Druidry and Other Important Topics

Welcome to "The Gods Are Bored," where we write about religion, politics, and upholstery care. On the latter subject, this has not been a good week. The cat became ill on the armchair. Devastating!

A few years ago I switched religions. I had been raised in a religion and knew its written canon fairly well. What I knew appalled me and was no small reason for my departure from that religion.

So I became a Druid. There is no Bible of Druidry, although there are many books about the theology and practice of the faith.

I've decided not to read any of them. This is just me personally, but I find that if I read religious doctrine, I start poking holes in it. The not-so-nice way of putting it is that I'm critical. "But what about..." is my favorite sentence-starter.

There are several parts of Druidry that appeal to a person like me.

1. The ancient Druids did not write anything down, hence no ancient dogma that must factor into modern human relationships.

2. Druidry invites study of just about anything that relates to the natural world, including botany, animal husbandry, weather (a huge FAVE with me), etc. So it's a good match for a person who is scientifically inclined. At the same time, many sorts of divination and magick are available for study in Druidry, all done by personal choice instead of requirement.

3. Rituals are conducted out of doors, in all weathers and all seasons. I find this appealing because Nature is much grander than anything a human can build, and because no one is asking me to pledge to a building fund so we can get better stained windows and a coffee bar in the fellowship hall.

4. The poems and stories associated with the ancient Celtic people are dramatic and romantic and, at least compared to the Christian Bible, far less gory (although not completely gore-less).

5. There are Goddesses.

6. There are faeries.

Sunday I went to an Imbolc ritual. The ritual itself lasted about 30 minutes, but those of us who came out into the woods stood there talking for two hours. We stood because the picnic tables were crusted with ice. But the fact is, we stood talking for two hours. On our feet. and two of us have had surgery on our legs this year.

Then we went out to lunch and talked for another hour. The topics ranged far and wide, from shenanigans at Ren Faires and Fairy Festivals to books read, to stories being written, to plans being hatched, to plans coming to fruition, and to the glorious weather. This is not Bible study, it's World Immersion, with approval from the bored gods.

Now. On to the important stuff. Does anyone know how to get cat vomit stains out of chintz?