#imbas

The Bardic Tradition

I made a long thread explaining in detail all the symbolism in this piece when I first posted it. That's lost to time now, thanks Elon. I'll try to rewrite it to the best of my ability in an abridged form.

A couple years back I posted [this quote] from Kristopher Hughes (the leader of the Anglesey Druid Order) from one of his seminars, and he sums up part of my sentiments rather nicely.

In the Reformed Druids of North America, my primary druid order, there’s the pesky phrase I’ve mentioned at some point in the past that pops up in our written works that says  “Just do druidry!” After all, the practice is largely experiential.

Some members of the priesthood will take it an extra step in the wrong direction and say to just put your books down and go talk to a tree, and you’ll learn more than any book can tell you. It’s a cute notion, but it’s also a quick way to set someone up for failure, and could be dangerous. It’s like not studying herbalism properly and eating random plants because an invisible pixie told them to.

Improvisation is not one of my strong points. I’m terrible at thinking on my feet. That’s why I love my books. The RDNA liturgy isn’t set in stone (I intend to literally set it in stone someday just for fun), and each time I bind a new book (or have one printed on demand by a publisher now) the contents and the ritual scripts are different and evolving [LINK].

The RDNA does suggest winging entire rituals and experimenting with unusual methods. ADF, of which I am also a member, recommends speaking from the heart in the ritual segments. That has taken an immense amount of practice because the divine inspiration (called Awen or Imbas in some druid orders) comes to me at a snail’s pace, and about an hour later I’ll come up with something creative (which also makes me terrible at live debate or interpersonal arguments).