What's the difference between druidism and Shamanism?
Ever since I got married in a druid wedding ceremony and since I organise druidic rituals, I've been receiving many questions about druidism. I noticed that people are generally more familiar with shamanism than with druidism, even in our regions, and that people find it hard to position themselves between shamanism and druidism. Even if there are a lot of parallels between the two traditions, there are also some essential differences. It's mostly a difference in energy, in polarity between the two. The one is not better than the other, just different.
Both of these traditions contain information that has been passed on since the time when the earth was still united and when there was one earth population that shared it's knowledge. The druids and shamans have always been the gardians of sacred knowledge and kept this alive through oral transmissions when the written traditions were destroyed: these transmissions contained information about the origins of humanity and the potential of human beings, but also on astrology, medicine, biology, anthropology, physics...
They both offer the opportunity to access information that is hidden within our cells and our collective memories. They are different roads that lead to liberation and activation of knowledge that will expand our consciousness and give us a more precise understanding of reality. Shamanism and druidism are spiritual and humanist traditions that pass on wisdom and that originate from the same root and contain the same source of wisdom, crystallised in a different way.
Both traditions have a strong bond with nature, because a human being that is de-connected from nature will never achieve the same level of wisdom than a human being who knows how to interpret the changes in nature, just as he'll only ever fully access his own strength when he adjusts the rhythm of his life to the rhythm of the seasons and the planets.
Druidism
Druidism carries the energy of the Celtic lands (Brittany, England, Wales, Ireland, the south of France, the north of Spain, Belgium, parts of Germany...) and is a tradition that is better adapted to western vibrations and western peoples. This is a generalisation, there are always exceptions and there will be western people who feel closer to shamanic energies and vice versa.
Druidism facilitates a discovery of self through an exploration of the energies in nature and the energies that are all around us.
It's a journey in space that will explore the relationship between outer and inner and that will connect and harmonise the two. It's the observation and exploration of what lies outside of us that will give us a better understanding of what happens inside of us and that will gently lead us to establishing an intimate bond with our inner self. The space dimension is also expressed in the invocation of the different wind directions at the beginning of many rituals.
Druidism will focus on detecting the 5 elements in one's self (fire, water, earth, air, ether) and will than harmonise these elements: first in one's self and than on the outside. The harmonisation will also take place between the different polarities: male-female, day-night, moon-sun, shadow-light...
Druidism is intimately linked to the elements water and air and its power resides in the higher chakras: heart, throat, third eye, crown. Because of this affiliation with the air chakras, you will more easily attract air energies: spirits of nature (fairies, elves, water spirits...), energies that originate from other planets, other galaxies, etc.... The druidic energy is a descending energy that travels from head to toe, connecting the sky to the earth through the body. This doesn't mean that you don't use your lower chakras or that you won't have access to the energies that are associated with these chakras, but these will not be the energies that present themselves to you at first.
Shamanism
Shamanism carries the energy of Native American lands, of Australia, Central and Southern Africa, Siberia and Mongolia.... and contains an energy that will more easily suit the inhabitants of these countries. Again, there are no rules, there are exceptions.
Shamanism facilitates self-transcendence through the direct confrontation with our deepest fears and hidden shadows. Shamanism explores our ancestral heritage and our deepest memories to bring to the surface all that has been hidden and expose it to the light. This time dimension is also expressed in the astral voyages in the lower world, the middle world and the upper world.
Shamanism works towards the unification of being by inclusion of the different time spaces and will seek to bring the filters of the past and the future into the present moment to provide a greater understanding for each person of their current life. Shamanism digs deep within the person to explain the dynamics of existence with the help of the integrated time spaces.
Shamanism is intimately linked to the elements fire and earth and it's power resides in the lower chakras: root, sacred, solar and heart chakra. Because shamanism will first activate the lower chakras, you will attract earthly energies at first: animal and plant spirits, ancestors, beings that live inside the earth... The shamanic energy is an ascending energy that travels from the feet to the head and that connects the earth to the sky through the body.
Which tradition to choose?
It doesn't really matter which tradition or technique you decide to use for your personal evolution and liberation, as long as you're excited by your choice, as long as you feel amazed during your journey, this means you're in coherence with the choice you made.
