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" Live out of your imagination

not your history "

Stephen R. Covey

My Memory Has Failed Me…

October 4th, 2010

This morning I wrote that the news about the Druid Network applying for Charitable status came out of the blue for us in OBOD, and that we hadn’t been involved. I went on to say that I felt this was fine – consult 4 druids as they say, and you get 5 opinions.

I have now discovered that I was wrong, and apologize for any confusion or incorrect understanding this may have caused. Emma Restall Orr emailed me (and a number of other Druid leaders I believe) in 2007 and canvassed my opinion. I felt the project was well worth pursuing and supported it, and made some suggestions to “include provision for those who sense their Druidry as a philosophy rather than as their religion, and those for whom the concept of Deity is unnecessary and could even be described as atheistic (as can Buddhism & Jainism)”. The years then flowed by and I’m afraid I forgot all about it…

My feeling is that the benefits that the Druid Network have gained with this initiative will outweigh any disadvantages that might be perceived, and it is important to remember, as TDN spokesperson Phil Ryder says, that it is not ‘Druidry’ per se which has been registered, but the Network.

7 Responses to “My Memory Has Failed Me…”

  1. i figured that your orginal post has been reflected in other blog type posts that i have been reading.. and those concerns are very real, but there are benifits as well to what The Druid Network have done which is most excellent.

    in someways i can’t help comparing it to the Treaty here in NZ, and while it was not honoured, and is a bone of contention with both sides, it did do one very important thing and that was give status, and acknowledgement that the Maori and their customs, where not just a figment of someones over active imagination, or a people to be ignored over land greed and politics, but a real people who have been in NZ for quite some time and who were important to NZ, etc etc.

    so maybe this will have a similar consequence, of status and recognition of a people that are important to Britian, and that they are not a result of someones over active romantic imagination?

    *ponders this*
    **Aroha**
    Polly

  2. Good to see this post Philip. I was beginning to think that perhaps I was just being miserable – I was underwhelmed by the news because it seemed to me that the press where running away with themselves with a story that had become distorted. I think it is really important to stress that it is The Druid Network that has been given charitable status; thanks to the press this has be blown up into Druidry being accepted as an official religion, which actually hasn’t happened. I feel some relief because the thought of that occuring, in many ways, makes my toes curl and my buttocks clench, for many of the reasons already stated here – although I am pleased for the Druid Network.

    Before I die I would like to see a news presentation about Druidry that doesn’t include Stonehenge and men with beards and staffs! Not that there is anything wrong with these things but it would be good to see the full breadth and width of Druidry shown – it is a complex and rich approach to life, one that perhaps is a little too complex and rich for many official bodies to fathom.

  3. “Before I die I would like to see a news presentation about Druidry that doesn’t include Stonehenge and men with beards and staffs! ”

    LOL! No luck on that one here Maria! In our local West Oz newpaper the article was accompanied by a picture of someone wearing a very very bright red and blue robe and hat outfit with stars all over it, carrying a staff, with stonehenge and some other people, more conservatively dressed, in the background. I guess people in white and brown etc wouldn’t have been quite so exciting. I have no idea who that person is, and the outfit might have been quite legitimate, but I had to giggle nonetheless!

    I guess I should just be pleased that the news got this far in the mainstream! 🙂

  4. Bronzewing – :0)! I do have to say that I think folks should wear what they love – I don’t mean to come across as the grumpy clothes/beard/staff police. :0) I went to a couple of major Pagan/Wiccan events in London a couple of years ago and about 90% of the women where wearing flowing, velvet, medieval style dresses – they looked beautiful but it did feel like we had adopted a uniform. It made me want to turn up in a pin-stripe suit! I feel a little uncomfortable when the surface stuff starts to become so dominant. I love the playful nature of dressing up but I also love the fact that Druidry appeals to such a diverse set of people and it’s always great to see that reflected in the appearance too – it’s not about how we look but about where our heart is, I guess. Of course, you are right, the guy with his starry cloak and hat is infinitely more appealling to the press (and I am sure his heart is absolutely in the right place too) – just makes me cringe when we our collectively portrayed in such a cliched manner. I might just give up and join in – next Solstice at Stonehenge, I’ll be the one bouncing up and down in the jester hat and boots with bells on my enormous man-sized staff! :0)

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