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| Monday, May 2nd, 2011 | 6:29 pm
[filiavallis]
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Some time ago I found myself pondering (in a fairly light-hearted manner):
What would my life be like if ADF-style Druidism were as common & accepted as, say, Judaism?
For instance, my local Target store always has a small display of Hanukkah cards & decorations at the appropriate time of year. What if last week I could have stopped there to pick up a couple of Beltane cards to send to Pagan friends who live out of town? (What new levels of saccharine triteness might Hallmark or American Greetings come up with for such cards?) What special food items might my local grocery store offer at various times of the year? Frosted sunflower cookies, with a hand-lettered “Happy Summer Solstice! $5.39/doz.” sign, perhaps? What if when my husband & I bought a house we received not one, but two brass Cauldron-of-Hospitality themed doorknockers as housewarming presents? That's not counting the really ghastly one with the battery-operated “realistically flickering” LED hearthfire that my Grove mates in my Wednesday night PIE liturgy study group gave us as a joke, of course! (And wouldn’t it be lovely if I did have such a study group... sigh....) What if many years ago, when my husband & I announced our engagement, we could have said we were getting married at our local Grove’s Nemeton and not only would there be a local Grove with a permanent Nemeton, but my mother-in-law-to-be’s response would have been something like “That sounds nice... Stephanie’s niece had her wedding there a couple of years ago - in the labyrinth garden - it was lovely.” (No hint of “hippie-newage-cult” prejudice at all!) I could go on, but I’ll let you all come up with your own instead. (I hope I get to read some of them!) The reason that I’m sharing this isn’t just because it’s fun, however. It's because I started to realize after I’d been playing with these ideas for a while, especially the most mundane and day-to-day of them, just how much of my life is... well... 'edited for public consumption' might be the best way to describe it. How much I just... don’t mention. Delicately step around. This in spite of the fact that I do not consider myself closeted! Heck, my not-entirely-inconspicuous altar is clearly visible from the front door. And the last time a couple of representatives of one of our local churches came around (they caught me out working in the front garden) we stood and talked about Druidism for about forty-five minutes. They’d never met or talked to anyone on a Druid path before. So now, for good or ill, whatever preconceptions they had of “Pagan” are at least partially superseded by the picture of a slightly grubby, cheerfully talkative, and generally rather ordinary suburban housewife-and-mom with some unusual but rational & understandable ideas & beliefs. But I digress. My point is that the exercise made it clear to me that being closeted is not always a matter of conscious choice or a black-&-white, one-is-or-one-isn’t sort of thing. Sometimes - maybe most of the time - it’s an ingrained sub-conscious self-censoring instead of a conscious choice. Disturbingly, I also noticed that the conscious attempt to live in an un-closeted manner can at times be equally subject to the negative effects of a constant sub-conscious awareness of unconventionality, leading to something like an inversion of that sub-conscious self-censoring and expressing itself in a confrontational belligerence that is equally inappropriate to and at odds with the unexceptional normality that is at the heart of the “what if’s” above. (In the example above, the closeted reaction to the church representatives is a curt thank-you-but-I’m-not-interested or even an out-and-out lie about religious affiliation; the belligerent response begins with how-dare-you! before it even gets around to mentioning I’m-a-Pagan and finding out what the response to that might be.) Perhaps someday - in a generation or three - we shall reach the point where such "what if’s" as I gave examples of are no long amusing exercises in fiction, but unremarkable facts of life in a time when being closeted is laughable, self-censoring & belligerence no longer lurk in our sub-consciousnesses, and we place no restriction on our practice & discussion of religious matters beyond the kind of well-mannered discretion that we would apply to other personal matters like politics & personal finances. I hope... no. I pray that it will be so. | | Thursday, August 12th, 2010 | 1:10 pm
[kelledia]
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My deepest regards to Phaedra, to all of their relatives and to the entire Ár nDraíocht Féin family. Slan, agus Beanneacht Ban-Dia leat, dearest Issac. Rest now within the gentle arms of Brighid. Current Mood:  sad | | Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 | 4:14 pm
[peaceful_fox]
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Anadikia Ritual in the UK
Anadikia Ritual Time: 1PM Date: Sunday 11, July Location: Aldershot, Hampshire, United Kingdom Email: hollowhillsadf@gmail.com for more information Contact: Doreen Taylor, Hollow Hills Protogrove, ADF Join us in celebration of the turning of the ancient Athenian calendar. We're gathering on the last day of the lunar year to honour Zeus, a paternal sky God, and Hekate, a Goddess of transitions. We will give thanks for the year behind us and seek a blessing for the year ahead. As part of our ritual we will be making Kathiskos. This will be for you to place in your home and is a small jar, sealed, with olive oil, fruits and honey in it. It is an offering to Zeus Ktesios, who is Zeus of the Pantry. These can be kept in your kitchen or pantry or on your altar to honour this aspect of Zeus. Please bring a food dish to share for the after ritual feast. | | Sunday, May 2nd, 2010 | 8:55 am
[acousticdryad]
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ADF Election Results Posted
ADF Election results were posted on ADF-Announce and ADF-Discuss, congratulations to all of our candidates! | | Saturday, May 1st, 2010 | 3:37 pm
[illious]
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2010 Elections
The elections are now over. Thank you for all that voted. Watch ADF-Announce for results in the next couple days. | | Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 | 7:09 am
[acousticdryad]
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| | Monday, March 22nd, 2010 | 1:15 pm
[acousticdryad]
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| | Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 | 6:30 am
[acousticdryad]
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| | Monday, March 15th, 2010 | 9:02 pm
[acousticdryad]
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| | Sunday, March 7th, 2010 | 8:21 am
[acousticdryad]
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| | Sunday, January 31st, 2010 | 9:10 am
[acousticdryad]
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| | Tuesday, January 19th, 2010 | 8:54 pm
[acousticdryad]
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| | Tuesday, November 10th, 2009 | 2:27 pm
[jdhobbes]
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Of Teachers and Students
I got a call yesterday from a friend who was going through a rough life-moment. "Could I come by? I need to be in the company of friends tonight." I replied, "Of course you can. Come over whenever you can." Between those two bits in my reply was the unspoken sentence that echoed in my head: "You're my student." I've been teaching an "Introduction to Paganism" class at the Crescent Moon School for the past three years (off and on, depending on the number of students that register). During that time, I think I've had a total of 30+ students, although not all of those students made it to the end of the 18 week course (some drop out due to money/time/interest constraints). Every group is different, making the teaching of the class different each time (although the subject matters stay mostly the same). Some of those students have become close friends, while others drift away and I only see them once in a blue moon, if at all, although it's always a pleasure to see them again and catch up on their news. I've seen some of my students go through radical changes over the years, in both their spiritual and personal lives. I don't pretend that the course or the teacher is the catalyst, but I was just happened to come into their lives at a tumultuous moment. So when I think of my friend as "my student", at face value, the relationship seems to have a hierarchical tone to it: I AM THE TEACHER (up here) AND YOU ARE THE STUDENT (down there). But that's not how I see it at all. Having students is not a question of me having the knowledge and them not having the knowledge: it's about the privilege and the honor to be able share a part of my knowledge-self with another human being. The magical part about that moment is that, in so doing, both us are changed irrevocably. Teaching is not a one-way exchange, not if it is done with the sacred in mind. The difference lies in teaching a student that 1+1=2, or in teaching a student that math is powerful life juju and deserves to get excited about. In addition to following the course material, I'm also developing my own spiritual wisdom, so I'll often bring an idea to class that I toying/wrestling with to get the student's perspective on it. In so doing, I'll be mixing my own evolving spiritual beliefs in with the static course material, which means the substance of the course material changes over time. And that is why it's an honor to be a teacher. It's an honor to have that moment where I can expand someone else's experience based on my own experience, but in so doing, my own experience expands as well. In that exchange, both the student and the teacher are affected, which is why they need each other. The teacher needs the student as much as the student needs the teacher. Their relationship is symbiotic, but both are equals. In this modern society, where many of us buy into the lie that we need to be completely indepedant and self-reliant, we forget the many hands that guide our path, the many teachers that sculpt our psyche, and the many more teachers that lay ahead on our path. Even as we learn from them, we are teaching others, either directly or indirectly, and they are teaching us. Last summer, during an outdoor ritual in Montreal, I was catching up on the news of one of my ex-students, and teasing her about I might call on her to help with me a public ritual. "It'll help with your studies, young one. Trust me," I grinned. "Oh Hobbes," she replied, hands on her hips. "You're not my teacher any more. Scarlet is my teacher now." "You'll have many teachers, my friend, but you'll always be my student." Current Mood:  proud | 10:25 am
[jdhobbes]
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Repost?
I recently posted an article about the sacred relationship between students and teachers. Would it be okay if I reposted it in this forum? | | Wednesday, October 21st, 2009 | 5:59 pm
[fionnabhar]
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Wild Hare Grove Events
First up: Potluck: Tuesday, October 27, 2009, 7:00pm - 9:00pm Jennifer and David's place--email info@wild-hare.org for address/directions Join the Wild Hares for potluck dinner and druid social hour. This is an open event, so feel free to drop by whether you're a member or not. Please bring a dish to share with the group. It's at Jennifer and David's house, and we will be celebrating David's umpteen-bazillionth birthday. We should also warn you that our forced bathroom remodel (don't ask) should be underway. We do anticipate, however, a functioning toilet. And next: Ritual: Sunday, November 1, 2009, 7:00pm - 9:00pm Bill D's place - email info@wild-hare.org for address/directions You got your ADF in my OBOD! You got your OBOD in my ADF! However that works out, Wild Hare Grove (ADF) will be teaming up for our Samhain rite with the fine folks of Blue Stem Grove (OBOD). As is usual in an ADF high holiday ritual, this is an open event, so you need not be a member of either group to attend. Also, as usual, if you wish to make an offering of praise or thanks to any particular deity, there will be an opportunity to do so during the ritual. Bill from Blue Stem is our host - if you need directions to his place, please email. Also, he mentions that we might share snacks post-ritual, so if you would like to bring something to share, in a gesture of druidly good will, that would be okay. | | Tuesday, October 20th, 2009 | 5:02 pm
[jdhobbes]
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A new Bard in the ADF: Gods help us
Hello everyone! This is Hobbes, the newest ADF member, living wildy unchecked in the wee town of Montreal, nestled in the franco-enriched province of Quebec. I'm maxing out our free health care benefits by carousing with the French ladies and drinking mead galore. Well, what I really mean is that I work as a technical writer by day and tell tales as a storyteller in pubs, cafes, and other events across Canada whenever I get a chance. I've been courting the attentions of the Thornhaven Druid Grove in Inkerman, Ontario. I don't get out there as often as I would like, but I have many friends there. If you're interested in my talents as a bard, I invite you to visit my storyblog podcast at Shortening the Road. In fact, I just posted a new story (from a guest teller) about cats, boys, and demons for the Halloween season. I hope you enjoy it! I look forward to the next year with the ADF. | | Saturday, October 17th, 2009 | 9:32 am
[tn_roadmap]
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Hi
Hi. I just re-joined ADF after letting my membership lapse earlier this year. I am eagerly starting my dedicants program. I have about 12 years involvement in an Ecclectic Wiccan coven, where I received my first degree and near completed my 2nd degree, but the coven dissolved prior to that happening. I have a big interest in the Celts and look forward to learning more to make them my hearth path. secondly I have a strong interest in the Germanic tribes and desire to learn more of them. I am excited of this new step in my life and look forward to getting to know ya'll. Blessings, | | Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 | 10:17 am
[acousticdryad]
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| | Wednesday, September 9th, 2009 | 5:19 am
[fionnabhar]
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Wild Hare Fall Equinox
Wild Hare's Fall Equinox will be on Saturday, September 19, at 2 pm, at Der Fractalhaus. (Email for specific directions, please.) We'll be honoring the hearth godden (those gods associated with the home fire, eg Hestia, Brighid, Vesta, and so on) as we begin to turn to the darker and colder half of the year. Participants should bring tokens (photos, etc) to represent their family/community (blood or chosen, but emphasis more on the current living community, as I presume we'll have a chance to honor ancestors at Samhain). Also, if participants have a hearth candle or other representation of their culture's hearth deity that they would like to bring, they are invited to do so. There will be 'open mic' praise offering time, so people should bring anything they need to for that, but the main work/offering of the day will be building our community hearth. | | Monday, August 3rd, 2009 | 1:33 pm
[greenfernway]
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Memorial Service for Kay Donaldson
We are very sad at the news of Kay's death on July 22nd, but are pleased to invite all to join us at a memorial service in her honor. The service will be Friday August 21st, at 7:30 pm at the Owen Brown Interfaith
Center in Columbia, MD.Those wishing to make memorial contributions in Kay's name may donate to the American Cancer Society, or you can contribute to a group donation at the service to Treemendous Maryland for a tree(s) to be planted in her honor. ----------------------- Driving Directions to the Owen Brown Interfaith Center * Take I-95 to Route 32 West. * Exit at Broken Land Parkway North (to the right). * Proceed straight on Broken Land through the first signal at Snowden River Parkway. * Make your next right at Cradlerock Way. * Make a left just past the Sunoco gas station and prior to the McDonald's. * The Owen Brown Interfaith Center will be on your left straight ahead of you -- there is ample parking. |
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