Reddit mentions of The Druidry Handbook: Spiritual Practice Rooted in the Living Earth

Welcome to the sub, DM mentioned the ADF but I don't think they'd be the organization for you if you're more on the athiest/agnostic spectrum as the ADF takes a more religious, polytheistic approach. I'd look into the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD) and the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA) if you're looking into an organization to join. Many druids are solitary though and never join an organization, though there are advantages to doing so. They're a good source of guidance.

Most people start by reading books though, I'd also suggest reading the first two links in the side bar. One is a sort of 'summary' of the modern druid movement, the second is a comprehensive history of how it came about.

Some good 'starter' books are:

The Path of Druidry by Penny Billington

The Druidry Handbook by John Michael Greer

Druidry and Meditation by Nimue Brown

A Brief History of the Druids by Peter Berresford Ellis

Several of the above authors also have blogs that a lot of people read and follow.

I tend to suggest the above because it covers a few different approaches to things, I feel like it's important as druids today to understand the past and where we get our influence from, which A Brief History of the Druids provides, both the Druidry Handbook and the Path of Druidry offer a good introduction to modern druidry, and Druidry and Meditation provides some instruction and guidance on meditation, which a lot of druids practice, and also I think does a good job of displaying the mentality and energy of many modern druids.

The thing about modern druidry though is there really isn't a right or wrong way as long as you adhere to the very basic beliefs of respecting all life (this doesn't mean necessarily being a pacifistic) and revering nature. You can be an atheist, a pantheist, a monotheist, a polytheist, Christian, Pagan, Buddhist, whatever. Which means it can be a little intimidating to new people, since you're kind of just tossed into this big forest and told to figure out your own way through it, but you learn a lot.

I think it's also good to note that modern druidry is not an attempt at recreation, if you read a Brief History of the Druids, you'll figure out that we actually know very little about the ancient druids, so it'd be very difficult to recreate their order.

Simply put: Ogham is an alphabet. The symbols are called feadha (usually rendered as "few" in English), arranged into groups of five called aicmí, and they represent letter sounds.

It gets more complicated when we start looking into the fidh names, Bríatharogam, divination, and neopagan innovations. I would say that in neopaganism we use ogham as an alphabet for cultural and practical reasons (it is easier to carve/burn into wood than the Roman alphabet is), as well as for divination and magic.

There is no simple answer to the meaning of the feadha. If you follow the links I provided above, you will find that there are varying names and Bríatharogam with which each feadha can be interpreted. If you would like a guide for how some modern Druids interpret ogham, you can check out The Druidry Handbook or The Druid Magic Handbook, both of which are written by John Michael Greer, the Grand Archdruid of AODA.

Keep in mind that these interpretations are neopagan innovations which descend from some questionable records handed down to us from Christian monks. The pre-Christian Irish may not have interpreted ogham quite in this way.

Edit: fidh is singular, feadha plural.

Hey there! I have some recommendations, and I'm sure others do as well, but if you're looking for introductory-style books, here you go!

• The Path of Druidry: Walking the Ancient Green Way by Penny Billington (Amazon link)
  
• The Druidry Handbook by John Michael Greer (Amazon link)
  
  I'd also recommend OBOD and ADF's websites; they're chock-full of information! And of course, feel free to ask here if you have any questions.

Sounds like it could be worth your while to look into Druidry. There are different forms, they lean from reconstructionist to more new age with a bit of ceremonial magic.

The Druidry Handbook by John Michael Greer would be a good starter book. The three best known druidry organizations are Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF), Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD), and Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA).

The Druidry Handbook by John Michael Greer

This might be a good start. John Michael Greer is a former Archdruid for AODA, and this was one of the first books on druidry I read, myself.

Some good online resources:
OBODs Druidcast
Ian Corrigan, an Archdruid Emeritus of ADF, has a cool video series he is doing called Under the Oak

And here are a bunch of books:
The Druidry Handbook by John Michael Greer
The Druid Way by Phillip Carr-Gomm
The Mysteeries of Druidry by Brendan Myers
Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism by Isaac Bonewits
Principles of Druidry by Emma Restall Orr
The Solitary Druid by Robert Ellison
and The Path of Druidry by Penny Billington (this one is a personal favourite that I recommend to nearly anyone who asks this sort of question).

Hope that helps some. :-)

>no one has offered anything new since I asked

You seem to have missed the many explanations from various members here about archelogical and historical absence of proof of yogic practices within Druidry, you missed the book recommendations to help you understand more of Druid history, and in fact it seems you've only taken interest in the posts that cater well to your own responses rather than information.

Here, let me help.

The Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids is one of the most populous Druid orders around. They're most famous for their 3-grade correspondence course. They hold international festivals and host a very entertaining, informative podcast, Druidcast. Their website will answer a lot of your questions on Druidry.

Ár nDraíocht Féin is another very popular Druid order.

Ancient Order of Druids in America is another one.

Blood and Mistletoe by Ronald Hutton is an amazing book detailing the history of Druids.

The Druidry Handbook by John Michael Greer is highly praised.

The Druid Ways by Philip Carr-Gomm is a great, short introduction to modern Druidry.

Celtic mythology is prevalent in Druidic practices.

This should mostly be new information to you, since you came here asking to learn about Druidry. Please, browse through a couple of the sites and come back with any questions. I'll be happy to help you sort through some of the admittedly jumbled info and answer any honest question.

Yeah, I just discovered that. Haven't finished it but I think it's pretty spot on.

And, before I dip out, I totally recommend John Michael Greer's The Druidry Handbook. Druid or not, I doubt I'll be forgetting the things I learned from it. Anyway it's a pretty solid text, I imagine it'd complement any of the OBOD stuff you've got headed your way.