Pagan Portals - The Awen Alone: Walking the Path of the Solitary Druid

by Joanna van der Hoeven

often likened to a philosophy – it is indeed a way of life that does not require a belief in any external deity (though many Druids do see it as a religion, with their own deities).

seeks to strengthen the bonds of our relationship with the natural world, gaining inspiration and wisdom from studying the patterns that nature is constantly unfolding around us and using that as inspiration for a more holistic way of life.

animistic, believing in the essential and inherent spirit of everything, whether it be rock or tree, raindrop, beetle, horse or the sea. There is a sense of consciousness in everything.

With that sense of consciousness in all things, it is much harder for the Druid to disregard any aspect of the environment.

awen. Various meanings range from flowing water to divine or poetic inspiration.

We relate to our environment though inspiration, and we are all related to each other. It isn’t simply communication with our environment, but a soul-deep sense of relativity – we are all related. By being related, this instils within us a sense of responsibility, of caring for the environment.

It is the personal responsibility of the solitary Druid to learn all that she or he can, whether it is from history books or thunderstorms, music-making or love-making. All that we experience in life can be our teachers, if we choose to listen. It is about waking up the world again and again, so that we never take it, or anything, for granted inasmuch as is humanly possible.

It is an awareness, not just on a physical and mental level, but also on a soul-deep level of the entirety of existence, of life itself. It is seeing the threads that connect us all. It is the deep well of inspiration that we drink from, to nurture our souls and our world and to give back in joy, in reverence, in wild abandon and in solemn ceremony.

Yet the awen may be different for each and every Druid. The connection, and the resulting expression of that connection (the Druid’s own creativity), can be so vast and diverse. It is what is so delicious about it – we inhale the awen and exhale our own creativity in song, in dance, in books, in protest marches – the possibilities are endless, as is the awen itself. For the solitary Druid, the awen knows no bounds.

lose our sense of self in order to become the forest. Once we are the forest, we are able to drink deeply from the flow of awen that is all life around us. We become the trees, the deer, the fox, the boulder, the streams and the badger. We can learn so much from this integration. When we are fully immersed in simply “being”, we are fully in the flow of awen.

We have the option of learning from our previous ancestors to make this world a better place, in however big or small a way, for our future ancestors. Apathy has no place in the Druid worldview – everything we do matters.

Our blood is mixed with that of everyone else on the planet. In a sense, there is no “last of the line” when viewed in this manner. There is no fear that we need to procreate to continue the line in our already over-populated world.

With any meditation, it helps to begin with a focus. When beginning on the path of meditation, breathing is usually the first thing we relearn how to do.

I simply prefer to focus on the breath, for I believe that counting is still engaging our brains into repetitive patterns that we are trying to avoid

In meditation, we learn to be without the man-made stimulus that we have grown so accustomed to.

Appointments, engagements, things to do – all these suddenly surface and before you know it, we’ve lost our focus on our breath. So we return our focus as soon as we realise we have lost it. This happens, again and again.

This is where discipline kicks in. We are not trying to empty our minds. For now, we are simply trying to find a focus that will lead towards a path of stillness. We are wanting to open the door to awareness, but first we must focus our intent, grab hold of the doorknob and turn it before we can enter into the next phase. We focus on our breathing, allowing that to inspire us, literally and figuratively.

But sitting still and facing all these thoughts – it can sometimes seem futile. I’ve heard so many people say, “I can’t meditate – I can’t turn off, switch off; I keep thinking a million things.” You’ve got to persevere.

in sitting meditation, we don’t try to push away all these thoughts – what we learn to do is to become the observer. It’s all about noticing the thoughts that go through the mind, without attaching to them and becoming lost in them.

Sitting meditation makes you realise that all this drama is self-created to a large extent.

focus is brought into the self before expanding outwards. It is about truly feeling the walking, from placing one foot in front of the other, feeling the weight shift from heel to ball to toes, travelling up through the leg, the movement of the arms, following the breath. It is about feeling the pull of gravity and working against that. It is about feeling the air on your skin, the sunlight or rain upon your head and shoulders.

Too often we can gobble our food without thanking the spirits of the sun and wind, of rain and soil and the multitude of beings that brought it to our table. Too often we come home, walking through the door, without thinking of the safety and comfort that our home gives us,

Inner pathworking is a tool used when we have achieved a meditative state in which we can work out problems and issues, or seek inspiration – its uses are endless. It is a form of guided meditation. We use our imagination to find our own inner world in which we are able to delve deeply into self-reflection, often challenged by those that we meet.

Remember that you are not only experiencing nature, but that nature is experiencing you.

ancestors of place. These are the people, flora and fauna of your local environment, who have all contributed to it simply by sharing that space that you now call home.

The spirits of all those who shared this land are still there – heard on the wind, felt deep within the earth.

There are songs and stories held within the land that are just waiting to be discovered.

Your spirit guide stands before you. You bow, reverently. Your spirit guide then asks you the following questions – you answer them truthfully, and from the heart. “How do you react when challenged by another, and how can you create peace instead of dissent?” “What patterns do you wish to alter?” “What dreams and aspirations do you hold that you never realised, but have the power to rethink now, and keep safe in order to bring to light in the spring?” “What is the face you wore before you were born?” (A very powerful Zen koan.) Your spirit guide steps forward with a heavy cloak, and bids you to sit down. You do so, and are wrapped in the cloak, covered in total darkness. You remain there – for minutes, hours, days – until at last you feel ready to shed the cloak, ready to face the light of the growing season and all that stands waiting in potential. With a cry, you cast off the cloak and spread your arms wide, welcoming the birth of new potential, and a certain fearlessness to see the light of day and the darkness of night. Your spirit guide smiles, and fades into the mist once again.

Your spirit guide stands before you. You bow, reverently. Your spirit guide then asks you the following questions – you answer them truthfully, and from the heart. “What brings you joy?” “Is there a difference between the person you are inside and the outer manifestation?” “What is it that you can do now, to be the person that you wish to be, and can become?” “Do you truly wish to break free of any negative patterns?” “What is that you will plant this season, what dreams will you manifest this spring and how will you do it?” Your spirit guide leads you around the spiral path to the top of the Tor in the light of pre-dawn. As you stand at the summit, you feel the energies of land, sea and sky all around you. You turn to face the sunrise, waiting. You can feel the anticipation of the dawn in everything around you. Slowly the light begins to grow and you feel the corresponding energy within you rise. Finally the sun breaks over the horizon and washes over you. You feel the waves of light and energy flow through you and you are fully aware of the cycle of life. Day follows night, light follows dark. You are aware of yourself within that cycle.

Your spirit guide stands before you. You bow, reverently. Your spirit guide then asks you the following questions – you answer them truthfully, and from the heart. “How are you currently living to your full potential?” “What gives you strength and what depletes your energy? Is this relationship honourable?” “How accepting are you of your responsibilities? Of your previous actions?” “What can you do to make the world a better place?” “What does it mean to live in service?” “What is honour?” Your guide draws the symbol of awen on the ground before you, the three rays emanating from the drops that issued from the cauldron of transformation. You are asked to meditate upon what awen means to you and how you can inspire others in their journey. Taking awen and honour together, you are asked to carry these both into the wider world. Will you accept?