Living Druidry by Emma (Bobcat) Restall-Orr

[Dave TheDruid-3X3Participant]

Awens to All:

About a Week Ago, I received the Copy of Bobcat’s ‘Living Druidry’ and have been posting Reviews of each Chapter onto the Internet.

I am planning on Writing a 3X3 Triad Poem on Bobcat’s Book to be E-Published on the Morning of Lughnasad.

3X3

[Dave TheDruid-3X3Participant]

Got through the 1st Chapter ‘The Nature of Druidry: A Priest Alone’.

So far, there have been some sections that are Spiritual Meditation Word Salads along with the History of how Ancient Druidism used to be an Oral Tradition and that the Oral Histories that have Secretly passed down (such as within some Secret Societies such as the Freemasons) and are now have been written down as Modern Druidism is likely to be somewhat different to what was actually practiced by the Ancient Druids which is something I have seen written in other books on Druidistic as well as Buddhistic Philosophy Books.

But on Page #11, Bobcat writes:
“We use complicated loops of logic to justify catatonia, fear based on those experiences of brutal negation, the dismissive responses of adults or peers that crush our natural ability to trust”.

Actually, I disagree with that statement. I have found that most Living Things, from observing Wild Animal’s Natural Behaviors, are more Naturally Inclined to Distrust than to Trust.

So I would change that sentence to say that our Peers tend to Crush our ‘Delicate Abilities’ to Trust as it is Harder to Create Trust, Trust needing to be Maintained and is easily to Lose.

And I think her mentioning our using Complicated Loops or Logic can also be equated to issues of having Correct Etiquette between ourselves.

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[Dave TheDruid-3X3Participant]

While reading the 3rd Chapter ‘Finding Oneself – Perfect Individuality’, I found this quote on Page #57 that I found to be rather good:
“We learn that to judge another’s reality as unreal is not just ignorant and narrow-minded; it is also dishonourable”.

And Dishonourability Is Caused By:
– Being Cowardly,
– Being Disloyal,
– And Being Greedy.

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[Dave TheDruid-3X3Participant]

First part of Chapter #3 goes into how your Personal Senses of Touch, Taste, Hearing, Eye Sight and Smell tend to effect your Spiritual Being and then goes into the part of your Individual Spirituality called a ‘Nemeton’ and how it is embodied in your Temples, Stone Circles and Forests.

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[Dave TheDruid-3X3Participant]

Chapter 4 is called ‘Finding Connection – The Web Of The Awen’.

On Page #73, Bobcat points out that without the Influence of some form of Deity and Judgement with Nature is needed to guide Current Behavior to the Meanings of the Physical World itself ceases to matter. So we need some sort of Spiritual Guidance to guide us in this Physical World.

The Awens is the Spiritual Threads of Truth, Trust and Tones of Life which is Weaved in Webs, Nests and Craftings of Life.

The Spiritual Essences of the Nemeton is spoken of again and how it is the part of the Seeing Visions of the Ovates and goes over how the Ovate’s Craft of seeing what is the Best Actions of the Future.

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[Dave TheDruid-3X3Participant]

The 5th Chapter is called ‘Powers Of Nature – Gods Of Sun, Tree and Dewdrop’.

The first part of the Chapter goes into how Modern Druidism coexists with Modern Western Civilization which I found to be a rehash of such things covered in the 1st Chapter.

Then Bobcat goes on about how each Force of Nature is a Deity in it’s own form which touches onto the Cosmologies of Ancient Hinduism. So she points to the Sunshine being Deity, the Hydro Powers of the Rivers being Deity as well as each and every Flower Head being a form of Deity.

The big part of this Chapter is information about how each of the Eight Sacred Sabbaths are Celebrated, what Times of the Year they are Celebrated and for what purpose they are Celebrated.

The last Sentence in the Chapter I found to be quite poignant:
“Holding our connections and our reverence for the gods of nature beyond humanity, even those that are no apparent immediate threat to us, is the only way our species has a hope of surviving”.

That goes in the Modern Technological Age in which the Technologies that we have created for ourselves is now the source of Humanity’s Greatest Selfmade Threat.

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[Dave TheDruid-3X3Participant]

I am into Chapter 6 which is called ‘Powers Within – Gods of Love, War & Plastic’ and I have found that so far in this book, Bobcat uses a Word that I have never known of before. It is ‘Anthropomorphization’.

So did the Google and found it’s meaning:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropomorphism

“Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics to abstract concepts such as nations, emotions, and natural forces, such as seasons and weather. Both have ancient roots as storytelling and artistic devices, and most cultures have traditional fables with anthropomorphized animals as characters. People have also routinely attributed human emotions and behavioral traits to wild as well as domesticated animals.”

Ok – So a lot of Children’s Fairy Tales such as the Story of Peter Rabbit or various Characters from Alice in Wonderland is Anthropolmorphiztic.

She states that the Gods tend to be Anthropolmorphizized depicting Humanoid Entities with Super Human Abilities or Animals which are depicted with Human Behavior Traits. Bobcat states that the correct form of Deity is Fields of Energy that Create Life & Form on our Planet and I tend to agree with that.

Now on to reading Chapter #7.

[Dave TheDruid-3X3Participant]

Awens to All:

Just finished Chapter 7 ‘Letting Go – Drums, Drugs & Screaming’.

This Chapter chronicles the various ways to help Letting Go of various Destructive Emotional Energies by either doing Drum Circles or Ritualistic Screaming to Let Out your Negative Emotions. On the subject of Drugs, Bobcat mentions that there are loads of different Herbs that can help release your Pain and Destructive Emotions but does not recommend anything that is Synthetic especially the ones that lead to Brain Altering Damage.

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[Dave TheDruid-3X3Participant]

Awens to All:

Just finished the 8th Chapter which is called ‘Change – Magic And The Impossible’.

The First Part of this Chapter goes into how most Magic is not consciously conjured up but is usually the End Result of some Natural Cycle of Life, Fertility and Passage of Time.

Then Bobcat goes over the 4 Sacred Elements of Earth, Air, Fire & Water and how they are the 4 Quarters of Sacred Circle of Life and how they represent North, East, South and West.

It goes on with a description of on a concept called the ‘Druid’s Shed’ in which a Druid’s Spiritual Tools & Writings are kept be it Creative Art, Sacred Books or Keepsakes.

Once again, in this Chapter, Bobcat recounts the Spiritualities of the Nemeton, Anthropomorphism and the Awen and goes into how one of the most important causes of Change in Druidism being Fertility and how that form of Change brings about New Life to replace the Old. I found that to be a rehash of Cosmologies of the 3rd or 4th Chapters.

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[Dave TheDruid-3X3Participant]

Just got into the 9th and Last Chapter of Living Druidry called ‘Freedom – Nature’s Ecstacy’ and have just come into something.

On Page #196, it is said that when we are able to open ourselves to Freedom which allows a Soul-to-Soul Touch, our true Intention can cause use to slide into ‘Mellifluous’ Harmony.

‘Melliflous’ is another Word that I have never heard of before so had to do the Google.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mellifluous

Seems it is something that has a Smooth Rich Flow. So what Bobcat is saying that we are Open, we can have some sort of Smooth Rich Flow of our Personal Harmonies.

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[Dave TheDruid-3X3Participant]

But after a little blurb about Freedoms bringing about a Mellifluous Smooth Flow of Harmony, the Chapter goes onto how the Autumn or Fall is the newer term for the Season and that it has been better known as the ‘Harvest’ Season and goes on about it going from Lammas Lughnasad to Samhain which is the time of year to take annual account of one’s Mortality and Reorganize our Lives accordingly making sure to recheck Wills and Burial/Cremation Arrangements.

In the Conclusionary Statement, Bobcat states that one should be Wild & Free true to your own Soul and urges that one should Live Life Fully for Every Moment. That can only be done Solitarily as no sooner as one tries to do that within a Group, Grove or Coven, you inevitably end up with someone coming up to you Correcting or Scolding You for doing it ‘Bloody Wrong!’.

I have found that this Book mainly goes into the Peaceful Spiritualism of Druidistic or Paganistic ways. But unfortunately, I have found that such Practices are only possible with People with Well Developed Self Control Abilities and Strong Prefrontal Cortexes which are only properly developed within about 5% of the entire Human Population.

But since this Book goes into Spiritualism so much that I would retitle this Book ‘Spiritual Druidry’ instead of ‘Living Druidry’.

As far as Living Druidry, I found that is better chronicled in Bobcat’s other Book: ‘Living With Honour – A Pagan Ethics’ which is the Book by Bobcat that I tend to promote as being the Perfect Manifesto for having the Proper Expectations in Life.

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