Druidry and Ethical Choice

by Bobcat

It is easy, both for those outside the tradition and for many within it, to think of Druidry as a spiritual path defined by a specific culture, a pantheon, a language, validated by a mythology, history and other apparent facts. We think of all things Celtic, perhaps, of Iolo Morgawg or Stonehenge ... Yet surely any tradition is far more accurately measured and understood by the values and priorities held by those who walk its paths.

Surveying Druidry, therefore, and those who use the word to describe their spiritual journey, what are the values and priorities we see? What is revealed by the words used, and, more crucially, by actions? Standing within the tradition, gazing at those who live their lives around us, what do we hope to witness? What guides us in the way that we could or should live, as we learn the Craft of Druidry? What influences our choices?

As a spiritual tradition based on reverence for and connection with the powers of nature, more than anything else Druidry teaches us to honour life.

The word honour is as magical and as hard to define as the word love, yet still that phrase hums with meaning. Even if we find it almost impossible to define just what honour is, as an ancient word it seems somehow to exist in our genes, shimmering in the dark space within every atom. Sometimes I feel as if the practice of Druidry, its lifelong task, can be succinctly described as the task of learning just what honour truly is.

In modern Christianity, the words of Jesus, love thy neighbour, are fundamental; yet it is not an easy task to fulfil. With the gentle acceptance of human nature that is at the heart of deep Paganism, we do not dismiss Christian philosophy as a sham simply because every Christian is unable to live those words with true integrity. In the same way, each individual crafting their path within Druidry is also upon a road of learning, reaching for that exquisitely complicated simplicity that is honouring life. We trip and fail, day by day, as we stumble into the 21st century, but still that goal leads us on.

Not unusually, people outside the tradition express incomprehension about the source of Druid ethics. This is most common from individuals whose spirituality is both monotheistic and hierarchical, where the laws of society and interaction come direct from one god. Without that authority, how can a Pagan Druid know what is right or wrong behaviour? The answer is clearly that our ethics are sourced in relationship, and in particular from our relationship with the divine: nature. In other words, because nature is sacred to us, it is our relationship with nature that formulates our ethical code.

In modern Pagan Wicca, the Rede (versions used and written by Aleister Crowley, Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente and many since) is used as a basis for all ethical decisions. It is commonly quoted as simply, An it harm none, do what thou wilt. The first half is determined to be equally important to the rejoinder: it is just as important to express oneself fully as it is to ensure that no creature is hurt by our self expression. Yet, like the semitic or Old Testament law, Thou shall not kill, the words are wide open to personal interpretation; both Wiccans and Christians have supported bloody wars and eaten meat.

For myself, and many I have worked with in Druidry, the Wiccan Rede is not an adequate expression or description of Druid ethical tenets. Honour life, in essence, holds my vision more clearly and fully.

As a starting point, honour is about honesty and respect. As we live, increasingly wakeful within our spiritual practice, our ability to live honestly grows broader and deeper. We are increasingly willing to sacrifice that most poignant of qualities, ignorance, both about ourselves and about the world around us. So it is that, with greater awareness, our ability to forge truthful, open and respectful relationships also grows. We begin to acknowledge, to perceive and engage with the spirit of all around us: we sense the essence of life. With this vision of life, in all the exquisite beauty of the patterns of nature, it is hard to be thoughtless, selfish and destructive.

To put it into the poetry of Druidic language, when we feel the spirit of a creature, radiant and humming, its songful purpose flowing upon the web of connectedness, it is not possible to cause harm without damaging our own spirit. Our natural human empathy too strongly reflects the damage upon our energy, shattering our integrity. Our care is woven naturally with threads of wonder and respect.

Druid ethics are built, then, upon this release of ignorance and the respectful creation of deep and sacred relationships. Humanity, each one of us, reaches into nature around us, into every part of our environment, within the ecology of home and the natural systems of our planet. We open our heart and soul to touch and be touched.

So do we make our choices. Exploring, discovering, we learn how best we can respond, accepting that it is up to each one of us to be responsible (response-able) within every situation life leads us into. Conscious that, as a part of the ecological web of life and spirit, we each make a difference to the whole with every action we take, we know that every choice is crucial.

For if we are to honour life, as the power of life-energy, as the force of life's purpose, and as the physicality of life's creativity, our actions must express that honour. In truth, honestly expressed, we interact through care and respect.

Ethics are important in every part of life. They guide our every step, from how we love and laugh, to how we spend our resources. It is the latter that we focus on in the Ethical or Green Living pages, for every penny, every cent we spend, is a powerful vote within this western culture, this democracy of capitalism. While every four years or so we may have elections for politicians who then claim the power to go to war or raise taxes, those politicians are in the thrall of a power beyond theirs: the power of money, oil money, drugs money, weapons money and even food money. The true democracy of our society is in the voting we do each day, in stores and supermarkets and here on line.

When we buy a cheap loaf of non-organic bread, we are voting for vast fields of wheat, land sprayed into submission, barren wastelands fertilized with chemicals, devoid of wildlife; we are saying YES to pharmaceutical companies like Monsanto. When we buy a L'Oreal shampoo, we are voting FOR animal testing. When we buy Nescafe coffee, we are saying that human rites are NOT important.

It is a lifelong task. But each journey is made a step at a time, and each step is essential for another step to follow it. We each make a difference. Let us each vote with eyes open and hearts clear and true.

Emma Restall Orr (bobcat) /|\
Head of the Druid Network
bobcat [at] druidnetwork [dot] org