Ancient · Order · of · Druids · in · America

For me, the Yule/Christmas season is mostly about remembering family traditions that have been passed down from my grandparents (along with lots of--let's be honest--pretty ugly ornaments). I have no problem celebrating a kind of "secular" Christmas and decorating my whole apartment, but this year I decided to dedicate my bedroom altar specifically to the Druidic festival of the winter solstice. I have a main altar and a small side altar dedicated to faery work.

Main Altar

( More pics behind cut... )

I am wondering, however, what one generally expects from the AODA after going through the degree program. What function does the organization serve outside of granting degrees? The AODA FAQ suggests the only purpose of the organization is to manage the degree program:

In practice, the Grand Grove mostly functions as a way to keep the study program on track, facilitate contact between members of the Order, and take care of the very limited business end of keeping a Druid church operational.

What do you expect from the AODA after your degree work? What function is it serving in your life?

Thank you for your insights and perspective.

I was just wondering if anyone has any advice for types of meditation or meditation styles when one is in a state of physical suffering.

My rites are never to perform any kind of magick, but only to pray for the things that I think a 29 year old man has business praying for.

First, I took a bath in water consecrated with epsom salts, as part of the opening rite, which to me is the rite of ablution. I scrub myself well with soap tomake myself clean before other rites.

I then begin my procession, in this case, along a long bike path that runs along a stream in teh city I live in. Along the way, I took the opportunity to meditate, imagining in my mind the forms and powers of the Indo-European Archetypal Gods that I honor in my personal polytheism, and paying attention to the trees and the stream.

In the shade of three cottonwoods in the park, I invited my 12 archetypes to be present. I poured libations to all of the Gods and made my other offerings. I gave Nectar to the shining Sky Father, Grain to Mother Earth, and mineral water poured into the stream as an offering to the Goddess of Rivers and Flowing waters. I then made personal requests for the health, wealth, and wellbring of myself and my family, and then thanked the gods for hearing me and receiving my gifts. I declared my intention to honor the Gods as a student of Revival Druidry, and ended my rite.

I went home and performed the Rite of Feasting, and ate a large meal.

Then, a close friend of mine died and almost everything but breathing in and out came to a screeching halt. By the time I was able to remember what it was like to actually think about having a future again, it was the end of autumn and my usual winter sluggishness and period of gestation had set in...

But, with Imbolc fast approaching (the first non-Christian holy day I ever celebrated, and one that holds a special place in my heart) I've decided to buckle down and complete the exam, hopefully to complete my self-initiation ceremony as an Apprentice soon. Now I'm flipping back through pages and pages of notes, piles of books, journals, workbooks--and I'm freaking out! How did I do so much in just over a year, and how can I possibly talk about all of it? And furthermore, how could I be so brazen as to think I could handle going on and completing the next two-year Second Degree program!? I'm the kind of person who always feels like she needs to devote her whole self to a project, so when I have more than one major project going on, I feel like I can't spend any time on any of them. I'm very intimidated by the idea of juggling five Paths and three more Spirals for two years and having the guts to claim I've been able to really make headway in any of them... I'm sure this is just more procrastination and anxiety talking, but now I'm wondering if there's a point to pursuing the work at all, or if I should just complete the First Degree exam and content myself with less structured growth from now on. How do I measure accomplishment and progress along a path like this, especially I've shrugged off pretty much all of the social conventions about financial and social-climbing "success"? Epseically when half the time my anti-authoritarian streak is bucking against all the requirements while at the same time my nerdy side is eagerly seeking guidance and approval from "real" and "professional" Druids? Ugh!

So, I just thought I'd share (because, as I mentioned, I've been absent from the AODA community for quite a while now), and it would be wonderful to have some words of comfort or advice. Thanks.

::sheepish::
--Ali

(crossposted to the AODA_Public Yahoo group)

As part of my meditations on the Ogham, which I began about a year ago, I adopted the Ogham lunar calendar as laid out in The Druidry Handbook. I determine which month it is as follows: The Ogham month begins on the dark moon, that is, the lunar/solar conjunction, which falls closest to the starting date of that month as given in the Handbook. This means, for example, that although Alban Arthuan has passed, I am still observing the month of Ruis for another week or so; the month of Beith will begin at the next dark (sometimes called new) moon.

If you, gentle reader, also observe this calendar, how do you determine the starting points of the months? And how does that work out for you? I have found so far that the meanings of the fews relate pretty well to the months in my region, as calculated by my system.

(I may be crossposting this to the public list.)

I always find Bonewits more entertaining than I expect to, because I find him very annoying at the same time. Please, Isaac, you must be at least sixty by now: Drop the clever little footnotes with the puns, okay? That'll make it much easier for us befuddled youngsters who don't know that you invented the Internet invented paganism have many years of experience in Neopagan liturgy to take you seriously.

Neo Pagan Rites is, actually, a very good book. Bonewits has a clear agenda: The liturgical style of Wicca, pioneered by Gerald Gardner, is often assumed to be the standard for Neopagan ritual, but it is only suited to small groups. As the movement has grown, so have the numbers of participants in liturgy, so what are the alternatives to Wiccan style? Bonewits has many practical suggestions for alternatives as well as a helpful outline of liturgical action that illuminated both my solitary grove rites and the Anglo-Catholic Eucharist.

On the other hand, Bonewits has a clear agenda: Uncle Gerald doesn't have all the answers, and neither does Auntie Miriam, aka Starhawk. I'm guessing he has experienced Reclaiming-style rituals and been disappointed with them, because he has a good deal of criticism for groups that attempt to function without hierarchy, without clearly delineated lines of authority, without minimal expectations of competence. Here's the quote that really captures the book:

... I'll assume that you have decided to have clergy in your group, as well as specialists performing various roles, such as musicians, diviners, healers, or choreographers. Further, I'll assume that these people were chosen--permanently or temporarily--on the basis of genuine knowledge and competence; and that they have enough authority within a hierarchy of some sort that the other members of the group... will follow their lead most of the time.

What Bonewits is really saying here, of course, is, "I'll assume that you want to do things the way we do them in ADF". And that's the problem with this book, for me. It's not so much written for Neopagans who want to create large-group rituals; it's written for large-group ADF rituals. I know this is the case because every time he says, "Neopagan Druids do thus," he describes something which is done by ADF; that is, ADF is the only Neopagan Druidry he recognizes. AODA and its kindred are merely "Mesopagan", along with other Christianity-contaminated religions such as Santeria and Voudou and Lucumi....

What Bonewits doesn't say, explicitly, is *where* and *how* those duly designated clergy are going to attain their "genuine knowledge and competence". By taking ADF's clergy training? By studying in Christian seminaries? By spending thirty or forty years in trial and error, as he did? Certainly if you want to sing, drum, or play the harp for pagan liturgy, you should get musical training, and that's easily done without recourse to a specifically pagan teacher. Likewise dance or acting skills can be acquired through study in a secular context. But what about the psychic, i.e., magical skills he talks about? What about the key skills of pacing a liturgy and coping with screw-ups? I can tell you from watching Christian clergy in action that thirty or forty years of experience, let alone ordination, does not make a priest a good liturgist. (Or a good preacher, a good singer, or a good pastor, for that matter.) So I'm not at all convinced that Official Clergy Training and Certification are going to produce Neopagan clergy who can give the gods and two hundred mortals a liturgical good time.

Still, if you *are* doing liturgy for groups larger than a dozen or twenty people, you will probably find advice of use in this book. If it doesn't make you cranky as it made me.

( Weekly Tasks )

I accomplished all of the reading I set for myself. I also did five tarot readings this week. I recorded all of them and what I thought the implications were. I began my rough draft for AODA membership. I did not perform the Grove Ritual, but I did read through it. I didn't feel like I was quite ready to fully open and close a grove. I want to spend some time working on memorization of different invocations and maybe practice putting up an altar a time or two in this style which is different from the kinds of altars I normally use and am most familiar with. In working towards my memorization, I worked out a poster of the two Tribanns and some of the meanings associated with the Three Rays of Light. I have hung this on my wall so that I see it often and can allow the symbolize to work its way into my subconscious.

( Earth Path )
( Divination Spiral )

Question: Does anyone else use tarot with the divination spiral? I saw a few books listed on the AODA website but they seemed to be geared towards specific tarot decks, which are different from the deck I use. Does anyone have any suggestions of books on tarot that can help with the divination spiral and its tasks?

I'm sure you all have gathered by this point from the way I've been writing this that I've managed a great stinking zero on most of these goals. The problem seems to be multiple-fold to me. Life got busy somewhere in the last year for lots of good reasons but I didn't accomplish these vague goals I had set.

Does anyone else have this problem? I started to think about why I seem to be having so many problems with getting motivated and developing the habits I need in order to meet my goals. I learn horrible by myself. I like classroom and classroom environments. I like having solid, hammered out goals of what to accomplish with my "class" time. It occurred to me that what I really seemed to need was a syllabus to outline so that I have clear goals and reading established. Then the other part that I seem to be missing the most, is the opportunity and blessing of interacting with other people. Just about every college class I ever took that was effective for me involved a lot interaction with my peers.

So I was wondering if it would terribly bother the rest of the group if I posted some sort of synopsis of what I was reading or insights that I came up with through my study? I might also post some questions as I run across them and other tidbits. I'm working on my first degree program and the divination spiral using tarot. And I definitely promise to cut tag anything that runs longer than two decent sized paragraphs. Anybody want to weigh in?

Current Mood:

hopeful