Re: A Question on Druidic Validity
daibh
daoine@bellsouth.net
Thu Feb 22 08:30:03 2001
Daven wrote,*br*: And I would agree that it's a matter of perspective as to *br*: what definition*br*: they are using.*br*:*br*: Any religion mutates and changes as it ages.  It must do *br*: this or it stales*br*: and dies.  Perfect example?  The Shakers.  Their way did not *br*: change with the*br*: times, and now they are all dead.*p*Also consider the path that Judaism has taken. It started out over 5000 standard years ago as Orthodoxed. No questions asked. It took a short while and a couple of assemblies for the religion to become schismed into the multitudinous faith it is today.*p*: Your teacher may be correct in saying that the way the *br*: Druids of the Celts*br*: practiced is dead, just as Searles is correct in saying that *br*: the*br*: Christianity of Christ is dead, but that does not make the *br*: practices of the*br*: modern Druids any less valid or religious.*p*In truth the ancient ways are antiquity, not dead perhaps, just antiquated versus the paths we have available today, thanks to technology. It's a matter of several things primarily, perspective.*br*That's why we have the wonderful historians such as Miranda Green, Peter B-Ellis, and many others who have written over the years and produced excellent material on the subject.*p*: Your teacher may have also been attempting to say that we *br*: cannot reconstruct*br*: the Druid's religion since there are few references for us *br*: to pull on.*p*Reconstructionism is good and bad. It provides us with a pin pointed goal, oriented, life-centered way to think about our belief system. However at the same time it can cause us to become bogged down(pardonthe pun)in trying to decide what was and was not important to our predecessors. Therefore, I would recommend a mix of Reconstructionism and Traditionalism.*p*: While it is true that there is good and bad information out *br*: there, and that*br*: the information we do have is scattered and well hidden, we *br*: do have some*br*: information.  Enough to ensure that we will be able to *br*: mostly reconstruct*br*: their spirituality.  Their rites and practices, the *br*: knowledge they had of*br*: herbalism, of astronomy and astrology, we will have to *br*: recreate on our own*br*: with what has been passed down to us now.*p*::snickering:: as long as we are judicious in our choice of media. There is at least one armchair herbalist who published a list of "traditional herbs" that included some measurements that would cause heart trauma in most anyone.*p*: Plus remember that when we speak of Druid, we are talking *br*: about three*br*: different priest classes of the Celts, not all of them *br*: simmilar.  The Druids*br*: of the Guals, the Druids of the Irisih, and the Druids of *br*: the English*br*: mainland Celts.  Each had different practices and different *br*: ways of doing*br*: things.*p*We are speaking of one priestly caste of peoples, divided into three classes. Not knocking what you said Daven, just pointing out that the priestly organization was the same, but the divisions within are different. True, the British and Welsh Druids were probably the most stringent to the letter of the law while the Irish were less so. However, we hardly ever see or hear anything about Scottish Druidry. ???*p*:*br*: Do we want to have a political structure as the Gallic *br*: Druids had?  I don't*br*: think we can in this day and age.  One ArchDruid over all *br*: the other Druids,*br*: with a decending order of knowledge from there, with ranks *br*: to match?  Sounds*br*: like the Catholic Church to me, and most NeoPagans don't *br*: want something that*br*: cumbersome over them.*p*However many current groups are operating under this premise and are sustaining well.*p*(snippers)*br*:*br*: So, while the Old Ways of Druidry are dead, we are *br*: resurrecting and*br*: reincarnating that "spirit" of Druidry that they *br*: represented.*br*:*br*: Daven*p*As longaswecando that and do it successfully, we should be doing pretty damn good in the long run. :^)*p*Slan*p*Daibhaid
Re: A Question on Druidic Validity
Daven
789
Wed Feb 21 09:12:21 2001