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The Seven Precepts Of Merlin
First: Labor diligently to
acquire knowledge, for it is power.
Second: When in authority,
decide reasonably, for thine authority may cease.
Third: Bear with fortitude
the ills of life, remembering that no mortal sorrow is perpetual.
Fourth: Love virtue-for it
bringeth peace.
Fifth: Abhor vice-for it
bringeth evil upon all.
Sixth: Obey those in
authority in all just things, that virtue may be exalted.
Seventh: Cultivate the social
virtues, so shalt thou be beloved by all men.
Links to Learning
"Druidry is a sacred
journey of discovering the beauty and sanctity of all life, both physical
and spiritual. Yet it is not enough for the Druid simply to know that all
creation is sacred: the path leads beyond that point to a place where they
can reach into that divine reality. The journey of the Druid is to feel the
touch of the gods, in whatever way they perceive them, by reaching – as body
and spirit – into the spirit that vitalises the world.
One of the keys of
the tradition is the awen. This is an old Welsh word which can be translated
as ‘flowing spirit’ and is understood to mean the flow of divine inspiration
which comes at that point of exquisite contact, pouring out from deity and
into a Druid. With the inspiration comes the energy, the empowerment needed
for the Druid to allow that sacred inspiration to pour through them into
creativity. The endless task of the Druid is to perfect this process.
The nature of the
creativity inspired by this blissful connection with the divine comes in
many forms, according to the skills of the individual, his own needs or
those of the person or people for whom he is working. Poetry and music, the
telling of stories and magical myths, are the most commonly associated works
of creative expressions that emerge out of Druidry. Others’ inspiration
comes through art, healing, teaching, divination, gardening, politics and
indeed any aspect of modern life where there is the potential for the
freeing of the souls true and full creativity."
http://www.whatisdruidry.org/one.html
by Alferian
Gwydion MacLir
The Prayer or
invocation known as "The Druid's Prayer" is a part of traditional
British Druidry. No one knows for sure how old it is, but it probably
dates back to the Druid revival and the Welsh visionary Iolo Morganwg.
Iolo is sometimes accused these days of being a "forger" because he
passed off his own writings as genuine antiquities. In the antiques
business, and among students of ancient manuscripts, this is, of course
a big no-no. However, Iolo Morganwg was more a poet than a scholar and
poets and fiction writers have a long tradition of this sort of thing.
It annoys scholars when they get fooled by it. Regardless of its
origins, the Druid's Prayer is a fascinating document and as central to
OBOD Druidry as the Lord's Prayer is to Christianity.
In OBOD the
Druid's Prayer is a part of nearly every celebration ritual, so I wanted
to share some of my own thoughts on it. There is a series of discussion
threads about each section of the prayer on the OBOD message board, the
Druid's Head, in
the "Discuss Druidry" forum. Here's the prayer:
Grant, O God thy protection
And in Protection, Strength;
And in Strength, Understanding;
And in Understanding, Knowledge;
And in Knowledge, the Knowledge of Justice:
And in the Knowledge of Justice, the Love of it;
And in the Love of it, the Love of All Existences;
And in the Love of All Existences, the Love of God and All Goodness.
and in Welsh:
Dyro Dduw dy Nawdd;
Ag yn nawdd, nerth;
Ag yn nerth, Deall;
Ag yn Neall, Gwybod;
Ac yngwybod, gwybod y cyfiawn
Ag yngwybod y cyfiawn, i garu;
Ag o garu, caru pob hanfod;
Ag ymhob Hanfod, caru Duw.
Duw a phob Daioni.
It is time to start
building a virtual grove, a quiet peaceful place of reflection. The beginning of
the path of a solitary Druid.
The first weekend of
July I shall meet with women friends on Mayne Island to acknowledge the
beginning of my transition to elder or crone. I am excited, nervous, and
somewhat self conscious. The shifting of mental and spiritual gears that
must accompany and change in belief system, especially when the new path is one
less trodden, less mainstream, is a sometimes shy process.
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