So you're a Druid eh?

[Huathe]

Mark,

I give you a BIG thumbs up on this and you have nothing to apologize for. Being a druid means so much and you have hit the nail on the head!

I feel having some knowledge and background study on the ancient druids and their beliefs, etc is necessary. In my opinion knowing the drudic past is important in developing the druidic present in ones self. The most important thing is the druids closeness to the natural world. To be honest, I don't see it on the Druid Grove forum as much as I would have thought. That is discussions about nature, trees, etc. With Druids I feel this should be a dominating topic. It's here but not as prominent as it should be. Of course this is my opinion and conclusion.

[Deepblue]

Deepblue wrote:
"I do not practice formally as a Druid, nor have I ever practised formally as anything other than learning to be a better Lightbearer and Steward of the Earth, for...

Hawthorn wrote:
"The most important thing is the druids closeness to the natural world. To be honest, I don't see it on the Druid Grove forum as much as I would have thought."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deepblue wrote:
"wearing robes and performing ceremonies is not necessary to prove your path. The quiet forest or open hill top offers just as much a shrine for...

Miriam wrote:
"...anyone who is particularly good at working with Nature and has insights and mysterious abilities can be called 'a druid'."
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deepblue wrote:
"instinctively we all share the idea, but in different forms. How we choose to express it comes down to how we choose to move forward. Druidry is not so much academic, but...

DJ wrote:
"...for me, druid spirituality is a living, experiential thing..."

[Frog]

Mark,
no need to apologise; I welcome healthy discussion. As you note, it's when it escalates it all gets a little nasty. For my own part, I know that there are a number of celtic tales which I have only just scratched the surface on; I was brought up with the Tales of King Arthur and found it interesting years later that the Scout Movement's Laws were based (in part) upon the Knight's code of chivarly; so I guess whilst it wasn't "book learning" there was a connection with the instruction of the old ways.

I can now call myself a Druid because my peers bestowed that title upon me; if that is "proper" or not is IMHO a moot point. There are sufficient orders out there to make my Druidry seem "New Age" and possibly even lightweight (I don't know, but there are some wonderfully weird people out there!). It's a similar argument I heard at a Wiccan camp a few years ago; the discussion that one could only be Wiccan if they had been initiated within a coven and this High Priest discounted anything to do with Hedge Witchery.

DeepBlue has formed his opinion, which he is welcome to do. However, I would suggest that a degree of caution should be exercised - to use an analogy one cannot just walk into the martial arts dojo and declare that they are Black Belt because they read the book. However, they could enter the dojo to compare what they learned against the system of teaching within that dojo.

Just my humble opinion.

[DJ Droood]

It's a similar argument I heard at a Wiccan camp a few years ago; the discussion that one could only be Wiccan if they had been initiated within a coven and this High Priest discounted anything to do with Hedge Witchery.

I think it may just be a part of human nature..sort of natural tendency to want to feel "special" and "elite"....how many times have we heard various Christian sects saying that another sect isn't really Christian because they don't believe in (xyz), or you aren't really a Muslim because you think (abc). I think people are tribal and exclusionary by nature, and they don't have to look far to find reasons to reject someone. Perhaps one of the special things about OBOD druidry (and most of the other mainstream groups like ADF and AODA and BDO) is the impulse towards inclusion. Even if you don't agree with everything (or much of anything!) the person sitting next to you at the fire believes in, you can still accept each other as druids. In fact, about the only thing that would keep a person from being a druid, imo, is a closed mind and petty, exclusionary nature....no matter how many books you have ordered from Amazon.

Maybe the confusion is between Big D Druids and small d druids. If you want to tag yourself with the label Druid, you should be conferred with the title by one of the traditions that hands them out, as you have done, Frog. I think anyone who is trying to follow a druid spirituality can call themselves a druid (small d).

It is just like a Reverend designation....you can spend years in a seminary and be accepted as a Reverend by a congregation, or like me, you can send $35 to an on-line Church and get a nifty card that says you are a Reverend....good luck finding a congregation that accepts you! It is more a fun/vanity thing.

I completed the Bardic Grade....does that make me an OBOD Bard? Yes. Does it mean I am more of a "bard" than someone who has never taken a course but can play many insturments and tell stories and entertain? Of course not. Does it mean anyone else has to accept me as a bard? (Other than the OBOD itself, because I saved my receipts!), no

[Huathe]

Deepblue,

I never said some druids here on the Druid Grove were not close to the natural world. Hopefully all are. I just meant in saying that I did not see as many discussions on it as I would have expected after joining the forum. No offense to anyone. Maybe I should have explained my thought a bit better. I myself am very close to nature and I have been so for the majority of my life.

DJ

You brought up a really good point on reverend criteria. Local churches here have varying criteria for a Reverend. Some, like the United Methodist Church, Episcopalian, or Catholic Church have to be college educated and go to seminary classes for years. Our Methodist pastors have to have around 8 years of schooling to be a completely ordained Reverend, though they can practice on some level before then. But at the other end of the spectrum, some Baptist and Pentecostal churches and many small independent churches have Reverends with no formal education at all, not even a 35 dollar online one. They say God chooses them and they often form congregations on their own. Whether they go by the title, Priest, Pastor or Preacher, the standard for the title of " Reverend " is not a fixed one, just like the title " Druid ". But one thing all Christian Reverends should all have in common is a love for God. Just as all Druids should have a love for the Earth.

[DJ Droood]

But at the other end of the spectrum, some Baptist and Pentecostal churches and many small independent churches have Reverends with no formal education at all, not even a 35 dollar online one. They say God chooses them and they often form congregations on their own. Whether they go by the title, Priest, Pastor or Preacher, the standard for the title of " Reverend " is not a fixed one, just like the title " Druid ". But one thing all Christian Reverends should all have in common is a love for God. Just as all Druids should have a love for the Earth.

Yes, and honestly, I think as long as the congregation or church accepts you as a "pastor" or whatever, that is legit. There are obviously priests and ministers with lots of education and authentic credentials who know their theology backwards and forwards, but are hardly worth the strip of cloth they strap to their necks...we all have seen the news.

[Huathe]

DJ,

I very much agree with you. Some of the best small-country churches have pastors with little or no formal education and God is very strong in them and they are well excepted by their congregations. But to me the best pastors are ones that are both " strong in the faith " and formally educated. Their knowledge can be a big bonus to their congregations. But regardless, both are Pastors.

I guess the same can be applied to Druids. The more educated ones know more but some lesser educated ones may be as just in touch, or maybe more so with the concepts of druidism. Regardless, both are Druids. Neverthyless, I am a supporter for structured druidic education, but I am not saying an organized self-taught program cannot work.

[Heddwen]

Exactly and on the other hand, the same goes for a large number of 'new age' courses around some which offer various titles, attunements and grades for fairly large amounts of cash. IMO these things could do with regulation.

This is why I like the OBOD course so much, as it combines an experiential learning process alongside self paced academic study. This is a combination that resonates with me, although I appreciate that it's not the only druidic path. It makes druidry accessable in a modern context.

[wolf560]

Hello All..!!

I've been away at Disneyland for Mickey's Halloween Costume Party (whoo hooo..!!)

I agree with many of you that have said in that it takes not only some education but some actual people accepting you as a 'Druid' (capitol 'D'). The College of Druidry I was in was not large and only pointed me in the right direction. It was a few Elders in the town I was in back in 2002 that finally gave me the title 'Druid' when I began forming the community into a larger group of eclectic pagans. Several of them essentially dared me to organize them so they would no longer argue and bicker (and become entangled in flame wars and such).

The Libraries gave me the knowledge, Online gave me cooperative skills, but it was running a group 350 people strong for two years that honed everything to a 'T'.

Being a Druid was so much more than spiritual, it was becoming the person that could bring others together peacefully in either a ritual or just a Samhain costume party.

[athelia143]

...to be or not to be,that is the question. Entertain this notion if you will:

How is it that we move in this present world yet look to a previous one to find a sense of reality? Is it not the idea to move forward?

Druids of old were in line with their times and had to be up on all of the current events and issues of their times because they were advising their people and their leaders on all manner of trade and relations with others. Druids of today should be no different, in my opinion. (With their times and aware of the issues and needs of our current world) While there are threads that are common between us and Druids of the past (Belief in the immortality of the spirit, connection to nature, service, etc.), and there are philosophies that are timeless, we do live in today's world.

In the times of the Druid, the student would sit for 20 years learning the basic skills of Druidry. How can we claim such a title in under 5?

Good question. Have a look at it from this angle: If we were to qualify in our modern society to do all of the things a Druid did with his or her status in society, we would need tobe fully trained doctors, lawyers, philosophers, teachers, professors, social scientists, psychologists, economists, etc. That's a lot of university degrees that we'd have to get!

Naturally, we do not hold the same place in society as the Druids of old did. They were the upper class and very central to their society. We are still considered a "fringe group" in many places around the world. We are not sitting at the right hand of our leaders, advising them on how to wage battle or peace. We are not the "go to" people when the whole society needs help.

The world that the ancient Druids lived in is different from the one we live in today. For instance, I don't think the ancients had the same environmental problems as we do since the Industrial Revolution, where we do not have to worry as much about the neighbouring tribe attacking us for our land or stealing our cattle as our ancient ancestors might have.

They had their fish to fry and we have ours.

Let not your emotions grab you now and call you to rally against such words as these you read. For you merely defend a situation which so many of us find ourselves in. Are we not all seeking something of greater meaning in our lives. Or do we merely seek to entertain that notion?

I don't rally against your words at all. We do need to live in the present, I agree, but that does not mean that we have to lose the rich mythology, philosophies and beliefs of the Druids of old; those things that connect us to the past.

The Druids of old believed in the transmigration of the soul... I take it one step further and say that not only have our souls transmigrated to new bodies in a newer time, but Druidry has also transmigrated to a newer world, newer cultures and newer society.

We serve, we heal, we think and we feel. We do what we need to in this our world today. And we hold on to the past to some extent so that we can learn from it, feel inspired by it... so that we can move forward with it.

I hope this makes sense.

Athelia /|\

[dreamguardian]

The house of commons in the UK is a good analogy of anceint druids. They also had at times state religious duties too.

[cursuswalker]

This heretic has denied the entire druid revival.

BURN HIM!

[Deepblue]

@ cursuswalker

Do you not see the point of this thread? It generates thinking. Step out of the box and try it sometime.

[cursuswalker]

@ cursuswalker

Do you not see the point of this thread? It generates thinking. Step out of the box and try it sometime.

@Deepblue

Do you not see the point of my post? It generates thinking through the use of irony. Step out of the box and try it sometime.

[cursuswalker]

There aren't any......Brythons here are there?

[dreamguardian]

This heretic has denied the entire druid revival.

BURN HIM!

@ cursuswalker

Do you not see the point of this thread? It generates thinking. Step out of the box and try it sometime.

CW was only taking the piss

There aren't any......Brythons here are there?

Yep and still misunderstood

[cursuswalker]

This heretic has denied the entire druid revival.

BURN HIM!

@ cursuswalker

Do you not see the point of this thread? It generates thinking. Step out of the box and try it sometime.

CW was only taking the piss

In one!

There aren't any......Brythons here are there?

Yep and still misunderstood

Hold on. I'll just fetch the world's smallest violin.

[Deepblue]

Athelia, your response is nicely presented - thank you. Your emotions did not cloud your jugdement and call for irony or a forked tongue. Some would assume I have little knowledge of Druidry and the occult. That I am here to poke fun, that I am not part of these 'cymry'. Hahahaha ...one can only laugh at such antics.

CW - relax and dig deeper

[dreamguardian]

Hold on. I'll just fetch the world's smallest violin.

Too late, I've listened to your durge for far too long & it was never played for me

[cursuswalker]

Athelia, your response is nicely presented - thank you. Your emotions did not cloud your jugdement and call for irony or a forked tongue. Some would assume I have little knowledge of Druidry and the occult. That I am here to poke fun, that I am not part of these 'cymry'. Hahahaha ...one can only laugh at such antics.

CW - relax and dig deeper

Nah.....I'm just fine where I am ta.