My First Reply
Searles

Mon Feb 12 12:59:47 2001
I've been inspired to offer a few answers of my own to the questions that*br*I've presented:*p*... whence have you come?"*p*This actually means, "How did you arrive at being a Druid and decide to come*br*to this assembly of Druids?"*p*I came here along the dark ways and through the dreams of their*br*storytellers,*br*I travelled beneath the flying bats and through the great swamps,*br*I listened at the edge between the outer darkness and the comforting light.*br*I was silent in my ignorance and bold in my wisdom,*br*I sought among the byways and the jungles for truth,*br*I reveled in the storehouses of knowledge,*br*I lay within the darkness amid the chanting of godnames*br*and I was taken along the golden way by the spirit of family.*p*... what is thy name?"*p*This question seems to mean, "What defines you as a Druid now in terms of*br*capabilities and realizations?*p*I see beyond the present moment,*br*I live in the Three Worlds and an Other,*br*I listen to the wind and the song of the trees,*br*I speak the truth and fight injustice,*br*I am a vessel for knowledge and a cup for wisdom,*br*I am a column on the Plain of the Towers,*br*I am a well within the Sídhe mound,*br*I am a fire burning brightly on the mountainn,*br*I am a pathway through ignorance.*p*... what art do you practice?"*p*This question is coupled to the previous question and asks for additional*br*details about Druidic skill. I think it should read, "How do you actually*br*practice these Druidic abilities?"*p*I am a seeker of truth and wisdom through study,*br*I write the names and sing the words of tree knowledge,*br*I know the teachings of the elders through tradition,*br*I learn the lessons of experience through living them,*br*I hammer out the tools of new knowledge at the fires of inquiry,*br*The Three Gods of the Great Waters sometime flow through me,*br*The Goodness of many excellences are my guide,*br*The many-skilled wonders of integration fulfill me,*br*I am a Seer, a Poet and a Worker of Wonders*p*... what is it that thou undertakest ? "*p*This question seems to mean, "Where do you practice your Drai/ocht and who*br*are the people/groups that you serve?*p*I am a doorway into the stones,*br*I am the pathway out of the Land of Two Suns,,*br*I am the hand and knife of Ogma,*br*I am an acorn in the grove of Keltria,*br*I am a teacher among the oaks of ADF,*br*I am a word of knowledge to BDO,*br*I am an Ogham kenning to the world,*br*I am a chietain within a clann of gathering hearths,*br*I am a Druid to the people of The Summerlands.*p*... by what path have you come?"*p*This question is coupled to the previous one and actually means, "What are*br*some of the specifics about how you have served your group/people and what*br*are their methods of training and the levels of recognition/achievement*br*among them?"*p*I have taught many what they did not know,*br*I have discovered what was lost and have written what has been found,*br*I have called the gods and the spirits to the gathering place,*br*I have spoken withrespect in the assemblies,*br*I have chanted my imbas during ritual,*br*I have resolved disputes and I have advised the troubled,*br*I have established a community of body, mind and spirit,*br*I have helped to found a school,*br*I have led the new way back to the Old Ways.*p*... of whom art thou (the) son ? "*p*This question asks "How do you define yourself as a person?"*p*I am a spark from the fire that lights the darkness,*br*I am the middle way between the high road and the low road,*br*I am the son of being and unbeing,*br*I am the Old and the New,*br*I am the large and the small,*br*I am an encircling power of protection,*br*I am a rock against hardness,*br*I am a comfort to the oppressed,*br*I am the point that is connected beyond the boundaries.*p*... hast thou tidings ? "*p*This question asks us to make prophecies or to provide insights. It actually*br*should read, "What do you see for the future?"*p*I see the collaspe of a house of cards,*br*I see the rising of the submerged,*br*I see the two horses of chaos and order yoked to the chariot of purpose,*br*I see a world wherein the lost are undone and the discoverred are*br*resurrected,*br*I see a future that is bright in the middle and dark around the edges,*br*I have been in the house of ignorance to discover the doorways to knowledge,*br*I see a stream of spirit becoming a river,*br*I see an ocean that is a nine nines of waves,*br*I see creation continuing in its flower, death and birth.*br*
Recognizing Druids
Searles
785
Mon Feb 12 12:56:16 2001