Re: Real Druids in Modern Life Elaine Wed Jun 14 18:50:22 2000 TopazOwl wrote,*br*: This is an essay (well, it's a rant, really <g>) *br*: that I wrote for my website and uploaded there. On the off *br*: chance that some of you haven't seen it, I'm posting it here *br*: for discussion purposes.*p*My response is quite delayed because I was away in May.*br*I read this essay and the one you mentioned on your website.*br*You have many good points for those interested in the topic.*br*My comment, which may range to the overly obvious, are on*br*the nature of internet communication and on the nature of*br*religion in general. *p*: All too often lately I have been unfortunate enough to *br*: hear this rallying cry from the ranks of the newsgroups and *br*: mailing lists, and out of the typing-impaired fingers of *br*: chat room denizens: the Druids are dead and gone!*p*When I first go on the usenet, I roamed around looking at all*br*the oddities. I came upon alt.vampyre. One of the common *br*threads is: are any of you real vampires. In a world where*br*Druids are more heard of in the company of vapires, trolls and*br*wizards in fantasy games than they are in history, this question*br*makes sense. On the other hand, if everyone followed nettiquette *br*and looked at FAQs and lurked a bit, you'd think this question *br*could be phrased a bit more politely.*p*Similarily, if you look at the reaction to other religions*br*on the usenet, notably to Christianity, this attitude is*br*pretty common. Note all the "There are no real Christians"*br*"Christians are all hypocrites" remarks. In these days of*br*suspicion of traditions and any related authorities,*br*anyone claiming belief in any religion has to expect to be*br*mistrusted. It seems, that non-traditional religions*br*( for N. America such as Buddhism or neo paganism )get a bit*br*of a pass on that, but only if they seem very easy going on*br*interpreting that religion. Maybe my perception is due to*br*some abrasive aetheistic friends but I get the impression*br*that to identify oneself as a traditional, say non-casual,*br*follower of any religion, is to make oneself a target for*br*sniping.*p*: it as an excuse to incorporate practices that are distinctly *br*: un-Celtic into their repetoire and still call it Druidism. *br*: They use it as a reason to avoid having spiritual leaders in *br*: their NeoPagan communities. They use it to try to direct *br*: chaos and disrespect at the knowledgable Elders on certain *br*: newsgroups. Some use it because they really believe it, and *br*: some are simply afraid of the idea that there really might *br*: be Druids in this modern world, and if so, well -- it would *br*: mean that they aren't it.*br*:*br*: I run into so many modern self-proclaimed druids. *br*: Therein lies a great deal of the problem. No two modern *br*: self-proclaimed "druids" seem to be able to agree *br*: on exactly what a modern Druid is.*p*True. But compare to that other religion practiced by modern*br*Celts, Christianity. It has many disagreements and differant*br*sects. *br* - snip -*p* : There are those who argue that, in order to be a Druid, *br*: one would have to go back to how things were in Iron Age *br*: Britain, Wales, or Ireland, and do this in a way that is *br*: 100% authentic. In my mind, that is like saying the Celts *br*: (and by extension, Druids) never evolved beyond the Iron *br*: Age. (Which we did, and are still doing.) In fact, we *br*: evolved in so many directions, you'd be hard-pressed not to *br*: find one of us just about anywhere and doing just about *br*: anything. We are of Celtic descent -- our ancestors of *br*: Celtic descent moved here to America. We are the American *br*: diaspora, and as such, we are a continuation of blood and a *br*: continuation of our people's history. Just because we happen *br*: to have been transplanted to this country doesn't mean the *br*: traditions didn't come with us in some form, that our *br*: bloodlines changed drastically, or that we forgot where we *br*: came from. - snip -*p*The Celts did and do have differant traditions from differant*br*areas. Wouldn't this also affect how they approach modern*br*Druidism/Druidry/Celtic Paganism ? Most people currently*br*interested in the knowledge of the Druids, grew up as christians*br*or at least in a nominally Christian area. I really think *br*we all bring a lot of baggage from Christianity. So what*br*trends come from this. *p*Some of the following are differances between sects, some*br*to groups of sects, some are common to all Christians and*br*some show up in the gulf between educated clergy and *br*uneducated followers:*p* - Belief strongly centered on reading of a sacred text *br*and interpretation by an educated clergy*p* - Belief centered on a sacred text and other teaching as*br*taught and interpreted by an a authoritative clergy *p* - Belief centered on memorizing a sacred text, with*br*inspiration from from a charismatic, elected clergy,*br*who may have been educated in a particular tradition*p* - Belief centered on Christian stories and superstitions*br*with some referance to a sacred text and guidance from*br*a variety of sources.*p* - Belief centered on any of the above with the strong *br*belief that any teaching must be directly related to *br*present needs and sensilbilities and that any leader must*br*prove worth on these grounds.*p*Now given these variety of expectations for a leader, I*br*can imagine there would be a variety of expectation for*br*how a Druid would lead. Some would expect an authoritative*br*and very educated leader but then would question how to *br*prove that authority. Others would put personal inspiration*br*and response to current problems, way above any education.*br*So, as with other religious leaders, a Druid could be left *br*thinking "How do I show the kids I'm relevant?" or "How do I*br*show the followers that orthodoxy is important." or "How*br*do I get them from concentrating on that trash from outside *br*our tradition ?" I think you have a concern that's really*br*common among religious leaders.*p*Er... not sure i've said what I meant to say but I have to go *br*now.*p*Thanks for the interesting post.*p*Elaine cu072@ncf.ca *p* Real Druids in Modern Life TopazOwl 611 Thu May 25 12:33:12 2000