#hdna

camp is so lovely and this was my first year I felt I lived up to its true potential of loveliness. despite the lack of time, it may have made up for bad experiences in summers past.

one doesn’t have to cry to feel emotions. I can feel whatever mess is in my heart and mind and if tears don’t fall, that doesn’t mean those feelings aren’t strong. crying isn’t proof of sadness or melancholy or even joy. it’s just a symptom.

the connection I feel with my kvutzah, the people I’ve grown up alongside for years, is so different from other relationships. even if I’m not as close with all of them as I’d like to be, they’re my kin. we aren’t frozen in time and we change every summer, but despite drama or tiffs we change and forgive. kvutzah is something so unique and so important.

time is slipping through my fingers faster than I can help it and yet the time drags between summers. we grow and change and suddenly it makes sense that it’s a youth movement, suddenly I see that 23 or 24 is still a child and someday I’ll be there and I’ll have to leave but I choose the movement. I choose this movement until I don’t anymore.

I’m afraid to go to my next camp, honestly. Tavor, the place that has had a large effect on my personhood, the place that has taught me the most. to school-sanctioned orchestra camp gives such a feeling of whiplash. the differences in emotional maturity alone is astonishing, but also the way we live, the way we learn, even the way we eat and do our dishes. it feels off to go back to the “real world” but also to go to a place that could be so similar and yet is so different is strange.

Year founded: 1976

Location Founded: Saint Louis, Missouri, USA

Origins, inspirations, or parent org: Parent - Schismatic Druids of North America (SDNA). Inspirations - New Reformed Druids of North America (NRDNA), Jewish heritage, mysticism, and “repaganized” cultural and religious customs.

Founders: Isaac Bonewits, Vicki Rhodes

Official Symbols: Not specified in the modern historic record. One third-party example exists as a Star of David with RDNA Druid Sigil at the center. The inverse would also work.

Theological compatibility: Intended for pagans with Jewish heritage, spirituality, culture, mysticism, neopagan syncretism and eclecticism, especially people who really like lots of rules in their religion.

Founder prior involvements: Isaac Bonewits - RDNA, occultism, LaVeyan Satanism, witchcraft. Vicki Rhodes - RDNA, Jewish & neopagan practices.

Active, Hiatus, or Defunct, & Rebootability: Defunct from late 1970s to 2001, active from 2002-2003 before becoming defunct again. Is rebootable. Rebooting would require RDNA or NRDNA Third Order ordination lineage.

Centrally organized: Under SDNA umbrella.

Governing body: The Provisional Council of Arch-Druids (PCOAD) was formed to voice their concerns on behalf of their Groves, though it seems the authority for all legislative decisions was still held by Bonewits to make it easier to get things done, effectively as “benevolent dictator.”

Study Program or Mentorship: No formal study program but had narrower guidelines than regular SDNA educational policy.

Member degrees, ranks, or levels of achievement: Initially identical to RDNA - First Order (entry level), Second Order (training for priesthood), Third Order (priesthood), plus seven higher orders of priesthood as areas of focus or dedication. There is also the Order of the Acorn as a self-dedication rite for those who wish to affiliate with the RDNA or its direct offshoots. The SDNA later began to develop a rank system of Circles - First, Second, and Third Circle, allegedly with more than one circle below First. Specifics now seem to be lost, but a ranking system of five circles were later incorporated into ADF until the 1990s and are likely close approximations to the SDNA. The SDNA and ADF are otherwise very similar, the latter being founded a year after the SDNA became defunct.

There will most assuredly be rituals that are open only to members who have been admitted to the First Circle or higher, and rituals closed to lower Circles. -The Fifth Epistle of Isaac, A Reformed Druid Anthology, 2nd ed.

Membership fees and recurrence: Like the RDNA, membership to the HDNA is free. Individual Groves have the autonomy to charge membership dues to offset operating costs. Entering the Third Order (priesthood) informally costs “breakfast” to feed the person who ordains you. It is viewed as a courtesy, not a requirement, after the All-Night Vigil and ordination ceremony.

Estimated membership: 0.

Estimated number of Groves or study groups: 0

Current grand poobah & title: N/A currently and no definitive title was recorded. Whoever becomes the next SDNA or HDNA priest would first have to be an RDNA or NRDNA Third Order, but we might suggest adopting the title “Benevolent Dictator” or at the very least, Chairperson of PCOAD.

Cult danger (A. B. C. D. E. F. version 2.7) estimated rating: LOW-MODERATE

Alleged cult criteria:

Dogma - Strict requirements detailed across 13 chapters that are vaguely reminiscent of Levitical Law but much more pagan.

Sexual Manipulation - Nine laws regarding sexual conduct including the expectation of sex on weekends and holidays, no restrictions on the grounds of age or species, bonded partners are expected to gratify each other at least weekly, menstrual periods are to be enjoyed and celebrated, and another creepy one is “Be careful about seducing their [outsiders’] children.”

Lots of these rules have caveats and exceptions akin to “void where prohibited” but some of them just shouldn’t be rules if they need disclaimers. If anyone wants to reboot the HDNA they should seriously amend the rules and laws to make them more acceptable to reasonable society.

If anything needs to be rectified, please contact me with proof for correction.