Pacific Druid

I had the pleasure and great opportunity to celebrate Alban Eilir with Circle of Coll on the day of the Vernal Equinox.

The Equinox!  That moment when everyone on the great planet earth has a 12 hour day and a 12 hour night.  It is the turn of the wheel when we of the northern hemisphere step into the light half of the year, and enjoy the bounty of the earth and life itself.

The Circle of Coll held their public Alban Eilir ritual in the tea garden of the Kristen Gallery, located in the U-District of Seattle.  Although the street traffic was a little intrusive, the tea garden itself lent a wonderful energy to the ritual.

While the day started cloudy, the sky partially cleared and the sun came out for the ritual, it was truly magical.

I had the luck to represent the south in the ritual, a direction I feel akin.  In the heart of the ritual each of us was given in turn a small peat pot of earth, a bean seed, ash, and water.  The planting and nourishment of the seed at the core of the ritual signified the precipace of spring and the forthcoming bounty we are about to see for the year.  It was wonderful.

Afterwards Eisteddfod was held at nearby Dantes Restaurant, with plenty of beer and food.  All in all, the best way I can imagine to celebrate Alban Eilir!

I am truly blessed to have this wonderful OBOD seed group so close by, and look forward to many rituals and activities with them in the future.

Divination is a new exploration for me, and I just recently began giving myself readings from a personal deck.

I recently acquired the Druid Tarot, and exciting and revealing tarot set. The illustrations are superb (by Will Worthington), and the set has an amazing energy presence.

There are differences between the tarot deck and a standard Wiccan or A. E. Waite deck, but I will go into this in more detail in subsequent blog postings.  The differences are interesting enough that they deserve their own postings.  For this post I just want to say how much I am looking forward to working with this deck, and exploring what it has to offer!

My newly formed poly family sat down last weekend to discuss what direction each of us want to take in our pagan spirituality.  I knew our interests were eclectic, and this was a pretty important discussion for me.  I believed we all needed to understand where each other was coming from and what path we wanted to follow, so we could all give each other support when it was needed.

Randy and Susan have been attending Sean Ciall Spell Circles.  I don’t know much about this path, but it does seem founded in Wicca.  They have had some trouble with it, but I will support them as long as they pursue it.  Also there is a new coven forming at Sidhehaven, a pagan home south near Lacey WA.  Randy is very keen on participating with this coven, again with my full support.

When our discussion turned to OBOD there was real interest on in the Bardic course materials from everyone, which was great to hear.  I showed them what I could, but did explain that there were revelations in the course and it was unwise to look forward into the materials but rather let the material unfold as it is intended.

We decided to follow the OBOD course together form the beginning!  This is very exciting for me, and candidly more than I had hoped for.  Randy is varied in his interests which is cool and I think Susan is trying to find a path that is right for her.  I was clear that this is not a committment but rather an exploration, any one of us could drop out at any time with the full support of the other three, and everyone agreed that would be the best approach.

We are all busy with jobs, life, and everything else; so I suggested we start with one Gwers every two weeks.  If we get going we can increase the pace, but at that rate we will finish the course in two years… exciting!

A few things need to fall into place, including some supplementary materials from OBOD and getting everyone signed up to take the course and on the list for an OBOD mentor, but I will let everyone know when we are ready to start.

The last time I picked up a Gwers was 2 years ago, and I am ready to start fresh with my new family.  I am very excited to study the OBOD teachings with people I care deeply about.

Saturday I participated in a workshop entitled: Whispers Through the Veil: Tidings of Earth Stewardship.

This workshop involved deep meditation, divination, and calling on the ancestors to help guide our stewardship of the earth.  While the workshop was great and the connection and visiting with the ancestors was magnificent, something unexpected happened to me.

During the meditation we greeted  ancestors at each of the four directions.  At the south I was greeted by the only ancestor I recognized, my maternal grandmother.  It was wonderful to see her, but during my time with her a small bird flew up and landed on her shoulder.

After a bit the small bird then hopped over to my shoulder, where it remained.

Through the rest of the meditation the bird would either be on me or nearby, and always remained in my site.  I did not know the type of bird, only that I did not recognize it.  The bird was certianly making an impression on my!  It seemed to vocalize when it was right, and remained quiet, but visible when the moment called for that, too.

I quickly realized that this bird seemed to be a gift or message from my grandmother.  I did not at the time understand what the intent of the bird was ,only that it was a very powerful entity in my vision.

I have thought about this inner quest and the emergence of this bird from my grandmother, and what the type of bird might be.  I spent some time today searching the internet trying to determine the type of bird, as that might give me a clue towards it’s meaning.  I had no luck with internet searches, but after a while it occurred to me to consult some of my Druidic materials, most notebly the Druidic Animal Oracle.

The recognized the bird the moment I saw it in the animal oracle cards, it was a wren!

The information within the Druid Animal Oracle on this creature is fascinating.  Traditionally the wren’s nest is known as the “Druid’s House.”  The wren is considered the most sacred bird by the Druids, and in Ireland it is called Drui-en; or Druid Bird.  In Welsh the word Dryw signifies both a Druid and a wren!

I now believe that my grandmother was introducing me to my spirit animal and guide.  The wren has never revealed itself to me before, but once this realization came to me there was no doubt in my mind..  this is my totem-animal.

Last night I attended a new group, the Everett Pagan Meetup.  Normally this group’s meetings conflict with the Everett Druid Meetup so I am unable to attend, so this was an opportunity to meet new people and get to know the “other” group in town.

Michael was very gracious in opening his home for this meeting, it is greatly appreciated.

There was no talk of paganism, which I must admit was a little disappointing.  I was looking forward to hearing about the paths of others in this most eclectic group, and sharing some of my spirituality.  this was much more of a social gathering and music jam session for a band.

I hope to get the change to attend one of their more formal meetings sometime in the future, and get to know their various pagan ways a little better.

Spirit of Place is an aspect of Druidry that sets it apart from other paths, both pagan and revealed.  As a Druid I believe that each place has a spirit and that energy of spirit is as unique as the place it inhabits.  Of course there are the traditional places of spirituality such as Stonehenge at Glastonbury, but pilgrimages to such place are not necessary to connect to the spiritual side of Gaia and the Cosmos.

Every place has a spirit which may be thriving or dormant, but is always there.  Those spirits are to be respected, connected with, and fortified through recognition and reverence. When stuck in traffic there is the spirit of the highway, when grocery shopping there is the spirit of the Safeway.

Do not forget these spirits, they will reward you for connecting with them.

Weeks since the last post!  It has not been from lack of anything to say, but rather a head-first plunge into enjoyment of life.

A new life chapter has unfolded or Melody and me, we are now in a polyamorous relationship with another couple.  This is an exciting development for us, but it has kept all 4 of us very busy.  Each of us are committed to building a lasting relationship, and seem very much on the same page.

I have always enjoyed the idea of family, and am very happy that Melody and I are building one with this new couple.  Dynamics are of course complex with each new person added to the relationship, but we are moving at a healthy pace.

We are all four pagans, but each with a different path.  I think that our commonalities in earth spirituality cannot be overstated, and helps with a strong foundation for our relationship.  I feel strongly that we each must support everyone’s separate path and interests in paganism, for we will be a stronger family for it.

I can remember as a young teen figuring out how old I would be in the year 2000..  almost 40!  Back then 30 was old and 40 was ancient..  I could barely fathom such a thing.

In 2011 I turn 50, and am better adjusted mentally, physically, and socially than I have ever been.  I have a great home, a wonderful wife and the beginnings of an extended family I could never have hoped for.  I am more spiritual now than I have ever been, and feel better about myself and the world around me more than ever before.  this is a great time of life.

Last night we me, the wife, and a few friends were the designated old folk..  we took my friend Randy’s youngins (draft-eligible types, not ankle biters) to AFK so they could drink while we played board games.  We had a blast playing Settlers of Catan while the leaders of tomorrow went off to drink.  Funny thing is, we outlasted them!  We had some beer, and were going strong when they were all “bored and ready to go.”  *Sigh*, the youth of today.

I’m sure they will be invigorated with stamina when they are middle aged as we are now… but I’m sure they can’t imagine being *gasp* 50!

Another great weekend has come to a close.  This was all social time, where two great new friends of ours took Melody and I to a dinner on Saturday night.  We spent hours together, and it was wonderful getting to know them better.

Sunday evening was back to AFK for a Browncoats Meetup.  Browncoats are firefly fans, so we were all set to SciFi/Geek out.. and it turns out the facilitator is also a Druid!  It was great meeting him and his friend and spending a second night socializing.

I am truly blessed to live in a place where all these circles of people intermingle, and meet such interesting folk.

Last weekend I had a lively discussion with my friend Erynn about Pagans she has met who don’t condone or accept the LGBT community, especially as it is intermingled with Paganism.  She has met some of this ilk (I have not) and described how they do not condone non-straight sexuality when it is expressed in Paganism, and how this type also has a limited view of what should be expressed as Paganism, and other expressions are wrong.

I gave her the impression I was surprised to hear this, but it was not surprise, but shock.  I knew intellectually that this type exists (since all types of everything exist,) but this was the first I had heard of actual encounters with such thinking.

We followers of Earth-based spirituality are persecuted and ridiculed enough with us doing it to ourselves.  Think of how Christine O’Donnell (who has no business holding public office, but that is another story) was openly ridiculed when an old clip of her surfaced where she stated she dabbled in witchcraft.  It tanked whatever chances she had in her Senatorial race, and was it because she was the wrong picture to put on the pagan community?  No, it was because any inference that one is a practicing pagan is social suicide in most parts of the United States.

We pagans need to be accepting of each other, and open to the great cosmos that is all of us.  There is no “right” or “wrong” way to be a pagan.

Those who think otherwise are suffering from cognitive dissonance.