January/February 2003 Spirituality
Druidry as a Way of Truth and Light

by Clive Culbertson, Chosen Chief-Ulster Order of Druids

In today’s world many people are cut off from the experience of nature. Too many of our children grow up in concrete jungles with only an urban park to play in, if they are lucky. We have forgotten how our food is produced and we are largely ignorant of how farm animals are treated. We are distanced from the natural cycle of the year and have long forgotten the wonderful healing power of nature. How can we be expected to care about global ecology when we have no understanding of the nature of the earth as our mother and our home?

Through the celebration of the Druid festivals we can help people to reconnect to nature, to learn about and experience something of the unseen as well as the manifest world. The beauty of the festivals touches those who allow themselves to truly participate; the reality of nature is experienced. This deep experience of nature is crucial today for the survival of the earth and for the future development of humanity. Should this be all we offer, then we have helped.

We have been privileged to work with wonderful teachers, among them were initiates. We have received from them guidance, wisdom and spiritual practices relevant to the time in which we live. It is now the time for us to give back a part of what we have received. As well as the celebration of the festivals we also share the meditations and spiritual practices that we have been taught. These purification practices help to free us from our own negativity and from the inner chains that hold us back. There are also practices helpful to our spiritual development and that help us to make the inner connection with the highest God and Goddess.

Sometimes here in Ireland we hear of someone whose grandparent or great grandparent was an hereditary Druid, they remember some of the old ways and sometimes it is clear that these ways are of another time. One of our much loved teachers was the last surviving member of The Old Gaelic Order; some of the members of this Order were Druids and the others worked closely with the Druids. Our teacher told us that the old ways were no longer relevant for today…that we need to ‘listen’ and to find the way for this time.

It must be acknowledged that we are not the same as the Druids of old. The ancestors of our stream carried the knowledge and wisdom of their time as well as the spiritual keys and practices for further development and connection with the Divine. They were the most highly educated members of their society and many were spiritual initiates.

In our time druids are found in the arts and sciences, in law, in ecology, in healing for the earth and humanity, in the traditional crafts etc., in fact in all walks of life…and this is as it should be.

We believe that Druidry transcends all boundaries and all divisions; that it serves in the healing and protection of the earth and in the mutual support and preservation of all beings; that it provides guidance and teaching regarding the sacredness of the earth and of nature and of the God and Goddess. We also believe that it is a fundamental part of our task as Druids to provide a spiritual path that offers development and transformation to all who seek it with in a Druid/Celtic framework.

As modern Druids we are reinventing ourselves; out of an ancient and noble tradition we are seeking the way forward, seeking the clear message we can give to promote harmony and healing in a troubled world and real hope for a better future for our children…for we are our children’s children.

We are striving to clarify what it means to be a Druid today and how our path is different to other pagan paths. Our Druidry, like most forms of Druidry today is open to all, we have pagans and Christians among us, people from all religious backgrounds are welcome and although we offer certain teachings and beliefs there is no requirement to subscribe to any dogma.

During our research into Irish Druidry we discovered that the Druids of old were well aware of the incarnation of the Sun God, in other words the Christ. This is why Celtic Christianity came so smoothly into our culture.

We too recognize the incarnation of Christ and seek to understand the mystery and the gifts for humanity and the earth that were given at that time. We do not however confuse the impulse given by Christ with the teachings given by His church during the past 2000 years.

There are only a small number seriously following a Druid path. Our challenge is to provide teaching and a form for the tradition that is relevant to the demands of the huge cultural and spiritual change that is sweeping the globe like a mighty wave.

I don't believe that Ulster Druidry will sit neatly and perfectly on top of the American Landscape Temple, but with a nip and tuck here and there it will be a viable Working Spiritual Shape with which to connect to The Living Land and its Guiding and Directing Powers.

Clive Culbertson will be in the Portland area on 1/11/03 offering a special one-day training and initiation on on Ulster Druidry. The work of The Order of Druids in Ulster is not a Celtic Reconstructionist path, but a Path of Transformation that could lead to a living relationship with Deity. For information call Bishop Timothy A. Storlie at (360) 834-6267 or visit www.TheArimatheaInstitute.org (click on local events link) I will be in the USA throughout January 2003 giving workshops.