It's literally been a month since my last blog entry. I really need to get it together, or as the cliché goes, get with the program. Nevertheless, it's still way to rainy to begin the work of turning my backyard weed patch into the kind of a lush garden that a Druid wannabe can take… Continue reading Creating a Spiritually Rich Garden
Category: Druidry
Planning for Springtime
Western Oregon normally has pretty moderate weather compared to other part of the country. But over the last few days we’ve had some very cold temperatures. Last night, the temperature fell below freezing. There was a light dusting of snow on the ground that quickly disappeared as the temperature warmed to above freezing and a… Continue reading Planning for Springtime
Saturnalia, The First Christmas
While Rome was pagan, Rome did not have a formal state religion that it required all its citizens to adhere to. Yes, there was the Roman pantheon with the sky-god Jupiter at its head. The official state religion was Mithraism, with Mithras being honored as the patron of loyalty to the emperor. Generally, when the… Continue reading Saturnalia, The First Christmas
Contemplative Meditation as a Spiritual Practice
Contemplative meditation is a term that I'd never heard before I came across it in John Beckett's The Path of Paganism, a book I can heartily recommend to anybody exploring any flavor of pagan practice. Contemplative meditation is a form of prayer and could simply be called contemplative prayer except that it has too many… Continue reading Contemplative Meditation as a Spiritual Practice
Where Divinity Truly Lies
One of the things that brought me to modern druidry is the realization that divinity resides within me (I am, so to speak, my own god) but that it's not exclusive to me. We are all divine, but so are trees, squirrels and my very demanding pet kitties. That's the polar opposite of the western… Continue reading Where Divinity Truly Lies
The Great Mother
To think about the Great Mother in our patriarchally oriented society is more than merely radical, especially when the one doing so is a male who has come to reject the great father in the sky with whom he grew up and instead to embrace the Great Mother who is all around us, in us,… Continue reading The Great Mother
Thinking about Lughnasadh
Lughnasadh is a Gaelic festival that marks the beginning of the harvest season. Lugh is an Irish Celtic deity, son of Cian and grandson of Danu and Dian Cécht of the Tuatha Dé Dunann, and his mother was Ethniu/Ethlinn, daughter of Balor of the Fomorians. His foster mother is Tailtiu. Tailtiu is a presumed earth… Continue reading Thinking about Lughnasadh
What Happens When You Attend a Druid Rite
I attended the Columbia Grove ADF Gaulish Midsummer Rite. It was my first time at such an event and I never really was able to get my mind wrapped around all that I experienced. Yet, even though I never fully intellectually grasped the content, it was nevertheless an emotionally moving experience and I am very… Continue reading What Happens When You Attend a Druid Rite
Expanding my Horizons
I had a long talk with a good Wiccan friend of mine a couple of days ago. We talked about my tangential interest in Druidry. She encouraged me to look into ADF. I did so and ended up joining yesterday as a solitary practitioner. There's a Grove in Portland (ye old 30 miles away again)… Continue reading Expanding my Horizons