To ask me how I became a druid is like asking me how a bird knows how to fly. Birds do it by nature. Mostly, a bird knows it can truly fly when it takes its first leap of faith and jumps out of its nest. But there are also some birds that discover they can fly at the defining moment when they accidentally fall out! I am like that last bird; I fell unto the path of Druidry by own misfortune… or was it? Was druidry truly hidden in my own nature? I strongly believe that we were sent here to experience life, and that we each have a soul purpose and calling.
In becoming a Druid, I decided to also keep my Christian heritage, and not deny it like so many do or will do on their druidic path. When I became a Druid, I did not embark on my journey as an act of rebellion or as an act of disgust towards religion. Thanks to many circumstances, I have discovered that I am able to mix both my Christian faith and my Druidry. It is not always easy, but I have discovered that it was always in my nature to do so, therefore impossible to ignore or repress.
I know that some will argue that one cannot be a Christian and a Druid. But my answer to that is I do exist and I do mix together very well both traditions. I discovered that one could keep his Christian traditions and still hold nature in reverence and practice Druidry. If one really looks deeply within this concept, one will easily understand that a Christian Druid can easily identify the immanence of God within nature and easily practice Druidry. Personally, my Druid practices and my reverence for nature has both deepened my faith and brought me closer to God. I find that in Christian Druidry, nature and all its wonders provide us with the key not just to establish the existence of God, but also to find out more about his presence in our world, his presence in the soft wind over a field of wheat, in the loud growling thunder of a storm cloud, in the flight of geese over head, or in the shiny little trout in the swirling pool of a clear brook.
As a Christian Druid, my theology is very down to earth and levelheaded. It seems very obvious to me that if you are in touch with creation, then you are in touch with the creator. For me to rebut Christianity was not the answer to what I was looking for, and did not fit into my personal ethics and values. For me to believe in a multitude of gods and goddesses, or to believe just in one, does not make any difference to me or my own Druidry. I believe that once you become a Druid, a great doorway of knowledge and understanding opens up to you, you begin to see a world hidden that you have never seen or experienced, you start to observe, experience and feel that you belong to a whole new world, a world in constant transformation and mutation; that all is sacred and interconnected to one great central force that I call the source of all creation. Today my druidry is deeply enriched by a combination of many spiritual traditions, but mainly it has become an interweaving Christian and druidic tapestry. I believe that in Druidry, no one is obliged to deny their upbringing, their family, nor their heritage and culture, in fact no one should!
Honestly, it is very nice to be open to all religions and faith. It has permitted me to straightforwardly continue my studies in Druidry and follow my path while I’m always centered within myself and within God. In my opinion, what characterizes a Christian Druid is his love of learning and wisdom, his reverence for Nature, his respect of the ancestors, and his fellowship with Christ in his own way. I personally took the best from the old tradition while still keeping in touch with Christ within me. Today, I attend my own chapel under the sky, amongst the animals, the natural elements and plants. My Chapel is found right in the middle of God’s creation. It is there where I can meet God in person and alone in prayer.
In a sense the goal of a Christian Druid isn’t to be more religious, but to be more alive, more awake and sensitive to the divinity pulsing throughout the universe. Did I truly fall onto the path of Druidry, or was it in my nature? One thing for sure, it has become my devotion and my calling.
My life journey has always been a long and winding stream, knowing one day that I will find my way to the sea.
Sébastien Beaudoin
Artist, Potter and Druid (RDNA)
Campbell’s Bay, Quebec, Canada