30 Days of Druidism – Foundations: Cosmology

What is my place in this world?  Where does my tribe belong?

The answer?  Not hard.

We were born of the ancestors, the wise ones of blood, heart, and place.  The ancestors share their wisdom and lore.  The ancestors inspire us.  The ancestors teach us what is and isn’t worthy.

The ancestors were born of the Gods. The Gods, beyond human death, flow with ever-growing wisdom.  They are the keepers of secret knowledge. They share their blessings with the honorable.  They smile upon the hospitable, generous, pious, moderate, and loyal.  They love the courageous, curious, and talented.  They teach us like a master smith shapes metal.

The Nature Spirits were born of the Gods.  We are the brothers and sisters of the Nature Kin and must give them their due respect.  We walk, run, dig, swim, fly, hop, crawl, slither, and grow upon the Earth Mother,together, united in the sacred dance of life and death.  We are the hunters and hunted alike.

We grow under the sky…

We grow surrounded by sea…

Above us the Upperworld…

Below us the Underworld…

We are of the middle world with our brothers and sisters.

When I go to the grove – when I go to my altar – I remember the order of things.  I light the sacred fire to remember all sacred fires.  I silver the well to remember all sacred wells.

They are the sources of life, community, civilization, art, healing, inspiration, magic, passion, cleansing, and transformation.  They belong to my lady, Brighid.  They are to be honored and respected.  Though a source of our humanity, they are full of the chaotic potential for destruction. They may rain upon us, drown us, swallow us…

Life…death…life…death…  That is the way of things.

When I go to the grove – when I go to my altar – I remember the order of things.  I make offerings to the tree, the bíle, an ancient fellow in the middle realm who reaches to the Upper and Lower Worlds.  The tree connects us to the realms.  It shares with us food, shelter, and, if you listen, wisdom.  Honor the trees and tread lightly in their realms!

Look to the tree and know your place in the world.  Sky above, Earth below, Sea around.

I am a Druid, a child of fire, water, and tree.  I am a Druid, a lover of the Nature, Ancestors, and Gods.

I know this is late…  This will probably turn out to be the “Dispersed, Random 30 Days of Druidism.”  I also toyed with the idea of writing more of a theoretical explanation for why I do what I do – something based on lore, historical records, and archaeology…  But that is done so much. Furthermore, there is little known on the origins of Celtic myth.  We do not have a Theogony or a Genesis.  Much of our cosmology is UPG or based on bits and pieces of lore, archaeology, history…  I decided to write a narrative of sorts… If you want to know more about the whys, I encourage you to look through the articles of Ár nDraíocht Féin, the CR FAQ, IMBAS, as well as such texts as Cath Maige Tuired,  Táin Bó Cúalnge, etc…