The Drymyn of Iathrann are a highly organized intertribal brotherhood that meets annually to confer and elect a Chief Drymyn, known as the Mór-Dára (the Great Oak). The drymyn are not unworldly ascetics: disputed elections have been known to end in fighting. The drymyn are integrated closely into society and daily life. Kings are often served by a personal drymen, some tribes are even known to have their own specific groups of drymyn.

Drymyn are responsible for sustaining the sense of identity and continuity of each community. They are the guardians of the tribe's traditions, the administrators of tribal law, and they maintain the calendar (fixing feast days, naming lucky and unlucky days for conducting business or sacrifices, etc.).

Drymyn are exempt from military service and taxation, but are closely involved in politics and diplomacy, in the declaration of war and the negotiation — even enforcement — of peace.

Frequently, they are called upon to mediate in disagreements or to mete out justice to criminals. Drymyn wield considerable power over the community, including the authority to ostracize offenders from attending sacrifices and other public ceremonies, thus withdrawing the offender's religious and legal status.

Other duties include teaching and preparing novices for initiation into the Drymyn Order, divining the future and pronouncing auguries, astronomical studies, healing, and intercession with the Gods on behalf of the community. They preach the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and the rebirth of the dead among the living.

Drymyn shrines are often situated close to powers of nature, remote from habitation, on hilltops or in grottoes. Sacred groves, holy lakes, pools, and springs, as well as formal religious enclosures or temples are also common. A holy shrine or sanctuary is known as a nemed, a holy place.

Teachings, Philosophies, Beliefs, and Practices

The fundamental philosophy of the Drymyn is that Truth is the supreme power. Truth is the foundation of speech, and all Words are founded upon the Truth. Truth is the Word, and the Word is sacred and divine and not to be profaned.

Truth is the highest, life-giving principle and sustaining power of creation, the ultimate cause of all Being. Thus, there is magical power in the Word. Naming things brings them into being, because until something is named it remains unknown, without place or purpose. The first deity to appear from the primal Chaos, Aesun, created himself by calling out the Word thrice. Therefore, the world was create by the Word, from the process of the development of language, and the drymyn preach that "By Truth the Abred endures," and "the Truth against the world". The universe is controlled by the Word, or Reason, which is synonymous with Truth and godhead. Reason is by nature superior to authority and has greater dignity. Any authority is weak unless it can be supported by Reason, by a logic founded in Truth, in which case such Reason does not require the support of authority.

Men and women are responsible for all their acts and though there are several outside governing factors, the final choice between right and wrong, good and evil, lawful and unlawful, is the choice of the individual. Therefore, there is no concept of sin, but rather of lochtach, meaning 'guilt' or 'culpability'.

This philosophy lies at the basis of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. The drymyn preach that death is but a changing of place and that life goes on with all its forms and goods in another world, a world of the dead, the fabulous Tirn Aill ("the Other Land"). When people die in that world, however, their souls are reborn again into this world.

This is reflected in the symbolism of the Crann Beatha, the 'Tree of Life', with roots reaching deep into the Abred and branches reaching high into the sky, representing an "As Above, So Below" belief in the nature of the relationship between this world and the afterlife. Thus there is a constant exchange of souls between the two worlds, between the roots of the Crann Beatha and the branches.

Another name for Tirn Aill is "The Place of Truth," and idiomatically, the phrase "a man/woman is dead" is expressed as "he/she is in the Place of Truth now." Thus, birth is celebrated with mourning for the death in Tirn Aill, and death is regarded with joy for the re-birth of the spirit in Tirn Aill.

The drymyn teach that one should live in harmony with nature, accepting that pain and death are not evils but part of the divine plan and that the only evil is moral weakness. "Worship the Gods, do no evil, and exercise courage" is their creed.

The philosophy of the people of Iathrann, as instructed by the drymyn, is a moral system based on distinguishing right from wrong and lawful from unlawful, and imposing this distinction upon the people by the series of taboos and geisa.

One of the most important functions of the drymyn is that of judge in the law courts. The legal authority of the drymyn exceeds that of the kings, and even kings must submit to the judgments of the drymyn. The legal system generally provides for compensation of the victim or victim's family by the offending party, but in extreme cases, the drymyn can sentence an offender to the Way of Banishment, socially ostracizing the offender from the public and religious life of the community.

The drymyn are also the authorities to turn to for information and advice in regard to history and genealogy. The historian has to be specially learned in chronology, synchronism, antiquities and genealogy, has to know at least 350 historical and romance tales by heart and be able to recite them word perfect at a moment's notice, and has to know the prerogatives, rights, duties, restrictions and tributes not only of the High King, but of all the provincial and petty kings.

Astrology and medicine are also subjects of drymyn study, and are combined in the art of healing which the drymyn practice.

The drymyn are skilled with herbs as well as surgery, including Caesarean section, amputation, and brain surgery. They are widely renowned for their knowledge of medicinal botany (herbalism), and their high degree of surgical skill.

Two popular treatments are the medicated bath of herbal-infused hot water and the hot-air bath, given in a "sweating house," where the patient is placed in a fire-heated room until in a profuse sweat, then removed and immersed in cold water. The patient then meditates in order to achieve a state of peace.

A drymyn healer is often called a "seer-leech" and carries a bag full of medications and instruments called a lés. Under Iathrann law, the maintenance of the sick is made available to all who need it. Each territory is required to maintain a hospital, which must have four doors, be placed by a stream of running water, and be maintained free of charge or taxation by the local assembly. Expenses for the treatment of those injured unlawfully are paid out of the fines for injury levied against the perpetrator of the deed, and the law insists that the dependents of a sick or injured man should not lack food or security while he is recovering. Each healer is also required by the law to maintain four apprentices and to train them.

The first hospital in Iathrann was established by the semi-legendary queen Cátha Red-Hair, who died in the year 27 Before Settlement. It was called "the House of Sorrow," located at Cúpla na Cátha. An Iathrannach medical school, Tuaim Brecain, was founded in the 9th century of the Years of Settlement and was famous throughout the continent by the 11th and 12th centuries.

Organization

The Sacred Order of the Drymyn can be thought of as a federation of regional priesthoods that form a loosely organized faith, all of whose members worship the spirits of the tribal ancestors, the spirits of the Other World (the Shynn), and the Elements of Nature, and all of whom follow a similar ethical philosophy.

All drymyn dwelling within the bounds of a particular region are organized into a Circle. Circles are typically named for the geographic area their domain occupies, but sometimes they bear other names, harking back to their founders or the gods that the drymyn worship. The Circle of the Order in Iathrann is called the Circle of the Wandering Kings, in honor of the sons of Gallav who came from over the sea to settle the land.

Circles operate within a very loose structure. They use few large temples or abbeys, for rarely do more than a few drymyn live together. When they do, their dwelling places tend to be less than ostentatious, such as small cottages, or huts in the style of the local hunters or farmers. The drymyn believe that power and wisdom are modest, never boastful.

All drymyn within the Circle acknowledge a single authority figure as their leader and recognize this figure's moral authority. This figure is known as the Mór-Dára, the Great Oak of that Circle. The Mór-Dára gives the Circle's members great freedom compared to most other religious leaders. The drymyn adhere to an informal hierarchical structure and require their initiates to hold true to the basic ethos of the Drymyn Order and respect higher-ranking drymyn.

Training

In terms of training, novices are expected to memorize a great number of verses, laws, histories, magickal formulae and other traditions. It can take as long as twenty years to complete these studies, so training begins early, in childhood. Most are recruited from the aristocracy, because their high-class birth combined with the secrecy of the priestly orders lends them great authority.

The drymyn are not a celibate priesthood, however, and drymyn dynasties are common, with the secrets and mysteries of the order passing down from parent to child through the generations.

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