Introduction:

As many of you know, I am new to the use of the computer. After talking to my fellow Druid Merlin via email, I have decided to bite the bullet, as it were, and share with you something that I recently wrote. In view of what is happening in London and the rest of the world, maybe something of what I wrote will be of some help and comfort. I have to warn you, though, that this piece may be a little on the Bardic side. I wrote this piece while watching the Giants-Reds baseball game. This was on July 4th in the late afternoon and two days before my 55th birthday. Alas! The Giants lost again. Boohoo! Like many of my more inspired writings, this one took only 20 minutes. If you get something out of this one, I will post others. Well, here it goes:

The sun is shining in all her brilliance in the early morning light. The moon is bright in her fullness in the deepest night. The green plants grow wild in the deep woods. The deer frolic happily in the dale. The salmon swim lazily in the sunlit stream. The ancient rocks and stones stand still, keeping their secrets. These are the things of Nature, be She Danu, or Don. These are things which we Druids adore and honor. We Druids are followers of Nature's ancient way. We are Her sons and daughters who will honor Her to our days undying. For death hath no sting as we know it is just a change. For when we have passed, we shall join Nature yet again, for as Druids, we are of Nature, and Nature is of us.

We are at one with the lizard below and the dove flying high above. How do we help our Lady of Nature in Her time of need? We do it by giving Her all of our love. We do it by taking care of Her children; the ancient trees, Birch and Elder, Pine and Redwood, Oak, Ash, and Beech, whose tops rise high in the daylight sky. We do it by being true to our Druid selves. Through our actions and our rituals, we do honor our Mother Nature, be She Danu or Don. We do it by bringing up our children to respect our Mother Nature in all Her works and deeds. It is up to us Druids, both female and male to honor Her strength and love, which can create a lizard below and a dove flying high through the air above.

Oh, how wonderful is our Mother Nature in all that She creates! Surely Her protection should not be up for debate. For we are charged as Druids with the responsibility for protecting and caring for all that She creates. For this is indeed a great responsibility that we Druids have taken on from the path which we have chosen. Why are we Druids? This should now be obvious. We are Druids because we want to know our Mother Nature. We want to know Her secrets, Her powers, Her knowledge, Her love, and yes, Her Beauty. We're Druids because we want to know Her ways and the many secrets of Her children, Her animals, Her green plants, Her trees, Her rocks and stones, Her rivers, and streams, and all who dwell within.

We're Druids because we want to link up to the knowledge and wisdom of the ancient Druids of our distant past, which most of us have sadly forgotten. We want to know what these ancient Druids thought. We want to know how they venerated Mother Nature, be She Danu or Don in their works and deeds. We are Druids because we use our wits and magicks which we learned at the knee of our Mother Nature, be She Danu or Don. We are still children in Her eyes. Like children, we still have much to learn from our Mother Nature and Her children the animals and other living creatures, birds and fish and Her green plants, trees, Her rivers, Her streams, and all else who dwell within.

I hope that these thoughts have helped my fellow Druids understand why they are Druids, both female and male. Let us as Druids grow strong and powerful with these thoughts. May new thoughts come out of these and may we ever continue to grow and learn, and always shall we learn why we are Druids.

I would like to dedicate this piece to the loving memories of two ArchDruids who were taken to Tir-Na-Nog too early; AD Robert Larson, and AD Emmon Bodfish. I miss them deeply. "May the Goddess Bridgit hold their memories for all time in our hearts."