D is for Divine

What is the divine?  One of the things that has drawn me to the study and search of my Pagan self is the way Pagans view the divine.  During my upbringing in the Roman Catholic church, it was my understanding that God was outside of us.  That there was this mysterious force that was outside of the everyday that we had to go to church to worship and show your devotion.  It’s not that you couldn’t pray at home and God wouldn’t hear you, that’s not what I mean.  And maybe as a young person this wasn’t the correct understanding, but that is what I got.  As I got older and tried to revive my Catholicism by finding a new church or group, I still felt this ultimate disconnect with what we were supposed to be worshiping as divine.  So this lead to me reading and discovering all of these various religions that exist and what eventually drew me to the Pagan path.  There seems to be an overwhelming appreciation of the divine in everything.

One article I came across recently I think says it most beautifully.  “In its most simple form, this spiritualized veneration of nature is a form of pantheism - the belief that all things are divine, and the divine is in, and one with, all things. It is also monistic (monism is the belief that everything ultimately is united in one all-encompassing divine reality). Within this approach, worshiping nature and worshiping the divine are identical acts.” That being in tune with the world and nature is the same as worshiping the divine.  This thought I think is one that I read over and over.  There are also other Pagan views of the divine, this article also discusses those, but this one statement is the one that resonates with me.

There are other articles that state similar thoughts, this one titled "Neo-Paganism - The Divine In All Creation" that was originally published in 1994, states "the Divine is in all creation and everything has Divinity within. (...) the common thread within the multicolored tapestry of modern Neo-Paganism, is a reverence for Nature's ever-returning cycles, a spirit of community among individual diversity, and a search for personal truth, found not within another's revelation, but engraved on the spirit of the individual."  This is my other draw to the divine as interpreted by many Pagans, that we can all have our own interpretation of the divine.

If we were to ever meet in person, one of my "talking points" about religion is that all the arguments that seem to happen are often over a label, what do you call that thing that you hold divine/believe/etc.  This statement from the Pagan viewpoint, that the belief that all things are divine, meant I didn't necessarily have to label what I was feeling, when I get caught up in nature, when I enjoy a good book, when I meet fantastic new people, and that I could appreciate the divine in all things.  So I guess the conclusion I would like you to have a thought that the divine is what you make of it, that as a Pagan we are responsible for our own search and source of divinity in our lives, what we hold sacred, and what we are searching for.

Image from here

D is for Druidry (or Druids)

So first I am going to preface by saying this is not a comprehensive dissertation on Druidry.  I am still exploring this part of my spiritual path and I thought I would share some of what I found and why I think this might be another part of my personal spiritual journey.  So first in many of my readings I came across this word, Druid.  In fiction as well as non-fiction books, this was something that I thought it might be worth to read some more about "one of these days". 

First stop was me heading off into the World Wide Web to see what I could find, and I came across two big groups, ADF and OBOD.  Then I thought why did I find all of this alphabet soup!  So ADF stands for Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship and is an American based group.  OBOD stands for the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids and is a Britain based group.  Both have a lot of resources and articles on their websites, but I particularly like this one passage on the OBOD's website:

"The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids works with Druidry as a spiritual way and practice that speaks to three of our greatest yearnings: to be fully creative in our lives, to commune deeply with the world of Nature, and to gain access to a source of profound wisdom. Each of these yearnings comes from a different aspect of ourselves that we can personify as the Singer, the Shaman and the Sage. In Druidry, Bardic teachings help to nurture the singer, the artist or storyteller within us: the creative self; Ovate teachings help to foster the shaman, the lover of Nature, the healer within us; while the Druid teachings help to develop our inner wisdom: the sage who dwells within each of us."

From: http://www.druidry.org/druid-way/what-druidry

 I love nature, being outside, and I know I have truly disconnected from this love of mine as I have gotten older.  I used to have to be forced to go inside as a young person, or be forced inside by my horrendous seasonal allergies, and now it is the opposite.  I loved being creative with different projects, especially nature photography and the occasional (and hardly Monet quality) sketches.  I love to learn, the pursuit of lifelong learning has lead me to my Associates and Bachelor's degree a little later in life (27 and 30 respectively) but yet I always am finding a reason to want to learn and read and expand my mind.  These things are all what lead me to discover the Pagan religions or spirituality, as you are searching and reading and discovering your own path.  I have also been so drawn to Celtic culture, deities, and it seems anything Celtic since I started my Pagan journey (well that and Norse, but later for that), that I felt it might be time to pick up some books or read some more into Druidry.


I had spent some time finding some books that would help me figure out if this truly was a pursuit that I wished to follow.  The two books I have picked up so far have been The Apple Branch: A Path to Celtic Ritual by Alexei Kondratiev and The Mysteries of Druidry by Brendan Cathbad Myers, PhD.  I keep picking up this one book in the bookstore when I go (they have a limited selection at Barnes and Noble) called The Druidry Handbook, and I also have another book, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism, on my Amazon wishlist as well.  I just have yet to bother to purchase them yet.  And I am always looking for new sources, so if you have any Druidry book suggestions, pass them along in the comments, by all means!

My current Druidry reading list, reading/in progress on left, to be read on the right.

So I have picked up and have been reading the first book, The Mysteries of Druidry.  I started I think with this book because it is more academic and what I am most comfortable reading at the moment because I feel I can stop and go. The book does a great job first off with a devoted specifically to questions and answers.  This is really what made me pick the book off the shelf, it asked and answered questions I had.  I'm hoping to finish it soon and do a blog on it for the Pagan Book Challenge.  So the simple explanation is that this book has drawn me closer to the Celts and my desire to know more. 


So now the true question - what do I think a Druid is now (after reading and exploring a bit) and do I think it is the path for me at this time.  I think (in my opinion only) a Druid is someone that respects nature and is on a constant journey for learning, be it creative or academic.  From what I read it is a personal path that is drawn on many sources and that each individual follows, but comes to groups (groves) and shares in activities with others.  I think it is someone that seeks to live and be connected with our fullest potential.  Do I think this is for me at the moment - absolutely yes.  I have also found a group here in the US that has online classes, as well as a radio show that I have been listening too, and am considering starting the dedicant classes this summer, when I have the time to devote to them.  They are called the Black Mountain Druid Order.

I hope I have shared something that you find worthwhile this week, I feel like I have been rambling on about a subject I know I am just starting to skim the surface of.  I am hoping to reconnect with my love of nature and my spiritual self that I long for that I know I had long ago.

A new leap forward for me... "public" Pagan postings *gasp!*

I am a closeted Pagan, mainly due to family that I wish to not upset and a community (think small, rural, conservative, you get the idea) that I do not think would be too keen on my choice.  Hence the use of my chosen name, Galena. 

I mainly live vicariously online and via the small circle of friends that I chose to share my spiritual beliefs with.  I also follow several people on Facebook and came across this project that just spoke to me today.  The Pagan Blog Project (2012) came up and it got me thinking... maybe a way I can start feeling more open about myself and my beliefs is to start to share some of my thoughts, ideas, lessons learned, etc., in an online environment.  So here I am.

The premise is that every Friday we will post a blog about a specific idea that we are interested in, following an alphabet theme.  So this is my introduction and hopefully it will be the first posting of many.