A Look back at the 1st Year of the 2nd Age of the Reformed Druids

 

 

Saturday, February 02, 2008

The past year has been a remarkable and progressive one for the Reform. Looking back to the beginning of
this 2nd Age of the Reform, we saw the birth of a new Goddess, and the birth of a new vision of Reformed Druidism one that sees the preservation and restoration of the Earth Mother as our primary mission.  We’ve seen a record number of new members join, and several new Groves have sprung up. We also saw a lot of criticism, but that is to be expected.

So-called “Reconstructionist Druids”think we’re not Celtic enough that we don’t emphasize studying the ancient Celts enough. I wonder how much time the ancient Druids spent studying the Celts? I’ll bet not much at all. If at all. And in the midst of a global environmental crisis, is such study really worth our time?

What will we say to our children and grandchildren?
“Sorry little Dalon. We were busy learning Gaelic and didn’t take time to lobby congress to do something about global warming. Maybe you can find a new planet?”

I also have to wonder about people who emphasize Celticity too much. The Celts were one ancient people out of many. Yes, I admire their art and culture, music and language. But I don’t believe they are superior
to any other race or culture on the planet. I read once, to my great embarrassment, that the Ku Klux Klan believed, at one time anyway, that theirs was a reconstruction of Celtic culture. That they adopted the white robes, the Celtic cross and, burn tthe cross as a substitution for the wicker man. Or so some of their early leaders believed. I certainly don’t want to be compared to the Klansmen, and I think groups like the so-called”Sinnsreachdaidhean” need to take care lest they be accused of espousing white supremacism under the guise of “Celtic Heathen Revivalism” (those who claim that theirs is “the only true Druidism” are already on the path of hate).

I think the new age of the Reform will reflect the original values of the founders of the Reform, but on a more global scale. This means universal acceptance (if you say you are a Druid, than you are one) of
Druids no matter what their ethnicity, their religious upbringing, their sexual orientation, their race, their language, etc.

I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again:

We are one people on this Earth. We cannot separate ourselves from each other without separating ourselves from the Earth Mother. We have to take responsibility for each other. If one is sick, or hungry or homeless, ALL are affected by  their misfortune. Druids should be on the front lines of the soup kitchens, the welfare offices, the food banks, and the homeless shelters. We should be lobbying Congress and the United Nations for and end to all wars, all poverty, all hunger. We should be lobbying Congress for higher minimum wages, for universal health care, for universal access to good schools,including higher education. We should be insisting that the global trend towards deforestationbe stopped. That alternate forms of building materials be utilized and new ones
found. That
alternate forms of energy be legislated into use. We Druids are the ones who need to set an
example and do the ultra-recycling, and drive the economy cars, or take public transportation.
We need to be the ones who will encourage science and technology to make Green technologies a priority. Our communities need to be the ones that utilize wind, and solar and hydrogen power.

In other words, we Druids need to be activists, who stand against the old, corporate polluting ways of doing business for the sake of profits alone, and stand for an economic model that puts the needs of
people, and of the Earth Mother herself, before the needs of stockholders.In this, the beginning of the second year of the second age of the Druid Reform, we need to believe in ourselves, and take upon ourselves the challenge:

We can change the world.