It is claimed in the classical writings that the Druids held the power to stop armies engaging in combat, and that may have been because one of their priorities was peace. Todays Druids wield neither the power or influence of the classical Druids but our priorities remain the same.
The achievement of peace is a central aim within todays Druidic communities, although peace can itself be expressed in different ways and is not always passive. It is with this in mind that The Druid Network has engaged in spiritual work to help bring about peace, not just on the local scale like the classical Druids, but on a worldwide scale enabled by the technology of today.
We invite anyone and everyone to engage with us in our aims, through the use of our Peace Ritual. This ritual is suitable for use on its own or it may be blended into your own ritual. It can be enacted individually or in a community based ritual. Travel is unneccessary, just putting aside a place and time is all that is required.
We have worded this ritual to have no specific political or religious flavour; it is a ritual for peace without adopting any specific political stances.
The Ritual
First we would suggest that everyone starts with the calls for peace in each direction.
“May there be peace in the east,
may there be peace in the south,
may there be peace in the west,
may there be peace in the north,
may there be peace in the whole world.”
After that we suggest each individual or group proceed with whatever ritual opening they usually use and when that is complete use the following:
We honour the fallen,
Those who chose to take arms and fight,
Those who chose to meet war with peace,
And those for whom a wakeful choice was never an option,
All those whose fate it was to die in conflict.
We honour and remember them.
(pause to honour and remember those known and unknown who have died in conflict.)
We stand in the web of life, each of us connected to each other.
Our thoughts and deeds ripple outwards across that web.
(pause to reach out and feel our connections to each other and the web of life)
Today we stand for peace, today we act for peace.
Let each of us be a channel for peace.
Peace in our hearts.
Peace in our lives.
Peace in the world.
(pause and focus on being a channel for peace and radiating that peace out across the world)
After that we suggest closing your ritual in whatever is your normal fashion.
If you feel so moved, we would be happy to hear from you as to how the ritual worked for you, how you adapted it and whether it was well received.
Extract from Original Press Release:
Last night, on 10 August 2014 members of the international organisation, The Druid Network, performed a ritual all across the globe in honour of peace.
Crises of war are happening all over the globe, and members of TDN gathered together on the member- only social network site to discuss matters. What evolved was the creation of a ritual for peace, that could be enacted by anyone, anywhere, at this August Supermoon.
Over 300 people responded to the Facebook event, and even more Pagans from all over the globe performed either this version or their own with the intention of creating peace. The wording of the ritual is described below:
It is claimed in the classical writings that the Druids held the power to stop armies engaging in combat and that may have been because one of their priorities was peace. Today’s Druids wield neither the power or influence of the classical Druids but our priorities remain the same.
The achievement of peace is a central aim within today’s Druidic communities. It is with this in mind that The Druid Network has, at this time, now engaged in spiritual work to help bring about peace, not just on the local scale like the classical Druids, but on a worldwide scale enabled by the technology of today.
We therefore invite anyone and everyone to engage with us in our aims, through the use of our International Full Moon Peace Intention Ritual. This ritual, which will be held on the full moon of each month, is suitable for use on its own or in conjunction with any other type of ritual. It can be done on an individual basis or through a community based ritual.