Paint’s Blog

 http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/index.htmhttp://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/tdp/index.htmhttp://baharna.com/celtic/index.htm#the_dagdahttp://www.blessingscornucopia.com/Druidry_Druid_Druidic_Treelore_Spiritual_Beliefs_of_Druids.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighidhttp://druidsutterance.net/20060518171/Animal_Totems_Familiars_Power_Animals_Spirit_Guides_and_more%E2%80%A6http://druidsutterance.net/Mythwork_Irish/http://algnc.org/druid-beliefs-and-values/http://www.religioustolerance.org/druid.htmhttp://www.druidry.org/board/dhp/viewtopic.php?f=2&p=363340 So the story thus far. (after a quick cut and past survey of the thread…excuse any redundancies and omissions) Nihtscada has articulated eleven principles or codes of conduct for the contemporary Druid:1. Every action has a consequence that must be observed and you must be prepared to compensate for your actions if required.2. All life is sacred and all are responsible for seeing that this standard is upheld.3. You do still live in society and are bound by its rules.4. Work with high standards.5. Make an honest living.6. Be a good host as well as a good guest.7. Take care of yourself. (Health was held in high esteem amongst the Celts, so much that a person could be fined for being grossly overweight due to lack of care.)8. Serve your community.9. Maintain a healthy balance of the spiritual and mundane.(Nihtscad writes: ‘Ethical and self respecting Druids did nothing without being properly schooled or aware of the consequences ahead of time. They knew when it was appropriate to visit the Otherworld and immerse themselves in the spiritual as well as when it was appropriate to be fully in this world.’)10. Uphold the Truth, starting with yourself.11. Be sure in your convictions, particularly when judging or accusing someone, but also when debating. Ask yourself: are you really sure? Do you really know that this the case?

The SunBeerReverence for Life and the Landconviviality/hospitalityReverence for the Earth and all living things.Respect for diversity and the rights of others.Service to your home Grove, to the Order, and to the larger community.Personal growth in spirit, mind, emotion, and body.sense of humorMeadreconnectionWisdom of the Treeslichenthe Old WaysNo limitsFungiancestorsDruid communitydruid eventsVagueness of definitioncreativity from a spiritual perspectiveancient Indo-European beliefs and cultural practicesSelf-defining’Englishness’eccentrichard to pin downfun mixed with deep spiritualityTree huggingcircleschants to both sun and moonLack of DogmaCeltic inspiredCreative expressionHealing insightStewardshipTrue BalanceBe mindfulHusband the earth.Protect herBuild humblyplant treesgrow flowersRespect all creatures.Honor natural lawsworship the Source of AllBe bravespeak the truthheal the sickmake peace.Be strongserve patientlylove generouslylive simply.musicBe thriftyKindle kindnessEmbracing silenceFear nothing.Accept what you aregive thanksworship in daylight, but also at night;sun worshippers but hold sun and moon equally in reverence;value creativity in the artsobserve the Celtic traditions, myths and legends;honour the Ancestors and the Spirit world;place great store in Truth, Honour and Justice.wish for peacetruth, knowledge, and wisdomToleranceWorking towards protecting the environment and fostering the sustainability of the biosphere.Serving the community and the world at large.Tolerating diversity, as long as that tolerance does not include people who are intolerant of others.Working towards personal spiritual, mental, physical and emotional growthseeker of Truthlofty thought and actionopen our minds to the wellspring of spiritual inspirationlack of structure, organization, leadership and dogmaTribalCraftHealingMetaphysicsSee(r)ingRitualNatural PhilosophyTeachingServiceself-awarenessTo be a good hostTo be a good guestTruth, Honour and ResponsibilityThe Truth Against The WorldLiving in Harmony with natureshamanistic work

druids

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

druids , priests of ancient Celtic Britain, Ireland, and Gaul and probably of all ancient Celtic peoples, known to have existed at least since the 3d cent. BC. Information about them is derived almost exclusively from the testimony of Roman authors, notably Julius Caesar, and from Old Irish sagas, supplemented to some extent by archaeological evidence. The druids constituted a priestly upper class in command of a highly ritualistic religion, which apparently centered on the worship of a pantheon of nature deities. Druids were also responsible for the education of the young and generally for the intellectual life of the community; although apparently literate, they taught by oral transmission, and their courses are said to have lasted as long as 20 years. The druids believed in immortality of the soul in a nonjudgmental world of the dead. Their religious ceremonies seem to have been

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druids , priests of ancient Celtic Britain, Ireland, and Gaul and probably of all ancient Celtic peoples, known to have existed at least since the 3d cent. BC. Information about them is derived almost exclusively from the testimony of Roman authors, notably Julius Caesar, and from Old Irish sagas, supplemented to some extent by archaeological evidence. The druids constituted a priestly upper class in command of a highly ritualistic religion, which apparently centered on the worship of a pantheon of nature deities. Druids were also responsible for the education of the young and generally for the intellectual life of the community; although apparently literate, they taught by oral transmission, and their courses are said to have lasted as long as 20 years. The druids believed in immortality of the soul in a nonjudgmental world of the dead. Their religious ceremonies seem to have been performed chiefly in tree groves (the oak and the mistletoe that grows on the oak were held sacred) and at river sources and lakes. The druids performed animal and human sacrifices and practiced divination and other forms of magic. Tacitus mentions a Celtic tribe, the Bructeri, that was led by a prophetess, and Irish legend confirms that there were women druids, although their precise role is not known. According to Caesar, the druids in Gaul were organized into a federation or brotherhood that extended across tribal divisions and was headed by an archdruid; they met once a year, probably on the site of Chartres, to arbitrate private and intertribal disputes. They thus wielded great political power and were an important cohesive force among the Celtic tribes. The druids in Gaul were the core of the rebellions against Rome. Their power, although broken by the Romans, finally yielded only to Christianity. In the late 18th and 19th cent., interest in the druids was spurred by archaeological discoveries and by the romantic movement. The megalithic monuments of France and Great Britain, notably those at Carnac and Stonehenge, were once ascribed to them, but these are now known to predate Celtic culture.

Bibliography: See S. Piggott, The Druids (1968, repr. 1985); A. Ross, Druids, Gods, and Heroes (1986); W. Rutherford, The Druids: Magicians of the West (1986).Christians banished the sacred feminine a long time ago(unless you lok at the Gnostic , and the gospels of mary Magdalene)traditionally before chrisitans the god head has many aspects.( often broken into groups of “representive” gods, “peatheons”, but each took an aspect of the whole spirit… and pagans belive in one all encompesing force in creation although it takes different forums.)their were always 2 main parts , male and femalethe God head masculine: the young, mature ,and old. represented by a plethora of horned gods, ( horned being the symbol for the sacred masculine .. phallic and robust, encapsulating all that was man as hunter, warrior and protector .all part of the whole but representing different aspects of the God Head…the feminine god head .maiden , mother, crone,usually the healer,artist ,and home-maker all important duties..the 2 were needed togeather to create the sacred child .tradtionally the sword was never with the goddess and by default all pagans should be pro-life.becuse sex, and the RITE or ritual of it was scared to the old ways .the child and fertility was celebrated NEVER scronedand new life in all forms is a blessing .the aspects are in three, their is always a trinity .the scared mother ,father, and holy childthe body , spirit, and soulsun , moon ,earth.and the elements are 5earth , air, fire, water, spirit.and 5 is the respersentaion of the pentagram pointed up for the scared feminiealthough durring the middle ages it was used as chrstian symbol to represent christ on the cross.it is also the symbol of sacred feminine .with the point up pointing to wars spirirtal things .the pentragram pointing down symbolises sacred mascline becuse the donward point looks like a.. well you know …and it also symbolises wordly things .then the most basic easrly understading of religion is the balnace between man and nature and the spirits and god headyou are to be stewards of your surroundings and work with them, takign no more then you need, and preserving the rest for future generations . keeping everything in balance.sothe holy spirt has NO gender , nore does the God Head becuse .God and the spirt have ALL genders .depending on ther whim and the form they take to make thenselves more esalily understood to the small limited minds of the mortals they created .creation story :

This is the story my grandma used to tell me……

Once upon a time, there was no time and that was when there also was no gods and no man walked the surface of the land. But there was the sea, and where the sea met the land, a mare was born, white and made of sea-foam. And her name was Eiocha. On the land, near where the land met the sea, a tree grew, a strong and sturdy oak. On the oak, grew a plant whose seeds were formed of the foam tears of the sea. To sustain her, Eiocha ate the seeds, these white berries, and they were transformed within her. Eiocha grew heavy with child and gave birth to the god, Cernunnos. So great was her pain in childbirth that she ripped bark from the one tree and hurled it into the sea. The bark was transformed by the sea and became the giants of the deep.Cernunnos was lonely and he saw the giants of the deep who were numerous, so he coupled with Eiocha and of their union came the gods, Maponos, Tauranis, and Teutates, and the goddess, Epona. Eiocha soon tired of the land, being a creature of sea-foam, and she returned the sea, where she was transformed into Tethra, goddess of the deep water, sometimes called Tethys.The gods and goddess were lonely for they had none to command nor none to worship them. The gods and goddess took wood from the one oak tree and fashioned the first man and the first woman.Cernunnos also made other animals from the one oak tree, the deer and the hound, the boar and the raven, the hare and the snake. He was god of the animals, and he commanded the oak tree to spread and grow, to be come a forest home for his children.Epona also made animals, but she made only the horse, mare and stallion alike, in remembrance of Eiocha who was no more.Teutates took limbs from the one tree, and fashioned a bow, arrows, and a club.Tauranis took limbs from the one tree, and fashioned thunderbolts made of fire and noise. He would leap to the top of the tallest trees and hurl his weapon at the ground. The ground would shake, the grass would burn, and the animals would run in fearMaponos also took limbs from the one tree, but he fashioned not a weapon but a harp. He stretched strings of the winds from its limbs and spent his days in Cernunnos’ forest. The winds would join in the melodies, and the birds as well. And all Cernunnos’ animals would come from near and far to hear Maponos play.The giants of the deep saw the gods and goddess happy on the land, and the giants were jealous, for they had none to command nor none to worship them. So the giants plotted against the gods; they would overwhelm them with the sea and take the land under the water. But Tethra in the deep sea heard the murmuring of the giants in the waves and she remembered her days as Eiocha and so she warned her sons and daughter. The gods were prepared the day the giants came against them.The gods took refuge in the one oak tree. Tauranis hurled his thunderbolt and split the land, and the sea overflowed its boundaries. Maponos broke the sky and hurled it at the giants. Teutates’ deadly aim with the bow and arrows from the one oak tree cut down many of the giants. The giants of the deep were not without weapons; they had the strength of the waves.The gods overwhelmed the giants, but could not destroy them. The giants of the deep were driven back into the sea, and Tethra bound them in the deep waters. But a few escaped Tethra and fled far from her reach. They called themselves the Fomor, and built a life on the outer edges of the world. But the Fomor dreamed of conquest, and vowed to once again take the land from the gods. Of their later battles, our histories tell us much.The sea returned to its bed and Maponos repaired the sky. And the gods looked for Epona as she had been absent from the victory. Epona had rescued one man and one woman from the watery and fiery destruction, and the three of them waited deep in Cernunnos’ forest. From this man and this woman Epona saved would come our mighty people. The gods and the goddess left the deep of Cernunnos’ forest and re- turned to their home near the one tree of oak which still stood strong and sturdy, and the sacred berries where still white as sea-foam.Where the fiery pieces of the heavens Maponos had torn from the sky had mingled with the waters of the sea, there were born new gods. The god Belenus and his sister Danu sprang from where the heavenly fire had been but little quenched. The god Lir sprang from where the waters of the sea had almost quenched the fire of heaven. From Lir, as the histories tell, there would come the mighty Manannan, the beautiful Branwen, the wise Bran. But from Danu many children would come, the Dagda, Nuadha of the Silver Hand, the wise Dienceght, the smith Goihbhio, the fearsome Morrigan, the gentle Brighid. The Children of Danu and the Children of Lir are the two mighty races our songs tell of, ever opposite.Submitted by Merri