A meeting with the Bard

Since discovering the path of Druidry two years ago, I have felt blessed by the wisdom, guidance and inspiration of many teachers. In this particular case, mind you, I'm not referring to those with four legs, wings, compound eyes, leaves, branches or petals. This time I'm talking about those of my own species, particularly some who have taken time to write books, essays, poems and music to ponder, absorb and ultimately live by. Three individuals, in particular, stand out as my main sources of information and inspiration so far. They are, Philip Carr-Gomm, John Michael Greer, and Damh the Bard. 

If you follow the path of Druidry yourself, I'm sure these names will be of little surprise to you. Philip Carr-Gomm is currently the Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD). He is the author of many articles, essays, podcasts and books, including The Druid Mysteries and The Druid Way, and is co-author of the Druid Animal Oracle and editor of The Rebirth of Druidry and The Book of Druidry. 

John Michael Greer hails from this side of the pond and is currently the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA). He has also authored many books, articles, essays and more. Most particularly relating to Druidry are his excellent resources entitled The Druidry Handbook and The Druid Magic Handbook. He also keeps an active blog entitled The Archdruid Report. 

When it comes to pure inspiration, beauty and foot-tapping rhythms, however, neither Philip nor John Michael can hold a candle to Damh the Bard. On his website, www.paganmusic.co.uk, Damh (pronounced Dave), describes himself as follows: 

Damh is a modern-day Bard whose spirituality, and love of folk tradition, is expressed through his music, storytelling and poetry. Drawing on the Bardic traditions his performances are both entertaining and educational, weaving a tapestry of myth, peace, and anthems that speak directly to the heart, but never without a good splash of humour. Damh is a musical storyteller who works within the world of myth that cannot be proved; where the Faerie really do dance on Midsummer's Eve, where the trees talk, and the Hollow Hills take you into the realms of Annwn. Where the Goddess rides her horse, guiding you to magic, and the Horned God of old calls us from the shadows of the Greenwood. So relax, and let the music take you there.

Simply put, Damh's music has touched my soul as few other musicians or poets ever have. A true storyteller, he weaves a spell upon the listener, transporting us back to ancient times or simply to a new perspective in the modern day. He also currently serves as Pendragon of OBOD and keeps busy with a variety of performances and projects, such as The Spirit of Albion - the movie, which is currently being produced based on his music. 

But alas, this folk musician lives on the "wrong side" of the pond and I accepted the fact it would be highly unlikely (if not impossible) for me to ever catch his act live in person. But yesterday, when browsing Facebook, I was amazed to discover he would be performing at the Michigan Pagan Festival that evening! A quick look and I discovered that the Fest was just two hours from my home and I swiftly made plans to drive down and see the show. 

I'm happy to report that Damh the Bard delivered an amazing performance, even surpassing my already high hopes for the evening. In a pole barn at a county fairgrounds, with driving rain pounding on the sheet metal roof, the spirit and energy of the Gods and Goddesses, Mother Earth and the Blessed Community of Humanity filled that room to the point of overflowing. We cheered and sang along, clapped our hands, stomped our feet, got up to dance and even howled like animals in the night. And when the last song was sung, we all stood together, arms around each other, singing and swaying to the music. It was a blessed experience I'll remember and cherish always. 

Thank you so much, Damh, for making a stop in the Great Lakes State and sharing so much with us. Your gifts of story and music truly make a positive difference for many of us throughout this crazy world of ours. I'll cherish your CDs and signatures, smiles, kind words and (sweaty) hugs and look forward until the time when we shall meet again. Blessed Be. 

Kyle (Skybranch)  /|\

The Reenchantment of the World

Perhaps my favorite quote from The Druid Magic Handbook by John Michael Greer is actually a quote he used from another source. In 1981, Morris Berman wrote the following on page 10 of his book,  The Reenchantment of the World. 

"For more than 99 percent of human history, the world was enchanted and man was himself as an integral part of it. The complete reversal of this perception in a mere four hundred years or so has destroyed the continuity of the human experience and the integrity of the human psyche. It has very nearly wrecked the planet as well. The only hope, or so it seems to me, lies in a reenchantment of the world." 

Now I don't know about you, but this certainly gives me a great deal of food for thought. Ninety-nine percent of human history is a really long time! Have we really changed our world-view so very much from countless generations of our ancestors? If so, what does that mean for us, the planet and all other living things that share it with us? 

To me, the answer is easy. If we continue blindly down the road we're travelling now, we're doomed. Humanity as we know it can kiss itself goodbye and a great deal of the plant and animal species on Earth along with it. History is replete with individual civilizations that altered their environment so much they wiped themselves out. From the Anasazi of the Southwestern United States to native peoples of Easter Island, the story has replayed itself again and again. And those were in the days when the world was seen as "enchanted";  the plants, rocks and animals, ocean sky and stars were filled with spirits everywhere.

The modern, scientific-industrial age is an aberration in the long history of human experience. Certainly we can't simply turn the clock backwards and all instantly live in an pre-industrial age of hunter-gatherers and limited agriculture. But we CAN make choices about how we perceive the world we live in and what value we place on the web of all life, of which we are a part. 

If you think about it, this isn't that big of a stretch. Kids are born with an innate sense of wonder and the entire world is enchanted in every sense of the word. A preschooler was telling me all about her pet green bug the other day and just beamed with delight that she got to connect with this little, "ordinary" creature. Groves are filled with fairies, magic is real, and everything is possible when we are a child. But today, part of being "a grownup" is learning to reject this "simplistic" world view and to fine-tune our rational mind to the exclusion of all else. We live in an age of computers, information, and machines and these are the gods we worship now. 

Except when they're not. For some reason, much of Western culture, in particular, has decided that a belief in a monotheistic religion which teaches people to subdue the earth while looking forward to "real life" in the afterlife is perfectly okay. Don't worry about the Earth too much now, as it's not the important part. Our reward will be in heaven and if we destroy the planet in the process, then "God will handle it." 

The combination of these two belief systems, the scientific/industrial and monotheistic "heaven-based" religious has proved to be utterly disastrous for nearly all life on our planet. What we need, I believe, is to give ourselves and each other permission to bring magic back and enchantment back into the world. 

A reviewer of Berman's book on Amazon.com notes the following: 

In this sense, 'enchantment' relates to the inner perception of self, community and cosmos as 'animated', 'alive', replete with 'soul' and 'meaning'. In a less positive sense, 'disenchantment', according to Berman, is the condition of percieving those same things from a narrow 'materialistic' perspective alone. The disenchanted mind reduces/explains away people, animals, plants, community, nature etc. as mere chance events, chemical reactions, in short, as 'matter without soul or mind'.

My friends, we need to remember the lessons of our ancestors. They knew that a connection to the Web of Life was important for our very survival. We delude ourselves in thinking that our systems of food production, heating and cooling, medicine, travel, etc. have made us better survivors. In the short term, perhaps, but at what expense? What price will our children and grandchildren have to pay as the planet continues to warm, species worldwide go extinct on a massive scale and sources of fresh water dry up for an ever-increasing human population. 

It's time to bring magic back into the world. The magic of Earth, Air, Fire, Water and Spirit all flow through us all each day already. We just have to wake up, pay attention, and do something about it. 

-Skybranch /|\