I was given access to the online version of WW when my membership was processed. So much of what I read in it fit me really well!
I think I'm going to make my notes by page number. Anything in italics is directly from the book. I will add my own thoughts in this typeface. (I plan to use this format from now on)
The page numbering is a bit weird to me. Although there are no numbers on the first three pages, they are the cover, inside cover (title page), and the title of the book with a small illustration.
p. 5 - from the opening letter by the former OBOD leader:
It is a spirituality that unites our love of the Earth with our love of creativity and the Arts. For this reason, much of the modern Druid movement is concerned with innovation and celebration in new ways of living, of community, of ritual, poetry, story-telling and the visual arts. And flowing through all these exciting new developments is the power of an ancient tradition - the love of land, sea and sky - the love of Earth our home.
The first sentence above is so me! Nature + creativity and the arts? Oh yeah! I like how Druidry (at least OBOD) isn't stuck in the past, but it keeps the past as the foundation that newness is built on.
p. 5
"There are three candles that illumine every darkness: truth, nature, and knowledge" Ancient Irish triad
I love that these three are put together here. I may come back another time and expand on this.
p. 7-8
The biggest mistake we can make when trying to understand Druidry is to see it as a museum-piece, as something in a glass case that we can walk around and study objectively. It certainly has a history that we can explore, but to fully appreciate it, we have to understand that it is living, growing and constantly changing... And to fully appreciate it, (it has to be experienced).
This parallels the premise of the book we are studying in my church's small group right now (John Shelby Spong's "A New Christianity for a New World"). Spirituality has to grow with us, both personally and as a society. The experiential ties into my current leanings toward Christian Mysticism.
p. 8-9 discusses the etymology of the word Druid, and how we get the qualities of Wildness and Wisdom from it. It also discusses how we need the wildness of nature to balance modern life.
p. 9
The Druid is both wild and wise, at one with the powers of Nature, but also the archetypal sage, the wise philosopher studying the stars and natural law, drawing conclusions and attempting to fathom the mysteries of Life and Death. Wild and Wise, Natural and Civilised, "Primitive" and "Sophisticated," the Druid combines all these qualities: she is seer by the fire, healer with herbs, crouching low on the earth, at one with the world of plants and animals. But she is also astronomer and sage, counsellor, philosopher and teacher.
This is the section that when I read it the first time, I almost cried. This is ME!!! The seemingly opposite dichotomies, the varied interests and positions, all of it! If I needed confirmation that this path is where I need to be, this is it.
The rest of the booklet is a description of the Bardic course, information about OBOD's organization and activities, and FAQs.
The inside of the back cover has this quote:
"Bees of small strength carry the flower-harvest with their feet; the cattle bring to the mountain a rich-pouring abundance" Irish ninth century
The interconnectedness of life... Bees don't purposely carry pollen to pollinate, cattle don't purposely poop to fertilize. But these things happen without their intention, just by them doing what they do. If those things happen without motive, what can we do with purpose, with intention, with motive?
Time for a break...
See ya in a few,
LilacPhoenixCMB 💜
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