC