Lughnassad Ritual Outline

(An outline for the Lughnasad celebration Jeff and I are planning for tomorrow evening. Forgive the formatting -- I'm composing and posting from my iPad while I sit outside in our front yard. Yeah, that's right. #awesome)


# Opening

**Peace to the Four Corners**

May there be peace in the North,
a light of courage to shine
May there be peace in the South,
a rock of truth to stan upon
May there be peace in the East,
a chalice of kindness to drink
May there be peace in the West,
a staff of wisdom to lean upon
We join here now in peace,
May peace hold sway throughout the three realms
Awen.


**Weaving the Circle**

I weave this circle as sacred space,
Woven in stone, in calas, in bone
I weave this circle as holy time,
Woven with water, with gwyar, with blood
I weave this circle as a nemeton,
sanctuary of spirit,
Woven by flame, by nwfyre, by breath

The circle is woven, the grove is open,
By land, sea and sky, where the three realms meet.
Awen.


**Welcoming the Directions**

Hail and welcome, swift Hawk of Dawn
and the powers of the East!
Winging across the wide lands, far-sighted,
far-seeking, riding the high winds.
May you bless and cleanse our circle
with your presence.

Hail and welcome, bright Stag of Noon
and the powers of the South!
Poised at the height of your power, courageous,
strong with the fiery music of the hunt.
May you bless and strengthen our circle
with your presence.

Hail and welcome, wise Salmon of Dusk
and the powers of the West!
Quiet and quick-silver beneath clear waters,
in touch with the ebb and flow of awen.
May you bless and inspire our circle
with your presence.

Hail and welcome, starry Bear of Midnight
and the powers of the North!
Dark and deep-rooted in the nurturing earth,
great protector of the wilderness.
May you bless and guard our circle
with your presence.

The four corners of the realms are joined.
We stand in the center, place of sovereignty and grace.
Awen.


**Druid's Prayer**

Let us join now in the prayer we share with our fellow Druids.

Grant, oh gods, your protection,
And in protection, strength,
And in strength, understanding,
And in understanding, knowledge,
And in knowledge, the knowledge of justice,
And in the knowledge of justice, the love of it,
And in the love of it, the love of all existences,
And in the love of all existences,
the love of Spirit and all goodness.
Awen.


**Marking the Center**

(Charge the candle for abundance)
By spirit and fire, we mark
the center of this rite.
Gateway between the worlds,
light in dark and dark in light.

(Light the candle)
By land, sea and sky,
sacred fire, well and tree,
The center way is open,
by the three realms, so may it be.


**Invocation of the Gods**

(Improvised invitation and prayer to the gods)


**Making Offerings**

We honor our ancestors of blood, spirit and land,
who walk with us still.
We honor our gods and the gods of our people,
shining ones of spirit.
We honor the earth and all of her beings,
flora and fauna, kith and kindred.
May you accept our offerings
as a symbol of our gratitude and devotion.
Awen.


# Central Working

**Prayer of the Season**

The season of harvest is upon us. Fresh fruits ripen on tree and vine, and the earth prepares herself in her self-giving to welcome her children into a time of plenty and celebration. The majesty of the sun warms us even as the days grow shorter, and we gather in the lingering summer evening to offer our praise to the earth. As Lugh, god of skill and light, Lugh of the long arm, honored his mother with harvest and celebration, so we honor Earth Mother, she who sustains and nourishes us, she who supports and encourages us.

We place upon our altar the gifts of the season: Sweet corn, tall and golden in the field, each kernel a drop of sunlight, round and nourishing, promising wealth and abundance still to come. Berries swollen with juice, fresh and ready to be enjoyed, falling to the earth full of seeds from which future harvests will grow. And wine, blushing, refreshing water of life, coaxing us to joy and celebration.


**Raising Power**

In the sight of the gods and the company of friends,
We raise power for our working,
and open ourselves to receive the blessings
of abundance in our turn.

Prayer:
Flame of creativity and productivity.
Light of abundance and prosperity.
Warmth of gratitude and generosity.
We welcome all these into our lives.

Chant:
(Build the chant as symbols of abundance are shared around the circle: corn, berries and wine. Keep chant going as long as necessary, in multiples of three.)
Flame, Light, Warmth, Welcome (x3)
*clap* Light, Warmth, Welcome (x3)
*clap* *snap* Warmth, Welcome (x3)
*clap* *snap* *slap* Welcome (x3)
*clap* *snap* *slap* *stomp* (X3)
(for final repetition, both words and gestures)
Flame, Light, Warmth, Welcome!
Awen.


# Closing

**Prayer for Peace**

We join together now in a prayer for peace throughout the world.

Deep in the still center of my being,
May I find peace.
Silently in the quiet of the grove,
May I cultivate peace.
Gently within the greater circle of humankind,
May I radiate peace.
Awen.


**Farewell to the Directions**

Hail and farewell, starry Bear.
We honor your presence in our circle tonight.
May peace and gratitude go with you to the North.

Hail and farewell, wise Salmon.
We honor your presence in our circle tonight.
May peace and gratitude go with you to the West.

Hail and farewell, bright Stag.
We honor your presence in our circle tonight.
May peace and gratitude go with you to the South.

Hail and farewell, swift Hawk.
We honor your presence in our circle tonight.
May peace and gratitude go with you to the East.


**Closing the Center and Unweaving the Circle**

The fire that burns before us guides our love and will.
Extinguished on the altar, but carried with us still.
(blow out candle)
The circle is unwoven, returned to time and space.
What power is remaining, may it bless this place.
(empty remaining offerings of water, herbs)
By calas, gwyar, nwfyre, by land and sky and sea,
The rite we’ve worked is over,
By the three realms, may it be.

New Moon Rededication

Not sure how three months slipped by without an entry. Oh, wait... yes I do. (a) A new job, and (b) I rather hate the new blogger dashboard layout.

Updates? We haz them.

The new podcast project has been an amazing success, and we're nearing the end of our first season with hundreds of listeners. I'm working regularly, perhaps a bit too much... there were times throughout the past three months, because of the rush to keep ahead of schedule with this summer's craziness, that I was close to burn out — August will be a nice break. My hope is that we will hit a stride that will let me work consistently but not obsessively (they say the first few months of a new job are always the hardest). I also feel as though some of the more subtler transformative effects are starting to work their way in, as well. Hard to articulate exactly, but I feel as though I have a new focus to my work and a vision for this project that I'm following, and it's become much easier to tune out the online social media noise that used to feel so overwhelming and drag me so far off center. In general I feel more confident about my work and happier doing it, instead of feeling like it's pulling teeth. The down side: I am not writing as much, either for my personal blog or No Unsacred Place. But I'm writing just as consistently for both as I would during my times of writer's block back when that was all I was doing, so maybe it just feels like slacking off compared to the huge amount of work I put into the podcast regularly.

On the writing front, though, I do have a new writing gig: a column for SageWoman Magazine. On top of my column with Aontacht Magazine, I'm feeling pretty happy about my writing. I think I actually prefer writing magazine columns to blog posts, the format lends itself to more thoughtful writing with more time for reflection (and revision!) in between each.

The child custody issue culminated when Emily took Jeff to court (because a father wanting to see his kids is a punishable offense, now? she asked for a "relief hearing" because, in her bizarre world, Jeff was the one being stubborn). Anyway, the judge was buddy-buddy with Emily's lawyer and sang Emily's praises for being a noble homeschooling stay-at-home mom (without ever asking for any evidence of Emily's assertions that this way of homeschooling, on a schedule that just would not allow the kids to be away from her for more than a couple weeks at a time, was absolutely necessary and "best for the kids"). So Jeff, who had no lawyer, didn't really get a fair hearing at all, and the judge left him alone in the room with Emily and her lawyer acting as mediator, clearly not impartial or fair. Even so, in the end, they agreed to all of Jeff's requests except Emily refused to allow more than four weeks with the kids. Still, four weeks is better than the two she was originally demanding. Still, the illogic and injustice of it galls me, and when I'm stressed I do still find myself back in that courtroom, playing out all the things I could have said or done, ways that I could have humiliated Emily for being a controlling, selfish bitch. As it is, it seems they found me intimidating enough (her lawyer had a minor freak-out and accused me of "making fun of her," like we were back in middle school, and in response to nothing more than me smiling across the court room at my husband). But before we went into court, Jeff and I agreed that we'd done everything we could and it was in the gods' hands, and I trust that everything will work out for the best. All along, what we've wanted most is some kind of reasonable resolution instead of this endless game of Emily saying no but never giving us her own terms, or when she did, terms that were so vague that they were clearly an excuse to whittle away at Jeff's time with the kids after the fact. Now at least he has firm dates set, and she can kiss our asses. (I won't even go into the ridiculous song-and-dance they did about Christmas, and how panicked they looked when I pointed out that none of the kids four parents, nor the kids themselves, are Christian.... like I was just about to spoil Emily's whole good-suburban-Christian-mom routine.)

So Jeff is with the kids up in New Hampshire now, along with Melanie, and they've been having a great time, except for all the other stuff going on (like Melanie not feeling well, and Biff potentially needing to go back into the hospital while she's away, and the summer being unusually hot up in New England). I miss him a lot, but it's been good to have the place to myself for a little while. Well, me and Cu.

I've pretty well trained Cu not to bite, finally, after Leah let us know (she cat-sat while we were away back east for the court hearing and visiting my parents) that he was biting her when she came to check on him. Playful nips, nothing mean-spirited, but that's not acceptable. I was being too lenient with him anyway, and it's been easier to break him of the habit with just the two of us, since he can't just turn to daddy for affection and ignore me ignoring him for being naughty.

What else? I did finally unpack some of our sacred objects and set up and rededicate the indoor and outdoor altars like I'd planned to when we first moved in. I'm doing daily devotionals at the indoor altars now, which is good. I'll take a picture or two to post here eventually, at some point. The indoor altar isn't quite complete, as we still need to incorporate certain symbols for Jeff's deities and mine and decide if any other items need to be included. The outdoor altar is very simple, as usual, just a candle, a vase of cut flowers, te wind chimes and a bowl of sea shells.

I bought a treadmill and a standing desk / drafting table so that, eventually, I can walk while I work. My work on the computer doing research and writing has started to take up a lot of my time, and I haven't been as good about exercising as I want to be, so getting a treadmill seemed like a good solution. I've had it two days, and I'm enjoying being able to move while I work — it helps my concentration and lets me work up a good sweat. I just need to find a more comfortable way to type while I walk, and I'll be good to go.

I've started doing Tai Chi in the mornings. It rocks.

I got an iPad. Forgot to mention that — it was a (somewhat early) birthday present from my parents, and I have to admit, it's even better than I was expecting. I'm using it regularly for ebook reading and researching articles for the podcast, plus there are some really useful nature apps, like flora and fauna guides and moon calendars and such. And productivity apps that are useful. And some pretty nifty drawing apps that I've played around with some (though I haven't been as good about keeping up with my naturalist journal as I'd been hoping). So, yes, I'm very pleased with it. It will work as a good replacement when this laptop finally goes (it's on its last legs now) and I get a desktop family computer for Jeff and I to use so he doesn't have to use his work laptop when we're at home.

I think the hardest thing about getting used to Seattle has been not living near any parks. The SVN training and teaching is fantastic, but it's not exactly "alone time" in the woods like I used to have with Frick just a block away. As much as I love our place, it's very hard for me to not be near a park I can walk to — much harder than I expected, actually. I realized that it's the first time in my life that I haven't had some sort of wooded park within a few blocks.... which means, until now, I've been very, very lucky. It also means I need to work on finding alternatives and ways to cope. It's been hard.

Setting up the altars again has helped somewhat. It also helped when, for my flamekeeping shift the other night, I went whole-hog and performed a full ritual, complete with circle casting and calling the quarters and the traditional prayers and such. I attended a summer solstice event with Jeff and Leah put on by the local OBOD group, and it was really fantastic (in the community sense, if not an amazing, elaborate ritual or anything), and it made me realize just how much I've fought against being too "revivalist" in my Druidry, especially with pressure from people online who all seem to be taking the hard line towards reconstructionist polytheism. Being Wiccan now is almost taboo to hear people talk, and yet.... it's startling to me to discover that in many ways, I'm closer to that spirituality than I will ever be to a reconstructionist. Trying to embrace that has been part of this growing confidence I have about my own path, and moving away from being so reactionary and governed by the opinions of others online (even when I didn't realize that's what was happening).

It's led me to rededicate myself to the Living Druidry work that Jeff and I were doing together when we first began dating several years ago, and that turned out to be so fruitful for me at the time. Once Jeff is home, he's agreed that we'll make weekly trips to the local woods (probably Carkeek) to do our meditations and rituals in the evenings the way we were doing back then, and I hope that will help some with my restlessness at not being close to the woods.

Just yesterday was the new Claim Song Moon. I'll be journaling some about the various topics for contemplation included in this month's lesson.

So I think that about covers it.

I really miss Pittsburgh. I miss hanging out with Arthur. I miss Frick Park. I miss hot summers (though not as hot as they've been having this year!). I am still not really settled here. I still don't know what the seasons are like, little things like that. When I think about how long we've been here already and how it still doesn't quite feel like home — and yet when we were back in Pittsburgh and Lancaster briefly, that didn't feel like home either, really — I start to feel a little bit panicked, like... what if I'll never really feel at home again? What if this is what it's going to be like from now on, just one issue after another, one stress-ball after another, always something new, always a new project, always a new controversy, a new issue to deal with, a new way in which I'm discovering how inherently limited my perspective is and yet surrounded always by people who aren't forgiving or patient but full of self-righteous anger.....

It's not that I'm not happy. I have been very happy and feeling energized and optimistic recently, and having good work that I love doing is a big part of that. But happiness and joy... they're different. And I do sometimes still feel homesick.

The neighbors are having quite a party across the street. I'm going to bed to read some and snuggle with my Cu.

DOTR Initiation - Questions & Answers

1. How do you affirm that we are a community of Druids walking personal paths, and your desire to be one of us?

The Druid Order of the Three Realms embraces concepts like integrity, respect, community, service and interdependence - all values that have been deeply embedded in my own spiritual path even before I learned to call it by the name of Druidry. The encouragement and support I've received from DOTR members, and from my mentor B— in particular, during my year as a DOTR Aspirant have been invaluable to me as I've worked to refine and expand my Druid practice beyond what I've learned as a member of OBOD and AODA in the past.

The Druid Order of the Three Realms also embodies a balance of community engagement and personal exploration in a nonhierarchical way that moves beyond the usual organizational models of modern Revival Druidry based on the old social fraternities, and I find myself very much in tune with this new approach that remains open to the changing reality for religious institutions in a (post-)postmodern world. I would be honored and proud to count myself a member of the Order, and I look forward to be an active and contributing member in the future!


2. How do you affirm a vital relationship with the Earth, our mother?

In my daily life I adopt a handful of "green"/eco-friendly practices, including a vegetarian diet of largely organic, locally-grown foods (recently promoted by the UN as the most effective lifestyle change a person can make to help reduce their impact on the planet). I also strive whenever possible to avoid using plastics and to reduce my energy consumption; my husband and I also started a composting program for our old apartment building (and happily, the apartment complex we're moving into in Seattle has a composting program already in place!).

I'm the founder, project manager and a contributing writer for the Pagan Newswire Collective blog project, No Unsacred Place: Earth and Nature in Pagan Traditions, where I coordinate essays, articles and news pieces promoting ecological awareness and environmentalism among Pagans and exploring the many ways that Druids, Witches and Pagans embrace nature spirituality in their diverse traditions. I also contribute to Aontacht Magazine as their new Wild Earth feature editor, and as a writer and blogger I share my experiences and contemplations about our sacred relationship with the Earth on my blog through poems, stories and personal reflections.

In my personal spiritual practice, relationship with the Earth and the natural local landscape holds a place of primary importance. While living in Pittsburgh, I made hillwalking in the nearby wooded nature preserve a regular part of my practice and often held personal rituals and meditations out doors (in all kinds of weather!). My altar and household shrines reflected the changing seasons of the local landscape and honored the plants, animals and other inhabitants sharing the land with me.

Now, moving to Seattle, I hope to continue making time outside connecting with the natural world a central part of my spiritual life. I've applied to volunteer with the local parks service as an amateur naturalist, for which I'll receive seasonal training about the ecology of the local bioregion(s) and then be able to pass on that learning to others through public and student-oriented educational programs and guided explorations of the many urban green spaces in the city. I might also have the chance to adopt a few acres of a nearby park as part of the forest restoration effort.


3. How do you celebrate the Sun and its sacred days both alone and together in the grove?

My husband, Jeff, and I have been celebrating each of the eight holy days (the four solar festivals and four Celtic fire festivals) together for the past few years, and we're often able to include Jeff's kids in the celebrations as well. Our celebrations are usually very simple, and include making offerings to the three realms of land, sea and sky, as well as singing songs and telling stories that resonate with the spiritual significance of the time of year. Usually for the summer and winter solstices, we rise before dawn and make our way to the local park where we climb the highest hill and greet the sun as it rises above the horizon (the kids' favorite song to sing on these occasions is They Might Be Giants' "Why Does the Sun Shine?"). This past year, Jeff and I planned our wedding to coincide with the autumnal equinox, in celebration of our relationship of balance between masculine and feminine, light and dark, day and night, activity and receptivity and the many other sacred dualities that go into forming a sacred marriage. (We were also very lucky to be able to include our families and friends in our Druid ceremony on the beach, on the threshold of the three realms, for which we feel especially blessed.)

On certain occasions, I will also hold personal observances of the holidays in a more formal ritual fashion (Jeff is not as keen on ritual). For these rituals, I usually build off of the DOTR outline and incorporate my own chants, prayers and meditative trance-work. This is the closest I'm able to come to participating in DOTR grove rituals as a long-distance member, but I hope that someday down the road I might be able to find others in the local area who want to work within the DOTR ritual model and hold in-person rituals together, too.


4. How do you hear the call to the inner life, and how are you weaving a wisdom that is both personal and communal?

It is mostly through my writing and my poetry that I engage with my inner life and explore the work of soul and spirit in their many different forms, but I also use meditation, trance-work and dreams to connect to this inner realm. Besides the DOTR Three Realms Working, I've developed a daily meditation of my own (Peace of the Three Realms) based on the Druid Prayer for Peace, that helps me to align with the energies of land, sea and sky as well as with the Druidic elements of nwyfre, gwyar and calas, and I've also begun to explore (although only a little) working with the Three Cauldrons from Celtic tradition. Through trance-work, I explore my inner landscapes with the guidance of Badger, my primary spirit/animal guide; and in dream, I seem practically unable to avoid bumping into Manannan every once in a while!

I also use divination to connect with my gods as well as my intuition/soul/subconscious (whatever you want to call it!). Mostly this is through tarot cards and occasionally other oracle card decks, but I plan to embark on a more serious study of the ogham as soon as I'm settled in Seattle!

I've also been studying astrology, and particularly the psychological approach to astrology best exemplified in the work of astrologers like Liz Greene and Stephen Arroyo, for the past year, complimented by a deeper exploration of Jungian archetypes and mythological patterns found in the works of Joseph Campbell and Mircea Eliade. This work has afforded me a great deal of insight into my own psyche and the patterns that underlie some of my approaches to life, the world and other people. I'm looking forward to exploring ways that I can utilize this insight and the framework established by astrological study to serve my community by understanding better what unique gifts I have to offer and maybe even by providing astrological counseling for others at some point. (I've started offering to do free natal chart readings online and have already had about two dozen clients!)


5. What special work have you taken on, for yourself, for others, for our community?

As I mentioned above, I've been exploring the possibility of providing astrological counseling as a service to the community in the near future. I've also worked as a writer and editor to help create opportunities for discussion and exploration in the Pagan community through articles, essays and blog posts focusing on our relationship with the Earth. On a few occasions, I've helped draft rituals or liturgies as a part of an online group celebrating together (these have mostly been through my work as a Flamekeeper with a Brighidine Cill, exploring Brighid's role as a solar and stellar goddess).

To be honest, since most of this work has been online in one way or another, I've sometimes struggled over the past year to remember to make any special spiritual/religious work a priority for myself as well as for others. It's been a challenge to take time to devote to my personal spiritual life and seek out work that benefits me even if it doesn't seem to have any greater benefits for the communities I belong to. I want to strive to do better at this in the future, to nurture the wellspring of my own personal spirituality as well as continue to be committed to my community/public work.


6. How do you find balance in the three: the sky, the earth and the sea? How are the Three Realms becoming a way of life for you?

The dynamic balance and relationship of the Three Realms informs my spirituality at the deepest level, and provides a flexible, adaptive context for all of my spiritual work. I begin every ritual or meditation session by attuning to the energies of the Three Realms and honoring the deities, the ancestors and the spirits of the land.

At times, my view of the Three Realms is of them as overlapping spheres: below, above and sacred center (or axis mundi), or the immanent, transcendent and the manifest worlds - which roughly correspond to sea, sky and land. At other times, particularly when I'm outside in natural landscapes performing rituals or sitting in meditation, I connect with the Three Realms much more immediately as the very real spaces that make up the local landscape - the winds, weather, sun and stars of the physical sky, the rolling hills and dense forests of the physical land, and the murmuring waves and rocking tides of the physical sea and the waters that run through the earth in rivers and streams. I try to hold these two understandings of the Three Realms - the literal and the theological - together as a kind of sacred paradox, instead of reducing one to the other. So I see in the sky the transcendent theological realm of the gods, and in the sea the immanent sacred waters of life of which all things are made... but I also see the physical sky and sea, too, in all their complexity and overlapping, interconnected relationship.

The expression of the Three Realms through the three Druidic elements of nwyfre, gwyar and calas has also given me a way of understanding the different processes and energies in the world and how they balance, interact with and give rise to each other. I understand nwyfre as force, energy and source; gwyar as flow, change and relationship; and calas as form, manifestation and natural limitation or boundaries. I see these as different from the traditional/classic four elements of earth, air, fire and water. While these four are more like "building blocks," the stuff that all things are made up of, the three Druidic elements of nwyfre, gwyar and calas are more like aspects or principles describing the basic, essentials ways that the four elements express and interact. The metaphor I've used before (and the best I've been able to come up with so far) is that the four classic elements of earth, air, fire and water are like the notes of a scale, and the elements of nwyfre, gwyar and calas describe the shape, progression and process of joining these individual notes into a melody.


7. Can you say that this path of the Druid is your path and that you wish to take it up as your practice for your life in this world?

Yes! Most definitely, whole-heartedly, a thousand times yes!

Diary - Druidry and Environmentalism

Days of Note: New Field Poppy Moon

Sun: cancer (cardinal water), 5:53 AM - 8:54 PM
Moon: new moon, cancer (cardinal water), VoC
Earth: gorgeous, sunny, not to hot, clear and bright day, gentle breeze, couldn't be more perfect, really

Below is a response I posted to a thread about Druidry and Environmentalism on the TC Neo-Druidry SIG.

Druidry seems to have the reputation of being a "green" religion, taking a special interest in the natural world and our place in it. From ancient harvests of mistletoe from oak trees to modern celebrations of the solstice at Stonehenge, nature often plays a special role in how Druids see the world today.

Does environmentalism play a role in your Druidic path? How do you relate to nature, to both the environment around you and greater planetary concerns? Would you agree or disagree with the perception that Druidry is a "green" religion? Has increased nature awareness/environmentalism inspired you to make certain changes in your life (in your diet, recycling, spontaneous tree hugging, etc)?

Love this and the community service thread! Thanks for starting them. :)

I think you're right on the mark about Druidry's relationship to environmentalism. The Druid Revival began, along with the Romantic Period of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, at least in part in response to the Industrial Revolution and its dehumanizing, world-devouring influences. The Romantics (artists, poets, intellectuals, philosophers, etc.) were responding to the kind of Cartesian dualism that split the mind/spirit from the physical body and the material world. Valuing the aesthetic and spiritual qualities of the natural world was a big part of how they countered this dualism and sought to overcome it. I think these days folks have a tendency to dismiss Revival Druidry as "romanticism" (lower-case) as though to suggest that it's naively idealistic or inaccurate. There are some inaccuracies in it, of course, but Romanticism (upper-case) was a hugely important philosophical movement in the evolution of Western civilization, and modern day environmentalism and conservation (not to mention ecosophy and deep ecology, and even the scientific study of ecosystems to some extent) owe their existence to ideas first explored by the Romantics. If you really wanted to get technical, you could probably argue that any person today who uses the name "Druid" owes at least some thanks to the Romantics for their part in the revival of that spiritual archetype.

But it's not just Druidry's connection with the Romantics that suggests it has some "green" tendencies. From my understanding of ancient Celtic culture, the Celts tended to be much more concerned with the earth and (what we would call) "nature spirits" than some of the other ancient religious traditions of the time. In fact, that was one of the arguments the Romans used in support of their belief that the Celts were mere uncivilized barbarians - that they held their rituals outside among the trees in sacred groves and seemed to worship nature, instead of worshipping "proper" gods in elaborate temples full of refined sculptures. A deep connection with and respect for the natural world runs deeply through Celtic spirituality in general - and actually, it seems to me that the Wiccan focus on the natural world might actually stem from its early relationship (via Gerald Gardner and Ross Nichols) to Revival Druidry and Celtic spirituality. I think it's kind of a shame that some Reconstructionists I've met and talked to these days try to distance themselves from Wicca by dropping this nature-focus and focusing instead on polytheism as of primary importance. (That was actually a discussion we had on another thread, so I don't want to rehash it here! ;))

Personally, the focus on the natural world and environmentalism is so central to my understanding of Druidry, it's fair to say that it's the primary (if not entire) reason I became a Pagan to begin with. I had struggled all my life with the ambivalent role that nature and the earth played in Christianity, looking to saints like Francis of Assisi to try to ease my discomfort with how often world-denying the Christian tradition could be. In the end, though, it just wasn't enough - and when I discovered Druidry, it came as such a relief that here was a religious path where my love of the earth could take a central role. My relationship with the natural world and its wildernesses had always been my main way of connecting with the sacred, and here was a community where that was not only tolerated, but supported and encouraged! Fantastic! :)

My environmentalism has remained a central aspect of my Druidry ever since. My partner and I live very frugally and simply, to lessen our impact on the earth in every way we can. We do all the small stuff - washing our clothes in cold water, refusing to use the car unless absolutely necessary, walking or biking most places, eating a vegetarian diet of mostly local, organic foods, reducing our plastic use to almost nothing, composting in the backyard, etc. We also participate in local environmental activism when we can, and we try to get away into the woods of the local state park to camp at least every few months during reasonable weather. We also both write regularly to advocate for environmental awareness (I'm the blog project coordinator for No Unsacred Place). And since we're getting married in two and a half months, we've spent the past year planning a "green" wedding and we're going for Platinum Certification for our wedding through the Live Green Live Smart Institute.

But maybe one of the most important ways that we blend our environmentalism with our spirituality is by actually trying to cultivate and nurture our relationship with the local landscape. I've been studying deep ecology and eco-philosophy for the past year or so, and slowly been learning more and more about our bioregion and its needs and moods. My spiritual practice challenges me to move away from an anthropocentric worldview and learn to see the world and all its beings as part of a "ecology of Spirit," all interconnected and valuable in their own right.

Wow! I didn't mean for this to get so long! But it's such a great topic, and a really important one, too. :) Thanks again for starting the thread!

My Druid Path, Revisited

Days of Note: Seakeeping Shift (begins at sundown)

Sun: taurus (earth/fixed), 6:06am - 8:27pm
Moon: waxing gibbous, libra (air/cardinal)
Earth: warm, muggy and sunny much of the day (after thunderstorms last night), with now more storms blowing in

Note: I wanted to post this yesterday, but Blogger was down for more than twenty hours (and my previous post is, at the time of this writing, still missing... though staff say all lost posts should be restored soon.

There's a new Druidry SIG over on TC, and one of the introductory threads asks "What kind of Druidic path do you walk?" I thought I would post my reply here, for posterity, since it reflects my current perspective on my spiritual path. Since the nature of a path is that your perspective of it will keep changing as you move along it, it's nice to revisit that question every once in a while.

I have always been drawn primarily to Revival Druidry traditions, especially because when I first began exploring Druidry I still considered myself a Catholic and (maybe more importantly) an academic. Studying comparative world religions in college, I couldn't quite get behind the notion of Celtic Reconstructionism, as I was fairly well aware of just how little we have to go on in some respects from an academic perspective — and at the same time, I was drawn to some of the early 18th and 19th century spiritual movements that sought to bring East and West together (like Theosophy, for instance). The kind of wild-Celtic(ish)-pastoralism and ambivalence towards the industrial revolution that many of the Romantic poets embodied in their work also had a great deal of influence on me, so it's probably not much of a surprise that Revival Druidry (which has its roots in the British fraternities, social clubs and workers unions of the 18th and 19th centuries) struck a chord with me. There was also, like I mentioned, the issue of acceptance and my desire to explore Druidry while still a Christian - the two Revival Druidry Orders that I belong to (AODA and OBOD) both state outright that they accept Druids from all religious backgrounds and see Druidry more as a philosophy or way of life than a "religion" per se. (Since then, I've come to question that acceptance a bit, both because these organizations have not always lived up to their reputations of inclusion in my experience, and because to some extent I think it may be a bit of a feint to try to distinguish "religion" from "way of life" in the long run...)

Anyway! The first Order I joined was AODA (Ancient Order of Druids in America) - I chose them because they seemed to have the most flexibility and acceptance of the American-based groups I knew of, and a really well-developed study program. I considered joining ADF, but at the time I was still Catholic and resolutely monotheistic/panentheistic… and although that's changed, I still find I don't quite jive with the theological approach that ADF takes. Still, there are a lot of things I do admire about ADF — their emphasis on excellence and scholarship, their democratic organizational structure, and the friendliness and outreach that the local ADF grove here in Pittsburgh does so well. I'm really glad to see a lot of ADF folks here in this SIG — I'm hoping to learn more about that organization from people already involved in it.

I joined OBOD a bit later... but honestly, I found their Bardic course to be on the far side of simplistic (and WAY overpriced!). Later when I found out that OBOD is a for-profit company set up to help Philip Carr-Gomm and his friends market their books and CDs... that kind of soured me on them. (I was also put off a bit by their rather bitter, unsupportive reaction to The Druid Network's gaining charity status last year.) I think they probably offer some great workshops and festivals over in the UK, but over here in the U.S., I feel like they don't offer much. So while I'm still officially a member, I'm definitely nonactive. So it goes...

Most recently, I got involved just last year with an "offshoot" Order that began as a grove of AODA and then broke away over some differences of emphasis. They're called the "Druid Order of the Three Realms," and they incorporate a lot of what appeals to me about Revival Druidry along with an emphasis on nonhierarchical structure and particular attention played to the Three Realms of Land, Sea and Sky. It seems like a happy medium between the CR approach and the Revival approach, and so far I've really enjoyed my work with them. My partner and I were both invited to join the Order and we're working our way through their Aspirant Program. I'm enjoying the review that it's providing me! Every time I return to some of the simplest concepts in Druidry, I find that my understanding of them deepens.

So that's where I'm at. As a (soon-to-be) stepmom of four kids being raised in the Druid tradition, one aspect of Druidry that I'm really interested in is the kind of "interDruish" community made up of solitaries and folks from many different Orders and traditions. My oldest stepdaughter already knows more about Druidry than I learned my first year working with AODA... which leaves me wondering what the place of aspirant/candidate work will be for people raised in these traditions. That's another reason why ADF really fascinates me — because my impression is that they really have in place a Dedicant Program that's relevant not just for neophytes and converts, but for anyone seeking to explore Druidry in-depth. I'd like to see some of the Revival Druidry Orders learn from this and start thinking about the place of future generations....