#bonewits

[meneallah-lumon]

Athena, Great Goddess

[mentalmagicaldragon]

My current stack of reading as I formulate my writings on Pagan Ethics. It’s back to the basics for a while.

It’s actually really refreshing to go back to the books I started with.

Have any view points on ethics, great sources, or just want to share your views? Leave me a comment on this post or DM me!

Will share the link once the post goes up!

[gwythaint]

Energy Crisis

Back in the wilds of the last century, a Neopagan named Isaac Bonewits successfully became the only person to get a BA in Magic from UC Berkley. Among other publications, he wrote Authentic Thaumatology, and outlined in it a system by which magic could be more realistically used in games. Unlike Jack Vance, He did not espouse a “Fire and Forget” style of spellcasting; rather he thought it to be…

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[minnesotadruids]

Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF) Analysis

Year founded: 1983

Location Founded: Berkeley, California, USA (?)

Origins, inspirations, or parent org: Inspirations - Schismatic Druids of North America (SDNA), New Reformed Druids of North America (NRDNA), Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA), eclectic reconstructionism, archaeological evidence of Pan-Indo-European common customs.

Founders: Isaac Bonewits

Official Symbols: Oak sapling growing from a cut stump - every now and then additional leaves are added to the sapling. Sigil of the Cosmos - mostly displayed on clergy stolas. RDNA Druid Sigil - usually stylized as a wreath with two staves.

Theological compatibility: Hard polytheism, exclusive neopaganism, animism, ancestor veneration, organized religion.

Founder prior involvements: RDNA, NRDNA, SDNA, occultism, LaVeyan Satanism, witchcraft, American Council of Witches.

Active, Hiatus, or Defunct, & Rebootability: Currently Active.

Centrally organized: Yes

Governing body: Mother Grove

Study Program or Mentorship: Dedicant Program, Clergy Training Program, other special interest programs.

Member degrees, ranks, or levels of achievement: ADF initially had a rank system of five Circles copied from the SDNA - First Circle, Second Circle, Third Circle, Fourth Circle, and Fifth Circle. They were described as being concentric rings of a tree, though you entered them from the outer circles and worked inward. The Circle system seems to have been decommissioned in the 1990s in favor of the current Dedicant Program and other training modules. ADF was initially almost identical to the Schismatic Druids of North America in premise and requirements.

Membership fees and recurrence: Membership dues are $30 annually.

Estimated membership: 1,500 (circa 2017).

Estimated number of Groves or study groups: 75

Current grand poobah & title: Jon Drum, Archdruid.

Cult danger (A. B. C. D. E. F. version 2.7) estimated rating: LOW

Alleged cult criteria:

Wisdom/Knowledge Credited to Leaders - Mother Grove was notably resistant to improve the direction of the Order, eerily putting (the late) Isaac Bonewits’ vision on a proverbial pedestal and in some cases making it sound like he was still alive and is to be obeyed. Particularly in the wake of reputable accusations of Isaac’s sexual abuse of a minor that were confirmed to be true by those who were aware and complicit at the time.

Dogma - Strict requirements that only hard polytheists be allowed into clergy ranks.

Recruiting - Emphasis on bringing in new members for the sake of expanding the order.

Wealth - Obsession with fundraising, requirement of formal Groves to establish a business bank account and report accounting data to Mother Grove.

Grimness - Overt hostility toward honoring of non-European deities in main segments of Core Order of Ritual.

If anything needs to be rectified, please contact me with proof for correction.

Return to Druid Order List

[minnesotadruids]

Finding that Sacred Spot

Had I pursued participation in the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA) after my first trip to Ireland in 2002, I might have learned about the 40th anniversary celebration that would occur at Carleton College the following Beltane. In retrospect, my participation at that time would have been unlikely. According to the written history of the RDNA, 2004 was a year of revitalization within the tradition at Carleton. In this situation, I am fairly confident in my hindsight that had I sought out the Arch-Druid of Carleton Grove, I might have tried to establish a grove up in the woods at my own college in northeastern Minnesota. At the time, in reality I was perfectly content practicing what I referred to as “rogue druidry.” I was a bit hesitant to use the word Druid anyway. I didn’t feel a draw to any Celtic deities, and I was opposed to any kind of animal or human sacrifice (somewhere I missed the memo at the time that most neo-pagans also prohibit human or animal sacrifice). I was also very much a goth and would have preferred a black robe over a white one any day. I actually did have a black robe. Some of my fellow students were somehow convinced that I was studying to join the monastery, while on the other hand, I laughed when I heard rumors that people were accusing me of animal sacrifice and burning bibles in the Valley of Silence (the name for the vast woods on campus, courtesy of the class of 1922). The accusation of the former was entirely uncharacteristic of me. The latter accusation was mostly inaccurate. Someone asked me directly if I was burning bibles in the woods, because one of the nuns on campus found burnt scraps of paper with scriptures on them while on the trails. At first I thought someone was trying to have me framed, then I remembered that there was a stack of books up against a wall in the main building on campus with a paper taped above them that said “free.” I took them, they looked boring, I intended to use them as kindling for my occasional bonfire that I had with my roommates. That same day I heard the accusation I went out into the woods. Snow blanketed the ground, and it wasn’t long before I came across a few scraps of burnt paper. During our bonfire, I had somehow been irresponsible enough to put an entire book in the fire. They don’t burn very well like that. I picked up a scrap that had fluttered its way to the main trail, and on the singed scrap was a few verses from the book of Proverbs. I became furious and was convinced someone was trying to frame me. I turned the scrap over and the words were much different. Yes I burned a book, but no it was not a bible, it was a philosophy book of some sort. The section of the book that wasn’t burned merely had references to verses in a philosophical context. I learned my lesson and chopped my own firewood after that. I went back to basics ever since, and used proper kindling that I remembered from my outdoor survival training. I delved deeper and deeper into the Valley of Silence, off the main trails and off the deer paths. I found a secluded glade on the edge of what I dubbed “The Darkwoods” which was a section of dense cedars and Norway pines along a very shallow but rocky spring-fed stream. There I built one of my log forts and constructed a fire pit. One of my friends was Wiccan, and she needed some help moving on from a past relationship. I helped her by leading her deep out into the woods (and she wasn’t the outdoorsy type either) where I built a sacred fire, and had a pair of cathartic cleansing spells prepared. They proved to be very effective for her, and after that I lost track of where I put them. Well, the best spells can sometimes be the ones used only once, right? Well, inevitably, that chapter in my life came to a close after 4 years in northeastern Minnesota. I still miss being up there. So much nature at my fingertips. Well I moved back to the Twin Cities to the decent suburb of Oakdale, between Saint Paul and my hometown of Stillwater. Returning to the geography of low hills, subdivisions, and flat farm fields was a shock to my soul. I had the convenience of living in a major metropolitan area, but for months - for years, I felt the northwoods calling to me. Lake Superior beckoned me to come back and be embraced by her icy waters. I missed the low glaciated mountains of basalt bedrock, the cliffs that gave Valley of Silence its namesake. Every time I heard a semi-truck Jake-brake on the freeway I thought I was hearing the great foghorn at the end of the Duluth canal. It reminded me of exploring the woods in the fog, which were some of the most enchanting moments I ever had up there. Finding that sacred spot back in the world I grew up in realized I had taken so much for granted while I was in college. Particularly as it pertained to my spiritual path, the Valley of Silence was a place I could run away into, day or night. I had spent entire nights in the Valley with friends gathered around the fire. We only drank out there once ever, and we kept our fires small Campus security would only patrol the two main trails, and it didn’t close after sunset like most places I know back in the Twin Cities. Plus in the city if we do something wrong, we would most likely have to deal with police or fines or permanent records, or worse. For years I went to different parks or natural areas to find my sacred spot. I didn’t feel right about having to drive somewhere first, but I didn’t have many options. I changed jobs in 2009 and was able to arrange a full-time schedule and be home by 3:18 in the afternoons. I took that opportunity to start hiking in Oakdale Nature Preserve, also known as Oakdale Park. It is a very large park with an entrance just four blocks from my front door. The geography was of mostly oak savanna and ponds, with a labyrinthine network of paved, gravel, and grass trails. In 2010 I wanted to find a type of Druid or something that I identified as. Being uncategorized was no longer working for me. Humans naturally like to categorize things. It is part of what makes us human. While listening to “Druidcast,” the podcast of the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids (OBOD), they had a feature on Isaac Bonewits when his health was failing. It was Isaac giving a presentation on druidry, and in it he mentioned his first experiences with a ragtag bunch of druids known as the Reformed Druids of North America who were based in Minnesota, but had branched out to where he was in Berkeley. He spoke on is early involvement, and how it led him to spin off the New Reformed Druids of North America with more pagan leanings, which led him to create the Schismatic Druids of North America, which led him to create Ar nDraiocht Fein (ADF) which is still strikingly similar to the RDNA, but with more internal politics. I thought it was interesting to hear of some home-grown druid groups, but didn’t pay that much close attention. In 2011, a year after Isaac passed away several podcasts to which I was subscribed released tribute episodes about his legacy. After the third time I heard about the quirky Reformed Druid movement, and that it was still alive and kicking, I really dove deep into comparative research between the RDNA and all of its offshoots (Even the Henge of Keltria adapted the Druid Sigil of the RDNA as part of their logo, and I laugh that they use it because of the “false origin myth” which claims it is an actual ancient symbol, which it is not, but that’s a digression for another day). I also compared unrelated druid groups such as AODA which is older but started as a fraternal secret society, and OBOD which is a year younger than the RDNA but very well known. Ultimately, I had determined my best fit was the classic: Reformed Druids of North America, and it was five years ago today on 21 August, 2010 that I self-dedicated and declared my belief in the Two Basic Tenets of the Reform. I felt a longing to be part of a spiritual community again. I wanted to start my own proto-grove. I felt a renewed need to find that sacred spot, someplace I could share with future grove members and partake of the Waters-of-Life in communion with the Earth-Mother. Then one day in November 2011, I found it. I had wandered off of the main trail in Oakdale Nature Preserve, and had not gone far when I stumbled across a grove of northern pin oaks that had grown in an almost perfect circle around an ancient oak tree, still barely clinging to life. The grove is on a high point in the park, atop a small glacial morraine. There was a large boulder of pink granite that was next to one of the outer oak trees, almost like a standing stone. This place was as perfect as it was going to get! I entered the circle with humility and took it all in. A few days later on my birthday, I returned with some RDNA liturgy, my pewter chalice, and the seasonal Waters and held a very special ritual of consecration. I was not yet officially of the First Order, yet I was conducting the general ritual that Third Order Druids in the Order of Dalon Ap Landu are supposed to lead. I consecrated the Waters, mildly concerned for the “blasphemy” I felt that I was committing (of course, it is hard to commit blasphemy as a Reformed Druid) to my surprise, I felt something otherworldly when I called upon Dalon Ap Landu to hallow the Waters. I didn’t even have a clue as to what the Sevenfold Powers were at the time, but I had my theories. I bestowed the honorary name of Ema upon the ancient oak and offered it some healing energy, though I felt it needed so much more than I could give at that time. In the end my first solo experience was surreal but very moving. I said goodbye to the oaks and to Ema and left my grove, excited for my next visit.

[wolf-in-the-wood]

I found this'd and thought it would be interesting to share.

[behpeh]

In these clips he discusses what he believes to be the ethical foundation of the Neo-Pagan movement. He also discusses his views on Christian cultural dualism, monotheism and polytheism.