Nimue Brown's Blog, page 50

Icelandic Plant Magic

(Nimue, review)

This is a fascinating book about plant magic in Iceland and the folklore around it. The author does assume you have some handle on Northern traditions and are already familiar with magic relating to these traditions. It refers to many practices that are not fully explained in the text.

If you’re coming to this as someone already exploring northern traditions, this will be fine and you’ll probably be relieved to have a book that doesn’t devote pages to basic things you already know.

If, like me, you’re primarily reading out of interest and because folklore is cool, you’ll be fine and you can fill in the gaps at your leisure if you need to.

If you’re looking for a beginner’s book on Northern traditions, this is not for you. Start somewhere else.

I have a very basic grasp of northern traditions – enough that names and myths are passably familiar to me. I greatly enjoyed this book for an array of reasons. There’s lots of Icelandic folklore here, which I was not familiar with. There’s also living tradition content and personal experience – I like that mix. The tone is animist, which suits me well. Having the glossary early on was really good and helpful. There are a lot of lovely illustrations and the presentation is very good.  I also really appreciated how this book demonstrates the ways Christianity and Paganism blend in folk magic. It’s something Pagans don’t always handle well but that the author tackles really effectively. The information about the way religion in the history of Iceland impacted on folk traditions is really helpful too.

Above all, I love the specificness of this book. It’s full of details of landscapes that I do not know, and speaks of specific plants in particular locations. With the international market for Pagan books, there can be a pressure to produce work that works for everyone everywhere. I’m increasingly convinced that’s the wrong way to go. The specificness of landscapes, histories, traditions and plants matter. Part of the author’s reason for writing this book is to help people working with northern traditions to better understand the context those originally existed in. It’s an ecosystem of a book, and I found that really powerful.

I think we have an opportunity to learn more from books that are very specific in this way and not necessarily written to cater to our personal needs. It’s good to look at the specifics, the localness and the individual experience. This book made me think a lot about the plants my locality has in common with Iceland in a way that enhances my understanding of those species. It made me think about plants that are unfamiliar to me and that I may never encounter in person, and that’s good too. Only ever seeing generic content and content that reflects our experiences isn’t optimal.

If either folklore or northern traditions interest you as topics, then I recommend this book.

More about the book here – https://www.crossedcrowbooks.com/shop-crossed-crow-books/p/icelandicplantmagic

Lay Druids and other definitions

(Nimue)

The term ‘Druid’ suggests authority and importance. For this reason many people who are interested in Druidry do not feel able to call themselves Druids. We don’t have an agreed term for people who are interested in Druid stuff, doing Druidry, on the Druid path but do not yet feel experienced enough to use the word to describe themselves. 

Lay Druid seems like a bit of a contradiction. But at the same time, if it works for you, use it. A person absolutely can be a lay Druid. That would mean studying Druidry and practicing it, perhaps in a solitary way. It could mean going along to rituals or being part of a grove. It might mean any level of commitment that seems appropriate to you, including just wanting your rites of passage handled in a Druidic way.

People who are definitely Druids may well be using other terms too, reflecting which bits of the Druid work they do. Celebrants lead rituals and perform rites of passage and I think that’s the only term that might be unfamiliar. Other Druids will call themselves teachers, writers, healers, activists etc in ways that are usually easy to make sense of. We know that the historical Druids performed a lot of different roles, and that clearly not everyone did everything.

There has tended to be an assumption in Paganism as a whole that people want to be their own authority, their own priest or priestess and that lay Paganism doesn’t make any sense. I’ve never agreed with this. Not everyone wants to make their spiritual life the centre of everything they do and that should be fine. A functioning society needs people doing all kinds of different things. Wanting someone else to be a Druid for you so that you can do Paganism in a way that works for you is totally fine. Druidry makes most sense when it includes community service, and it actually works better when there are people who want people in those roles.

If you want to be a lay Druid, you will need to give some thought to what you want from that. There will be people who can support you, however you want to do things. You might want inspiration for celebrating the wheel of the year, or a small daily prayer practice, or a source of everyday inspiration. Having a bit of Druidry in your life in a way that suits you is a totally valid way of doing things and there are plenty of resources out there.

I’m perfectly happy to support people in this way. I have taught in the past, but currently I don’t have the resources for it. However, I’m always happy to tackle topics and questions (if I can) so if you read the blog and you have queries, or thoughts, just leave me a comment and I’ll see what I can do. Drop it on any post and I’ll see it. This post was prompted by a question from Victor Sudakov, and I hope I’ve managed to answer it sufficiently.

Still not doing NaNoWriMo

(Nimue)

Let me start by saying that if you like it, if it works for you and NoNoWriMo is your happy thing, you don’t need to read this blog. It isn’t for you. I have a number of friends who get in for this every year and make it work for them – all power to anyone who can do that.

I’ve never done it, and I have no intention of doing it. I have written 50k in a month on a few occasions, I know it’s something I could do if I wanted. I’ve had three months in this last year where I’ve written 25k words on a specific project and probably as much again on other things. I don’t track my wordcounts that hard when I’m not writing to a wordcount and a deadline, so I don’t always know what I’ve done. As I typically write a few thousand words in a day, 50k in a month is not a big deal. One issue for me is that I’m not usually writing that on one project because my whole working structure involves having several things on at the same time.

Every year I see friends struggle with writing 50k words in a month. I see the guilt and anxiety it brings up for some people. Guilt in investing that much energy in a hobby, or in not investing enough energy to get it finished. Stress over not hitting daily wordcounts. Stress over whether the story is any good or if there’s a future for it. Number of words written in a day isn’t really a measure of anything. Better to write fewer words and end up with something you like, I think. Better to spend longer writing a book and enjoy the process rather than burning out and giving up.

The thing about writing is that we’re all different. How we think, pace, create is really personal. I find in my own work that how I want to handle things varies dramatically between projects as well. Some things have been easy to knock out at a tremendous pace. Some things have needed a lot more time and thought. If the thing you are moved to create doesn’t lend itself to being 50k written in a month, that’s ok. You haven’t failed. I know some great writers who absolutely could not write a novel in a month, and it would be a meaningless way to measure them.

If you want to be creative – regardless of whether that’s for fun or profit or both – you have to do it on your terms. Figuring out what works for you is vital. Only by working in a way that suits you will you be able to create for the longer term. Nothing will kill your inspiration like feeling pressured, guilty or inadequate. If something doesn’t work for you, that’s not a measure of you, it means this is a thing to drop. Respect your own process, and be kind to yourself.

Justice and Druidry

(Nimue)

I think justice is an incredibly important consideration for anyone following the Druid path. I’m not personally much interested in justice-as-punishment. A lot of the time I don’t think punishment is just, because crime and wrongdoing exist in a social context. People who commit crime in a context of poverty and lack of opportunity are far more likely to be punished than criminals who are wealthy, powerful and running the country.

Most of us get little say in the kind of justice that revolves around punishment. Trying to punish other people strikes me as a horrible and unhealthy way for an individual to live. However, we can be active participants in creating other kinds of justice. We might think about that around properly recognising the value of what people do – paid and unpaid. There is justice in drawing attention to important work and in praising what is good. We can stand up for people who are oppressed and amplify people who need to be heard. We can be alert to our own privileges and be careful not to speak over others. There are a lot of everyday opportunities for promoting justice at a more personal level.

Often the most important personal action we can take is not to ignore things. In situations where you have a little power or less risk than others, you may be able to speak up about prejudice and unfairness when you encounter it. Saying nothing so as to avoid difficulty is privilege in action. If you can afford to pretend there isn’t a problem, that’s a huge advantage and something to seriously consider. Willingness to be uncomfortable can be key to bringing justice. When only the afflicted are suffering, injustice continues, enabled by no one else caring about it. We should not have to wait before we are personally affected to see the justice in resisting unfairness.

The two biggest issues around justice are without a doubt social justice and climate justice. The two are deeply intertwined. Recognising the connections is a good place to start. The unjust distribution of resources is the heart of this human-made disaster. That so few have so much while so many suffer is utterly unjust. As individuals there are limits on what we can do to tackle global-scale inequalities. We can however talk about it. Anything can change if there’s enough will to act, and we can all contribute to that change.

Everyday Inspiration

(Nimue)

Inspiration is the process of the magic getting in. That might work for you in any number of ways. It’s worth thinking about what inspires you and how to make more room for that in your life. When we have a steady supply of things that enthuse and uplift us, we’re more likely to feel able to act, problem solve, innovate and create.

Inspiration isn’t just about ‘artistic’ pursuits. Any part of your life can and will benefit from your feeling more inspired about it. Finding value, beauty and meaning in everyday experiences is a nourishing thing and leaves you better equipped for dealing with whatever life throws your way.

I’m feeling incredibly blessed as I write this because I’m sat in a place where my window looks out at trees. Any time I need to ponder, I can look out at these beautiful plants, and maybe see birds as well. We don’t always get much of a vote in the view from the window, but we do all have scope every day for thinking about what we bring into our lives and how it impacts on us.

It’s all too easy to end up filling hours with things that we don’t find especially meaningful or satisfying, but that distract us from the discomforts of life. I’m very much in favour of escapism, I think it can be an essential option sometimes. However, that doesn’t mean any crappy distraction will do. It’s worth being fussy about this and seeking experiences that really give you something rather than just using up the time.

There is so much beauty in the world. There is so much that is fascinating, enchanting, amazing… the trick is to make the space for it. The potential for inspiration is everywhere. An inspired life isn’t for some select few, it should be for everyone. We should all get to experience depth and breadth in our everyday lives and to live in ways that we find satisfying and significant. I think inspiration is absolutely fundamental to this. It’s when our scope for enthusiasm meets something capable of sparking something within us that we have the opportunity to live fully and well.

Learning about love

(Nimue)

This last year or so has taught me a great deal about love. I’ve learned a lot from Halo Quin talking about love as a verb. Love as something we do and out into the world rather than something that’s just an idea or a feeling. That’s given me the confidence to trust what I do, and who I am. I’ve always been more focused on the idea of what I can do when inspired by love, than on what I might get out of it.

That’s also something that changed dramatically this year. The experience of living with Keith has been one of meeting love as a verb every day. Being actively loved in a whole array of ways has been life changing. I’d always assumed my previous discomfort was probably due to me – that I’m not grateful enough or I don’t pay enough attention and that the answer to historical feelings of insufficiency was for me to try harder. Apparently that’s not true. It also turns out not to be the case that there’s nothing in me that could inspire love in the way that I yearned for, because I’d wondered about that one a lot.

It’s not about the big gestures. I was never really a big gestures person. What impacts on me most is the everyday stuff. Love as a verb, around everyday care, small joys, and the sharing of life. I find it incredibly powerful. Every part of my life is touched with the wonder and joy of it. Instead of feeling mostly lost and hollow, I now feel hopeful and happy.

I would have said in the past that I wasn’t a romantic person. It turns out that what I don’t like is performative, transactional ‘romance’ that’s about persuading a person into bed or trying to compensate for something. When the romantic things flow naturally from what’s felt, it has a completely different impact on me. Romance as tenderness, and understanding. Something co-created from a place of mutual appreciation. 

Aside from the surprises around the romance issue, what these months have shown me is that I was largely right about myself. The things I craved were the things that I needed. The things I felt were missing from my life were real and possible things. Being physically and mentally well is a good deal easier when I have my needs met. Having spent a lot of years thinking of myself as a problematic person, I’ve had that radically challenged. I’m turning out to be uncomplicated, not that hard to please, or hard to be around. 

This in turn has greatly increased my confidence in myself. So much of my history of anxiety is rooted in not feeling able to trust my own feelings and judgement. I’m starting to get a sense of my own feelings as reasonable and proportionate things, and my inner life as something I don’t need to explain or justify. Being taken seriously, and having whatever I feel met with love and acceptance has been incredibly powerful and has changed my sense of who I am. I’m feeling a lot more comfortable with myself, and a lot more certain in a whole array of ways.

Alongside this I’ve learned that I have a lot to give. I can be good. I can be enough. It’s a more effective place to start from than the crippling self doubt and uncertainty of my past. I think this change in perception is going to make me considerably more effective and better able to take myself seriously as someone who has something to contribute.

Call yourself a Druid

(Nimue)

If it speaks to you, do it.

There’s no official qualification that entitles you to say you are a Druid. There are all kinds of courses out there and you might feel easier using the term if you’ve completed one of those. It’s a weighty sort of word, and it can be hard to tell at what point it is appropriate to identify with it.

If it seems too big a word for wearing, then there are other ways of handling this. I quite often describe myself as on the Druid path, and on the Bard path. That doesn’t seem like an excessive claim. Sometimes I describe myself as studying Druidry, because that’s central to how I do Druidry anyway. I’m always studying something.

It’s important to find the words that work for you. It can make a lot of sense to use different terms in different contexts. Sometimes I just identify as ‘Pagan’ because it can involve less explaining. 

For me, Druidry is very much about how we do things. It’s not a title, a qualification or an award. It’s a dedication to a conscious, thoughtful life rooted in respect for the natural world, honour, relationship and inspiration. Or however you prefer to define the path – different Druids have different priorities and that’s one of the more historically accurate things about modern Druidry, so far as we know.

If the word feels right to you, then use it. If you are rooted and supported by calling yourself a Druid, then it’s the right word to use. If you’ve been exploring Paganism for more than a week you’ll already know that giving yourself names and titles confers absolutely nothing – it does not get you taken seriously. Anyone can call themselves a high priest, an archdruid, a fount of all wisdom. Some people will. Some people are so invested in having their status affirmed by others that they put a lot of work into making the case for the title.

It’s a lot of work, and I can’t see much point in it myself. ‘Druid’ is not a title that will bring you wealth, fame, riches, power or respect. Sometimes the opposite. But it is a word that carries deep resonance for some of us. Using it can help you connect with fellow travellers, and that’s arguably the most powerful aspect of it.

Earth Spirit – Gaia

(Nimue, review)

This book is an excellent addition to the Moon Books Earth Spirit series. In this small volume, Irisanya Moon brings together Gaia Theory and stories of the Greek goddess Gaia. In Greek mythology, Gaia is the goddess with whom all things began. Her roles in various stories are shared here.

Gaia is the living Earth. We are part of her and she is part of us. In understanding this we become better able to face and resist the climate crisis humans are creating. Irisanya brings in activism from the Reclaiming Witchcraft tradition alongside other ways people are working to support Gaia and challenge human exploitation. However, this is not a book purely for witches and I think people on the Druid path would find it just as relevant and useful.

This book manages to be many things in remarkably few pages. It’s a book about being in the world and how we do that in ways that are rich, meaningful and responsible. The approach is spiritual and pragmatic, enabling and compassionate. You don’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to live a pristine, fault free life in order to step up to this work – and the expectation that we must is a major barrier to improving things. 

This is an uplifting read, and Irisanya is explicit about the idea of radical hope and why this is essential. I’m increasingly committed to the idea of radical hope, and I recommend this book to anyone seeking inspiration or in need of comfort and a sense of direction.

Find out more about the book here – https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/our-books/earth-spirit-gaia

My Ancestors Altar

(David)

This is part of my preparations for Samhain. The photographs from left to right are my beloved Nan, Dad on a yacht at sea, Dad and toddler me on the upper deck of the Mersey Ferry with the Wirral waterfront behind us, and the Liverpool city waterfront.

It’s where I came from, where all the different threads of my ancestors – many of them seafarers so honoured by the ship’s steel cleat on their altar – where they gathered from all over Britain and Ireland and eventually became the single family that produced me. I’m grateful to them. I honour them, those who are named in my memories and knowledge, and also those who are un-named and as yet unknown to me.

This Samhain I intend to invite them to talk with me. I also intend to invite more distant ancestors, ancient people, particularly those who worked stone tools. There is one ancient individual who I think might be willing to do so. He responded to a question I asked in a Tarot reading last week, and I look forward to meeting him at Samhain if he is interested.

Hunting for fungi

(Nimue)

One of the great pleasures of autumn, is going out in search of fungi. I’m not a forager, I don’t pick and eat any of them. I just like seeing them and I appreciate their beauty. Fungi are vital to the life of woodlands. They transform death into new life. I honour them, and celebrate the power o0f decay and transformation.

One of the great advantages of having walked some of my local area many times over many years, is that I know where to look. I have some idea of which trees will have fungi on them, and where the patches of ground growing toadstools are likely to be. I’m enjoying getting to share that knowledge.

This year, an area that was violently cut back some eighteen months ago has produced a remarkable about of fungi. The grief of ill-considered human harm softens now into appreciating the profusions of toadstools. Nature has a knack for making the best of things.

(Photo by Keith Errington)