After twelve years work and having nearly reached the halfway point in the last of our three courses, the realisation came to me that there's a single idea underpinning them all. In essence, this is to inspire in our students a way of thinking about being in the world that served our ancestors well for most of human existence, from the earliest stirrings of philosophical thought through to the early modern period. In essence, and in modern terms, this is the mode of thought we call animism, the idea that all things, from the smallest insect to the highest mountain, are imbued with spirit and sentience, capable of communication between each other and with us. This simple concept, that all things are inspirited, leads to acceptance of the reality of such diverse but related phenomena as the Faery folk, ghosts and gods. It is the way of thinking that makes possible what others call shamanism and we call Druidry.
Attacks on parts of it began with the rise of monotheistic religions that sought to limit human interactions with the spirit world to those sanctioned by scriptures and professional priesthoods. Paradoxically, these attacks achieved their greatest success with the rise of the scientific method, developed in Europe from the late 18th century, that denied both the old, animistic view of life and increasingly came to deny the monotheistic religions as well. By the late 19th century, Friedrich Nietzsche felt justified in proclaiming that 'God is dead,' a phrase that became a rallying cry for many disparate movements throughout the 20th century.
Don't get me wrong. Science is wonderful. It has expanded human horizons immensely, cured countless diseases and created the computer on which I write these words. It has, however, had less fortunate effects, of which perhaps the most significant has been to divorce us from meaningful communication with the world in which we live and the myriad other creatures who inhabit it.
The underlying aim of our courses, then, is to merge the expanded horizons, sense of wonder and impetus for exploration embodied in science with an ancestral, animistic understanding of the universe as a place inhabited by sentient spirits and imbued with real magic. Rather than seeing these two as incompatible, I have come to regard them as twin projects, the combination of which is vital to enable humanity to flourish and to achieve our fundamental goals of true knowledge, real wisdom and ultimate enlightenment.
Many blessings,
Greywolf /|\
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Animism, Science & Druidry
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