Knowing your stuff

[Aphritha]

Thank you for that Mabby...the way you word this is truly inspirational!

[Heddwen]

I'll second that, especially the bit about the superior knowledge.

Now I'll take a few moments to discuss how this thread came about. At the time I was an ovate and was taking a woodland walk with a pagan friend ( non OBOD) . I couldn't recognise one of the trees that we saw along the path. My friend exclaimed that I wasn't much of an ovate if I couldn't recognise the tree in question, which made me think how important it was to recognise the trees/ animals/ stars etc. I'd always communed spiritually with the wildlife, choosing to look things up in a book afterwards if need be, sometimes this was unnecessary. I do feel that as druids we are unique in this spiritual approach to wildlife. I guess that I'm just a tree hugger at heart.

[Bracken]

Oh, well in that case... I'd say I've had a similar experience to Hennie. I've probably met 6 or 7 incredible individual trees who have been instrumental in my self-development. I think that's very important, that relationship, and it comes over time. I know those trees. I'd always recognise them because there's that connection. I'm sure there's nothing wrong with memorising every tree in the wood, but is that what makes us Ovates? I think the motivation behind our actions is really important, so if we can use our knowledge to make the world a groovier place then great. If we're doing it to show off or belittle someone with what we know, then not so great.

[Heddwen]

Yes, it made me think a lot about this. For a while I questioned myself and what I was thinking of ...trying to be an ovate / druid without all this in depth knowledge of trees. I'd had a mini crisis of confidence which was good in a way. Eventually I came to the realisation that I was giving some of my power away to this friend , instead of owning the situation myself. Not good and, totally missing the point. It was not the thing that makes a good ovate/ druid.Anyway I completed the ovate course part of the OBOD training and things were fine, I progressed to the druid grade. I'm left wondering if this is the thing that had really narked her perhaps. I'm not saying here that I am something special in any way but I must be doing something right to have progressed through the grades. I'll think of the whole episode as a little blip. These things are here to try us.I just think of it as being part of the whole process of the course...a test or little challenge if you will. This is another one of those things that I file under the heading Things That Come Up On The Course, its there with all the synchronicities etc

[WynterHawk]

This is a great thread I'm glad I found it My two cents worth is about what I learned from the Triad in Gwers 16. It took an weight off me that I did not even know I had.

I have a habit of diving into a new subject and trying to read and learn everything there is. Usually this is just impossible especially as I have a wide range of interests. So I end up feeling guilty that I did not finish learning everything there was to know about my subject. The Triad "There are three foundations of wisdom: discretion in learning, memory in retaining and eloquence in telling." has shown me that there is nothing wrong about being selective about what I choose to delve deeply into and that it is OK to investigate anything that interests me without having to learn everything there is to know about it. What a relief, I can relax and study what I wish for as long as I want and to what depth I want to explore. To be realistic I will probably never know all there is to know about any one subject BUT I can know, remember and speak with knowledge about a few select subjects. So for me yes it is important to "know your stuff" but it is also important to choose my stuff.

[Aphritha]

This is a great thread I'm glad I found it My two cents worth is about what I learned from the Triad in Gwers 16. It took an weight off me that I did not even know I had.

I have a habit of diving into a new subject and trying to read and learn everything there is. Usually this is just impossible especially as I have a wide range of interests. So I end up feeling guilty that I did not finish learning everything there was to know about my subject. The Triad "There are three foundations of wisdom: discretion in learning, memory in retaining and eloquence in telling." has shown me that there is nothing wrong about being selective about what I choose to delve deeply into and that it is OK to investigate anything that interests me without having to learn everything there is to know about it. What a relief, I can relax and study what I wish for as long as I want and to what depth I want to explore. To be realistic I will probably never know all there is to know about any one subject BUT I can know, remember and speak with knowledge about a few select subjects. So for me yes it is important to "know your stuff" but it is also important to choose my stuff.

Relieved to hear I'm not the only one who does this...now, how to choose what topics get put on the back burner?

[Whitemane]

I forgot who it was, but a famous scientist once scolded a colleague who had made a mess of explaining something by telling him that if he couldn't explain his work to the cleaning lady who washed his laboratory floor, then he didn't understand it himself.

Knowing your subject, understanding your subject, and being able explain it to others are the hallmarks of education, intelligence, and enlightenment.

[rorybowman]

The "stuff" we want to know is the world, and it seems to me that part of a druidic worldview is not making a huge distinction between the natural and the physical and the spiritual. Learn the world around you as it is, as deeply and as thoroughly as is useful. Deep appreciation of the physical often leads to a sense of reverence that "spiritual meditation" misses, and one grounded in a a present, enduring reality.

In the 1980's there was a movement called "rioregionalism" which encouraged people to "re-inhabit" wherever they were at as many levels: physically, historically, ecologically, etcetera. This ties in directly with other ideas such as local food, seasonal eating, intelligent architecture, low-carbon living and regional identity.

The quiz "where you at" seems to me a good tool to orient oneself in several senses of the word. Perhaps begin there and learn (as others have suggested) to know at least a little well enough to explain it, deepen that understanding, and pass on the depth. There are different versions of the "where you at" quiz online, but one very close to the original is at http://www.dlackey.org/weblog/docs/Where%20You%20At.htm

One key aspect of OBOD druidry that I appreciate is how it seeks to combine the physical, spiritual, cultural and geographic into a holistic and nurturing whole. We are of our place and would do well to become more so, in a conscious and deliberative, reflective way.