Some call it magic – the search for the grail.
John Lennon
Is it possible that we could dance our way closer to Peace?
Such an idea seems crazy when you watch the news on TV, but here are some reasons why I believe such a thing is possible, and therefore why the Druid group that I represent supports Earthdance:
Most Druids, like most Taoists and Wiccans, believe that all of Life emanates from the primal dance between two forces which they call God & Goddess, and which Taoists name Yin & Yang.
When we ourselves dance we align and connect ourselves to this primal interplay between the two great forces of life – the Divine Masculine and the Divine Feminine. (And this is not about gender since each of us has both within us.)
The more we attune to this fundamental heart-beat of life, this primal dance, the closer we come to a sense of union and ecstasy. The less attuned we are, the further away we get from this original dynamic interplay, the more we experience suffering.
Encouraging people to dance with this awareness in mind encourages the values and qualities of Peace and Love to flow more fully in the world, and this creates a ‘ripple effect’ which goes beyond the simple event of the dance itself. Each person who gets closer to experiencing the Primal Dance in turns influences others by their vibrations, and by their actions, thoughts and feelings which have become more attuned to the love of God & Goddess. As such dance then becomes a spiritual work, a ‘noble work’ of purification, alignment, blessing and radiation of beneficent energies.
Peace & Love – Core Values of Druidism
The attitudes and ideals of Druidism are remarkably similar to the ideals championed by the alternative culture of the 1960’s – whose proponents are now the middle-aged generation of Baby-boomers. This is no coincidence. The ideals of the sixties were informed by Romanticism, and Romanticism drew upon the two sources of inspiration of the Druids: the world of Nature and of Poetry and Story. Via Romanticism, a thread of ideas connects this oldest of traditions, Druidism, to the ideals and values of 20th, and now 21st century counter-culture. Many Baby-boomers know in their hearts that their ideals were worthwhile, but feel cynical about how they have been abandoned in favour of consumerism and the demands of living in the modern world. Druidism offers a way of reconnecting to these values, and of translating them into specific actions in our everyday lives.
John Lennon understood the connection. He knew that Peace and Love, the cornerstones of counter-cultural idealism, were deeply connected with Druidism, and so he sang about this in his ‘Mind-Games’:
We’re playing those mind games together,
Pushing the barrier, planting seeds.
Playing the mind guerrilla,
Chanting the Mantra, ‘Peace on Earth’.
We all been playing those mind games forever
Some kinda druid dude lifting the veil.
Doing the mind guerrilla,
Some call it magic – the search for the grail.
Love is the answer, and you know that for sure.
Love is a flower- you got to let it, you got to let it grow.
Love and Peace are the essential values of Druidism. Druids have been associated with Peace from earliest times. Classical writers, such as Julius Caesar and Diodorus Siculus, spoke of the way Druids were exempt from military service, did not bear arms, and often pacified warring tribes, passing between the ranks of opposing forces urging peace. There is a Druids’ Peace Prayer, and modern-day Druids plant Peace Groves around the world.
The other core value in Druidism is Love: love of the Earth, the body, animals and fellow humans, plants and trees. For this reason, Druidism fosters care for the environment, for the Earth’s resources, for endangered species, for children, for the sick, the poor and the elderly. But in addition, Druids love history, story, poetry and art. And in their love of wealth and fertility, they appreciate abundance, but understand the crucial difference between creativity and consumerism, and between the wealth represented by an abundance of health and happiness, as opposed to the accumulation of possessions or money. This is why many Druids today oppose globalisation and the over-exploitation of the earth’s resources.
It is easy for us to become depressed at the problems that the world and humanity face at this time, but projects such as Earthdance offer us hope. Earthdance is saying: ‘At certain times let go of trying to find solutions with your mind. Remember the primal dance of love between God and Goddess. Enter this dance, join with others in this dance, and from this place of the Now – of community and celebration – radiate peace, love and joy to all the world.’
Peace to all Beings.
Philip Carr-Gomm
Aotearoa – Land of the Long White Cloud
September 2004