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Prayer vs. Magic

Posted in ADF, General Things, tagged , , , , , , , on November 13, 2012| 4 Comments »

One of the email lists I’m part of has been having a really interesting discussion about the difference between prayer and doing magic. I firmly believe there’s a place for both in Paganism, and as I read more about Druidry, I’m hoping to find a balance between the two there as well.

To me, prayer is talking to/with the Kindreds (Gods, Ancestors, Nature Spirits) – prayer is essentially about communication, though it can be about asking for things. But asking for things through prayer removes the control from the situation. You’ve asked your Deity for something, and now you wait to hear their answer. (Which is a little like meditation – prayer is the talking part, meditation can be a listening part (though it can also be other things))

Magic, on the other hand, is taking a situation into your own control. It says “I’m going to do X, Y, and Z, with things A, B, and C, in accordance with my will and energy, to create result Q.” I might ask for a blessing on the work from Diety/ies, but I am the one doing the work, and I am therefore responsible for the result.

In a metaphysical sense, I see magic as a way of stacking the deck of events, an idea I got from the blog Rune Soup. Basically, in a world where any outcome is possible, magic stacks the deck in favor of the outcome going a certain way. The more out of control the possibilities, the bigger the magic has to be to have any affect. My favorite example is the lottery example, which says that if your odds are 1 in 6 million to win, and you do magic really well, and reduce those odds to 1 in 1 million, you’re still likely not going to win the lottery, even though the magic worked.

So far, in ADF, I’ve heard a lot about prayer, especially as it relates to piety (which I see as both prayer and devotional action). The ADF-Dedicants and ADF-Discuss lists have talked about conversational prayer, petitionary prayer, and especially offertory prayer – prayer used as part of an offering of praise. Though spontaneous prayer is definitely common, the major rituals are often formulaic or formula driven prayers, and Ceisiwr Serith’s Book of Pagan Prayer is quoted often as a starting point. The Book of Pagan Prayer is a collection of prayers to various Dieties for specific occasions, and many of the prayers are lovely and powerful.

They are not, however, acts of will-driven magic. I’d like to think there’s a part of ADF that would have a space for magic as well.

ADF ritual is, in some ways, thematically magical – you do the offerings to get the blessings, ideally the blessings that you are asking for. The *ghosti relationship that defines how ADF relates to its gods encompasses both being a good guest and being a good host, and the reciprocal hospitality that goes along with it. This can be argued as being a form of magic – you’re not just begging for something, you’re building a relationship whereby you can ask things of the Gods and they can ask things of you. Still, it’s not a personal-responsibility sort of system at its core. Yes you’re responsible for making the offerings, but you’re still at the whim of the Gods when it comes to what blessings you receive. If you’re asking for Patience, you may find yourself more patient… or you may (more likely) find yourself in situations that try your patience mightily, and have to figure it out for yourself.

I’m looking for a system that has space both for magical work and for prayer – for creating a deep relationship with the Gods, for petitioning the Gods for blessings, and for working to create change around me. I can see situations where I might do both prayer AND magic for something.

Say, for example, I’m looking for a new job. In addition to doing the “fill out job applications and send them in” ritual, I might pray for the foresight to find openings around me, but I might also do magic to open new pathways and do strong sending magic on the applications before I mail them out/deliver them. Before an interview, I might pray for comfort and reduction in nerves, but also do some sympathetic magic to sweeten the relationship between myself and the interviewer, so that I make the most favorable reaction. I’d be doing divination around all of this to determine if something is the right path for me going forward, or to help me see the unseen in a new situation.

Ideally, I’d be using my own will and the power I can raise myself to direct change, and asking for additional power and blessings to aid that work from the Gods. They may choose not to aid me, but I am still the one initiating the work, and still the one ultimately responsible for the outcome. This seems very different than asking the Gods to fix or change something for me.

Which comes down to my interactions with the COoR.

The Core Order of Ritual is a devotional format designed to enact the basic “magic” of Druidry – the *ghosti relationship of offerings and blessings. There’s a section in the end, after the receiving of blessings, where there’s a note that “any magical workings should be conducted here”.

If I’m honest, I find that a little disruptive so far. The state of mind that I enter to devote my time, prayer, praise, and offerings to the Kindreds is not the same state of mind that I enter to work magic. Maybe I’ve just not experienced the true energy of a well-done COoR rite yet (which is possible, I’ve only experienced my own), but I find that I’m wanting to work magic in a different context. Not even that I’m looking to cast circles and do Neopagan like magic. More like I’m interested in Traditional Witchcraft type magic, with sympathetic magic and symbols and sigils and herbs and candles and lots of home-grown energy sent out in the direction of some change.

As a solitary Druid, I’m working my own magic on my own time and schedule, so I can do that magic separately or in a ritual as I so desire. However, I don’t know how well a very personal magical working would go in a large group setting like a Grove. Magic works best when it is focused and well-directed, and a congregational style setting isn’t really one where I see getting focused and well-directed results, even in a group with the best intentions. It’s hard enough with a small coven of Witches who are all used to working together and who are well briefed on the imagery and chants and symbols beforehand! The advantage of a group is that you can tap into more energy, but without good focus and an agreed upon, specifically defined result, you get fuzzy magic. And fuzzy magic makes for fuzzy results.

Maybe this is possible in a small Druid setting more than it would be in a more congregational style grove ritual. I imagine there are both types of gatherings, just as there are in any community-oriented religion. That still means separating magic from the COoR though. (And there’s no rule that you have to use the COoR all the time either, so maybe my focus on that is unnecessary.)

So how does this all fit together into Druidry? Do I just separate my magic from my prayer and devotional rituals, since I see them as different things, or is there a new kind of magic I need to learn, a kind that fits into the COoR better?

Obviously a balanced practice has both prayer and magic, and I want to think there’s room for both in Druidry. I’m just having trouble finding the place where magic fits.

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Secret Druid Tip

Posted in Secret Agent Druid, tagged , , , , , on November 10, 2012| 1 Comment »

From the ADF-Dedicants list this week:

Some of us make our offerings while standing at the elevator pouring part of our cup of water into a nearby potted plant

If you’re a Druid in the Office like I am, here’s a little way to honor the Nature Spirits around you, even if they’re little Office Nature Spirits.

There are two plants in my immediate cubicle, plus a number of assorted low-light plants around the office. I could make a little splash of water in offering to them pretty much unnoticed, and it would take me awhile to visit them all. Just one more creative way to bring Druidry into the mundane aspects of life.

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Ogham Reading: Ancestors

Posted in Ogham, tagged , , , , , , on November 9, 2012| 4 Comments »

Recently I’ve noticed a trend of pulling the Iodhadh few in a number of readings. Iodhadh is the ogham for Yew, and can mean a number of things. It’s the “death” few (in the Celtic sense of death and rebirth more than the “you’re gonna die” sense), but it can also stand for the Ancestors.

That’s been the interpretation I’ve felt more often – that I need to be listening to the wisdom of the Ancestors. So yesterday I did a reading specifically to ask them what their guidance was. I lit incense and a candle as offerings, said a small prayer, and asked what wisdom they had for me, what perspective they thought I needed to know.

This was the result:

  • Iodhadh (again) – Yew – Ancestors, Death and Rebirth, Transformation
  • Fern – Alder – Protection, guidance
  • Luis – Rowan – Magical protection, beauty and delight

Persevere in your transformation and allow yourself to be reborn; we will protect and guide you to a place of magic and safety.

Perhaps I should be reading more as “death and rebirth and transformation” then. I suppose that’s pretty clear. (I almost get the feeling of “No, you moron, we mean death and rebirth. Really!”) The Dedicant Path is nothing if not a path of transformation. I’m hesitant to call this a reading that confirms I’m where I’m supposed to be, but internally I feel this was a reassuring sort of reading (as reassuring as it can be to get “Death”). Sort of a “stick with it and we’ll help you” message that is nice to get when you’re in the middle of things.

I also need to make myself some ogham flash cards. I’m still having to look up most of the fews. I know that will get better as I get more used to reading with them, but I could stand to speed up the process!

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High Holy Day: Samhain

Posted in Dedicant Path Essays, Seasonal Things, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 6, 2012| 5 Comments »

This is the first of my High Holy Day essays for the DP, and addresses the November Holiday.

Samhain is one of the cross-quarter “fire” festivals in the Celtic hearth culture and is often celebrated as the beginning of the Neopagan new year. (In a society where the next day starts at sunset, the next year starts at “sundown” in the fall.)

This is the time of year when the veils between this world and the Otherworld are thinnest. I’ve heard it said that at Beltaine we go to the Otherworld, and at Samhain the Otherworld comes here to us. It’s a time of remembering the dead of the last year, as well as all of the Ancestors and Mighty Dead, and many celebrations  focus on the thinning of the veils and the presence of the dead among us. Dead feasts are common, where the evening’s supper is set with an extra plate for the dead, or where food is left on the table over night, and a fire left burning in the hearth, so the departed dead can enjoy the comforts of life for one last celebration.

For those in the Celtic hearth, the meeting of the Daghda and the Morrigan is sometimes brought to mind, the interaction between life and sex and death, and the role of the Gods in the fates of man and battles. Also at this time, Donn, the God of the Underworld and the Land of the Dead is honored, as is the Cailleach Bheur, the Grandmother Hag and Queen of Winter, who comes with the onset of the cold and may represent the Ancients. Tales sometimes mention the first frost as specifically hers, and though I live in a place where we rarely get any frost at all (most years it doesn’t ever freeze here), I find that on cool fall mornings, I can feel her energy and the energy of the waning world.

Of course, this is also the time of the final harvest. The last of the ‘harvest’ festivals in the Neopagan calendar, Samhain is the hunting harvest, when livestock were slaughtered in preparation for winter, since it’s now cold enough for the meat to be preserved or frozen without spoiling. All the food for winter is gathered in, and the year draws to a close. While it is a time of preparation, it’s also a time of plenty, and a good time to share our bounty with the Ancestors and our beloved dead, now when there is a store of food to share.

I’ve always loved fall as a liminal season. It feels like a time out of time, between summer and winter and between life and death. There is, of course, death in the fall, but also the promise of rebirth (both with pregnant animals and with crops that must freeze in the ground to germinate in the spring). I find that I’m drawn to store up for winter, even in the age of 24-hour Mega Mart stores and living in a place that doesn’t have much of a “fall” (or a “winter” really). It’s as though, deep in my bones, I know winter is coming and I should be prepared. I also love that it’s finally cool enough to cook warm, comforting, sustaining food.

I love the secular celebration of Halloween too, but I separate that from what is sacred about this time of year. There is a kernel of truth in gearing up for one last hurrah before winter, and playing dress up in costumes is just plain fun. And I can eat candy without feeling the least bit bad about it. Plus the spooks and witches and ghosts and jack-o-lanterns are just a time of fun, good friends, and good memories for me. I often make a really adorable batch of vampire-bitten cupcakes. But the secular Halloween has little to do with the liminal, sacred Samhain, and I enjoy that I get to celebrate both.

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DP – Week 1-ish

Posted in Dedicant Path, tagged , , , , , on November 5, 2012| 1 Comment »

It’s technically been 3 weeks since I started my first steps on the Dedicant Path, but since this is my first week with the Wheel of the Year program (and my first week blogging about it), here are the first week questions that are posed to the newly starting Dedicant.

Why have you chosen to take the first steps on the Dedicant Path?

Because I want to learn if Druidry is for me. I’ve recently left a British Traditional Wicca Coven where I was a student and apprentice for initiation. The reasons for leaving are complicated, but we parted ways on a mutually positive note. I don’t know if I will ever be able to seek the initiation that I so very much (still) want, but I know that path isn’t meant to be mine for now. Instead, I am going to do some real seeking, which requires doing work, to see if this path of Druidry will be where I am meant to be.

Is this a step on your path, or will it become the Path itself?

I don’t know yet. I’m not sure if the Druid path is the one that I will walk forever or just one that I will walk for awhile and then move on. I’m still feeling like the label “Witch” fits better than the label “Druid” (which I assume will change as I do more Druid things). I do know that I want to take this step, and that I think I will grow in my spirituality, regardless of my eventual outcome.

What do you expect to learn?

I expect to learn a little bit about a lot of things, and hopefully a lot about Druidry and a lot about myself and what I value and get out of a spiritual practice.

What would you like to get out of this journey?

Knowledge of Druidry, a deepened connection with the Kindreds (which I’ve always worshiped, but not under that name), and a better connection with myself as a spiritual being.

Do you know where this path will take you?

I don’t, and that’s exciting and fun. I don’t know what the end result will be. Maybe I’ll be called to the clergy. Maybe I’ll go on and become an initiate of ADF. Maybe I’ll do the dedicant path and decide to go back to practicing solitary witchcraft. I don’t know, but I bet I’m in for a really interesting journey.

If you have just joined ADF, why have you chosen to work on this immediately?

I’ve lurked on the ADF page for about 6 months, reading a lot and trying things. If I’m honest, I joined ADF specifically to start the DP. I want to know if this will be the right path for me, and I figure the best way to know that is to do it for awhile.

Does it look hard or easy?

Deceptively both hard and easy. I think things that look hard often end up making sense after awhile, and things that look easy can surprise you. I’m trying to keep an open mind about this whole experience, and not worry about the things that will come later on.

Which requirements look difficult to you now, and which appear to be easy?

Writing about things is easy for me, as is reading and doing book reports. Keeping up a meditation practice may or may not be easy, as I’m already a semi-regular meditator, but I am used to having down times where I don’t meditate as much, and I’ll need to practice at least weekly for 5 months to get credit. Also, consistently writing down my thoughts about it isn’t my strongest point, which I’m hoping will be easier with this blog. I also am hoping that the blog, in combination with the WotY program, will help keep me from doing too much, too quickly and burning out (or losing interest when it becomes work). A little accountability is a good thing.

Do you have doubts, questions, or concerns that you need to ask about?

Having done my first rituals and wondered if the connection would be there, I am placing my trust in the idea that practice begets belief, and that rituals can become habits that are spiritually nourishing. I’m looking for a spirituality that will nourish and sustain me and the Earth on which I live. I’m also a little worried that it will be hard for me to put aside my Witch training and fully embrace Druidry. I’m trying very hard to evaluate it on its own merits, and not for how it compares to what I already know.

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Book Review: Puhvel’s Comparative Mythology

Posted in Dedicant Path Essays, tagged , , , , , , on November 4, 2012| 2 Comments »

This book review is part of the requirements for the reading list for the Dedicant Path. It intends to fulfill the requirement for the Indo-European Studies title.

To start with, this is a dense book. It’s not light reading, and though Puhvel clearly has a sense of humor, the tag on the Recommended Reading list as “Post Graduate” reading level is accurate. There were several times through the course of the book where I felt rather like a student who had decided to skip the prerequisites for an upper level class. I’m not put off by academic writing, and I’m glad to have gotten through it, but it was definitely a bit thick in spots.

Puhvel sets out at the beginning to discuss a brief history of what he calls “metamythology” – the study of how we study myths. This foundation of the study of mythology put his book into context, as well as showing how the archaeological and anthropological Indo-European studies have impacted how we look at what are now known as the I-E myths. Instead of simply cataloging myths in their various cultures, the search is for the proto-myths to go with the proto-language. Puhvel argues that “the datum itself is more important than any theory that may be applied to it” (p. 19) and that we should be wary of overemphasizing the generalist, universalist, and overly historical aspects of myths, instead taking them independently for what they are. Myth needs no specific nature, function, or purpose, instead it should be examined as it functions in individual and societal situations, and compared as such.

Taking this as his method, Puhvel then discusses in the various creation myths in the Ancient Near East, introducing the idea of mythic diffusion – the spread, interaction, and conglomeration of myths both vertically in time and laterally across cultures (p. 22). He establishes a three-generational pattern of “overthrow, usurpation, succession, challenge, and consolidation” (p. 24) that are common across many of the ancient Near Eastern myths.

After this, Puhvel concludes the Directions section of his book with an examination of what, exactly, the terms Indo-European and Indo-Iranian actually mean, discussing some of the history and cultural relationships that form the language groups these myths belonged to. Of particular interest was his discussion on how certain cultures ended up being better at preserving myths than others, specifically those who were not exposed to strong outside cultures and who had a strong priestly class – the brahmins in India, high priesthood in Iran, the pontifical and flaminical colleges in Rome, and the druids of ancient Gaul and Britain (p. 38). These cultures in particular come up again and again throughout the book as having major myths that compare to one another.

In the second section of Comparative Mythology, Puhvel sets out to explain, briefly, the myth cycles of Vedic India, Epic India, Ancient Iran, Epic Iran, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Celtic Myth, Germanic Myth, and Baltic and Slavic Myth. In each of these chapters, beginning with the Vedic foundation, he sets up the basic social structure (almost always tripartite – priests, warriors/kings, producers/farmers/craftsmen) and the gods that go along with each of those social strata.

He examines these myths in a mostly chronological fashion, which puts Vedic India at the forefront, as the oldest recorded culture in the Indo-European group. This ended up being more than a little confusing for someone with limited prior experience in Vedic mythology. Though I’ve read the Ramayana, the Bhagavad Gita, and parts of the Mahabarata, it was apparently long enough ago that I really struggled with the comparisons between myths, since the general basis was always assumed to be Vedic, and I had trouble keeping my Verunas and Vrtras straight. However, as I continued reading (with notes), I ended up better understanding those myths as I got to the sections delineating the myth cycles I was more familiar with (Greece, Rome, Celtic, Norse), both due to repetition and to having a framework I could understand references in.

In the final section, Themes, Puhvel takes a more expanded view of five recurring themes across major sections of the Indo-European cultures: God and Warrior, King and Virgin, Horse and Ruler, Fire in Water, and Twin and Brother. Each of these myths ends up being foundational to the cultures involved, specifically how their three-part social setup is reflected in the myths around respective gods. For example, God and Warrior is a theme directly related to the conflict seen in society because “order, security, and peace […] tend to depend for their preservation on the readiness of something that is inherently destructive” (p. 241). This essential cultural conflict is reflected in the great heroes, who end up as “pawns in divine infighting” (p. 247), burdened by their fate to commit crimes against the cultures in which they live. This warrior saga is portrayed in the Scandinavian (Starcatherus), Indic (Sisupala) and Greek (Herakles) myths, with each having traits of the greater proto-myth while still maintaining ties to the unique cultures in which they originated.

Overall, I’m glad to have read Comparative Mythology, though I don’t know that I will pick it up again in a hurry for light reading. It is a very strong reference for the ways these myths tie together, but that is a double edged sword in the search for a hard polytheistic religion. It would be easy, having read this, to assume that Dyaus, Zeus, and Jupiter are the same god, all descended from *Dyews, when a hard polytheist looks to place those different gods within their respective cultures as individuals with specific worship preferences. Also, Puhvel occasionally stretches his connections a bit far, at least to my relatively inexperienced mind, which may simply mean I need to re-read the book to really understand all the references (and read several other books on mythology first).

Still, the book is extremely successful at laying out the ties between these far-flung but related cultural groups, and Puhvel is extensive (occasionally excessive) at showing the linguistic ties that underlie the similarities in the stories. Puhvel sets out to show the connections between these seemingly diverse mythological cycles, and he does so admirably.

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Druid Steps

Posted in General Things, tagged , , , , , , on November 2, 2012| 1 Comment »

Welcome to the Swamp!

I’m a freshly minted Druid working slowly on the Dedicant Path (hereafter the DP) as my first steps and my “guide” to ADF style Druidry. I’ve been involved in various Neo-Pagan and traditional Wicca groups (though not initiated) for the last ten years, but as things didn’t work out there, I found myself going to the ADF Website again and again. A few weeks ago, after lurking for six months, I figured it was time to just jump in and see where it got me. While I’m much more comfortable with myself as a Pagan or a Witch, I’m curiously exploring this Druid label as a new path going forward.

I’ve done a few basic rituals – the Dedicant Manual has several “first step” rituals that I’ve done, including the first full blessing rite, and then did a full Core Order of Ritual (hereafter COoR) ritual for Samhain to kick off my Dedicant’s Year. I’m currently working in the Celtic hearth culture, just since that’s where I’ve worked previously, but I’m open to change there as I encounter the various Gods of the Indo-European cultures. Samhain provided the opportunity to start off my Dedicant year of Druidry in what I hope will be an auspicious time, being that it’s the new year.

I also set up a ADF-ritual-capable home shrine, but that’s the subject of another post!

I think I’ll end up liking the COoR once I get used to it. I certainly like reading the rituals, and I memorize things pretty quickly, so hopefully I’ll be able to get things to flow a little better than they did on my first go around. Doing a Samhain ritual so spur of the moment meant I had to improvise a bit with offerings, which I hope won’t happen at Yule.

I’ve been taking my offering bowl outside to pour it into one of my gardens after ritual, and each time I’ve seen something that’s made me think I am doing the right thing. The first blessing ritual I did had an enormous monarch butterfly out in the butterfly bushes (I have a bee and butterfly garden), and after my Samhain ritual I found a toad! Granted that’s only twice, but it’s nice to see the land spirits giving me a little bit of feedback. I’m pretty plugged in to my “bit of earth” here, since I garden and leave offerings outside often.

I’m a relatively proficient Tarot reader, and I’m attempting to learn the Ogham (using a number of resources). I’ve not seen a lot of references to Tarot with the ADF website, but a lot of people seem to be keen on the Runes and Ogham, so I figure it’s worth a shot. I’m generally up for learning in general, and having two divination methods in my bag of tricks seems like it’ll be useful regardless.

As for what to expect here? I’ll probably post some of my Dedicant Path essays, plus whatever happens to pop into my head that relates to living as a modern Neo-Pagan (Druid).

I hope you like what you see, and that you will come and sit a spell, have a root beer, and generally talk shop, as we attempt to forge whatever paths we’re all on in the world.

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