The Druid Notes – Intro Chapter Post 2

One of the things I’ve noticed about Ellis and that I truly, immediately like, is that he points out that nearly all of the sources we have for Druids come from essentially hostile witnesses. I believe everything should be taken with a grain of salt – even that which was written down later by the Celts themselves, for they, as Ellis points out, had been Christianized, and could scarcely be considered unbiased.

Ellis also points something out that I had always felt to be true, because it seemed like logical human nature, but since I’m not an eminent Celtic Scholar, my opinion is really worth Jack in the scheme of things. He talks about the reasons the Romans worked so hard to eliminate the Druids, not because they were ‘horrified’ by the Druids’ ‘barbaric sacrifices’ (THIS, from the ROMANS???!!! Seriously!), but because they recognised that, as the intellectuals and spiritual leaders of the Celtic culture, resistance would be orchestrated by the Druids. What a logical move. Put down any potential insurrections by cutting off the leadership. Now, THAT makes sense.

Although it was Pliny the Elder who makes reference to the repression of the Druids, Ellis seems to feel that it was less repression and more the adoption of Christianity that allowed a transformation and assimilation of the Druids into what became Celtic Christianity.

I’ve read from many sources – and, again, this makes logical sense – that the early Christian missionaries didn’t attempt to eradicate Druid customs and beliefs; they attempted to lay claim to them by incorporating key features right into Christianity. Holy wells and other sacred sites, deities; they received Christian names and Christian identities, and were just subsumed.

The Druids Notes – Intro Chapter

In beginning to read the book, I started jotting down a number of questions that I need to research to help me answer a couple of issues in my head to better understand where this author is coming from and what his biases are. Here are the questions, which I will need to revisit and answer:

1. Who, exactly, is Peter Beresford Ellis, and why is he considered authoritative when it comes to this subject?
He has an M.A. in Celtic studies from what is now the University of East London and has extensive experience in academics and writing. He is an authority on Celtic history and culture; he is highly regarded by other academics in his own field. For a number of years he was International Chairman of the Celtic League, chairman and vice-president of the London Association for Celtic Education; his awards, honors and prolific writing career are tremendous. In short, he is considered a historian, a biographer, a novelist and short-story writer but above all, a preeminent Celtic scholar.

2. What is his religious / spiritual background? Also, how is he defining ‘New Age’? Is he lumping the contemporary Druid groups, such as OBOD and ADF, into them?
When he mentions ‘New Age’ in the intro, he brings up David Loxley and Dr. Graham Howe and a book called ‘The Mind of the Druid’. He wrote an article called ‘Early Irish Astrology – An Historical Argument’, which he points out that Robert Graves’ work, ‘The White Goddess’, has done serious damage to the authenticity and accuracy of scholarship, including the invention of a ‘tree zodiac’.

3. How does he define a ‘modern Celt’ or is that an oxymoron to him?
Here is a clue to his thoughts on this subject: He asserts that, since there is no Celtic race, the basic determiner of Celtic identity is language. When the six Celtic tongues are allowed to die, the Celts will no longer, in his view, exist. So, my thought on this is, that he views modern Celts as those who are native speakers of the Celtic languages.

Gàidhlig

One of the things that has excited me about joining ADF is the incorporation of, well, in ADF’s case Gaelige, into the rituals, and the fact that there is a small Gaelic community as kin here. What led me to my spiritual path to begin with was Gaelic. Basically one morning, I literally woke up with a deep need to study Gaelic. And it had to be Scottish Gaelic, not Irish. It was an utter COMPULSION, very difficult to describe, especially at the time; this was before I joined OBOD and started actively following a Path. I came to understand over time that it was my connection to the ancestors and to my matrilineal line – my family came to the United States for my Grandmother’s health, and my mother is first generation American.

Now I don’t speak Irish at all; it’s just different enough from Gàidhlig to have the waters muddied for me, as I’m not a native speaker and can’t hardly get out of my own way when it comes to the speaking part of it. I get what amounts to stage fright. My mind goes totally blank, and I have a panic attack if I’m speaking to someone. Horrible! I have to work on my confidence levels here, and as part of that commitment, not only will I continue to incorporate the Gaelic into my ritual, but I’m planning on doing some other things as well:

1) Study some Irish. I was always afraid to mix the two, but, well, Irish is more available and native Irish aren’t so possessive over their language as the Scots; and

2) Continue to utilise Gaelic chant in my rituals, and add to my repertoire; and

3) Not be afraid to speak – to speak up, to talk, to utilise, to understand that it’s okay for me to speak Gàidhlig, even if the native speakers of Skye and other Highland / Island areas discourage people learning ‘their’ language and generally refuse to speak with anyone non-fluent. This has intimidated me and driven me away from really pursuing fluency. I do have a beef about this though; isn’t the point of language to form connection and communicate?

The ancestors will just have to put up with Irish, HA 😉

Choosing a book from the list

Well, as it turns out, I have some books that are actually on the official reading list for the DP. Now, since I already have a book that fits the requirement, and I already know my Hearth culture, I’ve chosen ‘The Druids’ by Peter Beresford Ellis. This is a book that I took time to verify, because it’s actually published under two different names with two different covers (double-checking and triple-checking the ISBNs – no paranoia in evidence, THERE 😉 ). Yes, I’ve read this book, but, now I need to read it again with an eye for really studying it.

My first impression of the book was that he knew what he was talking about, but, didn’t seem to feel that NeoPagan Druids were Druids at all. It will be interesting to revisit the book and see if I have misinterpreted this ‘meta feeling’ or not. Sadly, I don’t remember much else about the book. I don’t remember why it wound up on my shelf, or what attracted me to it – it may have been the only book on Druids that seemed likely to be scholarly vs. foolishness at my local bookstore.

I also checked out the book report format in the Journey documentation, and deeply grateful I am. These guidelines will help me get so much more out of my studies, and improve my skillsets immeasurably. I really owe all the people who have gone before me a big debt. Although I have two college degrees, they are technical and in the ART field – it’s not that I’m not a scholar, I’ve just never been taught how to research, write and document much. And honestly, I completed my last degree 11 years ago – and haven’t had to write much since, except informal to-myself notes and jottings – hardly scholarly work, that!

Personal wisdom, or lack thereof

Part of the reason I had a difficult time, at first, to seeing my own brand of wisdom, is that I know the outcome of my decisions 😉 . Hoo boy.

As I sat with this for awhile, I came to the conclusion that my life was rather like an unbalanced teeter-totter, with wisdom stuck up in the air on one side, and being an amadan, firmly planted on the ground I might add, on the other. It showed the signs of awakening wisdom in my life when I was actually able to see this, and to understand that this is normal, human, and absolutely nothing wrong with it. It didn’t make me a horrible, bad person who deserved punishment for making mistakes and being stupid.

I have been working to balance that teeter totter ever since. Balance, because to eliminate one side is a) impossible and b) well, foolish. We all need our amadan side, too. This was the beginning of my walking with wisdom.

My brand of wisdom shows up in certain rather subtle ways – in order to grow, for instance, I needed to feel safe in the world, and I needed to create a safe container for myself. I was able to do this. It was wisdom to walk away from an abusive marriage, a dead-end job that offered little in the way of creativity, social responsibility and challenge. It was wisdom to take the time to heal and craft a life that better suited my needs – well, I have to be honest – that actually took my real needs into account instead of what everyone else expected from me. Of course, the fact that I created all that to begin with (oops), shows where the amadan side comes in.

It was wisdom to persevere in developing my spiritual path and my artwork, in spite of the ugliness it engendered from key intimates in my life (who are, quite frankly, no longer intimates).

I use the phrase here ‘walking with wisdom‘, because that is, I realise, how I see it. Wisdom, for me is a verb. It is a process. It is something you engage with, and grow with, like a friend that grows from an acquaintance to an intimate. Like any relationship, it takes work – energy, effort and time – and attention.