ADF Dedicants
Might as well say that I have started my journey upon the Path. About two weeks ago I started the Dedicant’s Path of Ár nDraíocht Féin. It has been a fun experience so far. I have enjoyed reading about Celtic Myth, Druidry, and generally the entirety of the ADF. It has been less of a conversion to a new faith and more of a discovery that the beliefs I have always known I had have a name.
Basically, all of my life of being raised as a “Good Little Baptist™” I have never really bought all of the BS that ministers try to hock to the masses. If Jesus is the God of Love, why are the Irish killing each other for having the wrong brand of Christianity, why are they so busy denouncing the “Evil Witches™” that they are no longer feeding the poor, advocating non-violence, etc? Instead the President they all voted for because he is a Good Christian™ send us to war in a gods-forsaken hellhole because his buddies at Halliburton told him to. ... Enough.
Basically, after reading my Bible all my life, I decided that taking it literally was a bad idea (self-contradictions, it was written by committee for Emperor Constantine, etc.). Once decided that it was a nice metaphor for how to live your life, I decided that if the Christian God cares, he will be happy with me being a good person, and trying to make the world a better place.
This was about 5 years ago, so the first thing I did after coming to this realization was research into different religions until I came across one that felt right. I immediately discounted all of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) because I was trying to get away from Yaweh as quickly as possible. I first settled upon Buddhism because Hinduism was a) weird b) well WEIRD. I liked the meditation and the spiritual development, but after a while the atheism kinda got to me. As in no, the Buddhists do not worship Buddha, they don’t worship anything!
So I started looking around for a polytheistic religion that believed in reincarnation, some sort of magickal development, and mental discipline, and was a little more oriented for this poor Westerner. I eventually came across Wicca, started reading about it, tried it a little, but it was just a little to airy for my taste (lots of emphasis on self-discovery, little how-to on how to do it) That and its just plain difficult to find a coven when you live in the ass end of Mississippi, USA (Bible-thumping Christian Land).
Then one day after reading a really interesting book (The Solitary Druid: by Rev. “Skip” Ellison) I decided to do research into the ADF, and Druidry in general, I sent in my $20 and here I am. Druidry (Druidism, the Path, whatever you choose to call it) started resonating in the corners of my being and my brain went Ping! this is the one for you. That and it lets me have fun with my Irish heritage (Worshipping the Old Gods, the waters of life as a sacramental beverage*, oneness with Nature, an excuse to speak Gaelic). I started do follow what I could of the Path the day I finished the book, and I have been about a thousand times happier then when I still kinda believed in Christianity, with all the guilt only Jesus can give you.
*whiskey!
All in all, good times.
Basically, all of my life of being raised as a “Good Little Baptist™” I have never really bought all of the BS that ministers try to hock to the masses. If Jesus is the God of Love, why are the Irish killing each other for having the wrong brand of Christianity, why are they so busy denouncing the “Evil Witches™” that they are no longer feeding the poor, advocating non-violence, etc? Instead the President they all voted for because he is a Good Christian™ send us to war in a gods-forsaken hellhole because his buddies at Halliburton told him to. ... Enough.
Basically, after reading my Bible all my life, I decided that taking it literally was a bad idea (self-contradictions, it was written by committee for Emperor Constantine, etc.). Once decided that it was a nice metaphor for how to live your life, I decided that if the Christian God cares, he will be happy with me being a good person, and trying to make the world a better place.
This was about 5 years ago, so the first thing I did after coming to this realization was research into different religions until I came across one that felt right. I immediately discounted all of the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) because I was trying to get away from Yaweh as quickly as possible. I first settled upon Buddhism because Hinduism was a) weird b) well WEIRD. I liked the meditation and the spiritual development, but after a while the atheism kinda got to me. As in no, the Buddhists do not worship Buddha, they don’t worship anything!
So I started looking around for a polytheistic religion that believed in reincarnation, some sort of magickal development, and mental discipline, and was a little more oriented for this poor Westerner. I eventually came across Wicca, started reading about it, tried it a little, but it was just a little to airy for my taste (lots of emphasis on self-discovery, little how-to on how to do it) That and its just plain difficult to find a coven when you live in the ass end of Mississippi, USA (Bible-thumping Christian Land).
Then one day after reading a really interesting book (The Solitary Druid: by Rev. “Skip” Ellison) I decided to do research into the ADF, and Druidry in general, I sent in my $20 and here I am. Druidry (Druidism, the Path, whatever you choose to call it) started resonating in the corners of my being and my brain went Ping! this is the one for you. That and it lets me have fun with my Irish heritage (Worshipping the Old Gods, the waters of life as a sacramental beverage*, oneness with Nature, an excuse to speak Gaelic). I started do follow what I could of the Path the day I finished the book, and I have been about a thousand times happier then when I still kinda believed in Christianity, with all the guilt only Jesus can give you.
*whiskey!
All in all, good times.