D is for Druid

I am a Druid.  It might seem like a simple statement, but it's been a very long and complicated journey for me: through Buddhism, Taoism, other Eastern religions; through Wicca, vague nature-religion, on and on and on.  Not that I'm condemning seekers; on the contrary, I think that spending some time seeking is an essential part of one's spiritual life.  Some are happy never to settle down.  But after a year with ADF Druidism, I really feel as if I have found a place to settle down.

Though I don't have a Grove near me, I still am able to connect to other Druids through the Solitary Druid and the liturgy they write.  But ADF is different for all of its members, and today I'd like to enumerate on what Druidry means to me.

Like many followers of Earth-centered religions; I have always felt drawn to nature and the natural world.  My grandmother taught me a great respect for the world around us: she would take me camping often, instilling an incredible love and awe for nature.  She is a firm Christian, but believes that God expresses His majesty through his creation; and she passed on that love to me (though not the love of her God ;) ).  I also grew up with a love of classical mythology and JRR Tolkien's fantasy of a more rural, more connected world where beauty in nature is highly valued.  The trees are alive with thoughts and spirits; and I have carried this animistic view through my life.

I am a Druid because I believe that there are Nature spirits all around me that are worthy and deserving of respect.  I am a Druid because I honor my ancestors believe their spirits have left a mark on both the land and myself.  I am a Druid because I don't know if the Gods and Goddesses are real, and I'm not sure that it matters.  I worship them as if they are, because it accomplishes my ultimate goal of closeness with those things that matter to me: the land, the waters, the sky.

I am an ADF Druid because I find value in tradition and common liturgy.  I respond well to structure, when given plenty of room to be who I am within that structure.  I am not a reconstructionist, and I am not only an Earth-centered spiritual person.  I am an ADF Druid, part of a living tradition that is both old and new.