According to certain histories, today (November 1st) is the first day of the Celtic New Year. The day is called Samhain; it begins at sunset on October 31st and ends at sunset on November 1st. (Click here for a link to the Celtic calendar.)
In what way do I resonate with Druidry?
My love of nature and Earth and life.
As far back as I can recall, I have always felt a kinship with nature.
In recent years, I have recognized the place I feel most at home is on the trail or in the woods.
The earth is filled with stories passed along to each generation.
In its soil and waters, the earth holds the blood of our ancestors, blood that continues to course through our veins giving life to cells that recall those ancestors.
In those aspects, I am a Druid at heart; not to mention the love for poetry and art and music.
There are other earth-based religions and philosophies that value the same.
I think of the American Indian.
I know I have Celt in my blood; perhaps that is part of the draw toward earth-based religions.
I'm not sure if I have American Indian in my blood.
Nature, the wild, life...these are my so-called gods.
By the word "god," I mean something that obeys no one, something of which there is no greater power.
Ultimately, nothing is more powerful, less merciful, more graceful than Mother Nature - the nature of our planet and the nature that is the cosmos.
She is chaos and order all at the same time.
She alone is a creative and destructive force.
She has my utmost respect and awe.
Is there a creative entity whom She obeys? I don't think so.
Is there an entity that created Her? I don't know.
Whether or not I believe or know, does not change whether there is or is not such an entity.
If not for the dis-ease currently inhabiting my body, I would be on the trail often, or at least as often as I could.
I may never physically heal from this dis-ease which has been visiting for the past three-plus years.
If I do, I will rejoice and celebrate.
If I don't, I will rejoice and celebrate.
In preparation of the event that my body does not physically heal, I continue to explore ways that will connect me with the trail, with my love for the earth and for the woods and its inhabitants.
To name a few...
Bicycle.
Recycle.
Mandalas.
The number nine.
AT-thru hike game.
Bamboo knitting needles.
Flush less.
Minimize.
Sing.
Gratitude.
Pause.
Listen.
Recall.
Hmmm...I don't do much physically to connect.
More often, I connect within.
An awareness of life in times past, in the present, and in the future.
An awareness of our place and function in that time upon this earth.
An awareness that time is and isn't, and that time may be an illusion.
An awareness that our actions and words, our intentions and dreams, our blood and breath, matter.
Always, I am in awe
of Nature's majestic seasons and cycles;
of Her indifference toward favoritism;
of Her continual striving to regain and maintain balance;
of the tiniest cell to the vast swirling spirals of the universe.
Compared to the universe, I am a tiny cell.
Happy New Year!
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| 'three autumn trees' by lise winne |
