An Oldie but a Woodie: The United Ancient Order of Druids Monument

Detailed and compendious account of A.O.D. & U.A.O.D
http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1913

From Neo-Pagan web site:
http://www.neopagan.net/MesoDruids.html
In 1781 c.e., Henry Hurle set up the "Ancient Order of Druids" ("A.O.D."), which is sometimes just called the "Druid Order," ("D.O."), as were a few other groups, leading to no end of historical confusion. Hurle's group was a secret society based on Masonic patterns — not surprising, since Hurle was a carpenter and house builder, and thus would have been familiar with Masonry. The A.O.D., like most of the similar mystical societies formed at the time, was heavily influenced by Jacob Boehme.

(Jacob Boehme, 1675-1724 c.e., was a Protestant Christian mystic, greatly involved with alchemy, hermeticism and Christian Cabala, as well as being a student of the famous Meister Eckhart. His mystical writings attempted to reconcile all these influences and had a tremendous impact upon later generations of mystical Christians, Rosicrucians, Freemasons and Theosophists.)

In 1833, the secret society founded by Hurle apparently split up over the question of whether it should be mainly a "benefit" (charitable) society or a mystical one. The majority voted for being a charitable society and changed its name to the "United Ancient Order of Druids" ("U.A.O.D."). This group, with branches all over the world, still exists as a charitable and fraternal organization rather like the Elks or Shriners, with both their membership and their rituals overlapping heavily with those of mainstream Masonry.

The Truth Behind The Druids ~ National Geographic TV 

 

"The Druids were not the gentle pagans often depicted in culture and film. But did they carry out human sacrifice?"