AODA Membership Assistance

Hello. My name is Keith Ferguson. I am very interested in continuing my Druidry studies by joining AODA. I am not able to do the $50 at this time for the membership. Is there any assistance that one can use to assist in paying the membership? Thank you for any and all suggestions! Blessings! <3 /|\

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You can find the full reason at the Membership Page, but the short answer is that unfortunately the AODA can not offer assistance for the fee. You can, however, join us on the forum as a friend of the order and study the curriculum without being an official member.

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I’m finding that the candidate year is more like two years. So my advice would be to get a copy of the Druidry Handbook (or use the online curriculum), print out the Sphere of Protection ritual from the web site, and get to work! In a year’s time hopefully your financial situation will be better and when you do join you’ll have a nice head start. Hope things work out for you.

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Likewise, feel free to share some of your perspectives here . . . you may be surprised the responses you reach.

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Thank you, Carmiac, for clarifying this. I don’t have a problem coming up with the $50 for membership for now, but am very cautious about joining because I’ve “joined” other paths before and ended up leaving, so I don’t want to be too casual this time, though I’ve already studied from some of The Druid Magic Handbook and Mystery Teachings from the Living Earth, and certainly agree with the druid practices of which I know. I like the option of being a friend to start, then making it official membership (if accepted)._

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I hope you find yourself feeling welcomed here!

I have had a few unsavoury experiences, with locals, Facebook and so on… Only stayed with 2, and only one has to do with Druids specifically

At first, I was unsure as well… I proceeded after a short time of consideration (one could say, I meditated on it). I have no regrets and nothing but warm experiences thus far!

I did my initiation almost 2 years ago

I hope we fill that niche you are needing!

And thank you to Rhal for your comment - yes, I have felt welcomed by both
the AODA Forum and individually by those Archdruids with whom I’ve
corresponded (Archdruid of Water Dana, whose blog I follow and Archdruid of
Fire Adam) and other druids like Nimue Brown or A Druid Way. I prefer AODA
to OBOD, for my own inscrutable reasons - someone I read recently said her
squirrely-iness was due to her Irish-Scots ancestry, so I’ll blame that in
my case as well. Whenever I think I can go along without getting so much
into druidry, I try the SOP again or find a new article that inspires, and
the original reasons make more sense. (I do appreciate one spiritual path
that does not seem so far to be based on consumerism and acquiring lots
more stuff, including foreign travel, to be able to follow the practices.)

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Wonderful! If I may, I suggest reviewing the Candidate requirements and consider them if you will be completing the membership at a later date. There is much to read, absorb and observe… If/when you manage the Membership, you could hit the ground running!

Fun tip: For tax purposes, you may be able to file as a Religious/Spiritual expense :wink:

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Actually, I think that’s totally accurate since AODA is a religious non-profit… :stuck_out_tongue:

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From what I have been able to gather about the AODA is in who and what has been produced by this place. John Michael Greer, Dana and the blogs which come from members- all these things have been an incredible resource and benefit to helping renew and revive not only Druidry but also the ecology of the Earth herself. Just based off of the resources and books, postings and whatever I can sponge off of websites, I look forward to joining, and the cost is nothing compared to other organizations, and yet the AODA seems to be LIVING Druidry, not just practicing it for a namesake.

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Exactly! It’s about a living spirituality rooted in a living Earth. The purpose of ritual and celebrating the changing seasons is not just because tradition, but to experience and tune ourselves to the natural cycle of the Earth and nature. Druidry is about doing and experiencing and making sense of the lessons that nature teaches us.

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