{"id":4813,"date":"2016-03-22T17:27:16","date_gmt":"2016-03-22T23:27:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=4813"},"modified":"2016-03-22T17:27:16","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T23:27:16","slug":"a-druid-retreats-into-the-woods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/03\/a-druid-retreats-into-the-woods.html","title":{"rendered":"A Druid Retreats Into The Woods"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

There are places of natural beauty and power in cities and suburbs, but truly wild places are hard to come by. I prefer the mountains and forests, but the swamps of South Louisiana where the OBOD Gulf Coast Gathering<\/a> is held are beautiful and powerful\u2026 and restorative.<\/p>\n

Last weekend was the second annual OBOD Gulf Coast Gathering, and I was glad to be there and participate. The woods have always been my safe space.<\/p>\n

The more OBOD camps I attend (this was my ninth) the harder it is for me to recap them. How many times can you write about workshops, rituals, and initiations? They\u2019re good and helpful and meaningful, but what can I say about them that I haven\u2019t already said \u2013 and that you haven\u2019t already read the previous eight times?<\/p>\n

So instead of trying to recap the 2016 OBOD Gulf Coast Gathering, I\u2019d rather just tell you some of my random thoughts and impressions from four days at Fontainebleau State Park in Mandeville, Louisiana.<\/p>\n

\"GCG<\/a><\/p>\n

I needed this retreat<\/strong>. The Gods are first in my practice. I never tire of telling Their stories and hearing others tell them. I never tire of prayer and meditation. I never tire of discussing theology, philosophy, ethics, and community with my fellow polytheists.<\/p>\n

I do, however, frequently tire of debates turning into arguments, of arguments getting personal, and of personalities who seem more interested in advancing themselves and tearing down others than in serving the Gods. And over the last few weeks, I\u2019ve gotten really tired.<\/p>\n

The Gulf Coast Gathering was on my schedule six months ago, but it couldn\u2019t have come at a better time. OBOD\u2019s primary focus is on Nature spirituality and our\u00a0legacy of the ancient Druids. Four days spent immersed in Druidry is a wonderful restorative tonic for the pain of theological discord.<\/p>\n

\"Cernunnos<\/a>The Gods are never far away<\/strong>. The presence of a certain Forest God<\/a> was unmistakable. I usually wear my Awen pendant at OBOD events, but I hadn\u2019t been on-site for more than two hours when a combination of animal sightings and more direct communication made it clear I needed this one instead.<\/p>\n

Now, animals are sovereign beings with their own agency \u2013 they do what they do for their own reasons. To assume they are messengers for humans is species-centric and displays a lack of familiarity with ordinary animal behavior. But sometimes it\u2019s not what they have to tell us, it\u2019s what their presence reminds us to focus on. Many of the Old Gods are Gods of natural forces and phenomena \u2013 it is no surprise we can experience Them more clearly in a more natural setting.<\/p>\n

\"GCG<\/a><\/p>\n

The conversations were the best part<\/strong>. There were great conversations with Cynthia\u00a0on the long drive (and that\u2019s another good thing about the GCG \u2013 it\u2019s drivable from North Texas) \u2013 some historical speculation, some cultural observations, and some planning for the future. At the camp, there were conversations on the many aspects of Druidry, our relationships with the land, and our hopes and fears around the on-going election campaign. There was a long discussion on the challenges of introducing potentially scary spiritual depth to a religiously diverse group that includes beginners.<\/p>\n

One of the programs was a panel discussion on creativity in ritual. The panelists discussed goals, limits, and some of the ways to introduce creative elements into your rituals. There was a good amount of participation from the audience, with questions and with comments of \u201cthis is what worked for me.\u201d When some of the questions started getting off topic, we came back to our primary conversation by saying \u201cthat\u2019s a good question \u2013 let\u2019s talk about it after the panel.\u201d And we did.<\/p>\n

Sometimes the message is delivered in spite of the messenger<\/strong>. The theme of this year\u2019s camp was \u201cCelebrating the Bardic Arts.\u201d I led a workshop on Bardic Magic, which was pretty much the same presentation I gave in the ADF suite at Pantheacon<\/a>. I was happy with the material but not with my presentation \u2013 it was too disjointed and too much of a lecture (I think I need to restructure it to have more stories and less exposition).<\/p>\n

But over the rest of the camp, several people pointed out things I had brought up that they found helpful. That\u2019s no excuse to not make it flow more smoothly, but it was nice to hear.<\/p>\n

\"GCG<\/a><\/p>\n

Mighty beings take many forms<\/strong>. Below\u00a0is the Seven Sisters Oak<\/a>, located at a private residence about six miles from Fontainebleau. It\u2019s about 1500 years old. Think about that for a minute: when Justinian closed the last philosophy schools, this tree was here. When the Normans conquered England, this tree was already 500 years old. When Shakespeare was writing his plays, this tree was over 1000 years old.<\/p>\n

Trees like this are one of the reasons I\u2019m an animist, among my other religious and spiritual identities. It is clearly not human \u2013 our last common ancestor was a single-celled organism that lived 1.6 billion years ago. But just being in its presence screams that whatever energy or force or spirit animates us also animates the trees and every other living thing on Earth.<\/p>\n

This is an ancient and mighty being that deserves our respect, admiration, and care.<\/p>\n

\"GCG<\/a><\/p>\n

After the retreat, chop wood and carry water<\/strong>. It would be great to live at Druid camp, communing with Nature, honoring the Gods and spirits, and engaging in deep conversations every night. But when the retreat is over it\u2019s time to go back to work.<\/p>\n

When Henry David Thoreau ended his two year two month and two day experiment in simplicity (which wasn\u2019t as remote as many assume, but that\u2019s not relevant to this post) he said:<\/p>\n

I left the woods for as good a reason as I went there. Perhaps it seemed to me that I had several more lives to live, and could not spare any more time for that one.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Yes, I had to be back at my paying job at 7:30 AM on Monday morning. I have food to buy, house payments to make, and while the Gulf Coast Gathering is a fairly inexpensive trip for me, it\u2019s not free.<\/p>\n

I have no desire to get back into the less pleasant conversations in our Pagan and polytheist communities, but there is work that must be done and some of it is my responsibility to do. Building community is hard, contentious work. That\u2019s no excuse for not doing it.<\/p>\n

Thanks to the OBOD Gulf Coast Gathering, I\u2019m refreshed, restored, and in a much better frame of mind to do the work that\u2019s been set before me.<\/p>\n

\"GCG<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to the OBOD Gulf Coast Gathering, I\u2019m refreshed, restored, and in a much better frame of mind to do the work that\u2019s been set before me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":4822,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[947,514,124,4,5,8,973],"class_list":["post-4813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-druidry","tag-druidry","tag-gulf-coast-gathering","tag-obod","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-polytheism","tag-seven-sisters-oak"],"yoast_head":"\nA Druid Retreats Into The Woods<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thanks to the OBOD Gulf Coast Gathering, I\u2019m refreshed, restored, and in a much better frame of mind to do the work that\u2019s been set before me.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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