Category: Abred

Thoughts from the Orthodox

Post author By Bogatyr
Post date May 30, 2021
8 Comments on Thoughts from the Orthodox

I’ve been following the writing of pagan writer Rhyd Wildermuth for a while, having originally seen his name mentioned by other bloggers. Of late, Rhyd seems to have been undergoing a shift in his thinking, and one of his recent posts – The Fires of Meaning – struck a chord, and helped me to clarify a train of thought about culture, faith, and why contemporary Druidry is seemingly so ineffective in responding to the catastrophe that is facing our society.

Since I expect pushback against some of the ideas I explore here, let’s be very clear from the outset: this is an exploration of how faith in general, and Druidry in particular, can help people cope during the collapse of Western society which is indicated by the scientific evidence available to us. If you believe that Western society is in fact likely to continue much as it is today, you don’t need to read this.

Tags Constantinople, Cultural Dimensions, Deacon Paul Siewers, Deep Adaptation, France, Geert Hofstede, Jem Bendell, Orthodox Church, Paul Kingsnorth, Rhyd Wildermuth, Rod Dreher, Russia, The Benedict Option, United Kingdom, United States

Abred Annwn Barddas Community Druidic Virtues Druidry Ethics Insight Iolo Morganwg Knowledge Learning Meditations Morality Reincarnation Theology Values Wisdom

The Loom of Life

In Welsh Druidry, we believe in reincarnation, and the gradual journey of the soul from Annwn, through untold incarnations in our own world of Abred, until it has become sufficiently wise to leave material incarnation behind and progress to Gwynfyd, the existence of purely spiritual life:

Abred Annwn Awen Barddas Bards Celts Community Creativity Culture Cymru - Wales Divination Druidic Virtues Druidry Druids Education Ethics Gorsedd Gwynfyd Insight Iolo Morganwg Knowledge Learning Meditations Morality Nature OBOD Ovates Reflections Reincarnation Religion The Druid Network Theology Three Branches Values Wisdom

Thoughts on Druidic belief and authority

Post author By Bogatyr
Post date March 13, 2021
No Comments on Thoughts on Druidic belief and authority

I wrote this as a contribution to a discussion that’s ongoing in the members’ forums of the Druid Network. Those are private, so I thought I might post it here so that a broader audience can read it and contribute their thoughts.

Tags Neal Stephenson, Sir Ken Robinson, TED Talks, The Diamond Age

Abred Annwn Awen Bards Deities Divination Druidic Virtues Druidry Druids Iolo Morganwg John Michael Greer Meditations Nature Ovates Reflections Religion Second Sight Theology Three Branches Values

Spiritual struggle and the way we frame the world

Post author By Bogatyr
Post date November 28, 2020
4 Comments on Spiritual struggle and the way we frame the world

I was recently reading a Substack article by Rod Dreher, a member of the Eastern Orthodox Church, which led me to this piece by David Bentley Hart. Hart talks about a man called Reuben, who he met many years ago in Lancaster, England. I haven’t read anything by Hart before; Dreher, though devout in his Christian faith, has a mystic aspect to his faith which often overlaps the Druidic worldview. Hart has this to say of Reuben:

Tags David Bentley Hart, Rod Dreher, The American Conservative

Abred Annwn Awen Bards Culture Cymru - Wales Druidic Virtues Druidry Druids Eisteddfod Gorsedd Iolo Morganwg OBOD Ovates Theology Three Branches Values Y Gymraeg - The Welsh Language

Gorsedd & Eisteddfod

The Gorsedd of the Bards of the Island of Britain, in public procession with banners:

In contemporary Druidry, we often find a number of Welsh words being used. Examples are Awen, Nwyfre, and Eisteddfod. They aren’t always used correctly, or properly understood. I’m getting ready to start writing a new series of posts about Iolo Morganwg’s achievements, Iolo the Ovate (I’ve already written a series on Iolo the Bard, and will eventually move on to Iolo the Druid). Before I can, though, I want to cover the difference between Gorsedd and Eisteddfod.

Abred Community Druidry Druids Values

Think Resilience online course: a review

Post author By Bogatyr
Post date May 1, 2020
No Comments on Think Resilience online course: a review

The Post-Carbon Institute has been raising awareness of energy-related policy issues since 2003. This is a critical task: our current way of life, which is based on cheap and abundant energy, is inevitably going to have to change, and change soon – because energy supplies are becoming scarcer, and ever more expensive (PDF). This isn’t because we’re running out of oil: it’s because discovering and extracting oil is becoming so expensive that a price high enough to keep oil companies in business is a price that’s too high for consumers to afford. If the price goes down, the producers go bust; if the price goes up, the consumers go bust. That’s where we are now, and for evermore, because there are no new sources of cheap oil.

Tags Post-Carbon Institute, Richard Heinberg

Abred Annwn Barddas Druidry Druids Gwynfyd Iolo Morganwg Reincarnation

Druids on the Silk Road

The folks behind the Balkan Celts blog recently posted a very, very interesting article: The Celtic Buddha.

The post discusses a stucco head discovered at an archaeological site in eastern Afghanistan. It represents a Celtic man, and is believed to have been sculpted from life – in other words, the artist knew a Celtic man who was on-site. In Afghanistan, possibly in the late Hellenistic age (when the area was conquered and settled by the armies of Alexander the Great), or possibly later, in the early Christian era.

Tags Afghanistan, Alexander the Great, Buddhism, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Rowan Williams, Silk Road, The Idler, trade

Abred Amaethon Annwn Arawn Brân the Blessed Gwern Gwydion Gwyn ap Nudd Gwynfyd Hare Lapwing Plant Annwfn Plant Dôn Plant Llŷr Roebuck

Thoughts on the Battle of the Trees

Post author By Bogatyr
Post date February 17, 2020
2 Comments on Thoughts on the Battle of the Trees

The Cad Goddeu, in English The Battle of the Trees, is a prophetic poem amongst the works of Taliesin.

Prophecy in poetry is like divination with the I Ching: it does not have one definitive meaning and application. It is a reflection in the great Cauldron of Annwn: its obscure text and poetic imagery hold meaning, but that meaning only emerges when we interpret the poem’s symbolism in the context of our own time and our own situation.

The Cad Goddeu tells us of a war between the Great Families of Welsh myth.

Abred Annwn Awen Barddas Bards Culture Cymru - Wales Druidry Druids Gwynfyd Iolo Morganwg Ovates Reincarnation Theology Y Gymraeg - The Welsh Language

The Wisdom of the Loom

The English word ‘Druid’ is derived from the Gallo-Brythonic word which has come down to modern Welsh as ‘Derwydd’. In turn, this is a compound word, drawing on ‘derw-‘, relating to the oak, and ‘-wydd’ (root word ‘Gwydd’), relating to ‘seer’ or ‘knowledge’.

An alternative word – ‘Gwŷdd’ – however, is also the Welsh word for a loom. This connection is worth exploring further.

Abred Annwn Barddas Gwynfyd Iolo Morganwg Reincarnation Theology

Barddas and the journey of the soul

Post author By Bogatyr
Post date June 24, 2019
No Comments on Barddas and the journey of the soul

In Barddas, Iolo Morganwg devotes a section to his theological views. There is quite a lot more on this theme in Barddas, but I think this excerpt covers the key points. Not all contemporary Druids believe this, but I do. I want to post Iolo’s words here to set the tone for a discussion of the soul’s journey, and of reincarnation, in Druidry as I understand it.