Re: A Question on Druidic Validity TopazOwl Wed Feb 21 14:19:08 2001 Beirdd wrote,*br*: A teacher of mine once told me that since "druid" *br*: describes an historical priesthood that, to all intents and *br*: purposes, is currently extinct, there can be no real druids *br*: today.*br*:*br*: What would be the response to those on this board to the *br*: above statement?*p* Both Daibh and Searles made good points. My own perspective on this (besides agreeing somewhat with both of their perpectives) is more esoteric.*p* My own experiences and memories tell me that I have been a Druid before. They also tell me that *you* have been a Druid before. :-)*p* Your teacher would probably say "hogwash." Even you have a tendency to think it probably isn't so; that maybe, just maybe, we see or feel what we *want* to be so. And yet, I know it to be true, just as I know the sun is still in the sky on cloudy days.*p* I am also mentored by an old uncle (many generations removed and long crossed over) who was a Druid. Unbeknownst to me until recently, he has been keeping an eye on me for many years and helping to guide me along the path. My recently deceased relatives introduced me to him, and he took me aside and asked me to show him how my skills were progressing. He was pleased with my progress.*p* Then, on the other hand, if I am performing the same or similar duties as a Druid of old (and we know a great deal about them, contrary to popular opinion, thanks to our Irish monk friends who recorded the old stories and named the Druids in them), and I am a Celt, then am I not a Druid? I am a priestess of the Old Irish Ways, and I am as real as you are. And being a priestess, I wear many hats, just as my ancestors, some of whom were Druids, did.*p* Yes, there was a break in tradition...but then again, was there? If we who have been there before have decided to return in this life to be what we were once called, only to be a "better" version of such, then who can say the priesthood has died? It died with us, but it was reborn with us as well, so it never really died -- it only rested in the Happy Otherworld for a while. That, my friend, is true Druidic thinking. :-)*p*Leigh*p* A Question on Druidic Validity Beirdd 787 Tue Feb 20 19:35:54 2001