The First Oath - DP (not required)

Though writing your own first oath is not a requirement, I would like to make a blog entry about it. It is an affirmation, and is important, at least to me, as I don't have my own grove. So as a solitary, this is my way of sharing it with everyone. :)

I, Roberta, stand before the three Kindreds, and declare myself a Pagan.
Ancient ones hear me as I pledge my vow, to uphold and honor virtue, truth, and piety.
I promise to keep the old ways alive through study and practice,
Worshiping the Elder Gods, respecting the ancestors, and nature spirits.
I vow these things as I set foot on the path, the Druid's Way:

May I always have the wisdom and vision to seek and know the truth.
May I always have the courage to act responsibly, and with integrity.
To persevere when times are not favorable.
To act with hospitality to friend and foe alike.
To act with moderation in mind both personally, and with nature's resources.
With a fertile heart, mind, and body, to cultivate what needs to be sewn and cared for,
whether it be a physical thing, an idea, or to enrich my path, and to help others.
To keep the High Days, rites, and works that call to me, in a proper way.

I vow these things before the Gods who are present in my life.
I vow these things to my ancestors whose blood flows in my veins.
I vow these things to the land spirits, present here in the place I dwell.

________
Roberta T.

Week 1 Assignment for the Dedicant Program

Why have you chosen to take the first steps on the Dedicant Path?
I have chosen to take the Dedicant Path, because I wish to learn in a structured way. The DP lays things out in a way that I feel will help me learn.  

Is this a step on your path, or will this become the Path itself?
I hope it will become the path itself, but it is most certainly a step on the path also. I have been pagan for around 20 years, and my path has had many twists and turns, and sometimes lots of brambles and brush in the way. I keep forging ahead diligently, sometimes just going with the flow, sometimes creating my own waves.

 What do you expect to learn?
I expect to learn what I am supposed to learn.  

What would you like to get out of this journey?
I would like to get a better understanding of not only scholarly subjects, but also about the world and more about the 3 Kindreds with us from day to day.

 Do you know where this path will take you?
Do any of us really know where our path will take us? I'm hoping it will better myself as a Pagan, and my role for the Pagan community,

 If you have just joined ADF, why have you chosen to work on this immediately?
It was one of the main reasons I wanted to join. It was less about the 'status' of being an ADF member, and more about the scholarly and spiritual aspects of learning. It was the thing that most attracted me to the ADF. Though.. the little membership card is pretty cool ;)

 If you have been in ADF for a long time, why are you starting only now?
n/a

 Does it look hard or easy?
It seems like a challenge, as it has been a long time since I have had to learn anything with assignments. However, depending on how hard or easy it is, just depends on the work I put into it.

 Which requirements appear to be difficult to you now, andwhich appear to be easy?
Mainly finding the time with working, being a mom, and a wife. For this reason, I don't have a lot of time to sit and read, even though I love reading. I would have to say the book reports.

 Do you have doubts, questions, or concerns that you need to ask about?
Not right now. 

Soft Polytheism/Dualtheism.. wtf.. (a mildly humorous take on the subject)

I would like to say if you consider yourself a soft-polytheist, this is not an attack, just a few personal opinionated ramblings on why I'm not too fond of it..

Soft Polytheism is where many (or all) variations of Gods and Goddesses are merged into one, or as Dualtheistic One God/One Goddess.

Why I don't 'agree' with this concept -
Well for starters.. why would anyone want to give a deity a mental disorder? I for one wouldn't want to worship a god with split personalities because that might confuse them .. and open the door to schitzophrenia or something worse. Take Eris for example, please! ... (lol 2 points if you get that old joke before you read this text in parenthesis) Would you really WANT the Goddess of Chaos, Disorder, and Confusion™ to be any more chaotic, disordered, and confused? Seriously! I also don't think she'd want to share with any of the "original snub" Goddesses either (Discordians will get that, if you don't.. it's ok).

Secondly, and seriously, I find it hard to believe that many other deities from other pantheons would like to share an apartment.. let alone share deity-hood. It sounds more like a cosmic reality show, rather than something to worship. "Next week on the program: Freyja uses the Morrigan's bathroom, which erupts into a cat-fight!" C'mon.. we really don't need situations to arise like that!

Maybe it's more convenient to those who do use this way of thinking. Which is also a bit awful IMO because you are taking away from the rich myths surrounding individual deities. If you lump them together in one category, you are in a sense creating a new deity, which is not really an improvement. You can't mix a rock and a tree together, just because they are both 'part of nature.' That would be silly. They are seperate beings for a reason, and have their own mythological histories. Now granted, in the P.I.E. traditions, there are deities with similar aspects (Odin/Zeus as all-fathers, Danu/Frigga as all-mothers, Freyja/Aphrodite/Venus as love and fertility Goddesses etc.. ) but they are still separate, and have some different traits from their alleged counterparts of other pantheons. However, the concept is that ALL of them are one God or Goddess or both. It seems to me like pure laziness. "I can't be bothered to remember all their names, so I will say they are all one! This solves everything!" WRONG. If a friend asks you to pick up a cake (or pie since we are talking about proto-indo-european religion) and you end up getting cookies, because "Well they are ALL desserts!" your friend might have to slap you. Well I would hope they would anyway.

Ah. Well this is food for thought.. speaking of food.. anyone got any pie?

A New Pagan Name?

My main online moniker, Heathenmomma is a bit outdated and slightly unoriginal. I have been in deep thought lately about whether or not to 'change' my name.. or at least adopt a new one in honor of this transformation of my path by joining the ADF. I have been perusing the online English/Irish dictionary, and have come up with some interesting combinations.

Ulchabhán bean - Owl woman 
Ulchabhán Baineann - She Owl (I like this one a bit better than the first)
Máistreás Speirling - Mistress Thunderstorm

These have nice rings to them.. perhaps more later..

ADF Member package arriving shortly..

Well I just got an email today from the ADF offices telling me my membership package will be arriving within the next 7 to 10 days. I will be blogging about my experiences doing the Dedicant Study Program. I will be using the outlines presented at Michael J. Dangler's web site 

I've even already got a study buddy!! WOOT!

Well.. I'm off to work! MORE SOON! :)

Hurray!

My membership is being processed to the ADF.. I've been approved.. now the waiting begins!
WOOT

The Purity of Pagan Paths

This article is based on one of my youtube videos. To see more of my videos go to my youtube channel.

In my video I state that modern pagan paths cannot be 'pure', meaning you can't totally ressurect the ancient traditions they are based on. You may ask why, well I made a wonderful comparison in the video about the evolution of a cheeseburger to illustrate my point, but aside from that there are so many cultural factors that play into this.
When cultures intermingle, whether that be by trading with outside villages, lands being conquered by wars, or even when marriages between couples of different locales, this stuff tends to happen. My point I was trying to make in the video (within the alotted amount of time) was that traditions today are merely based on what has already been tainted by time. Time brings change. So many paths claim to be the "ancient way" but in truth, there isn't any way they can be. Sure you can base modern traditions on older ones, but they still won't be a carbon copy of the originals. Even the orginals that were once oral traditions were later written down by others, and were subject to the author's (often monks who were some of the first scribes) renditions, which is what many modern paths tend to base their current traditions on. Beowulf is a pretty good example here. Beowulf was written by "Anonymous" (wow he seems to write a lot of stuff.. or she.. lol), so before "Anonymous" got ahold of the story, how had it changed? Well many speculate that by the time it WAS written down, many Christian elements were then attached to the ancient story.

Back to modern paganism. Well, as we have seen already, the ancient paths are already corrupt by time, and the oral traditions which were probably the most 'pure' no longer exist because they were written down by others who possibly, only speculation, had no real interest in their sacred values. Much has been lost to the years, and modern scholars only have bits and bobs to put together to hopefully make a full fledged tradition.
Isaac Bonewits, for example (to keep this related to druid subject matter), had the vision to found a modern path based on the history and myth etc of what we do know about ancient cultures to make a solid path, and the ADF was born.

So, in all, we can only strive to create new paths from the historical, archaeological, and mythological knowledge that still exists. I'm very leary of those who claim their way is directly descended from the old and ancient ways, because it hardly seems feasible. Modern times call for different traditions, some of the rites that were practiced then would be frowned on by today's standards, or at the very least test our comfort levels. Not everyone wants to be suspended by hooks in their nipples, and true human sacrifice is a thing of the past (some modern pagans use drops of their own blood as a personal preference in ritual, hence the phrasing 'true human sacrifice'). We can only fill in the gaps with UPG's (unverified personal gnosis) and what feels right to us. So far it looks like the Gods are pleased.

What is this blog about?

Yet another pagan blog on the internet.

I find that there are many, a lot of which have good things to say. Some are about politics concerning pagans, others are very personal documentations of personal growth. Well, I'm not particularly a political pagan, so mine will be more documenting personal growth, and other things that may or may not make you think a little bit.

I am a pagan of 20 some odd years, about to alter my path a little by joining the ADF (www.adf.org or: Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship which is an international fellowship devoted to creating a public tradition of Neopagan Druidry. ) My best suggestion is to follow the link to find out more. I was Asatru for a number of years and found that the reconstructionism aspect left me feeling a little constricted. Asatru is wonderful for those wanting to embark on a tradition solely based on the Norse deities and traditions, however, outside influences are not as welcome, say if you have an interest in Greek or Celtic ways. The ADF however encourages studies based on the Proto-Indo-European modern paths, and history of the P.I.E. cultures, etc.
They seem to recognize the potential and need for spiritual growth, and it was that I felt I was lacking by just sticking to the Norse Reconstructionist Path. So I truly feel that the ADF can put me in the right, so to speak, spiritually, and the study programs within the ADF seem to be very scholarly-sound. It also doesn't help that I'm a little bit on the Discordian side.. that philosophy has always intrigued me, and knowing there are the "Michael Dangler's" out there in the world.. it's a bit more comforting to know I'm not a lone wolf.. or lone banana or orange as the case may be.. lol

With that being said.. I look forward to blogging about whatever comes up in my head. :D