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'Look, sir, Druids!'

bain-druie

Tree-Hugger!
Thanks, Herr Heinrich, I somehow missed Master Vigil's post all this time! Apologies, Master Vigil.

Do you ever have difficulty explaining to others how trees... ummm... "talk"? Trees are a MAJOR influence on my spirituality. And I have an 8 year old, of which I am trying to explain how trees talk to me. Or better yet... how I can listen. I think I'm making progress, but who knows what goes on in that little mind of his. HAHA! I was wondering if you have had any experience with this?

Yes, it's hard to explain Tree-speech, since it's not generally linguistic as we would recognize that concept. I use words when I explain their lessons to me, and the words usually do all right, but they lack the depth of actually hearing it from the Dryad. (For example, the 'Don't lean' lesson from the white pine that I described above.)

I think you may have an advantage, however, with your son. My littlest is also 8, and he has an intuitive grasp of the oneness of all living things. I sometimes try to explain things (like talking to trees) and get discouraged because it seems to me that he isn't listening or remotely 'getting it'. However, that's not at all the case.

For instance, this summer we went outside to the back field on a moonless night when the fireflies were out in full force. We sat together for a while in silence, and then Josiah (my son) told me that he was "think-singing" to the fireflies, and he thought they liked it. He said he was going to ask them to come closer if they did like it, and he was DELIGHTED when a little while later they drifted a lot closer to us. One landed on his finger, and one on my shoulder.

Another example: we hiked through some woods in back of the house, and he got tired. There was a hemlock tree whose trunk split very low down, and one of the main branches had been cut down. So the result was a sort of tree-chair, where he could rest his tired little legs. When he was ready to go on, he thanked the tree and then told me he was going to give it a name, because it was a friendly tree.

So my stumbling explanations combined with his child's sensitivity work just fine. I ended up explaining to him the way to approach a tree, to give his mind something practical to grasp rather than a series of abstract ideas, and he has taken it further than I expected. :angel2:

Hence, my suggestion is to give your son the basics: approach with respect, leave an offering for the woodland creatures if possible (acorns, an apple, etc.), always be courteous, and yes they can hear you if you 'think-sing' to them, LOL. Children are amazing; given these basics, your son will no doubt soon have his own tree-friends among the dryads. :yes: I hope that makes sense.
 

Herr Heinrich

Student of Mythology
Thanks, Herr Heinrich, I somehow missed Master Vigil's post all this time! Apologies, Master Vigil.



Yes, it's hard to explain Tree-speech, since it's not generally linguistic as we would recognize that concept. I use words when I explain their lessons to me, and the words usually do all right, but they lack the depth of actually hearing it from the Dryad. (For example, the 'Don't lean' lesson from the white pine that I described above.)

I think you may have an advantage, however, with your son. My littlest is also 8, and he has an intuitive grasp of the oneness of all living things. I sometimes try to explain things (like talking to trees) and get discouraged because it seems to me that he isn't listening or remotely 'getting it'. However, that's not at all the case.

For instance, this summer we went outside to the back field on a moonless night when the fireflies were out in full force. We sat together for a while in silence, and then Josiah (my son) told me that he was "think-singing" to the fireflies, and he thought they liked it. He said he was going to ask them to come closer if they did like it, and he was DELIGHTED when a little while later they drifted a lot closer to us. One landed on his finger, and one on my shoulder.

Another example: we hiked through some woods in back of the house, and he got tired. There was a hemlock tree whose trunk split very low down, and one of the main branches had been cut down. So the result was a sort of tree-chair, where he could rest his tired little legs. When he was ready to go on, he thanked the tree and then told me he was going to give it a name, because it was a friendly tree.

So my stumbling explanations combined with his child's sensitivity work just fine. I ended up explaining to him the way to approach a tree, to give his mind something practical to grasp rather than a series of abstract ideas, and he has taken it further than I expected. :angel2:

Hence, my suggestion is to give your son the basics: approach with respect, leave an offering for the woodland creatures if possible (acorns, an apple, etc.), always be courteous, and yes they can hear you if you 'think-sing' to them, LOL. Children are amazing; given these basics, your son will no doubt soon have his own tree-friends among the dryads. :yes: I hope that makes sense.

Awww so cute and awesome! I can't wait for my son to be a little older.
 

Klaufi_Wodensson

Vinlandic Warrior
I do have a question, Bain. Do you think there is a way to combine, say, Asatru and Druidry? Both really draw me. Right now, I follow Asatru, and I don't wish to leave it, at all. But, Druidry draws me in the same way that Asatru drew me when I first came across it. Are they connected in some ways?
 

bain-druie

Tree-Hugger!
Klaufi - :yes: We have seedgroup members who follow Asatru. They combine their Druidry with Asatru and have no issues with it at all. The major difference I see is pantheon, honestly - my gods are the gods of the Celts, and Asatru's pantheon is Norse. As I understand it from them, the Norse gods are slightly more territorial than the Celtic gods. We salute each other and so forth, but for an Asatruar to have a Celtic god or goddess as patron or patroness is not done, while I could easily have a Norse god or goddess as one of my patrons. I don't, because I haven't felt drawn to. I have a vague connection to Freyja, but nothing I'm urged to explore yet.

But there is nothing in Druidry that would interfere with Asatru worship. Druidry in its modern sense can be simply a philosophy, with no religious connotations whatsoever. We have atheist Druids in our Order; I'd say Asatru is easier to combine with Druidry than most other things, from what I've seen anyway.

Hope that helps :D
 

Klaufi_Wodensson

Vinlandic Warrior
Klaufi - :yes: We have seedgroup members who follow Asatru. They combine their Druidry with Asatru and have no issues with it at all. The major difference I see is pantheon, honestly - my gods are the gods of the Celts, and Asatru's pantheon is Norse. As I understand it from them, the Norse gods are slightly more territorial than the Celtic gods. We salute each other and so forth, but for an Asatruar to have a Celtic god or goddess as patron or patroness is not done, while I could easily have a Norse god or goddess as one of my patrons. I don't, because I haven't felt drawn to. I have a vague connection to Freyja, but nothing I'm urged to explore yet.

But there is nothing in Druidry that would interfere with Asatru worship. Druidry in its modern sense can be simply a philosophy, with no religious connotations whatsoever. We have atheist Druids in our Order; I'd say Asatru is easier to combine with Druidry than most other things, from what I've seen anyway.

Hope that helps :D


Thank you, that helps a lot! :D

I'd really like to learn a lot more about Druidry, but I'm not sure where to start. I went to www.sacred-texts.com and got a few books on it, Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions, another called Stonehenge, a Temple Restor'd to the British Druids, and The Religion of the Ancient Celts. I haven't started to read them, but I'm working on it. I'm reading a few different books right now, so it's really hard to fit them in haha.


Do you think that the Asatru Pantheon and the Celtic Pantheon could be in a way combined? I doubt it, but I was wondering. I read on an Asatru website that Asatru is more a lifestyle than religion, and that everyone could use their own pantheon or manifestation of the Gods, like the Germans for example using Wotan instead of Odin, and the Anglo-Saxons using Woden.


And sorry, but what is a seedgroup? And how would I join?
 

Master Vigil

Well-Known Member
It does make sense Bain. I suppose I'm having a little more difficulty because he's technically my step-son, and I married his mom when he was 7. So I've only had a year to teach him. But I like your approach, it feels more like my initial approach back when I was his age. :D

Thank you!
 

bain-druie

Tree-Hugger!
Thank you, that helps a lot! :D

I'd really like to learn a lot more about Druidry, but I'm not sure where to start. I went to www.sacred-texts.com and got a few books on it, Irish Druids and Old Irish Religions, another called Stonehenge, a Temple Restor'd to the British Druids, and The Religion of the Ancient Celts. I haven't started to read them, but I'm working on it. I'm reading a few different books right now, so it's really hard to fit them in haha.


Do you think that the Asatru Pantheon and the Celtic Pantheon could be in a way combined? I doubt it, but I was wondering. I read on an Asatru website that Asatru is more a lifestyle than religion, and that everyone could use their own pantheon or manifestation of the Gods, like the Germans for example using Wotan instead of Odin, and the Anglo-Saxons using Woden.


And sorry, but what is a seedgroup? And how would I join?

I'm so loaded down with textbooks this semester, I probably won't even be on here as much. :( So I know what you mean about fitting reading into the schedule!

Here's the link to OBOD: www.druidry.org

There is a lot of basic information on there as well as a message board - we have private areas for members of the Order, but a general area anyone can register and post in also; Herr Heinrich joined ADF recently and could give you their link I'm sure - they're great also, although I'm not as familiar with them as I am with my own Order, obviously!

A seedgroup is a less formal group of Druids than a Grove; I don't have any Groves near me, so I belong to the nearest seedgroup instead. I joined the seedgroup before I joined the Order, so to join a seedgroup you just have to find one near you and ask them if you can come to the next festival or moon meditation or whatever they're doing. ;) I'd like to start one here, but have too much on my plate at this point.

As for combining pantheons, I am sure you can do it if you have the right gods for your patrons. For instance I have heard that Tyr and Lugh get along famously; Brighid gets along with anyone, of course, since usually she has no reason not to. Daghda and Odin get along also.

However: I would not like to see Thor and Taranis in the same locale! And the Morrighan, one of my patronesses, is more particular about who I associate with in rituals than Brighid is. I am really not sure she would be all right with it if I pursued my connections with Freyja or Athena, for instance. It's not a problem for me, since I'm really not interested in any gods outside the Celtic pantheon, but just as an example.

So I would suggest consulting your patrons and patronesses, and seeing if they mind a mixed pantheon in your worship. If not, great! If they do, you'll have to figure that out, lol.
 

Klaufi_Wodensson

Vinlandic Warrior
I'm so loaded down with textbooks this semester, I probably won't even be on here as much. :( So I know what you mean about fitting reading into the schedule!

Here's the link to OBOD: www.druidry.org

There is a lot of basic information on there as well as a message board - we have private areas for members of the Order, but a general area anyone can register and post in also; Herr Heinrich joined ADF recently and could give you their link I'm sure - they're great also, although I'm not as familiar with them as I am with my own Order, obviously!

A seedgroup is a less formal group of Druids than a Grove; I don't have any Groves near me, so I belong to the nearest seedgroup instead. I joined the seedgroup before I joined the Order, so to join a seedgroup you just have to find one near you and ask them if you can come to the next festival or moon meditation or whatever they're doing. ;) I'd like to start one here, but have too much on my plate at this point.

As for combining pantheons, I am sure you can do it if you have the right gods for your patrons. For instance I have heard that Tyr and Lugh get along famously; Brighid gets along with anyone, of course, since usually she has no reason not to. Daghda and Odin get along also.

However: I would not like to see Thor and Taranis in the same locale! And the Morrighan, one of my patronesses, is more particular about who I associate with in rituals than Brighid is. I am really not sure she would be all right with it if I pursued my connections with Freyja or Athena, for instance. It's not a problem for me, since I'm really not interested in any gods outside the Celtic pantheon, but just as an example.

So I would suggest consulting your patrons and patronesses, and seeing if they mind a mixed pantheon in your worship. If not, great! If they do, you'll have to figure that out, lol.


Well thank you so much!! You have been a huge help :)
 

bain-druie

Tree-Hugger!
You're quite welcome, Vigil and Klaufi :)

And congratulations, Master Vigil - you're still a newlywed, barely ;) and in all seriousness, I admire men who are willing to accept a fatherhood role to children who did not biologically originate with them. My fiance is the same; loves my children. That quality alone is rare and precious. :angel2:
 

Master Vigil

Well-Known Member
And congratulations, Master Vigil - you're still a newlywed, barely ;) and in all seriousness, I admire men who are willing to accept a fatherhood role to children who did not biologically originate with them. My fiance is the same; loves my children. That quality alone is rare and precious. :angel2:
Thank you!

I love my stepson, it's difficult because he already has so many preconceived notions from his mom and grandmother that hinder him in the area of nature work, but I'm persistent and patient. :D Trees taught me that.

And in October, my wife and I expecting my daughter... Gwyneth. YAY! I'll have my own little hippie tree-hugging baby girl to romp through the woods barefoot with me.
 
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