The Druidic College

It would at first seem superfluous to proclaim that we live in a very different world than did our ancestors. We have all the “benefits” of modern technology, of modern medicine (if one can afford it!), and even for all but the humblest of us, a lifestyle that would be the envy of the ancients. We have all the gadgets and gizmos we could want to make or life and leisure time as comfortable as we could desire. Just how did mankind survive before the advent of the microwave?

The question then arises; why do so many, of late, yearn to return to the old ways, to Druidry? I believe the answer is that we have lost our community with Nature. We are out of touch and out of sync with the world around us, and thus with each other and most definitely, with ourselves. Druidry offers us the opportunity to remedy this. It presents the possibility of retuning ourselves in an environment familiar, and one might say, essential, to our very core.

Have you ever asked yourself why you are most peaceful, most relaxed when you get the all too rare opportunity to take a walk in the woods; to sit in the Sun on a high windswept hill; or laze in the dunes on an empty beach watching the waves come and go? Where the only sounds are as timeless as the winds and tides themselves. Could it be that this is when you have revisited your deepest roots and once again, if only for a short while, feel a connection with the Earth?

Through our druidic studies, through ritual and through fellowship we have the prospect of revisiting those elements most basic to our existence. We can escape the hustle and bustle of urban living; find shelter from the constant bombardment of noise, from cell phones, and from automobiles whizzing past, every other one windows wide open and ‘sharing’ the driver’s concept of ‘cool’ tunes with everyone within 500 meters!

We once again return to those hills and shores where the only sounds are those of Nature herself. Now that summer is warming, make sure you find the time to listen to the wind.

So perhaps it is not superfluous to realize that we do indeed live in a very different world. If we can once again connect with our ancient inner being, perhaps path to knowledge we presently follow can be a more rewarding and peaceful one. As with most endeavors, we must begin in our own house. See you under the Oak, I will.

Slainte!
Ollam In Ruadh Rofhessa
Archdruid and Chosen Chief, OSO, SOG