Druid books

There are so many books out there to read. Here are the ones I'm planning to start with.  Some are specifically about druidry, while others are just about things I would do while following a druid path.

Druidry:

• Carr-Gomm, Philip.  The Druid Way. (OBOD)
• Carr-Gomm, Philip.  What Do Druids Believe? (OBOD)
• Ellison, Robert.  The Solitary Druid. (ADF)
• Greer, John Michael. The Druidry Handbook. (AODA)
• Orr, Emma Restall.  Druid Priestess.  First published as Spirits of the Sacred Grove. (BDO, TDN) 
• Orr, Emma Restall.  Druidry.  (BDO, TDN) 
•  Orr, Emma Restall.  Living Druidry: Magical Spirituality for the Wild Soul.  (BDO, TDN) 
• Talboys, Graeme K.  Way of the Druid: Renaissance of a Celtic Religion and its Renaissance. (Hedge Druid Network)
• White, Julie, and Talboys, Graeme K.  The Path Through the Forest: A Druid Guidebook.

Holidays, rituals, etc.:

• Eddy, Steve, and Hamilton, Claire.  Timeless Wisdom of the Celts: A Beginner's
  Guide. 
• Hutton, Ronald.  Stations of the Sun: A History of the Ritual Year in Britain.
• King, John Robert. The Celtic Druids' Year: Seasonal Cycles of the Ancient Celts.
• Kondratiev, Alexei.  The Apple Branch: A Path to Celtic Ritual. 
• LaChapelle, Dolores.  Earth Festivals: Seasonal Celebrations for Everyone Young and Old. 
• Montley, Patricia.  In Nature's Honor: Myths and Rituals Celebrating the Earth.
• Starhawk, and Nightmare, M. Macha. The Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Meditations, and Blessings on Crossing Over.
• White, Julie, and Talboys, Graeme K.  Arianrhod's Dance: A Druid Ritual Handbook.

Sustainable living:

• Bach, David. Go Green Live Rich: 50 Simple Ways to Save the Earth and Get Rich Trying. 
• Gow McDilda, Diane. 365 Ways to Live Green: Your Everyday Guide to Saving the Environment.
•  Hayes, Shannon.  Radical Homemakers: Reclaiming Domesticity from a Consumer Culture.
• Horn, Greg. Living Green: A Practical Guide to Simple Sustainability.
• Kellogg, Scott, and Pettigrew, Stacy.  Toolbox for Sustainable City Living.
• Scott, Nicky. Composting: An Easy Household Guide.
• Scott, Nicky. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: An Easy Household Guide.
• Trask, Crissy, It's Easy Being Green: A Handbook for Earth Friendly Living.

Spirituality:

• Kornfield, Jack.  After the Ecstasy, The Laundry. 
• Steindl-Rast, David. Common Sense Spirituality.
  

Meditation

• Kornfield, Jack.  Meditation for Beginners.
• Lang, Diane.  Opening to Meditation: A Gentle, Guided Approach.
• Sadhu, Mouni.  Concentration: A Guide to Mental Mastery.
• Wood, Ernest.  Concentration:  An Approach to Meditation.

Healing and Movement

• Cohen, Ken.  The Way of Qigong: The Art and Science of Chinese Energy Healing. 
• Cowan, Thomas S., Fallon, Sally, and McMillan, Jaimen.  The Fourfold Path to Healing: Working with the Laws of Nutrition, Therapeutics, Movement, and Meditation in the Art of Medicine.
• Davis, Deborah.  Women's Qigong for Health and Longevity: A Practical Guide for Women Over Forty.
• Frantzis, Bruce. Tai Chi: Health for Life. This is a theoretical book, not a how to manual, but something to put it all in perspective.
• Friedman, Suzanne.  Heal Yourself With Qigong: Gentle Practices to Increase Energy, Restore Health, and Relax the Mind.
  
• Lam, Paul.  Tai Chi for Beginners and the 24 Forms.  
• Roth, Gabrielle. Maps to Ecstasy: The Healing Power of Movement.
• Roth, Gabrielle.  Sweat Your Prayers.

Nature

• Fergus, Charles.  Trees of New England: A Natural History.
• McKenney, Margaret, and Peterson, Roger Tory.  A Field Guide to Wildflowers: Northeastern and North Central North America.
• Petrides, George A., and Peterson, Roger Tory.  A Field Guide to Trees and Shrubs: Northeastern and North-Central United States and Southeastern and South-Central Canada.
• Sendak, Paul E.  Native and Naturalized Trees of New England and Adjacent Canada: A Field Guide.
• Symonds, George W., and Chelminski, Stephen V.  Tree Identification Book: A New Method for the Practical Identification and Recognition of Trees.
• Uva, Richard H., Neal, Joseph C., and Ditomaso, Joseph M.  Weeds of the Northeast.

Druid groups

I've been looking at the various druid groups to see which ones may be a match for me.  I think that I'm looking for a group which 1) offers a structured curriculum, 2) is open to people of all religions, rather than being specifically pagan, and 3) is not focused on the supernatural, and has something to offer for naturalistic druids.  The criteria lead me to:

• OBOD
• AODA
• The New Order of Druids 

 As a supplement to joining one of these groups, I may be interested in discussion forums, such as:

• The Druid Network
• Caer Abred - for naturalist druids
• Druid Village
• Hedge Druid Network 

There are also some smaller groups that sound appealing:

• The Druid Order of the Three Realms
• The World Order of Druids

I think that I am not interested in

  Pagan groups

• ADF
• Keltria

  Avalon groups

• Avalon Druid Order
• The Sisterhood of Avalon

 or these groups

• RDNA - unstructured,
• Order of the Mithril Star - related to RDNA, inspired by Stranger in a Stranger Land
• The British Druid Order

Druid blogs

In my search to figure out whether druidry is the right path form me, I'm looking at some druid blogs. Here is what I've found:


Clas Myrddin
Druid Journal
Earth Notes
Karen-Ashley's Thoughts
Meadowsweet and Myrrh
PanIdaho's Grove
Philip Carr-Gomm's Weblog
The Sleeping Giant
Snowhawke's Druidry Blog
The Archdruid Report
The Way Through the Forest
Tools for Druid Comrades

I was especially interested in the post on the Earth Notes blog titled A Druid Order for the 21st Century.

Druidry

One aspect of this blog has been a religious journey. Two years ago, I wrote describing my religious beliefs, struggling to figure out if I fit any known category. It turned out that I didn't fit any known category, because at that time, pantheism was not known to me. Some months later, I found pantheism, and then I knew what label to put on myself.

But in time, I realized I was still looking for something. I have no doubt that I am a pantheist through and through, but pantheism is a theology. I still want a practice. I want to be part of a community. I want to work toward a better world with people who share my values. I want to get spiritual inspiration from rituals, lectures, readings, retreats, etc.

A couple weeks ago, I found druidry. Perhaps it is what I am looking for. I am still exploring.

There are many different druid groups. They are all different. Any statement I make about druidry will be true of some, but not true of others. I'll be focusing on the parts of druidry which I am thinking of embracing.

Some things I like about druidry:

• Druidry is open to monotheists, polytheists, pantheists, and atheists. It includes Christians, Pagans, Buddhists, and others.
• Druidry is an earth-centered spirituality.
• Druidry has roots in Celtic cultures. I value being able to do something that is in line with my own cultural heritage, rather than just borrowing other people's cultural heritages.
• Druidry provides a spiritual core which links my interests in music, sustainable living, being outdoors, and treating all people with respect.
• Druids were scholars, judges, diplomats, and healers. They were keepers of knowledge and wisdom. It is important to me to be part of a religion which is not just internally focused, but which seeks to heal the world.
• Druidry emphasizes sustainable living.
  
• Druidry encourages learning and reasoning.
• Druidry encourages a hands-on approach to life.
• Druidry celebrates music.
  

I still have some doubts. Which of the many druid groups are right for me? Some are more unstructured than what I'm looking for, while others seem more authoritarian than what I'm looking for. Some are more oriented toward the supernatural than I am. Some are more pagan than I am.

True, it's possible to be a druid in your own way, without connecting to any organization. But what I'm seeking is something more structured than what I've found in pantheism.

Library fines

When I take out library books, if I am not going to return them by the due date, I can renew them online. Sometimes I forget, and renew them online a few days after the due date. As a result, I end up owing small amounts in fines.

A few days ago, I checked out a book from the library. When the woman checking out my book scanned my library card, the information that popped up on her computer told me I owed a fine. She said, "I see you owe 20 cents. Would you like to pay any part of that now?"

It seems rather silly to think that I might need an installment plan to pay a 20 cent fine. But I like that. I like that they are open to adapting to the payment schedule that fits the customer's needs. That's the kind of organization which inspires me to willingly give them money. In contrast, when I feel that a company has no interest in serving me, but just wants to squeeze money out of me any way it can, I will not give that company my business.

Arizona immigration law comments by Packy Anderson

Packy Anderson wrote the comments below on his Facebook page, and gave me permission to repost them:

I'm glad I don't have to go to Arizona anytime soon; I'm not sure if my passport is up to date. I'm descended from illegal immigrants, and I could easily pass for a native of Ireland. If I can't prove I'm a citizen, they could arrest me.

The AZ law requires police officers to question a person about his or her immigration status if there is "reasonable suspicion" that person may be illegally in this country. That's a particularly vague wording, and it gives a police officer carte blanche to question anybody they can concoct a "reasonable" rationale for. If I don't happen to have proof of my citizenship on me, then I'm subject to arrest. The only thing that can assuage my fear of being arrested without cause is the knowledge that I don't fit the racial profile the law was enacted to target, and that's not much comfort. So, until AZ changes it's law, I need to carry a passport to move freely without fear of arrest within a section of the country I'm a citizen of.

I go through life with the assumption that if someone CAN abuse the power they have over me, they WILL. This is a nation of laws, and unless the law guarantees that the police are not allowed to treat me in a particular fashion, I have to assume that they will. And I also assume that if the police are likely--or required by law!--to treat any other law-abiding person in a particular way then I am also going to be treated in the same fashion.

Finally, of course, a lot of it comes down to my personal religious faith. The man I follow once said "whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me." Sure, I'm not an ethnic Mexican trying to make a living surrounded by people who despise me because of my ethnicity. I'm also not old enough to remember the days when my great-grandparents couldn't get jobs because workplaces had signs hanging outside saying "Irish need not apply". But if I don't care about such things with my entire heart and try to change them (and, since this is a law in a state I'm not a resident in, the most I can do is speak out against it), then I'm doing these things to my saviour.

May

May is a joyous season as we emerge from winter's cold and darkness to find the trees, lilacs, and azaleas bursting forth with color, and I watch the greening of the hydrangea leaves as I eagerly look forward to the emergence in June of the hydrangea's flowers. This celebratory month includes the birthdays of one of my brothers, my sister, my sister-in-law, my father, my stepfather, 3 of my uncles, my cousin, and various musicians, including Pete Seeger, Fred Hellerman, Donovan, Utah Phillips, Peter Yarrow, and Sydney Carter, as well as my own birthday. It's the season of celebration!