The First Oath (Second Draft)

-First Draft -

My Oath

I, [name], declare myself to be a Pagan. I follow the Elder Gods.

I vow to seek virtue in my life. To do right by those bonded to me, and those I am bonded to, to serve my community both Pagan and secular.

I vow to set my foot upon the path, the Druid's Way, and I vow to make my dedication plain. To keep my rites and works as best I may.

I vow to study and learn, to deepen my knowledge and bond with the Druid Path and the ways of the Elder Gods.

These things I swear before and to the Kindred.

I think I'm going to change 'Elder Gods' to Ancient Gods. Because, while Elder may be more accurate than Ancient depending on perspective, using the term Elder Gods is way too Lovecraft/Cthulhu for me. I think intent, mental associations, and feelings are probably pretty vital to an undertaking like this and the last thing I want to do is swear an oath with a mental image of Cthulhu lurking over my shoulder. Not good.

-Second Draft-

I, [name] am a Pagan.

I follow the Ancient Gods.

  I vow to seek virtue in my life.

I vow to do right by those bonded to me, and those I am bonded to.

I vow to serve my community both Pagan and secular.

I vow to set my foot upon this path, the Druid's Way.

I vow to keep my rites and works as best I may.

I vow to study and learn,

I vow to deepen my knowledge and bond with the Kindreds.

These things I do so swear before and unto the Kindreds and Earth Mother.

I am very happy with this version. The language flows better, it is not weighed down by false stilted language, the references to 'Elder Gods' has been removed alleviating that association. Out of curiosity I counted the number of times vow appears and, unless my count is wrong, the total is seven. Which I enjoy being a traditionally important number in western literature etc. I also added the Earth Mother at the end as it seemed particularly  vital to acknowledge Her separately and individually as the COoR does. The only thing I think is missing is a, how to phrase this, comeuppance? For deliberately violating the oath.

According to the article, Exploring Oaths by Rev. James 'Seamus' Dillard in Oak Leaves number 53, "to take an oath is in effect to invoke powers greater than oneself to uphold the truth of a declaration, by putting a curse upon oneself if it is false". So, basically, I guess what I need is the threat at the end. I’d like to go with something appropriately Celtic/Gaelic if I can. Much to think on!

-Final Draft-

I, [name] am a Pagan.

I follow the Ancient Gods.

I vow to seek virtue in my life.

I vow to strive to do right by those bonded to me, and those I am bonded to.

I vow to serve my community, both Pagan and Secular, as best I may.

I vow to set my foot upon this path, the Druid's Way.

I vow to keep my rites and works as best I may.

I vow to study and learn.

I vow to deepen my knowledge and bond with the Kindreds.

These things I do so swear before and unto the Kindreds and the Earth Mother. 

Should I prove false

May the Sea rise up against me.

May the Sky engulf me.

May the land open beneath me.

I am satisfied with this version. It provides the threat, but also couches the language in more forgiving terms, it has a good rhythm as well. I add  'the' before Earth Mother, as simply 'Earth Mother' seemed overly familiar. I plan/hope to recite my oath as my working for the Fall Equinox/Mabon rite I've adapted.

Oath Vs. Vow

Oh Oak Leaves, how I love you so. Another interesting article in issue 53 was Exploring Oaths
by Rev. James 'Seamus' Dillard (this is as he is credited in the issue) outlines the historical and etymological differences between vow and oath, two words that we often use interchangeably. He then argues that the ADF really ought to rewrite current literature to utilize the term vow in the place of oath. The reasoning being that it is improperly used as of now.

Strictly speaking an oath is usually taken before witness, sworn to a higher power, and most crucially when speaking of the differences between it and a vow - a self-curse is appended to it. By self curse I mean a curse literally placed upon yourself as a guarantee against perjury or oath breaking. That is, when one swears an oath there is a portion at the end wherein one basically says, if I should fail regarding task X then terrible fate Y will occur. The most immediate example of this that springs to mind is when one swears on a bible in court or when I swore my enlistment oath in the military, both end with the declaration - so help me god.

Wikipedia does a better job of explaining how those four words can be a self-curse than I can so I'll quote the article here: "The essence of the phrase is a request to divine agency to render assistance (help) by being a guarantor of the oath taker's own honesty and integrity in the matter under question, and by implication invoking divine displeasure if the oath taker fails in their duty in this regard."


Clearly there is no such curse implied by the Oaths in Our Druidry, at least not that I've come across and according to Rev. James Dillard's article there isn't. Therefore, he argues, it behooves the ADF to re-evaluate what is meant by the First Oath, the subsequent oaths in Our Druidry and presumably those preceding other events or achievements within the organization, always assuming they lack the self-curse of a 'true' oath.

As an organization that lists scholarship and excellence as high priorities, indeed founding principles, it is a fair argument for Rev. Dillard to make. Having thought it over I can understand Rev. Dillard's point and find myself eagerly agreeing with it.

Words are powerful, the right word can polish a poem to perfection or render it doggerel with a keystroke. It is one thing to use oath and vow as synonyms when ignorant of their unique aspects but knowing the differences, how would we justify continuing to abuse the word oath? Or the neglect of the word vow?

I'm not certain how something like this is addressed and revised within ADF, presumably such errors and oversights have cropped up in the past and can likely be guaranteed to crop up in future (so long as ADF remains dedicated to scholarship revisions are inevitable) therefore I would hazard that a system is in place. It will be interesting to see how this challenge is addressed and what actions are taken in future.

The First Oath (first draft)

Note: Blogspot went a little senile in the last week or so and coughed up old posts I'd deleted and refused to post this one after I'd scheduled it for a delayed post. Alas. Apologies for any confusion :)

My interpretation of the First Oath.

The first oath is meant to be  a pact between the oathtaker and his/her deities/spirits/interested kindred. It is not to tie the oathtaker to the ADF or any one human being but rather serve as a notice and a bond of intent and purpose.

Th oath is a pledge to take up the three cores of ADF/Druid work:

1. Virtue
2. Piety
3. Study

Our Druidry offers an example of the First Oath (page 16), however, it is worded to be presented in front of a group. I don't have a local grove though there are rumblings of a study group/proto-grove being formed in the area (yay!) therefore I am, for the time being, solitary. To that end I've written my own Oath using that provided in Our Druidry as a template or guide, and recite it aloud in my own time in a natural space.

My Oath

I, [name], declare myself to be a Pagan. I follow the Elder Gods.

I vow to seek virtue in my life. To do right by those bonded to me, and those I am bonded to, to serve my community both Pagan and secular.

I vow to set my foot upon the path, the Druid's Way, and I vow to make my dedication plain. To keep my rites and works as best I may.

I vow to study and learn, to deepen my knowledge and bond with the Druid Path and the ways of the Elder Gods. 

These things I swear before and to the Kindred.

I have yet to take the Oath and will certainly report what if any effect I feel or observe, though frankly I don't expect any. It would be nice if the Kindred threw a sign at me or I drew a favorable omen but I think these first steps are meant to be filled with ambiguity and questioning, the day I am completely certain is the day I must wonder and question that much harder.