From the Fond du lac area
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Hello from Los Angeles, CA! Iām trilled for joining the forum. I only recently became a candidate.
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Hello from TN! I canāt wait to begin my journey and make new friends with you all!
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Welcome to AODA, @luna and @RynTheWitch!
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Hello, @luna! Welcome! 
Iām originally from Southern California. What inspired you to become a candidate?
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Hi from the eastern panhandle of WV.
Iām Josh. my wife and I both just became candidates, although I donāt think sheās checked out the forums yet. I have studied various forms of earth based spirituality over the yearsā¦
Beth came back from Magus super excited about AODA and showed me the curriculum and it seemed to be pretty in tune with where I am currently in my journey.
Iām an EMT (disclaimer: but not your EMT, unless your on my ambo, consult a physician before heeding any medical advice) currently working for a private transport company. Also Iām the houses resident kitchen witch.(allready planning on making some of my changes around the kitchen processes in the house)
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Hello Josh and welcome to the AODA and the forum!
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Hello and welcome to the forum!
Hi! I believe many things one after the other led me to Druidry, without me realizing where I was headed to. 
Iāve felt a connection to trees from the earliest days of my childhood, such as leaves and branches trembling as soon as I get near a tree. I always felt like they wanted to tell me something, but I didnāt stop and listen. I hugged and I talked. :)). During my adult years, as spiritual growth became a part of my life, I started to see the value of listening to my intuition, to my guides and to trees and stones and waterā¦ and as I was looking for a research project on the anthropology of consciousness (Iām a cultural anthropologist), my intuition kept telling me to work with trees. So I did, and they led me to Druidry. Here I am, happy to have found a community of like-minded, like-hearted people and a safe space to grow with tree wisdom.
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Hey all, my nameās Stephanie or Aisling. Iām cool with both. Been a Pagan druid for quite a few years now and joined the AODA to get a more structured curriculum. Would also like to reach out to some other pagans, as Iāve been practicing on my own for some time. Iām from Kitsap county Washington for anyone curious. Itās good to be here.
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Hello Aisling and welcome to the AODA and the forum. Aisling is my great-nieceās name. Great Irish name 
The funny thing is, my great-nephewās wifeās name is Stephanie 
All of them live in Ireland 
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Wow, youāve got quite the family! Is your family originally from Ireland or did that part move to Ireland?
I picked the name Aisling because I heard it from one of my favorite films (The Secret of Kells) and later learned itās also a poetic genre that developed in Ireland during the 17th and 18th century. Iām a big literature buff if you havenāt guessed already!
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Welcome to AODA, @Aisling! Many of us join for the structured curriculum.
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The part of my family that is from that neck of the woods was ancestry. I have an ancestor from Ireland called Jacob Applegate and the rest of my lineage from that neck of the woods is from Wales. I am from the US, but I used to chat in MSN chatrooms in the late 90s to early 2000s. I met someone there who lived in Belfast, Northern Ireland. After 4.5 years of chatting, I traveled there to be with him and we are still together. Weāve been together for 18 years I lived over there for 7.5 years before we had to come back to the States and we were married here in 2013. My children and grandchildren were here. I had to come back for health reasons. I didnāt give up citizenship because of family so I didnāt have free medical. When you need surgeries (more than one) you must come back.
Still, I got very close to most of my husbandās family, even his extended family. I miss it over there.
Nothing wrong with being a literature buff My first love may have been archaeology/anthropology, but practically speaking, I wanted to major in literature or linguistics. When I got a little older, then I switched to wanting to go into forestry. I was heavily influenced in the beginning by the Indiana Jones movies Then I was heavily influenced by my English Lit teacher. She had me reading books outside the curriculum since I read so fast. I was the āteacherās petā. I totally get the literature junkie part of it lol
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Pren! 
I love your energy in this post! 
I am on the complete opposite side of the US in Virginia. I joined the AODA 4 years ago, but I am brand-spanking-new to the forum. I am finally in a good place to seek initiation & begin my diligent work 
I am also here seeking connection & exchange of ideas: have you found any virtual AODA Study Groups or Groves that you enjoy? If you have or you do, please let me know 
I am currently on a little camping trip with my husband & our 3 little doggies. Weāre in Fairy Stone State Park & weāve found so many fairy stones! Iāll include a link in case you or anyone else is interested in either the science or the legends. Itās definitely a sacred space in that forest 
Getting renewed this week is what prompted me to hop on here this evening. Ive been ready to begin my druid journey- what better time than now? 
We hope to someday come out your way & explore the awe-inspiring forests in Washington. Iād be so down for any recommended must-visit spots! 
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Fairy Stone State Park in Virginia:
The legend told here is only the Christian version, but the Native Americans had their own legends. The cross has always been a sacred symbol & to them it symbolized the 4 cardinal directions, or the Four Winds. They also believed that it was magical forest spirits who left them in this forest 
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I am grateful to be welcomed here!
I agree with everything stated in the Code of Conduct.
I actually feel much more comfortable now, in this space, knowing that itās well-mediated & everyone goes through a vetting process before being granted the access to comment on othersā posts about very personal & deeply-held spiritual beliefs.
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That is the one thing about this forum that I donāt have in my community ā¦ acceptance of my beliefs. You will not be told that you are wrong here. You will not be told that you are a bad person for how you believe. I dare say that most people in this forum love talking to everyone about their different beliefs. Love and acceptance are hard to get unless youāre in this forum! lol
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Iām so excited by that prospect, Heather 
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Hello all! My name is Wiley and Iām a permaculture practitioner in western Michigan. I heard about AODA from the Hex Positive podcast a few weeks ago and decided to join after reading Land Healing. Iāve spent the last five or six years developing my own land-based spiritual practices informed by reading everything I can find from Anishinaabe authors, since Iām living on their land. But I donāt want to appropriate their ceremonial practices, so Iām hoping that the AODA curriculum will give me a non-appropriative starting point to build my own ceremonies from. I agree to the community guidelines, and I look forward to getting to know you all.
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