May peace be with everyone

Sunrise Stonehenge Equonox Autumn 2009

What being a druid means to me.

by Stewart, bakerbard

To me being a druid is acknowledging that the devine is in everything.

To be a Druid is to see the land as sacred and to care for it.

To be a Druid  is to honour our ancestors both recent and past.

To be a Druid is to live with resoect for my fellow journyers in this life regardless of race and creed.

But what is a Druid? Put in simplest turms a Druid is someone who follows a nature based spirituality that they believe pre dates Christianity in these Isles, not that we are doing the same as our ancestors did as truth to be told we have no real idea of what they did. But there are inklings and we try to interpret those inklins into a vibrant belief for today. My druidism is a pagan one and so I honour the old Gods and Goddesses, and my spirtual practise follows the change of the seaasons, what we call the turning of the year. Of course there is more to it than this but this will give you a basic introduction to what I believe.

How Druids see the world

Everything is connected.

One of the core values of Druidism is that everything is connected there is no separation. Humanity in its so called wisdom believes that it is the pinnacle of creation; this of course leads to so many problems.

Wars that pit nation against nation. Disregard for the world that sustains us, leading to environmental melt down.

The idea that we are somehow divorced from the rest of creation is of course a fallacy, and one we need as Pagans to admit to. Part of the problem is that we do not see past the superficial and really look at the world.

When we look at the world with our spiritual eyes we see that everything is connected and interconnected. The Native Americans talk of the stone people, the animal people, the tree and plant people, and of course the people, people.

As a Druid I see it as my duty to reconnect to these realms of nature as I am made of the same energy they are. The same atoms that flow through the trees of a forest are the same atoms that flow through me. “We are stardust, we are golden” as the song from the musical Hair so eloquently says.

In the rest of this article I am going to dwell on the relationship we have as Druids with trees. Why does the Druid have this relationship with trees? Why do people who hardly know anything of what a Druid is or does know this one fact that Druids love trees?

Most modern scholars agree that the word Druid is derived from the words Oak and wise with a meaning of one who has the “Wisdom of the Oak.” So without doubt the Druids of old were associated with trees.

What of today? I feel that it is most important for today’s Druid to care for and love trees, as they are our lifeblood, and if we lose them we lose so many things not only in the physical realm but also in the spiritual.

Trees are the storehouse of the Suns energy, they stand upon the earth their roots going deep into the Goddesses body. The leaves of a tree absorb carbon monoxide, and give out oxygen, they are literally the earths lungs. We use trees in countless other ways as well for our houses, books (and how Pagans love their books) for heating when it is cold and many other ways.

Consider this though; the oldest tree in the UK is a Yew tree estimated to be roughly three thousand years old just imagine what this ancient being has seen and has then stored the information in its rings of growth. Each time of drought, famine and fire is recorded by the tree.

It is not just the physical benefits of trees that the Druid celebrates though; we also venerate trees for their spiritual qualities as well. As Druids we believe that we can enter into a relationship with trees, but this takes time and commitment. Trees are old beings and do not live in the same timescale as we do., so whenever you try to form a relationship with a tree it must be on their terms and timescale.

I will end this with another exercise (in fact I will try to do this with all my posts)

Go for a walk in a forest or park where there are many different types of trees, walk slowly and thoughtfully. Does one particular tree call to you? If so sit with it, slow your breathing and send your thoughts to the tree. With perseverance I believe that you will be able to form a relationship with trees.

Trees Dance.

Trees dance you know.

It's true, they do.

They are just shy.

So they dance

By moonlight when

Nobody watches.

Oaks performing

A stately Gavotte.

Silver Birches a ballet

To the sounds of the night.

Saplings of course disco

Forgive them they are young.

You look at me as if I am mad.

But trees dance you know.

It's true, they do.

Pangur-ban 3/2/2010

Every thought is a whispered prayer.