Druidry and Druidism for Beginners

[thalassa]

Re: Druidry and Druidism for Beginners

This is one of the "first lessons" from Penny Billington's The Path of Druidry.

Developing a mythopoetic view widens and enriches life, paradoxically resulting not in retreating into fantasy, but in embracing real life from a more mature and stable perspective.

But before going into the landscape, start with your immediate surroundings: your home. It is a first stage of the Druid journey to make your surroundings support your studies and reinforce your idea of yourself as the Druid, and this will require you to work with a right attitude. The ideal is to perform our household duties not reluctantly, but in the spirit of Druidry, symbolising our clarity and right attitude.

Creating a supportive space goes slightly deeper than dusting. We recognise the animate, mate, living nature of all things and this is reflected in our everyday habits. We give our possessions names, indicating our intuitive understanding of relationships. An example is the naming of houses.

Our homes nurture us. And we tend to name other possessions that have a huge psychological value to us-such as cars, boats, or guitars-which tars-which respectively give us godlike powers of speed, freedom, and creativity. When we find ourselves automatically saying "sorry" as we bump into a table, or stroking a favourite piece of furniture, we are really on the right Druidic lines. Our homes and possessions sessions must be sympathetic to our work and lives.

Stop, take a breath, and think for a moment of an old, treasured possession that you have named: your first car, or a favourite picture... Have you ever talked to a supposedly inanimate object in your home? Have you ever growled in frustration at a tap that soaks you or electrical goods when they go wrong? When you are ill and wrap a blanket round you, do you feel nurtured?

She goes on to talk about ensuring the purpose of our possessions....not so much minimalism , but simplicity. That part of "the way" (my words, not hers --sometime in my head, I call it the Tao te Tree) is look beyond the human inclination of collection and learn to let go. Keep the things of significance and when the "attention and energy goes, it goes, with thanks. She also has a nice little exercise that could be expanded into a meditation or ritual for really ,*thinking* about your home and it's meaning and thanking it...which I think might make an interesting topic on its own, if anyone is interested (this conversation has been split and moved here).



(I'll add that I am undecided as to whether or not I like this book, though I think that it is probably useful for people that are liking for a nature-centered contemporary PAH. I like some of her ideas and exercised, then I flip a page and am like "WTF". It's not a bad book, it's just a bit too much Scott Cunningham for Druids ...and this isn't really where I am, path-wise.)

[thalassa]

Re: Druidry and Druidism for Beginners

*hugs* Jem!!

I really recommend Living Druidry and Ritual by Emma Restall Orr too, if you can get them!

[Jembru]

Re: Druidry and Druidism for Beginners

~~Excerpts from Druidcraft

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Druidry and Druidism for Beginners

I like that. On my door at work I have aquote from Buddha:

With your thoughts you make the world.

One of the truths that's been scattered in the wind and then lost.

[thalassa]

Re: Druidry and Druidism for Beginners

The Law of the Returning Tide says that whatever you cast into the sea of life returns to you – often changed, often in an unrecognizable form, but nevertheless what comes to you in your life is usually the direct result of what you have given out into the world. Most people are only vaguely aware of this law, or don’t fully accept it, but magicians use it all the time. They deliberately and consciously project positive ideas, energies, images, feelings, thoughts, prayers, chants and spells into the world, knowing fully that they will reap the benefits of these – sometimes quickly but sometimes not for years or even lifetimes…

…how we experience the world is made up of how we think, feel and act, and the result of those thoughts, feelings and actions as they play out in our lives. But if you believe that is all there is to reality, then you are accusing most of the people in the world of being responsible for their own suffering – all the adults and children dying of illness or starvation, all the people caught up in genocide and armed conflict, anyone who is suffering in whatever way. The fact is that not only do we create our own reality, but we create other peoples’ reality too.

Our experience, our lives, are made up of a mixture of influences and events that we have created, and influences and events that others have created as well. It is just too simple to say ‘we create our own reality’. We are social and active beings, and we have an effect on the world and the people around us, just as they have an effect on us. So the people in a famine, for example, however much they may be busy creating positive thoughts and feelings, are caught up in a current that is bigger than their own – they are in a group reality caused by the weather, and economic and political conditions.

We live in a sea of consciousness and experience, and we often have a great deal of influence over our immediate environment – the patch of sea around us – but sometimes deep ocean currents can sweep us away or change our lives forever…

…Once you understand that we create our own reality and are part of a collective reality too, that we each contribute to other people’s realities as well as our own, then you can understand the Law of the Returning Tide.

It is a law that is played out for us in the world of Nature around us all the time: we reap what we sow, and the harvest from the seeds we have sown is not just ours. This law has been expressed by different spiritual teachers for thousands of years. In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the god Thoth says, “Truth is the harvest scythe. What is sown – love or anger or bitterness – that shall be your bread. The corn is no better than its seed, then let what you plant be good.” Thousands of years later, Jesus said, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.” The Eastern idea of karma conveys the same idea: that, to a great extent, our present experience is the consequence of our past thoughts, feelings and actions…

…Once you realize that you help to create other peoples’ reality, you become socially and environmentally responsible – and you do magic not only for yourself, but also for others and the world…

…Remember a time someone touched you and you could feel the love and warmth in their hands or their embrace? It felt like an energy was coming into you, didn’t it? Magic says it is an energy and that you can consciously direct it! And in radiating this energy, somehow you don’t lose energy yourself. Instead, it comes to you in even greater quantities – the more you give the more you receive. This is the Law of the Returning Tide…

~~Excerpts from Druidcraft by Philip Carr-Gomm on the subject of “The Law of the Returning Tide.”. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Wicca and Druidry both (its a book that works on reconciling the two into a cohesive synchronism, which isn't hard) or with experience in one and interest in the other…the quotes are part of a larger, quite excellent section of the book. But I just had to share it, as I find this take on the Law of Return extremely well expressed.

[WrachDrui]

Re: Druidry and Druidism for Beginners

Very interesting thread, thank you to all who have contributed.

[Tiger Phoenix]

Re: Druidry and Druidism for Beginners

That was exactly what I was trying to say. Great quote from John Michael Greer.

The term “Druidry” was a creation of Ross Nichols, one of the major luminaries in the English Druid community in the mid-twentieth century. He wanted to stress that the Druid path was not an “ism,” an ideology or set of beliefs, but a craft, a set of practices and traditions sharing common principles. The English language gives the suffix “-ry” to any number of crafts, such as pottery and forestry.

I refered to it as a philosophy of life but I agree "ry" would represent more a craft like archery or forestry.

Thank you for sharing Thalassa.

[thalassa]

Re: Druidry and Druidism for Beginners

There is a great article on Witches Vox but it seems that I am not aloud to post links at this time. I will share it with you at a latter date. The only difference between "y" and "ism" is the difference between philosophy and religion. Usually "ism" defines a religion and "y" a philosoph"y" of life. Some people are turned off by religion and the ceremonial aspects of it. I believe in Druidry but it is a philosophy of life and not a religion.

Definition: An "ism" word usually denotes acceptance of some belief whereas a word formed with a "y" ending usually refers to a more generalized study of something.

Moderation note: As an FYI, we ask that members don't use colored font except as a way of accenting something within a post. I went ahead and edited this back to default. If you are copy and pasting, and the color (or other formatting) happens automatically there should be a button in the upper left corner of the reply box that gets rid of formatting. There are two reasons for this (in no particular order)--1) staff use colored text (green from mods, red from admin, etc) for staff messages; there are also some other threads where color is used (Medusa's Question du Jour thread) to differentiate things a bit and if everyone used their own color, it would drown out the few instances where it is being used to get attention and 2) there are multiple themes and on some themes, the color overrides the font color for the theme and it becomes hard to read and tedious to try to read.


With that being said; in regard to the comment itself--John Michael Greer says the following on the matter:

The term “Druidry” was a creation of Ross Nichols, one of the major luminaries in the English Druid community in the mid-twentieth century. He wanted to stress that the Druid path was not an “ism,” an ideology or set of beliefs, but a craft, a set of practices and traditions sharing common principles. The English language gives the suffix “-ry” to any number of crafts, such as pottery and forestry; the example of Freemasonry was probably also in Nichols’ mind (nobody talks about “Masonism”). More recently the two words have become convenient labels for the two main approaches in the Druid community, with “Druidism” used most often by recent Celtic Reconstructionist groups [and certain Neo-pagan Druid groups] who base their versions of the Druid way on modern scholarship, while “Druidry” is used most often by older groups who work with the heritage of the Druid Revival.

[Azvanna]

Re: Druidry and Druidism for Beginners

There is a great article on Witches Vox but it seems that I am not aloud to post links at this time. I will share it with you at a latter date. The only difference between "y" and "ism" is the difference between philosophy and religion. Usually "ism" defines a religion and "y" a philosoph"y" of life. Some people are turned off by religion and the ceremonial aspects of it. I believe in Druidry but it is a philosophy of life and not a religion.

Definition: An "ism" word usually denotes acceptance of some belief whereas a word formed with a "y" ending usually refers to a more generalized study of something.

---

How about 'philanthropy' then?

The discussion over using the word 'Druidry' or 'Druidism' could be an entire thread on its own. I once looked up a list of suffixes and their meanings but couldn't really decipher a meaningful difference.

[Tiger Phoenix]

Re: Druidry and Druidism for Beginners

There is a great article on Witches Vox but it seems that I am not aloud to post links at this time. I will share it with you at a latter date. The only difference between "y" and "ism" is the difference between philosophy and religion. Usually "ism" defines a religion and "y" a philosoph"y" of life. Some people are turned off by religion and the ceremonial aspects of it. I believe in Druidry but it is a philosophy of life and not a religion.

Definition: An "ism" word usually denotes acceptance of some belief whereas a word formed with a "y" ending usually refers to a more generalized study of something.

---

[IsisSekhemetRa]

Re: A perspective on Druidry and Druidism.

A lot of really good information. I'm currently with the New Order of Druids which is totally free. I've done one assignment in the Student handbook and have to wait five days before I can do the next. Once again, good information.

[thalassa]

Re: A perspective on Druidry and Druidism.

Some useful/interesting Druid blogs and blog posts:

Problems with using the word Druid
Blog posts about one Druid's experience with ADF's Dedicant Path
The blog of John Michael Greer, Archdruid of AODA

(and here's where the formatting has begun to fail...)

http://www.paganmusic.co.uk/blog/ (Dahm the Bard's blog)

https://druidlife.wordpress.com/2015/07/08/seeking-inspiration/

http://www.philipcarr-gomm.com/blog/ (Blog of Philip Carr-Gomm)

http://druidjournal.net/2015/04/02/things-fall-apart-why-we-think-everythings-getting-worse/

http://alisonleighlilly.com/blog/2015/how-to-make-environmentally-sustainable-offerings/

http://alisonleighlilly.com/blog/2015/qa-what-will-druidry-look-like-on-mars/

https://druidlife.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/without-a-script/

[laoch briste]

Re: Question about 'Druidry'

Interesting. Our tradition has been passed down for ages. We rely heavily on oral tradition, but also are encouraged to keep personal notes and research findings. The research we've done to date puts us outside the reconstructionists. In our roles of ancestors we go back much further. It gets fuzzy near the 5th century. Really fuzzy, but reasonably clear after that. I see similarities in some ideas. The reconstructions certainly did some homework, but there are differences.
The idea that we vanished in thin air is off putting, but most of the tribes went underground to avoid the ol Catholic sharp stick in the eye.

I was a SSgt in the Air Force. Was put to pasture after a decade due to injury in OEF.

[thalassa]

Re: Question about 'Druidry'

Out of pure curiosity, what branch of the military were/are you in? I'm doing an informal, anecdotal poll on people's experiences in the military as a Pagan. Both my spouse and myself were openly Pagan and active duty Navy--to be honest, we had more difficulties amongst Pagans (for being in the military) than we ever had being Pagan in the Navy.

Regarding the terminology question...the short answer: So, yes--Druids were the "priesthood" (although I don't really think that is an accurate term) of the ancient Celts. Sometime around the 5-7th centuries, that came to an end. Then, in the 16th century, interest in the Druids (and other ancient eosteric type things) resurged...and (what is now called) "Revival" Druidry was born, in the same sort of way as the Freemasons, etc. These groups continuted on, and a decent number of Druid groups are based mostly in this Revival Druidry. Later (like, in the last 50 years), as contemporary Pagans have started reconstructing ancient religions, there are Druid groups that base their practice and beliefs on more of a reconstructionist approach. Still others combine the two (I'm married to someone who practices this sort of Druidry), and (at least) one has outsourced a bit--ADF bases their beliefs and practices in taking a syncretic look at what we know of proto-Indo-European paganisms and giving them a modern context. (Historian Ronald Hutton has a decent book that details this history)

As for the Druidry vs. Druidism issue, I like this answer:

There are no simple definitions about what modern druidry or druidism is. Each group conceives of druidry/druidism in its own way and we will be looking at how six groups interpret druidry for themselves. You will often see the terms “druidry” and “druidism” and may have wondered if there was any difference between them. Until recently, I had thought that the two words were pretty much interchangeable, but I recently encountered this explanation by John Michael Greer, who has done much research into the development of Revival Druidry (another term I will discuss later):
Quote
The term “Druidry” was a creation of Ross Nichols, one of the major luminaries in the English Druid community in the mid-twentieth century. He wanted to stress that the Druid path was not an “ism,” an ideology or set of beliefs, but a craft, a set of practices and traditions sharing common principles. The English language gives the suffix “-ry” to any number of crafts, such as pottery and forestry; the example of Freemasonry was probably also in Nichols’ mind (nobody talks about “Masonism”). More recently the two words have become convenient labels for the two main approaches in the Druid community, with “Druidism” used most often by recent Celtic Reconstructionist groups [and certain Neo-pagan Druid groups] who base their versions of the Druid way on modern scholarship, while “Druidry” is used most often by older groups who work with the heritage of the Druid Revival. (1)

Druid groups that have evolved from Revival Druidry tend to prefer “druidry” and perceive its meaning much as is described by John Michael Greer above. Druid groups that were created in the latter half of the 20th century and that define themselves as “religions” more often tend to use “druidism.”

Of the six groups we will be exploring today, AODA, an offshoot of revival Druidry, uses “druidry” exclusively. OBOD, also an offshoot of Revival Druidry that is evolving into a religious path, uses “druidry” more often, but considers “druidry” and “druidism” to be interchangeable. ADF and the Henge of Keltria define their paths as religions. ADF uses both terms, but uses “druidism” more often and the Henge of Keltria uses “druidism” almost exclusively.

The British Druid Order seems to define itself more as a religion, but follows the British traditional usage of “druidry.”

also from http://www.nachtanz.org/SReed/mod_druids1.html (hey, its a good essay)

[laoch briste]