As I sit here looking at the blank screen of my MacBook I’m wondering what to write about in today’s blog, and then I look outside and feel that connection and there it is.
There are many gifts of the Druid path – there are many reasons for us to do what we do. Right now my thoughts are turning towards the connection I feel with life itself. To see the green leaves, the smell of the Summer air, the birdsong, and the bubbling sound of a woodland stream. Knowing that I am part of all of those things brings me a wonderful sense of belonging.
At one of the Anderida Gorsedd conferences a member of the audience asked Maxine Sanders, mother of the Alexandrian Tradition of Wicca, what she would say if she was asked to sum up Wicca in a minute. “I wouldn’t bother,” was her reply. I get that. People always want to boil something down to a tiny soundbite. If a song doesn’t grab us in 30 seconds we skip it, etc. etc. Why would she denigrate her beloved path by conforming to this requirement? If you want to know what Wicca is about take the time to learn it properly.
But if I was asked the same question about Druidry I think I could answer it and my answer would be:
To bring us into a deeper relationship with the Natural World, both seen and unseen.
Relationship. The way all things interact and work with each other. How all things are a part of the whole.
I’m happy with that. There is of course a lot more but to me those other things are the detail with which we each colour our paths. Developing relationship and connection is to me the foundation of all of that other detail. Also, if we lose that connection that is the time we begin to question the validity of our beliefs – are they real, have they ever been real? And it can be quite easy to lose that connection and relationship. Our lives are so busy that we can be swept along without taking regular time to still ourselves and renew that connection. It’s important, and sometimes we just don’t notice something is missing until the pain and questions become too loud, and drown out the fact that all we might need to do is just stop, really stop, take a break, a walk, and open up to our place in the world. Not with the world of work, friends, computer games, TV, but with the Natural Worlds, both seen and unseen.
So right now I stop. Breathe deeply of the air, hear the sound of the leaves being moved by the wind, the birdsong, and I know that I am a part of all of this, and all of this is a part of me. From this place all things are possible.
That blog really inspired me to go walking more. I have all the time on my hands to do it, and now I know that I am meant to be out there more.
Thank you Dave. Blessed Be
Well said, Damh.
Strange… when I got out of my car after work I thought how good the smell of the damp earth was and the sound of the night birds as the day transitions to night. Can’t find that surrounded by concrete.
Thank you and Blessed Be,
I remember taking a feather and a small pebble to sit on my desk ….it sort of kept me “linked in”. Perhaps you could try it? Blessed Be …
Thanks, Damh, I live on the edge of Glastonbury – where it meets the country. Early every morning I walk by the river, I can see the Tor, listen to the birds and I particularly look for the heron. But…..sometimes I feel my day is so busy I walk along thinking of what I have to do until suddenly realising I have nearly finished my walk and not been aware of anything. Thank-you for the reminder.