Introduction

So this is me saying hi and explaining why I've made this particular blog and what my goals are.

For starters I'm a shiny new Neo-Druid. Why did I choose this path rather than something more typical like one of the big three Abrahamic religions? Or something more widely acknowledged like Wicca or some Eastern philosophies/religions?

Well, first off I don't see a need to justify a religious choice unless that choice leads a person to consider morally/legally ambiguous actions or cult warning signs pop up. But in the interests of an honest and full disclosure dialogue I'll explain my logic.

I grew up in a nominally Christian household. My father was and is a steadfast Atheist. My mother took my siblings and I to a variety of local churches when we were young and as we grew older she moved more toward a Messianic Judaic congregation.  It was interesting and the least repugnant version I'd come across. The leader encouraged discussion, debate, classes in Hebrew and Greek were offered and every 'sermon' was more of a discussion group with pre-printed fliers that contained the biblical text as well as comments on the original languages and such used.

All that said I could never reconcile the apparent about -face of an omniscient omnipresent deity between the old and new testaments and I couldn't just choose one and go with it. I never felt anything especially moving or wonderful from the Abrahamic God either.Whether as Himself, through his Son or as the Holy Spirit.

So it wasn't my bag, I knew that for certain once I was a young adult. I tried to be an atheist but it was...well, lonely. So I started searching and kept searching for years. I read about various mainstream religions, finally looking at neo-pagan, reconstruction, and even Wicca or Wicca derived religions and paths.

First off I don't especially believe in the efficacy of magic. I think that meditation and prayer can have profound effects and that performing sacred acts or spells can have an impact but I don't think that saying a prayer or performing a spell will necessarily result in a solution to anything. Therefore a lot of fluffy-new-age-yay!magic-pseudo-Wicca books, sites, groups etc failed to interest me.

Wicca itself is an initiatory mystery tradition and what little public information I could find also didn't interest or draw me and I felt it would be disingenuous to contact and engage a group or coven only to bail when the going got tough as I already had a pretty good idea it wasn't for me, and again, my lack of faith in the efficacy of magic seemed a major stumbling block. (Note, I am pretty open minded and could change my mind regarding magic but haven't yet).

I next learned about and examined hard reconstructionist religions particularly Celtic based ones. But, again, here the pendulum swung a bit too far in the other direction.  I wanted something that would work for me in the modern day but wasn't 'deity shopping' or massively eclectic.  Soft recon again seemed disconnected to me.

My father is English and I've traced both sides of my family to Scotland and the UK so I've always had an interest in the Celtic peoples and have always planned to work toward a working knowledge of at least one surviving Celtic language.

So, eventually, with some guidance and suggestions from a few online persons with more experience in the neo-pagan community (in other words we enjoyed a rapport and they were sincere and solid in their communications) I started to look into neo-druid organizations.

At the time I had limited mobility due to an awful car. The car is the same but is slightly less murderous. Anyway I was interested in local groups as one of the things I definitely missed about regular worship (which I hadn't engaged in really since I was about ten or twelve but regular meetings were always nice) was the companionship, camaraderie, and support to be found there.

So I looked at organizations with a 'local' presence - meaning I could feasibly, drive, bus, or even take the Sounder to a meeting when I felt ready. I also looked at organizations with a solid track record. This lead me to the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids (OBOD) and Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF).

I looked over both groups' websites, did web searches to see what others had to say or comment about them, and found that both had merits and qualities that I liked but were also an interesting contrast.There is a well known essay by John Michael Greer that contrasts the two organizations. It is available on the ADF site at http://www.adf.org/about/basics/adf-and-obod.html. I highly encourage any interested party to do a similar search and come to their own conclusions, the essay above is a great starting point.

So, I rolled the dice and joined both. I could not be happier with the results since. See, ADF is an orthopraxic religion  (well, largely and observationally largely orthopraxic though the actions are based on shared though not dogmatic beliefs) whereas OBOD is an initiatory organization with no set religious requirements. Additionally whereas ADF tends to focus on the more academic aspects of Druidry and Indo-European pantheons while OBOD is more influence by the romantic revival druids of the Victorian era. Both have merits and are oddly complimentary.

Clearly there's loads I'm leaving out such as my struggle to let go of my anger toward some aspects and practitioners of Christianity, angst, and similar details but these are the bare facts.

Now, on to my goals. They're simple. I just want to learn and connect. I want to explore the Dedican'ts Path and learn about myself, my goals, hopefully connect with a deity and in the end become a better person for it all. Prety simple eh? :P