Finding Oneself

This is the hardest thing I have ever set out to do. Trying to find out who and what you is not easy. There are so many blind alleys, wrong turns, dead ends that sometimes it is hard to keep going. I know that I have thought about giving up more than once. Not only is it not easy, you find things out about yourself that you don't like. Sometimes, even things you had forgotten. Then, there are the things that you sometimes wish you could change because they make your life harder. Many of these are things you cannot change, they are a part of who you really are.

There is so much beneath the surface of most people, it's a shame that it often goes undetected. Even more so because it is not even realized by the people themselves.It is difficult and time consuming and can be very scary at times. You can dig up some stuff from your past you'd have thought better left buried. Not really the best place for it, it can't be dealt with if it remains buried. Sometimes, you have to dig up old hurts and treat them or they can make things worse for you.

And then there can be problems if who you are doesn't fit with society. When you have to hide who you are because to do otherwise can make your life even harder. Or possibly have someone end your life because who you are is offensive to them.

"Natural"

Natural, it means good right?  Nothing that is natural can be bad for you?  I cringe every time I hear someone say that it's good for you because it's natural, or it has no side effects because it's natural. Pagans and people who eat organic food are the biggest perpetrators of this myth, and it is a very dangerous one at that. Don't get me wrong, I prefer organic food and would rather use 'natural' remedies; I just don't automatically assume that just because something is natural means that it won't hurt me. Maybe it's the allergies, perhaps it's my chemistry knowledge, or possibly it is because I like playing with rose bushes with my bare hands.

There are two thoughts that jump immediately into my mind when I hear someone say that because it's 'natural' it's safe. Those are, arsenic is perfectly natural and will kill you, followed by belladonna is natural and, while it is used as a medicine, it will kill you. If you aren't careful, Nature will hurt you, or possibly kill you.

And the argument that being gay isn't 'natural' never seemed right to me. For one thing, there are animals who are gay. I'm thinking about the two gay penguins in the New York zoo who raised a chick. Another is that we humans do a lot of things that are 'unnatural'. What I mean there is, that it's not unnatural, but even if it were, it still wouldn't matter. We get too hung up on certain types of natural that we ignore others and at times, I think we forget that nature does not care about us the way we would like to think it does.

Finally, the First Principle

Sorry about being so erratic, that will change. It has taken me some time to sort myself out some, but I will now post more regularly. Hoping to post the first Monday of every month, and maybe try for a second post during the month as well.

The First Principle: The inherent worth and dignity of every person. This one a big one, like the seventh. Without this one, there is no community. Humans have struggled with and against this idea for millennia. With each battle over civil rights, we get a little closer to realizing it. I am not sure that we could ever actually attain this; it is a goal to strive for, not a destination to arrive. To have this goal means that we are on a path to better ourselves, and if we take that seriously, we will improve everyday. We might not gain much on any single day, and it may look like we are not going anywhere, but after we look back at how we have changed, we will see it.

Druidry, I think, has inherited something like this from Neo-paganism. Because pagans are so diverse and different from the overculture, we don't like to exclude people just because they are different from us. Also, we are small enough, that for our very survival we cannot turn people away without good reason. This goes deeper, though. We respect all of nature, and we see ourselves as part of nature. How can we not respect the inherent worth and dignity of everyone?

This one ties in very closely with the Seventh principle. The Seventh is about respecting all of nature. This one is about respecting a subset of nature. The principles always seemed to me to build on one another and several increase the scale where it operates. You start out with one person, build up to groups of people, then it is groups of groups, and finally all of creation.

Like many things in nature, the principles are circular. You start at one end and circle round till you end up right back where you started. Each is a foundation for the rest with the others building on it. They are similar, but not the same, as many ideas, morals, virtues, etc in paganism. We are all heading to the same place, though our paths there are different.

The Second Principle is justice, equity and compassion in human relations. With acceptance of others, I think compassion comes naturally. As we learn about each other, we start to realize how interconnected we all really are. Then we see how justice and equity for all humans benefits us.

Druids realize that we are all connected. What we do to one, we do to ourselves. If we don't treat with compassion, we will not be treated with compassion.

Third Principle

I really think this is an interesting way of looking at the principles. They line up a bit differently.

Acceptance of one another and encouragement to spiritual growth in our congregations. This one does seem on the surface to be very UU specific. Perhaps they should change the wording very slightly, as I will for this post. To make it more inclusive, I will simply change that last word to community. As Pagans, we should should strive to accept others as they are, especially if we want them to accept us how we are. I

What does this mean? I think it means that we should allow people to be who and what they are. There are, of course, limitations to this. I am not about to advocate that a mass murderer should be allowed to run free. It is more to do with allowing others to run their lives as they want, so long as they are not hurting others or themselves. It also means that we should help others on their path. This could be simply talking about yours, not trying to convert, merely giving information. It could be deciding to take someone to spiritual place that is different for both of you and comparing notes afterward.

This one reminds me a lot of the fourth principle. We need to be free to think for ourselves and allow others to have the same freedom. It is another one that stresses community. I think we have lost community recently. Many think it is because technology changed us. I don't think so. It does make it easier, but it was us who decided to forgo community.

How does this play into druidry?

Druids historically have been teachers, healers, and priests. Today, they are mentors, teachers, and seekers. Seeking and helping others along their paths. UU's also like to learn and share and help others. Both groups are very similar in these respects.

Fourth Principle

One of these days, I will post on time.

Now, on to one of my favourites. A free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

Part of this one is to allow everyone to search out his or her own path. UU's seem to follow this one very religiously. As do druids. Every druid I've seen has her own way of practising. Both groups have some core bits that define their paths, and they allow for many variations on the theme.

The other part is the hard part, responsibility. You are responsible for how your views affect others. Not only is it hard, many ignore it. This is also why I take issue with libertarian ism. There are some aspects of it that are good, like not forcing people to conform. It, and much of modern American culture, unfortunately don't take how things affect others into account. It is all about the individual doing what he or she wants. If it negatively affects someone else, that is that someone's problem.

This is related in many ways to the principles about community and interconnectedness. When we search for truth and meaning, we have to think about how our beliefs will affect others. Some beliefs, say the number of gods you believe, don't affect anyone but yourself. However, there are belies, the ones about how we interact with the world and with others, that influence how we treat others. This is where we need to take responsibility for our beliefs.

Fifth principle: The right of conscience and the use of the democratic process within our congregations and in society at large.

This is one that I think doesn't really have a connection to druidry. It's not that druids are against using the democratic process; it is just something that does not come up. Many are single practitioners, so a democratic process isn't likely to be of much help with one voter. In a grove, I can see it being a good way to govern, though not always the best way to write a ritual. setting goals and deciding where to spend effort and money are more likely to be amenable to a vote. Allowing everyone to have a say increases ownership in the group and can, if done right, increase the cohesion.