The Return of the Druids (Substack Article)

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What the Druid Revival Reveals About the Human Search for Ground

https://jimpalmerauthor.substack.com/p/the-return-of-the-druids

This is an interesting article that looks at modern Druidry not from a historical perspective but through a lens of “why” Druid revival came around and what it speaks to about the human condition in modern times. I think it really articulates some things that are appealing about Druidry that I haven’t seen expressed this way before.

And yes, I’m the Druid monk mentioned in the article. The author is my teacher in my Non-Religious Spiritual Director course.

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I agree on not having read this type of ‘why’ of Druidry before! Sometimes I found the essay difficult to read with the repetitions of text, so I might need or want to read it again and see what else it brings up. But having both the Druid and the Bard as kind of liminal archetypes and placing the Druid Revival in this bigger picture of an ongoing search for meaning that has known many iterations is really helpful actually.

Thanks for sharing! And I would love to learn more about existential health (rabbit hole GO) :blush: It sounds like an amazingly rich topic

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This is such a great article, thank you for sharing it!

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This will be so useful in explaining Druidy in a variety of situations. Thank you so much for sharing it.

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Thanks very much for sharing this! Very interesting, and it serves both to inform and to caution.

Here’s just one of the quotes I highlighted, to aid my memory:

The Druid became an important figure because he… represented the possibility that human beings could engage mystery without abandoning intelligence.

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Thank you, that was a delightful read. An excellent resource to share with people who have questions about Druidry.

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After a bit of pondering, I’m struck by how much the practices of Druidry look like the remedy to The Society of the Spectacle. That we’re encouraging people to have real, lived experiences. To un-alienate ourselves from each other and nature. To make our own art and music and history for ourselves and each other that’s outside of the “spectacle.”

Then I’m also stuck by just how monstrous of a task we have ahead. I’m as of yet the only druid I know IRL :smiley: Though thankfully I know a load of wiccan / pagan / Appalachian magic people so at least I don’t feel alone.

This mediated/immediate experience dichotomy feels like another channel that runs alongside enchantment/disenchantment. But I haven’t worked out those thoughts yet.

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