About a month ago, I wrote a post about how I found Druidry and why I was drawn to follow it as a spiritual path. In today's post, I would like to take a look at what Druidry means to me today. Keep in mind that this is purely a personal definition and is not meant to describe Druidry as a whole. This post is based partly on a personal journal entry that I wrote in early September of 2008.
To begin with, my Druidry is constantly evolving. Having said that, I think that my main values (things like truth, creativity, personal integrity, and such) are fairly constant. But as I gain more knowledge about the practices of other people, both from the past and from today, as well as about the natural world and about my own strengths and creativity, the ways in which I interact with the world change. For a while, I was interested in learning all I could about Celtic culture and mythology, while later I found myself writing a lot of poetry. Today, while those other aspects are still important to me, I am more focused on deepening my own daily spiritual practice.
Perhaps the most important aspect of my Druidry is simply that of awareness - awareness of the earth and my relationship with it, awareness of what is going on around me, awareness of my body and "moments of being" when I feel grounded and at one with my setting. I seek to live wholly, with awareness and creativity. This is at the core of my spirituality and of my Druidry and is the goal I am always working towards.
Why "Druidry?" Well, to me, the term "Druidry" indicates that the path should have at least a bit of a Celtic focus. And for me it does. Celtic myths, Celtic deities, Celtic art, and (of course) Celtic music are what I am drawn to. Another reason why I call my path "Druidry" is because what I am doing and what I want to do is similar to what other people who call themselves Druids are doing. I call my spirituality Druidry partly out of recognition that I am not alone on this path and that there are others who are thinking and writing of the same things that are important to me.
That's the main definition; I could go into greater detail about some aspects, but those fine details are just the sorts of things that are likely to change over time. The constant in my path, even if at some point in the future I decided that the term Druidry no longer suits me, is awareness. Perhaps, as I wrote in my journal, Druidry for me, now, is simply about being awake.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Theoretical Druidry
For several years, I thought that I might one day become a theoretical physicist. Theoretical physicists use mathematical models and approximations to make hypotheses about the nature of the physical universe, which can then be tested by experimental physicists. This is a method that works well in physics and in the other sciences. But I wonder: is it possible for someone to be a theoretical Druid or a theoretical Pagan, and would this be a desirable situation?
Well, a few years ago, back when I was making my early awkward attempts to learn about and practice Druidry, I was a theoretical Druid. I thought a great deal about Druidry, and I wrote about it in my journal, and I even fancied that I was a Druid, but I didn't actually do much. I recall filling several pages in my journal analyzing the meanings of the different parts of ritual, without even considering the possibility of performing such a ritual myself. Even worse, much of what I wrote consisted not of my original ideas, but of things that I copied word for word from websites and books.
I was very confident in my new status as a Druid and I felt that I had become quite knowledgeable about the nature of Druidry, both ancient and modern. After all, I'd read through just about all of the websites I could find on the subject. I hadn't read many books, but that was okay, because all of the information you need is on the Internet these days, right? And as for actually doing things, I would get around to that eventually. Someday.
I know there are many people like me whose only way of learning about Druidry and paganism is through books and websites. If you live in a small rural town (as I did growing up) and if you tend to be an introverted type and like to keep to yourself, this is probably your only option. But it is very easy to fall into the trap of calling yourself a Druid just because you've read a few things and written a few pages that no one will ever read in your journal. It's not that simple: being a Druid or a pagan or anything else goes a lot deeper than websites and books and requires a lot of work.
If your Druidry or paganism is only theoretical, then you're not a Druid or a pagan.
Well, a few years ago, back when I was making my early awkward attempts to learn about and practice Druidry, I was a theoretical Druid. I thought a great deal about Druidry, and I wrote about it in my journal, and I even fancied that I was a Druid, but I didn't actually do much. I recall filling several pages in my journal analyzing the meanings of the different parts of ritual, without even considering the possibility of performing such a ritual myself. Even worse, much of what I wrote consisted not of my original ideas, but of things that I copied word for word from websites and books.
I was very confident in my new status as a Druid and I felt that I had become quite knowledgeable about the nature of Druidry, both ancient and modern. After all, I'd read through just about all of the websites I could find on the subject. I hadn't read many books, but that was okay, because all of the information you need is on the Internet these days, right? And as for actually doing things, I would get around to that eventually. Someday.
I know there are many people like me whose only way of learning about Druidry and paganism is through books and websites. If you live in a small rural town (as I did growing up) and if you tend to be an introverted type and like to keep to yourself, this is probably your only option. But it is very easy to fall into the trap of calling yourself a Druid just because you've read a few things and written a few pages that no one will ever read in your journal. It's not that simple: being a Druid or a pagan or anything else goes a lot deeper than websites and books and requires a lot of work.
If your Druidry or paganism is only theoretical, then you're not a Druid or a pagan.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
The Hill
I love walking to the hill above campus and sitting there, looking down at the cars rushing along the highway far below me. From the distance they seem small and unimportant, compared with the great expanse of the sky above and the hills, grasslands, forests, and rivers stretching out for miles around me. I sit and breathe slowly.
Just for a few breaths I think I catch a glimpse of something, of the great truth that lies behind everything, and then the feeling passes and I am just an ordinary mortal once more, sitting on the hill in the late autumn sun.
It is at times like these that I sometimes feel as though I can catch a glimpse of the way the story of my life is unfolding. I read too much - I keep comparing my life to a novel and wondering what the plot is, when often, my life seems like nothing more that a haphazard series of unconnected events. And at the same time I become aware of how small and unimportant I am, just a speck of dust compared to the immensity of the planet and my life not even a blink of an eye compared to the great timelines of the universe itself.
Far from being belittled, I feel a great love for and wonder at everything around me, every last bit of it, every blade of grass, every stone, every star and as-yet-undiscovered planet. How wonderful and beautiful and astonishing it all is, that I am here and all of this is here around me!
And everything is so real. The hard stone I sit on, the dry grasslands surrounding me, the air I breathe, seem so much more real than my small room down below, than any words I might write. And yet all of this, just as my life does, seems so fleeting and temporary and fragile as well.
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