My Studies in Druidry

Book Review Druid Magic continued.

Chapter eleven talks mostly about how Druids, many Druids view the world. I found this chapter interesting because I always love it what text supports what I have always believed but never really had put a name or word too. I love knowing that other people see things that same way that I do, gives my own belief system a bit of solidity and reality rather than fantasy. 

The book discusses the “Celtic Cosmos” in terms of the land of the living, the fairy realm, and the human world. 

• They describe the land of the living as the “land of youth”, the home for women, and the home of the “blessed ones,” and “our eternal selves” when we are out of our bodies.   To me, this seems much like what Christians view as heaven, what I view as the Summerlands. A place we all want to be, at least I do at this point in my life, lol… It’s a place where we all exist when we are in between lives here on earth, our celestial home, our true home.
• The fairy realm is the place where the Sidhe live, the fairies, the Gods and Goddess.  To me this seems strange. I would imagine the Gods and Goddess’ would live more in the Land of the Living, our home when away from our bodies. Hmmm. Makes you think, right? Wonder how others feel about that? 

• The human world, well, that is self-explanatory. That is here, our day to day lives, magical and mundane. All who are here on earth. 

The four pillars of Druidry are the basic belief system of Druids in general and really. Most I have talked to hold these same beliefs though not all. This is the nice thing about Druidry, it’s personal based on our own experiences and what we know to be true. Our beliefs tend to change and grow and we study and learn  because part of being Druid is being a lifelong learner. Everything is a teaching and learning experience and in life, this is something that we all need to remember. If we stop learning , life becomes stagnant  and we tend to lose our way. 

The Pillars of Druidry are as follows. 

• Multiple lifetimes: The self or anam (Gaelic word for soul) comes and goes in an eternal cycles of lives. When out of body, they dwell in the land of the living. They can incarnate in any form. Detail from each life is lost as we pass from one life to the next but lessons learned from experiences carry on.  This knowledge can manifest as Awen as well as in the decision making process in a future life. 
• Spirit in all things: The idea that all things carry spirit is not claimed by only Druidry. Everything is alive with a presence, a spirit, a goddess, different people see them as different things. I feel that each and every thing has a soul in it. Some things carry a soul that has reincarnated into it, others have souls that have been inside for years, centuries, maybe all time. I believe that the sacred places, the places of power around our great earth are these places with spirits that have existed in that place for centuries or forever. 
• Reverences for our ancestors: As per the book, there is an awareness that each soul brings wisdom with it in each existence, both individual and collective. We carry the wisdom of our ancestors with us from life to life. The books states that in our DNA, we have cells from our ancestors inherited from birth and passed on through generation to generation. This is a new concept for me. I need to think about this more to make an educated decision, and one from my heart and soul.  For me, I think this in that we have the ability to communicate with or ancestors. We can speak with them, ask for guidance and understanding. This knowledge and wisdom we carry with us. 
• Multiple worlds: This refers to the Celtic Cosmos… As seen above… Don’t see any reason to go into this again. 

Chapter 12 discusses what is Druidry… It was an interesting chapter but really did not prompt to much to write here. I did answer the questions at the end, one being “what does Druidry bring to your life?” This is my brainstorming list in the order that it came to me. 
• Truth
• Peace
• Guidance
• Belief
• Magic
• Creativity
• Path
• Leadership

I didn’t write anything about chapters 13 and 14 so I am guessing they were history stuff… Much of what we already know from OBOD.