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Who We Are
Tuatha De Brighid means People (or, more accurately, “Peoples”) of the Goddess Brighid. This is how we envision ourselves - as a people, as a tribe, as both a community and a spiritual path.
As a community, we host two public email forums, where people, both our members and guests, interact freely, and are welcome to share, discuss, and debate a variety of topics, mostly, but not always, Druid-related (though we usually say that everything is Druid-related) in a friendly, supportive atmosphere. There have been, and will be again, local groups – TDB Hearths – where community may also manifest itself.
Tuatha De Brighid spiritual path may be described as an Emergent Modern Druid Tradition.
What does this mean? Let’s take it term by term:
“Tradition” means that we have a number of ways of doing things and approaches to spirituality that we voluntarily participate in as a group. This participation is an offering, a facilitator. Unlike religions of the book, or religions of the dogma, or orthopraxies or orthodoxies, we do not require anyone to do anything. At the same time, tradition, as it does in any tribal-type group, defines our culture, and it is helpful for members to at least understand what it is, and how it works.
“Druid” means that we draw some significant inspiration from historical Druids.
The Druids were the intelligentsia of the pre-Christian Celtic Tribes. Among their people they served as teachers, scientists, philosophers, healers, advisors, magicians, diviners, astronomers and astrologers, lore-keepers, poets, priests, and probably in many other functions.
So, in the most general terms, a modern Druid is someone who seeks to fulfill in our society the role/s played by Druids in their society. We study, we create, we seek Truth or truths, and we pass on what we have learned as we can and as we may. This is why the formal TDB definition of a Druid is a “Seeker of Truth”. Note please: a “Seeker”, not necessarily a “finder”. Are you a teacher? A scientist? An artist? A counselor? A poet? A writer? Do you strive for truth, beauty, kinship with Nature and your fellow beings? Well, then, you just might be a Druid!
However, modern Druidry is also a spiritual path, and often, in modern times, a “Druid” is someone who follows a particular religious tradition, rather than someone who serves a particular function.
In that context, there are certain aspects of our Tradition that characterize us as members of the Modern Druid family of paths. These include, for instance, particular sacred cosmology and symbolism, ritual tradition, largely polytheistic practice, view of Nature (and the World in general) as a manifestation of spiritual reality, interest in studying the lore and history of pre-Christian Celts and related Tribes, and other such things as connect us both with historical Druid practice and modern Druidry.
Finally, what does it mean to be "Emergent"?
Emergence is a process of evolving newness out of components. Have you heard the saying "A sum is greater than it's parts"? That's an example of emergence.
Emergence is profusely present in Nature. Many modern scientists say that much of biology and other natural processes are governed by emergence. In fact, it may be argued that all complex systems are governed by emergence, in some pragmatic or mystical way, as you would have it.
In modern theology the term “an emergent path” has several specific implications:
It means that the path is always evolving and therefore cannot, by definition, be dogmatic.
It means that membership in the path is defined as "walking towards", or "walking in harmony with" the tenets of the path, whatever those tenets may be (as opposed to a litmus test, such as subscribing to a creed, as a "boundary" between who belongs and who doesn't).
It means that theology is seen as a dialog (the original meaning of the word “theology” is “a reasoned discourse about the Divine”) rather than an unshakable set of beliefs.
It means that we are in harmony with the way the Universe seems to work.
It means, finally, that the path is both process and relationship oriented, rather than object and goal oriented. Or, perhaps, another way to say it is that the joy of working together, personal and group creativity, and personal and group enlightenment (the Druid kind, in this case) are the goals.
TDB Tradition includes Three Mysteries (Art, Truth, and Kinship), Six Principles (Panentheism, Wholeness, Interconnection, Divine Personhood, Animism, and Exchange), Nine Virtues (Awareness, Creativity, Courage, Honesty, Wisdom, Justice, Reverence, Compassion, and Loyalty), and our Suggested Ritual Outline.
Not at all incidentally, the process of Emergence is representative of our Mysteries: it is by definition creative (Art), it is always a search (Truth), and it is necessarily interactive and relational (Kinship).
Here is an "edible" analogy to illustrate how this works:
Lets say a person, or a group of people, decides to make a soup for dinner.
Our Principles become some of the fundamental components that go into each personal and group "soup" of the emergence process - along with whatever other ingredients each individual or group may choose.
The Mysteries are the attitude with which we approach the making of the soup.
And the Ritual Outline is the way in which we make the soup when working together so that we don't get into each other's way and accidentally cut a finger off. Or make something that tastes bad.
What's the point of making the soup? Why, to satisfy the hunger, of course!
A few more things that should be pointed out in this short introduction:
We hold Brighid as our Tribal Matron – our Guide, our beloved Foster Mother, our Inspiration and Guardian. So it makes sense that it is traditional for us to honor Her in some way in any formal TDB Ritual.
We don’t tell anyone whom to worship – your God, Gods and/or Spirits are up to you, and so is your personal culture choices. We don’t ask anyone to become a Celt – though if you want to be culturally focused in your worship, you are certainly welcome to do that, as an individual or a group. There are pros and cons to focusing one’s studies with respect to culture and we leave that particular conversation open on purpose.
We are rather focused on panentheism – that is, the understanding that the Cosmos is a part of the Divine Source. However, there are many ways to interpret the concept of the One Source. In TDB, the term Godde is frequently used to denote the One – but the meaning of the word is extremely elastic. One may interpret Godde as a personal progenitor-Deity, either involved in the World, or remote from it as most historical Pagan theologies would have had it, or one may interpret Godde is an impersonal, all-pervading underlying One-ness of Being – or anything in-between. Again, we leave the particular interpretation as an open conversation, along with interpreting the nature of the Gods and Spirits one chooses to worship.
When all is said and done, it is our position that the focus on personal freedom of creative interpretation of a spiritual path, combined with voluntary and informed participation in the Tribal communal tradition of practice, accurately reflects that which we strive for: the Spirit of Druidry in the modern world.
To learn more about Tuatha De Brighid Tradition, please take a look at the following:
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