The Ancient Order of Druids in America is a modern Druid church drawing its inspiration and many of its teachings from the Druid Revival of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. We don't claim direct descent from the original Druids - the priestly caste of ancient Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, which went extinct around twelve hundred years ago - and to be honest, we're skeptical of any group that does make that claim. Instead, like other modern Druid groups, the AODA evolved out of a three-hundred-year-old movement, the Druid Revival, that found the fragmentary legacy of the ancient Druids a powerful source of inspiration and insight, and drew on a wide range of sources in shaping a nature spirituality to meet the challenges of today.

Its roots in the Druid Revival gives the AODA certain features in common with esoteric societies such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. It offers three degrees of initiation - Druid Apprentice, Druid Companion, and Druid Adept - which are conferred upon completion of a graded study program. Its members have the opportunity to meet in local congregations, called Groves, and a national Grand Grove oversees the Order, charters Groves, and manages the study program.

In keeping with the traditions of Revival Druidry, the AODA encourages its members to pursue their own spiritual directions within a broad common framework, and its approach to spirituality is personal and experiential rather than dogmatic. Membership is open to men and women of all religious, cultural, national, and ethnic backgrounds. The initiation rituals and study program are prescribed, and AODA members are expected to keep four traditional Druid holy days, the solstices and equinoxes. Rituals for the holy days aren't prescribed, however, and in fact candidates for the degree of Druid Companion are expected to create original rituals for these and any other holy days they choose to celebrate. Creativity and the quest for personal Awen - the inner light of inspiration - are among the AODA's central values.