Re: Druidic Roles in Counseling and Prison Ministry
fhionamacg
fhionamacg@yahoo.com
Mon Mar 10 16:59:27 2003
Daven wrote,*br*: Blessings and welcome!*br*: You have the right to ask for anything you want.  *br*: It's up to us to decide whether or not we give you *br*: what you want.  But it is your right to ask.  ;-)*p*F/|\ A difference in traditions perhaps. In our community a gift requires a gift, and I have no right to ask, unless I am prepared to give back...*p*D:*br*: While I would never presume to tell you what to *br*: believe, I think that this is something you need *br*: to start addressing.  It's good to look for *br*: opportunities in one's life, but just because the *br*: same situation comes up does not mean it is the *br*: right correct legal or even good choice to move *br*: your life in.*p*F/|\ Hmmm- I wasnt looking for opportunities...I have more on my plate than I can sometimes reasonably handle. But I do have to make a decision.*p*D:*br* So, what do YOU want to do about it becomes the *br*: question.This new direction *br*: : involves providing resources and spiritual *br*: : guidance in a pagan (mostly Wiccan) ministry in a *br*: : prison full of predominantly sexual offenders.*p*F/|\ I want to determine right action as according to the Wisdom Triads, Heptads and Brehon Laws, for then, I can be true to myself. However, in so doing, I think one has to interpret carefully, the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law, and was hoping for some assistance from learned peers and colleagues in this endeavor. ie it is not so much what I think the law and triads say, but what do others in other Druid communities think they say? Are we arriving at like understanding thereof, or is there wide interpretation?*br*:*br*As to the second issue, I thank you for the opportunity for an offline discussion, and have taken the opportunity to email you privately. *p*D:*br*Fhiona, I'm operating on the assumption at this *br*: point that you are an inintiated Druid of some *br*: sort, especially if you are being asked to be a *br*: prison Minister. *p*F/|\ Yes, you assume correctly.*p*D:*br* As such, why are you not *br*: identifying as a Druid?  You are a Druid, what *br*: would YOU do?  What are you going to do?  *p*F/|\ Ah, but  I am behaving as a Druid. I am sorting the problem out, but it is a complex one, and it is always good to have input from others whom you have found to be learned in the areas you study...I checked out the Summerlands for quite some time before I decided to become a member, and what drew me here, was the level of scholarship. If one has an ethical problem, which is how I am percieving the prison ministry, then debate is a good way to arrive at some deeper understanding of it, as well as a means to come to some sort of conclusion. And who better to debate with, than fellow Druids?*p*to be more specific, the community of which I am a part of here in AB follows the Brehon Laws as far as they do not contradict our laws of the land, and the Wisdom Triads and Heptads as ways of living, interacting, and behaving. Thus, the question for me is, in considering a prison ministry, would I be contravening any of those laws or Triads, for I must uphold our laws.*p*D:*br*: I don't think that the Druids of previous *br*: generations had to deal too much with Prison *br*: ministries, other than as picking out the next *br*: sacrafice and preparing the person whom gets this *br*: honor.  I don't know if transgendering was *br*: something confronting those Druids in the times of *br*: the Romans and before, although it is an issue *br*: with the Medicine Men of the Native Americans.*br*:*p*F/|\ You are probably correct on both issues as there does not appear to be much direct evidence in the literature...however, the Druids were known for thier intelligence and adaptability, and the Celtic ppls in particular were known for taking new ideas and technology and improving upon them...thus, when faced with modern situations in which solutions are not readily evident in the texts, one should then examine the texts using various methods in applied logic, and strive to find an acceptable solution ie right judgement.*br* *br*As one single individual cannot possible possess all of the wisdom, or be all knowing and all wise, it is good, (right action) to then turn to peers or others who are learned and to confer, discuss and debate together using the ancient wisdom and laws texts as a basis of discussion,in an effort to find the right action, sic right judgement in this modern situation.*p*D: You are a Druid, what are you going to do?*br*:*br*F/|\ I think I just said what I was going to do...(;)*p*I also think, that it would be rather presumptuous of me, and wrongful thinking for myself to think I am all-wise and knowledgeable. When we are faced with situations in which we are unsure of right action according to tradition,or perhaps need a confirmatin as to our interpretation of the meaning behind the texts by which we govern ourselves, then it is always right action to turn to other Druids. While one may never hope to find consensus, at some level, if we are all interpreting the laws/Triads in a similar fashion, then at least there can be confirmation- which again, leads to right judgement.*p*I do not expect any single person to make a decision for me, for I am quite capable of making my own decisions. *p* The law and Triads can be difficult to understand, and sometimes convoluted, when one begins to look at several in support of a case, so the answer is not so clear cut. *p*Even in the supreme courts of our respective lands, the learned judges come together to hear complicated cases, and render judgement, drawing on the letter and spirit of the law, former precedents, creating precedents - for sometimes our own laws are not so straightforward- and this too was the role of Druids. So, when I am faced with a situation within my community, I turn to the wisdom texts etc. *p*According then to the wisdom triads and Brehon laws, what would a druid decide to do in this case? And I ask, because those texts are contradictory, sometimes within the same text.So, what is right action here, according to the texts. *p*Could be a good debate. *p*Blessings*br*F/|\*br*
Re: Druidic Roles in Counseling and Prison Ministry
Daven
1119
 Mon - Mar 10 - 11:20am



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