[Main Blog Post] A Quick Grounding in Revival Druidry

[jprussell]

I have some thoughts I'd like to share on Revival Druidry, but before I get there, I thought I ought to lay out what the heck it is and what it means to me. Most folks reading this are likely to already have a pretty good idea what Druidry is, but hopefully my personal experience with it and what it means to me will be interesting.

Comments

[thinking_turtle]

So far I've only managed Chapter 1 of the Druid Magic Handbook. That chapter is very useful. I remember the warning against binaries. "When you encounter a binary, you simply look for a third factor that is not simply a midpoint between the two poles". The binary mind/body is really a ternary mind/spirit/body. That immediately felt true! Then I remember my surprise when the solar and telluric current were introduced, a definite binary.

Thanks for linking to the "Druid Path". If it's for complete beginners I'll definitely order a copy! Any idea why Bookshop.org calls it "Volume 11" ?

[jprussell]

Well, when you get a little further, you'll find that the Solar and Telluric currents can be combined into the Lunar, so there's your ternary!

As for the "Volume 11" business, it seems that for some strange reason (likely marketing), it is part of the publisher's "Modern Day Witch" series. Given what JMG has said in the past, I very much doubt it's substance has anything to do with Wicca or witchcraft at all.

[thinking_turtle]

Chapter 2 is about the Alphabet of Magic. Learning a new alphabet takes the same type of energy I need for my work, so I don't expect I'll get through it soon. Maybe during a holiday.

Thanks for clearing the Volume 11 up! My July book budget still had room, so I purchased a copy.

[scottyc]

Thank you for this post and also for the references provided over on Ecosophia concerning Druid and pagan Europe myths and symbols. This, plus the avenue of inquiry that JMG provided (Roman temple sites in SW Britain providing a clue to prior religion) will keep me busy for the next week or two.

I'll let you know what I find.

[jprussell]

Thanks for reading, and I hope the sources end up being helpful! I look forward to hearing about what you find.

[causticus]

I relate very much to the way you describe yourself as Solar-oriented. Like you I also have the problem of, "I get grabbed by some new interest and then go deep on it for a while, but usually after a few months, it's on to some other interest. With many of these, I come back every once in a while over the years, but there are few crafts or lines of research I've kept up steadily through the years."

I over-intellectualize things way too much and tend to assume that once I grasp the big picture (which does come easy to me) then I can skimp on the drudgery of minor details and other foundational steps.

Wrong, LOL.

In this respect, JMG's books have humbled me quite a bit. I read through the DMH (and a few of his others) thoroughly, and got a pretty good idea of his methods. Though after many fits and starts, and recently some divinations, I've concluded that the magical path isn't for me. But general occult studies seems very much up my alley. I think the OSA and MOE courses are much better fit for my own temperament, and the UGC program seems very promising and quite an incentive to finally get my metaphysical butt in gear.

BTW, great overview on Revival Druidry! I wish I had something to add, beyond the notion that I think a future continuation of the tradition will be one mostly shorn of the pop culture fad-baggage it picked up during the Neopagan era.

[jprussell]

Thank you for the kind words, and I'm glad it resonated with you! Clearly, I've had a similar reaction to JMG's works.

Regarding not taking the magical path, I noticed you didn't mention the Way of the Golden Section, which would be fully compatible with OSA, MOE, and even UGC work. Had you considered that as an option?

I'm not sure if by "not magic" you're saying "not even a daily banishing ritual, meditation, and divination" - if so, then, fair enough, WotGS would not be for you. But if you consider that basis as "just occultism," as JMG does, then it might be an option worth checking out if you haven't.

I was initially not much grabbed by the Sacred Geometry stuff, but having done a preliminary reading, I'm more intrigued than I once was. The main reason I haven't worked through WotGS is that I've had plenty to meditate on with the DMH and Dolmen Arch, and so far it has seemed useful to keep the Ogham as my primary system of divination, at least until I finish scrying every Few and doing pathworking (likely another six months at least, at this point).

Anyhow, certainly not trying to push anything, just thought I'd bring it up as an option in case you hadn't looked into it.

On your last point, yeah, I've been giving a lot of thought lately to how to keep the bits of the current weirdo spiritual scene I find worthwhile going through the coming years and hopefully well beyond that, which is one reason why I wanted to look at Revival Druidry as a case study. That being said, I suspect I have a lot more work to do on that front, but I'll share it as I'm able.

[causticus]

Oh yeah, I should have said that I fully intend on continuing to do daily SOP, divination, and meditation (or to be more specific for my case, to do it way more consistently!). By "magical path" I meant serious ceremonial magic. I do own a copy of WGS and the SGO deck and I think I want to go through with that system after completing either OSA or MOE; that sort of general occult studies is what I had in mind.

[jprussell]

Ah, I figured that might be the case, but thought I'd check! For what it's worth, I'm not sure how much of a role ceremonial magic will play for me going forward, though I do intend to finish everything given in the DMH at least, once my younger daughter is old enough to pick back up on that. For what it's worth, the MOE is fairly compatible with pursuing a different main course of study concurrently, at least up until the Master material - I've found that a bit harder to juggle. Also, all along the way, there's good stuff that would be worth meditating on, which can be hard to find time for if you're following a specific course of meditation from somewhere else. That would maybe be less of the case if you were doing something with Cabala as a more central element (like the Fellowship of the Hermetic Rose material, which uses the exact same essays on the Tree of Life as the MOE does).

As for OSA, I got started on that but have completely let it slip for something like a year, so I may have to start all over when I get back to it!