Spirituality in The Old Belief

Like all religions, the Old Belief emphasizes spirituality (while we are called Druids, the religion itself is termed as The Old Belief...simply because it is so ancient...as it is the sole remainder of the wide-spread religion of Mesolithic Old Europe); it's spirit based. It wouldn't be much of a religion if it wasn't after all. There is a subtle difference in the spirituality however. It is based upon reflective continuity and reflexive harmony. This sounds complicated, but its concept is simple. All human sense perception suffers from astigmatism; as no matter how well any one of us views reality, that view has to be blurred. Our senses are limited; all of our senses, and it is with our senses that we are able to perceive reality at all, no matter how vague our perception might happen to be. In addition to all that, our memories are variable. We can't remember exactly what it is which we have perceived and so we reconstruct that perception whenever we try to remember our past, and that reconstruction is never complete; nor is it ever exact. So, the first aspect of Druid spirituality is to correct false perception; hence the concepts of reflective continuity and reflexive harmony. These are the necessary first steps in spiritual training in a system of practice/belief. Every religion has such a system of spiritual training: It has to have it.

Pan-Psych-Ism

When we speak of pan-psych-ism, we aren't addressing the universe as being some deity, in the sense that all things are divine or are in god, like Spinoza. Not at all. That belief is pan-theism. What we are speaking of is that all things are conscious, and they were always conscious; which is quite different. This Druid belief is neither theistic nor is it atheistic. It is non-theistic. It's quite different; as the belief is evolutionary, and it's possibly revolutionary to those who didn't grow up in it. We think the universe makes itself and is always in the process of re-making itself, and that this making is being done absent an extraneous force or outside intervention of any sort whatsoever. How this process of making is being played out then is what we are concerned with.

Gnostic

To be clear, when we speak of "Gnostic," we are not using the term in the Ibrahim's sense as the twin aspects of one single deity: light and dark or good and evil or creation and destruction. We are using it in a more profound sense, the Druid sense, of Non-Being and Being. From our point of view, existence has three aspects, or faces. These three faces are Being, Non-Being and Being Beyond Being. Each one is a part of, and each one is reflective of, the others. These three faces are always entangled. In order for Being Beyond Being (neither Being nor Non-Being) to come into its existence, it is also necessary to have Being and Non-Being. This is why our religion is so termed as being Gnostic Pan-Psych-ism, because it has these twin aspects, that of Being and Non-Being, which together then form the third aspect of Being Beyond Being. One shouldn't think of one aspect as superior to or as any older than the others. All three are necessary for consciousness. As we've said, we do believe in consciousness. There is the Druid saying: That which is: IS. That which is not: IS, also. What this means is Being and Non-Being are actually needed for there to be any existence, for there to be any thing at all. This acknowledgement is what makes it psychic. What makes it pan-psychic is the belief that everything is consciousness.

Gnostic Pan-Psychism

Since we are speaking of energy generation, we also should be discussing the "why" and the "how" of energy. This is going to get a little deep. The Druid outlook on the universe, or the nature of reality, does not distinguish between the physical and the psychic. From the Druid's viewpoint (obviously I'm giving my own interpretation here---there are only about a hundred of us left), the psychic and the physical are simply different aspects (or "faces" which is the proper term) of the same consciousness. Reality is seen as conscious, but this consciousness is not the same as human consciousness---think more of a child in the womb---this consciousness is more the potential of consciousness---the universe is in the state of becoming conscious: the World is potent with Thought. It is this potency that is tapped when we're exploring psychic endeavors.

Energy Generation

Energy generation is quite different in the various family Celtic systems. What we shall be discussing here is a Druid system, which is a bit different from the various family systems. The Celtic systems (that I know of) have thirty-two family systems (4x8). All the other systems are variants of those thirty-two. As it would not be acceptable for me to discuss the other family systems (they can discuss their own without my assistance quite well), I'll confine the system to the one I was brought up with; that of the Connor of the Red Hand. This is a Druid system that he had learned from his mother. It is related to the system of the "White" or "Shining" Connor. The appellation "shining" or "whiteness" is one that is used to distinguish the Druid portion of a clan; those who were exempt from engaging in combat. The "red" or "blood" portion of the clan are the warriors. Since I'm descended from both portions in the Clan of Conn, I can discuss both aspects: the martial and the spiritual. Energy generation is the same, but the usage is different.