These days, especially on social media, I often get asked the question, “So, what do you believe?” You’d think that would be a fairly simple question to answer but often, especially when it comes to pagans, it’s one of the hardest to concisely tie down.
The thing with modern, earth-based belief systems is that they often encourage us to walk our own path. We all follow core values, such as respecting nature and the natural world, not causing harm to ourselves or to others, keeping ourselves open to the world around us, etc. But, beyond these core values, much of the intricacies of what we believe and what we practice, as daily rituals or spiritual traditions, rely heavily on intuition or ‘kenning’ – instinctively and profoundly knowing something to be right and true, without the need for ‘proof.’ In essence, this instinctive ‘knowing’ is comparable to what mainstream religions label ‘faith.’
I have been a practicing druid for several years now and, within Druidry, we have no scripture or designated spiritual leaders to guide us in a single focused direction. What results from this wonderfully chaotic lack of clear-cut boundaries, is a hugely diverse range of practices and beliefs, all abiding underneath one vast sky.
By and large, our family is a peaceful one. We all embrace the core value of recognising the power and inherent value of knowledge, and most of us also believe in remaining open – both in our beliefs and in the way in which we interact with the world. Because of this, in the main, new ideas, information, and practices are welcomed, evaluated, researched, and debated – often at great length. One thing that druids love to do most is to talk at length with anyone who we think will listen.
We still occasionally come across people in our midst who stray a little too far off the beaten path. Some like to insist that they ‘druid better than others do,’ but mostly, this insistence is treated as being harmless and a little misguided – a sign that the druid in question still has much to learn about the essence of what it means to follow this path. Then there are those who insist that they are related to the original ancient Celtic Druids – but this simply can’t be reliably proven with the little information that we are left with today, so that, too, is taken with a rather large pinch of salt. In my experience, though, these pinch-of-salt tangents are pretty rare. Anyway, I digress… something else which druids are famous for doing.
So, what do I believe? Well, because of all of the fantastic, instinctive explorations which are happening every single day within the druid community – and all of the following collective research carried out as a result of all of these findings and experiences – I can honestly say that, when it comes to the intricacies of what I believe, things are fluid and can often change from one day to the next. “That sounds rather fickle,” I hear you say, but honestly, it is anything but fickle.
What this ‘openness’ really is, is a honing of my beliefs; of what I ken deep in the very core of my being. An excellent metaphor for this approach to my personal spirituality is the centuries-old process of candlemaking by hand:
In the centre of a candle lies the wick – the very core of Druidry that all else is built upon – without this, a candle simply wouldn’t be a candle, just as without those core values, a druid simply wouldn’t be a druid. But, alone, a wick will burn up in an instant when exposed to the flame of life – knowing the basics isn’t enough to sustain you, nor to truly comprehend what these core values stand for and how they impact upon you, your life, and your place within the universal web of life. That they can’t stand the flame alone doesn’t make them any less important, however – as I said above, a candle wouldn’t be a candle without its wick.
What the openness does, is to allow me to carefully add gossamer-thin layers of wax – understanding – to the wick of my core beliefs. With each layer, my wick is fortified, it burns slower and for longer. The deeper my understanding – gained through questioning, learning, and comparing my experience to others – the more time I am allowed to truly examine and understand all of the nuances of those core beliefs, of myself and of how both relate to my existence and also the bigger picture. By keeping my mind and heart open to new ideas – and even more importantly, to re-examining my existing beliefs and ideas – I am left with an ever-increasing degree of clarity and truth.
I firmly believe that it is our responsibility, as sentient beings, to continually question ourselves, our understanding of the world around us, and what we believe. New knowledge, experience, research, and studies are coming to light every single day – it would be naive to think that all of this new information and understanding could have no possible impact on how I view, interpret, and interact with the world and its myriad inhabitants. In fact, one of my favourite quotes which perfectly expresses this thought is;
“Everything changes, nothing remains without change.” ~ Buddha
In summary, I could spend a week showing you all of the vivid colours and subtle shades that make up the essence of what I believe, and it would be a singularly beautiful thing to behold. But without constant thought and conscious revisions, in time, these colours will fade – untouched and unexamined they will become grey, lifeless, and indistinguishable.
Belief should be passion, and passion is a living thing, so my advice to anyone who would seek it is – never stop being an artist, your beliefs are the painting of who you truly are, ceaselessly strive to make them a masterpiece and tend them with care. Even masterpieces crumble and fall to ruin if neglected.