Skylark

hellenicdruid.wordpress.com I am an ADF Druid: Initiate and Priest. This blog is a decent mix of prayers, blog posts, nature, and nerd culture. If you'd like to request a prayer, just send me an Ask :)

[weekendviking]

May you heal so hard you do your hobbies again

[skylark913]

Thoughts on Unity

This past March, the Clergy Council hosted our first virtual stream where we Re-Kindle the Unity Flame each year. I’ve been thinking a lot about what Unity looks like.  Here in the US, we’re struggling as a country to find it, and I know those around the world are experiencing their own struggles with unity. It’s been hard to see the light in the darkness, and it is in those moments when we must…

[skylark913]

First Album Out: May it End Well

Well, I’ve done one of the most terrifying things to date, and released an album of some of my own music. Bandcamp lets you stream for free, or buy the whole album if you’d like. These are songs that I play at festivals and rituals. Some I’ve been playing for more than a decade, and others are brand new in the past few months. I’ve been hope-seeking a lot recently, and music has always been one…

View On WordPress

[skylark913]

Examining ADFs Virtues through a Study of Virtue Ethics

In my clinical pastoral education program for chaplaincy we were asked to examine an ethical framework that resonates with our faith tradition and personal inclinations. I found myself reading through various ethical frameworks, from Consequentialism (ex: Jeremy Bentham) to Deontology (ex: Immanuel Kant) to various Pluralistic Theories (ex: WD Ross, John Kekes). After a thoughtful conversation…

[skylark913]

Annual Clergy Report for 2025

This report is designed to be a reflective process for each priest.  This is an opportunity to reflect on the year.  Each priest’s work is as unique and individual as they are, and as such we expect the responses to this report to be just as varied.   Covering January 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025 Categories of the Report include: A celebration of and reflection on our accomplishments; detailing…

Annual Clergy Report for 2025

[skylark913]

On Community, in Times of Horror

From the Archdruid of ADF, regarding the atrocities of ICE in the USA Hey y’all.  I recorded this as an internal message as Archdruid for my ADF folk, but I know that many in my various communities look to me as their Priest/Spiritual Leader regardless of whether or not they’re part of ADF. It’s taken me awhile to find the words as I’m struggling with my own horror, but I wanted to reach out to…

View On WordPress

[skylark913]

“When Caring for Others is a Calling”

A large part of my Call to clergy, and my vocation, is focused on caring for others.  I have felt myself drawn to this kind of work across the story of my life.  Growing up, all the way through high school and college, I was often the confidant for friends going through a hard time.  In my first profession teaching high school, that vocation of caring for others dovetailed with my other primary…

[skylark913]

Spiritual Experience, Daydream, or Mental Illness

It is not uncommon for me to field questions and concerns around the theme of “I had this really intense dream/meditation/trance, and I’m worried I might be crazy” or “such and such spirit came to me and told me things, and I’m pretty sure it’s true, but it doesn’t match anything that’s written or anybody else’s experiences” or “Am I just taking myself on wish fulfillment, fantastical adventures…

[skylark913]

The Gift of Obligation

During the Charging of the Stole at Rev. Oleg’s ordination, I reflected to those gathered about the role of ADF priests, and the way that role relates to the Gods, the Folk, and the Land.  In light of those outward, ceremonial reflection, I have also spent some time processing my own experience through this lens.   Continue reading The Gift of Obligation

View On WordPress

[skylark913]

Reflections on My Installation as Archdruid

There are rites of passage that happen throughout our lives, and sometimes they pass without much fanfare, but other times they are spiritually significant and marked as such through ritual and community engagement. At Wellspring this year I was installed at the 7th Archdruid of ADF at the main rite.  I planned most of the rite and scripted portions of it, but there was also a very real sense of…

Reflections on My Installation as Archdruid

[skylark913]

ADF Elects a New Archdruid: Rev. Jan Avende To Focus On Empowerment and Connection

Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF), has elected a new Archdruid by popular vote: Rev. Jan Avende (they/them). Also elected to serve on ADF’s governing body, the ADF Mother Grove, are Rovena Windsor (Chief of the Council of Senior Druids), Matthias Dolgner-Trampnau (Non-Officer Director), Tami Olsen (re-elected Non-Officer Director) and Mike Bierschenk (ADF Secretary, elected to a full…

ADF Elects a New Archdruid: Rev. Jan Avende To Focus On Empowerment and Connection

[skylark913]

Annual Clergy Report for 2024

This report is designed to illustrate how each individual priest has chosen to fulfill their oath to love the land, honor the deities, serve the folk, and continue in their studies as best suits their individual vocations.  Time covered: January 1 2024 – December 31, 2024 Continue reading Annual Clergy Report for 2024

Annual Clergy Report for 2024

[skylark913]

Gender Diversity is Welcomed in ADF

For our US Druids, especially those who are gender diverse, I know the past few days have been a lot.  I want to assure you that ADF is a place where you are explicitly welcome.  You are valid.  You belong here. Your presence brightens our community and adds vibrance to our practice.   Our system of practice and belief is centered around *ghosti.  Hospitality.  Building reciprocal…

[skylark913]

Queer Grief and Ancestor Veneration

Queer Grief and Ancestor Veneration originally published for Oak Leaves Winter 2024 “As our ancestors did before, so we do now, so our descendants may do in the future.” This is what we say in every ritual, in every statement of purpose and precedent.  But how do we live it? [cw: this article will touch on themes of death, grief, transphobia, homophobia, epidemics, and suicide] This summer I…

[skylark913]

New Job, New Work-Life Balance

I’m delighted to announce that I’ve accepted a full-time position as a Resident Chaplain at OhioHealth’s Grant Hospital. I’ll be getting all four units of CPE (clinical pastoral education) as well as working rotations across all areas on a variable shift schedule. (I’m also still continuing my once a week work at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, though that schedule is shifting too) Continue…

[skylark913]

Perseverance is Making Sure You’re a Success Story, Not a Statistic

As I continue working as a prison chaplain, I’ve found not only is it a deeply fulfilling part of my vocation, it is also allowing me to re-examine my own spirituality and add depth and subtlety to my understandings of the cosmos.  I teach weekly using Rev. Dangler’s Dedicant Path Through the Wheel of the Year as a base, and recently we were discussing the virtue of perseverance.  Beyond…

View On WordPress

[skylark913]

Beltane Behind Bars

Yesterday was amazing. I had coordinated to bring three of my Grovemates, Joe, Jeff, and Mike to ORW as volunteers for Beltane. I wanted to make it kind of like a mini-festival day for the inmates. So we had a morning of workshops and then an afternoon ritual. Continue reading Beltane Behind Bars

View On WordPress