The Atheist Druid

[cursuswalker]

I enter the grove
And sit by a tree

In such a place as this
I am enthralled by beauty

The Awen surrounds
As broadband poetry

There are no gods to hear
No spirits to see

So what on Earth do I connect with?

Me

[wolf560]

I was an Atheist for the longest time.... and yet still a Druid.

I was a Druid in the truest sense I thought since I was learning about the mysteries of the universe. I was not encumbered by the learning of a spiritual system that might stop me from seeing something of the world around me. I could take it all in and try to put it into some sort of order based on observations not on systems and beliefs lost in antiquity.

I concentrated on learning all I could absorb about the world itself; the physics of a falling apple, the qualities of the forest, the history of those who came before me, the theories of those who believe we do not know everything..... and all without trying to put a Deity into perspective or having to justify my findings against the backdrop of a millennial old text.

I have found my own spirituality now, although it took a few decades....
... but to those who are still of an Atheist bent....
...........they still learn and grow from the world around them...

[cursuswalker]

^^^
THIS

[Nicholaas]

Yes, yes, and YES. That's what walking the druid path means to me: a respect and awe for the world maintained by a naturalistic worldview.

Thank you for sharing that!

[Lily]

I was discussing my skeptical stance with two fellow OBODies and came to the conclusion that I want to be part of "something bigger than me". Be this the circle of the year, the night sky, OBOD, or when I admittedly was "saved" in an american church as a teen. Not that that lasted.

[DJ Droood]

"The Gods" are a tattered curtain we hang between ourselves and the glories of the Universe....personally, I prefer the view, even if I can't see it all.

[wolf560]

...and in a week or so... the Veil gets thinnest...

[Davin Raincloud]

As broadband poetry

LOL, I lol'd at this. techno poetry!!

Pretty Cool!

I know this is rhetorical: So what on Earth do I connect with?

But I would just direct the questioner back to the things at the start of the poem!

[Heddwen]

Ah yes, but do druids believe in the concept of time? Apparently not!

According to Mock The Week-Druids.

Check it out on you tube, contains strong language

[DJ Droood]

haha...."they weren't wishy-washy enough before to be a religion....what do you believe in? Nature?...get out...nature exists!"

[cursuswalker]

As broadband poetry

LOL, I lol'd at this. techno poetry!!

Pretty Cool!

I know this is rhetorical: So what on Earth do I connect with?

But I would just direct the questioner back to the things at the start of the poem!

The point of that couplet is that, whatever the truth of 'Awen', almost every poem ever published or song released surrounds us and passes through us constantly, in a way that would have been nothing short of magic to the originsal druids.

Those who have been at camps recently with me IRL will have seen me download Awen onto my phone in order to assist those who cannot remember lyrics.

[Frog]

the last comment is an interesting one - and I (as someone quite comfortable embracing technology) picked up on. I now have a small black back that contains 5 books:

1. A notebook for me to record my random thoughts when they come to me
2. My book of 108 thoughts which I got round to publishing
3. A notebook on tarot cards, Runes, I-Ching and Ogham
4. My notebook on Tai Chi practices and meditation guides
5. A copy of the Zen sayings.

The bag also contains two pens, some meditation beads, a plastic labyrinth and a small MP3 player.

I can use the MP3 player for when I have need to close out the immediate world (say, at a Scout camp) and focus on the meditative practice; the books remain with me as they are now treasured possessions of key books I could not be without.

I mention this as this is my small way of stepping back from the techno world.



So that I don't detract from the original thread, my understanding of athiesm is the belief that there is no deity guiding anyone. To aid my understanding of this term (athiesm before I started on the pagan path, seemed to be just a disbelief in God) does that also apply to spirit and energies of the place?

Keen to learn
Frog.

[DJ Droood]

So that I don't detract from the original thread, my understanding of athiesm is the belief that there is no deity guiding anyone.

A common misundertanding that gets repeated by religious people and theists ad nauseum, so I guess it needs to be corrected ad nauseum. An athiest doesn't need "belief" that there is no deity...s/he simply doesn't have to accept as true *your* belief in diety. An athiest (one who has no god) could theoretically have never even heard of the concept of "god" or have that idea to not believe in....unfortunately, in the real world, theists have a tendency to harass, burn, kill and torture people, so they are hard to ignore....but no active "belief" is required to "opt out".

[cursuswalker]

I like to distinguish between Pure Atheism, that just sees no evidence for deities, and Skeptical Atheism, which extends that towards the entire supernatural realm.

I am of the latter sort, in that I do not believe that a corporeal Spirit of Place exists, or indeed any other kind of literal spirit.

That is not to say that such phrases are not a satisfying way of describing a shared sense of a place.

[DJ Droood]

That is not to say that such phrases are not a satisfying way of describing a shared sense of a place.

I think the trappings of religion...the prayers and rituals and incense and fire and chanting, etc. can be profoundly moving and emotionally satisfying..in their own right. They were designed by people, for people, over millenia, so of course they work on our psyche. As Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message.

[Frog]

Thanks guys

[helenoftheways]

I enter the grove
And sit by a tree

In such a place as this
I am enthralled by beauty

The Awen surrounds
As broadband poetry

There are no gods to hear
No spirits to see

So what on Earth do I connect with?

Me

Me and they and you
Are already connected.

We are mysteriously joined
By that cosmic Web
To which we're all subjected.

Like a flowing net
It pervades the universe

Linking all things & thoughts
(As thoughts are things)
Making coincidence disperse.

The butterfly wings
That flap in Peru

Can make us awake
From a sleep full of dreams
And utter a sneeze - atchoo!

The World Wide Web
Considered anomaly

Is this century's effort
To open our eyes
To the irrefutable truth
That connection is there
Always, whether we like it or not,
To every living & inanimate entity..
And here ends my small homily!

[cursuswalker]

And a lovely one it was too

Me and you are indeed connected to eachother and to all life on earth, simply due to the fact that all life on earth is related to all other life via our genes.

When I hug a tree now I do not do so because I think the tree knows I am. I do so as if greeting a long lost relative Of course that doesn't stop me eating my relatives...I'd die if I didn't. Any less than it stops me buying things made from wood.

It just helps to remember that everything I eat is related to me.

[Huathe]

Awen is a Welsh word for "(poetic) inspiration". It is historically used to describe the divine inspiration of bards in the Welsh poetic tradition.

How can an atheist use the Awen when the Awen stands for " divine Inspiration "?


For me, the Awen not only represents Divine Inspiration but also the Christian Trinity. The Tree Dots ( Lights ) representing the Father ( Middle ), Son and Holy Spirit. The three rays are the inspiration of each.

[DJ Droood]

How can an atheist use the Awen when the Awen stands for " divine Inspiration "?

I intone the Awen almost every day when I see the sun for the first time (3x because it sooths my OCD) ...as a deeply personal and poetic way to acknowledge the cosmic/solar origin of every atom in my body...and in the bodies of everything I love...I never really think about dictionaries or child-like fairy tales when I do it...have you copywritten it? Please don't sue me...