The Hedge Druid

Posts Tagged ‘birch’

-dom suffix denoting condition or state, as in freedom, wisdom state of being free, wise, passing to the sense of domain, realm, territory

I have noticed that I have passed into a sense of a domain, too. I have passed through one state of being – always learning – into a state where knowledge is beginning to coalesce and interlink. In my previous state of mindfulness my synapses fired randomly, seeking out links but finding few connections except coincidence. Recently, these coincidences and seemingly random pieces of information have begun to weave themselves together using the wyrd of the world until I can begin to travel like a spider along their fine and newly-formed threads to reach junctions, correlations, realisations.

Like a bright crystal in your forehead

I believe that what I am noticing is a passing from one stage of druidry into another. I have begun the move from neophyte to initiate. Oddly for me, at one level this means moving into a tutorial role – I am beginning to come out of myself in order to teach others the beautiful things I have found. That’s partly what this blog is about – you get to travel with me on my excursions and to be privy to some of the secrets that I uncover. This year has already shaped up to allow me to teach people on a one-to-one basis too. I am in the process of setting up a web site from which I will be contactable for tuition or consultancy. A major step for me. There is also the promise of two dowsing courses to be taught this year. Another prospect I could not have considered last year, and not simply due to modesty, but to a true belief that I was not in any position to teach yet. Now I feel more confident about it.

Stages of Learning

When I began my learning process I thought that there were only the three traditional stages of druid learning – the first being Birch, then Yew, and finally Oak. These three trees do indeed seem to have framed my first three stages of learning. Now I have reached the Oak stage I think things might work a little differently to what I had anticipated. This is certainly not the last stage of learning, so one of three things may be happening:-

1. The spiral begins again and I go back to the Birch level, but at a higher state of learning, and I learn in more depth the lessons that I needed to undergo at that stage, and so on the the other two stages too.
2. The Oak stage is further sub-divided, like the divisions in martial arts when the student reaches Black Belt, and an area of specialisation begins to develop. This would mean that the Oak stage could then continue indefinitely as more and more skills are refined, or deepened by further learning.
3. There are other trees to learn from and thus many more stages to go through before I reach any level of competency. In some druid systems there are twelve (zodiacal) or twenty sacred trees that could all symbolise (indeed ‘personify’) teachers in their own right.

Sacred trees

At the moment my intuition is that the last idea feels the most correct for me. I feel that I will develop an affinity for other trees at various stages of my druidic training and that I will learn skills and lessons from each of them at some time in the future. However, both Kal and I have noticed that we are moving around in spirals of understanding, so maybe there is an element of the first concept happening to – that we are going back to things we thought we had learned but learning more about it at a higher or deeper level. It’s all very intriguing. Only time will tell.

As it stands now I have passed into another level of freedom – the freedom to be more …me. This is the “IS-DOM”. I am more assured of my knowledge and how it all works together than I was only last year. This is the coming of the “WISDOM”. However, there is no end to the learning process, that is another aspect fo acquiring wisdom – knowing that you know little, and offering everything you do know to anyone because you have established your sense of self.

Why am I telling you this? Self-promotion? Glory-hunting? Fishing for compliments? None of that. Reflection. If you too are in my position then it may be time for you to stand up for yourself, be proud of who you are and who you are becoming. On this path of Druidry may you discover your inner Is-dom and forever walk the eternal path toward Wisdom.

Please tell me your feelings and thoughts on your own progress this year. What are your hopes, expectations, and how have you felt yourself grow? What do you think about the stages of druidic learning – which feels right for you and why?

Gwas Myrddyn, Hedge Druid, growing in his gnowing.

Resources:-

• A Zodiac based upon twelve sacred trees : The Celtic Zodiac
• “The Religion of the Ancient Celts” by J.A.MacCullough – Chapter 13 – Tree and Plant Worship
• The Sacred Grove Project run by the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids
• Celtic Tree Worship on Wikipedia

Friends, acquaintances, keen obersvers and passers-by – it has been just over a year since I started this blog. I started posting on 7th July 2008. The incentive to record the experiences that I had back then as I was introducing myself to the Way of the Druid , and finding my own path, was so strong that I embarked upon putting together an online space to record everything.

My intention back then was to record it for myself and for Kal, so that we would have an accurate record of our true experiences, which were even then startling us both. Right from the outset I phrased the posts as though someone out there would read it, although honestly, I never expected that anyone would excepting Kal and myself. We intended to use the material to chart our observations of earth energies whilst dowsing ancient sites and additionally, for me alone I think, to record my progress along what was shaping up to be a rather interesting sideline in experiences with nature.

Even then I knew something was going on, and I wanted to see how far it would go. I was very skeptical of the interactions with nature, thinking that it was primarily my own imagination that was shaping the results. Now, with a year of such experiences I can categorically state: it IS me, but not ONLY me who is producing these fantastic stories. It is me when I interact with nature. It is me when I open up to Nature, and it is me when I feel the forces of the earth and the sky, the sun, the moon and the stars. No-one else is doing that – it’s me. For those who see this as a form of delusion, well, this year has shown me that such people will always think that. But that’s because such people rarely allow themselves to FEEL. If this makes you angry just reading that statement then go find a mirror and take a long hard look at yourself. Do you know who you are?

If you have at any time followed my progress you will know that some things have definitely changed. Gone is the doubt. Gone is the rational argument against the evidence of my whole being. Gone is the lost little soul wandering around this planet without a purpose, a reason and a way. All that in a year! I invite you now to go back and read some of the earlier posts, and any others that catch your eye, or draw your attention. Those are the ones you should read. There are literally hundreds to choose from!

I could list the way things have changed but no-one other than myself would care. I could offer rational arguments against all that I have done, seen, heard and felt; but I would be denying my very essence. I could ask you to believe me; but you have your own mind, your own being, and though we are connected, I am not you. I am persuaded, and that has brought me to a very solid point on the path towards a greater understanding of this universe and my place within it.

As a self-classified HEDGE DRUID I have recognised over this past year that I have gone from being a shy, bewildered absolute beginner in the birch woods of Birchen Edge, to a confident energy worker sitting in public between the yew trees of Glastonbury’s Chalice Well. Those who know the traditional druid levels will recognise that this is a progression from a beginner to an adept. From a ‘bard’ to an ‘ovate’. I do not recognise those labels and I do not submit myself to the examination of other druids. I don’t mean this as an insult to anyone, let alone those to whom I am indebted for preaching their wisdom, but I have my own way and it works for me. That’s what Hedge Druidry is all about. In the delightful words of Fleetwood Mac, “You can go your own way“. 

I have gone from knowing and accepting nothing, to realising and learning much more about the world and myself. With each major turn on the labyrinthine path up the Tor I have stopped to admire the view, to recollect and absorb the experience, and this has helped me to understand my place, and to place my understanding. I know how little I know!

That is how a year of dowsing and druidry has opened up my heart. Here it is – on the page for all to see. Should I care what you make of it? Should you care? I only remain true to the original purpose of this blog: to record my experiences with a core of truth, and the best recollection that I can. However, let me thank you for going with me, at least some of the way. All paths cross, even those that veer wildly in differing directions. Dowsing has taught me that. As Carlos Castenada’s Don Juan Matus might say, only the path with a heart is worth following.

I have many authors and peers to thank, but I hope my own writings will do that. I have many words of wisdom that I draw from. I hope you may include this blog amongst the words that you draw upon to motivate you to find your ‘path with a heart’. Stay with me! It gets stranger as it gets deeper. Thank you for being here now.

Gwas

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