In writing Tuesday’s blog, I came across a realization that explains a lot of issues I have had over the past year with my own Druidry.

I slid into my ‘Druid peacemaker bullshit’ role and set about trying to be everything for everybody. And that shit just isn’t going to work. Fact of the matter, that shit is going to get me hurt or to be even more dramatic – killed. Instead of trying to live up to some romanticized aspect of what Druidry is, I need to start living up to how Druidry fits into Tommy. Druidry doesn’t get to dictate my concepts of boundaries, safety, and discretion – I do.

As I have been reading up on Druidry from so many different perspectives, I started to fall for the romanticized archetypes of what a Druid is. The images of Getafix from Asterix the Gaul, Merlin from any of the Arthurian tales, the idea that Druids are essentially the Priests of their communities….all of that served to create mental images of how I should be trying to shape my own Spiritual Path. And those mental images have served to set my feet slightly off the Path that I am trying to walk. I am no Getafix. I am hardly any kind of Merlin in whatever Arthurian dream that has or will come along. As a Druid, I am me – Tommy. For me to try and be anything else, is just disingenuous.

Part of what I am getting at with this is that your Druidry studies are about finding you. Not locating some “Merlin” inside you. Not discovering a hidden “Getafix” hidden back somewhere behind your spleen. Druidry is about making you into the best “you” that can be shaped through its framework. You don’t live inside Druidry. Druidry lives inside you. I would also hold that this goes for any system of mysteries and study that you can find. The idea is not to make you into something that you’re not, but to discover what is inside you already and highlighting that in a positive manner that works best for you.

As I noted, Druidry doesn’t get to dictate who and what I am – I do. Druidry informs me of things I may not have been aware of. In that manner, Druidry helps me to shape my perspective on some topics. Druidry also helps me to be aware of perspectives that I may not have considered. Druidry, for me, is about finding my connections to the world around me – not defining those connections. That is still up to me.

But here’s what Druidry is not to me. Druidry does not tell me how to be me. Druidry does not make me a Priest. It can be helpful in getting to that point, but it’s not going to turn me into something I really am not. Druidry does not dictate how I approach issues that I come across in the world around me. Druidry does not force me to abandon my own boundaries, my own perception of safety nor dictate what shape my discretion may take. All of that is maintained, managed and determined by me. Druidry does not get to turn me into something that I am not. Period. End of story.

In a manner of speaking this is me placing boundaries on what my Druidry does and does not do for me. Another area that I have had to reconsider my perspective on is magick use. I have discussed this before in the post (link to previous post here). So, in a manner of speaking, I have been doing a lot of rethinking about where my Druidry has me at this point. Much of that rethinking has me backtracking in my Ovate studies. Yes, that sounds like a bad thing, but it’s not. This is allowing me to go back over what I had previously gone through and see what changes in my mindset there may be. But I am also acutely aware that much of my thinking and thought processes may be antithetical to what others believe about their Druidry. However, that fits well with the way I see Druidry studies. When you study Druidry, you learn the ritual patterns, the chants, the words of wisdom – just the same as everyone else. But its application is individual. How it fits into your life is your business. You get to dictate how it fits and matters to your life. It’s as simple as that.

An individualistic approach. That is precisely how I see things working. Every individual studying Druidry will be their own type of Druid. As an example, some will strictly be Bards. Some will be singers. Some will be musicians. Some will be poets. Some will be storytellers. Some will be artists of so very many different stripes. But regardless of the type of Bard that they wind up being…they are still individuals. They are not the same. They let their Druidry be a part of them in a manner that befits them – not to fulfill some silly, romantic archetype. They are the type of Bard that they are, the type of Druid that they are because it fits them. They allow their Druidry to fit them, not letting themselves trying to fit some archetype.

So, if you are thinking of studying Druidry – or any other mystery school or any Spiritual tradition – remember that whatever it is, it needs to fit you. You should not have to shoehorn yourself into some Path’s archetypes. You should be finding ways for your Spirituality to fit inside of you. When you begin to lose who you are, the benefit of your Spiritual Path will wind up being shit and useless for you. In that vein, I will leave only one law that I have when it comes to one’s personal Spirituality – be who you are. Change for the right reasons. But never compromise who you are when doing so. You will be far happier in the end, in my opinion.

–T /|\