Research on Druidry Week 5, Earth Path Reflections: Foundations

Updates on my ongoing research into Druidry via the year long dedicant course courtesy of the Black Mountain Druid Order


My Homework
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Month 2 Week 1 Earth Path Reflections: Foundations
For the rest of this week, try to spend at least fifteen minutes per day in nature. Go to a park if there is one nearby, or just spend time out in the back yard if you have a yard. Pay attention to the moment, observing what you see going on in the natural world around you. 

Try this: Before going out on your daily nature exercise, take your pulse and record the number of beats per minute. After completing your fifteen minutes of simply observing nature, take your pulse again and record the number of beats per minute. Was there a difference? 

As you become practiced at observing nature, focus on the stillness. Picture your mind as the surface of a lake. Allow your mind to become quiet. See the ripples of thought on the lake of your mind slowly calming until the surface is like glass.

As you practice this for this week, it may help to do the Basic Mindful Meditation from the previous lesson. 

After a week of spending time in nature, post your reflections on these questions:
1. As you spend time in nature, what changes do you notice in yourself?
2. As you spend time in nature, do you see things you've never noticed before?
3. Did you have any new experiences?
4. If so, what were they?
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1. As you spend time in nature, what changes do you notice in yourself?


Much like the first week, I immediately see balance being restored in my body, and in my spirit - it's as if I was viewing those old weigh scales and someone deposited something heavy on the other side, and it starts creeping into balance, lifting me up!


Very inspiring.


I feel more alert, I'm not sure if its due to the extra oxygen, additional sensory input etc. Whatever it is, I feel my senses heightened.

2. As you spend time in nature, do you see things you've never noticed before?


Definitely, Im trying to pay attention and learn more about the plants and animals in our area. I was getting pretty good at identifying every tree on my property in Virginia, but we're now back in Canada so I'm having to re-aquaint myself with the local trees here. I know the commons ones, Pine, Oak etc. But now am starting to recognize plants, shrubs and other less common trees.


When my mother was a kid she used to know every name of every plant she could see, and when I was young she taught them to me. But she grew up on the farm, I in the city and suburbs.


3. Did you have any new experiences?


Yes!

4. If so, what were they?


This week I started to notice the flight pattern of Chickadees as they approached my bird feeder. It's like a wave! They start falling in an arc, then flap their wings briefly, rise up and forward, then start falling down again. Like a sine wave for any of you science majors!

Yet I notice the Junkos and other birds don't do it quite like that as they approach the feeder, they have more of a direct flight path.

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Follow my Progress as I work through an online course in Druidry

As a part of my personal development, and to assist in my research for an upcoming book, I'm taking an online course in Druidry through the Black Mountain Druid Order (BMDO). They run an online course which stretches for 12 months, and every week there are assignments which I will post here for you to follow. The BMDO website is a terrific resource, and free.

Sencha

Thanks very much to 'Sencha' (Chuck Hall) for his support and guidance!

A little background

When I abandoned the corporate world a few years ago, it was a difficult decision. Like most folks, I had grown accustomed to being able to buy whatever I wanted without even batting an eye. I could go on vacations whenever I wanted to, and I lived the American dream. Or did I?

What was really happening, was that I was caught up in the gears of a big machine with so much momentum, I didn't know how to stop it. Worse than being just along for the ride, I was a slave to those wages and that lifestyle. It was certainly a comfortable slavery, but slavery nonetheless. My spirit was shackled, my soul weighed down. I'm not saying this is the case for everyone, but it was for me.

These days I make a very modest living writing, supplemented by web design. I have never had so little money, nor have I ever felt so rich! For me, wealth is the abundance of time and good experiences I now have, in contrast to the meaningless acquisition of 'stuff'. I don't want to be poor, don't get me wrong (so buy my books!) I'm just happy that my priorities now reflect the spiritual life I want to lead, rather than living a life driven simply by acquisition.

One of the main goals I had when on embarking on this new path, was to research the spiritual ways and traditions of my ancestors, of which the Celts and the Druids were a part. Recently I decided to put together a book which highlights and compares the various neo-pagan traditions that have blossomed over the last 30 years. This is a project which will take me years to put together, and this is just one of the steps along the way. Druidry, or Druidism, is one of the paths I wanted to review in my book, and so I started to ask questions on a Facebook group where I met Sencha, and was guided to his website.

Week 1 Earth Path: Meaning of Awen

‘Awen’ is a Welsh word roughly translated as ‘divine inspiration.’ The word is Indo-European in origin and comes from the root ‘-uel,’ which means ‘to blow.’ In this sense, it could be seen to mean, ‘that which takes one’s breath away.’ In other words, the Awen is that which is awe-inspiring. 

1. What places in nature inspire you?

Almost always forests. I do appreciate a seaside locale as well, but our old mixed forests up here in Ontario are breathtaking. A beatific mix of trees, heady scents, and a sense of life. 

2. Do you have a favorite outdoor place?

The forest at Murphy's point provincial park is my favourite natural place in the world. It's bordered by Big Rideau lake, and has miles of isolated trails running through mixed forest and bordering the rocky shore of the lake. Naturally I buy an annual pass :)

Murphy's Point This Summer - A Hazy Rainy Day

3. What energies are in balance when you spend time outdoors in nature?

All my senses seem to be in harmony. My vision shifts from close to far and back again. My sense of smell and hearing are activated and cue off all the sensory input I'm normally deprived of while inside. It's like having muscle fatigue fromusing one isolated muscle group, then suddenly having your whole body to use...suddenly things become easier, natural.

4. When outdoors, do you notice any changes in your mental/emotional state?

The biggest change is an immediate balance of inputs. Indoors, all my inputs are from the computer and other unnatural sources, and I have to constantly process them, but in a non-instinctual way.

When outdoors, things immediate slow down, start coming into balance. There is likely more sensory input required for me to process, but it's data my body and soul was intended to process; the sounds of the birds, feel of the wind, and scents of the animals.

I left a fat six figure salary 3 years ago to bring my life into balance, and to start following a more natural path. Thankfully, I'm back on track, and with only 43 years under my belt, plenty of time to enjoy me newfound balance!