Artist - Brian Froud
Out-dwellers since the start of modern day paganism seems to be a much debated and discussed topic. Every group out there seems to have a different interpretation of what they represent and what they stand for in each persons lives and ritual. Some groups view the out-dwellers simply as forces of chaos that are working against their own personal practise and ritual. Others view the out-dwellers as deities they simple are not worshipping at that given moment. For me the out-dwellers can represent a wide variety of concepts but the one that stands out mostly for me is the idea that the out-dwellers represent the human emotions found in all of us, the chaos that envelopes our lives and work and those are the forces that work against us in our piety.
The Out-dwellers for me is a topic I feel doesn’t get the attention it deserves in modern day paganism and druidry. I personally feel a deep connection with nature spirits where others may find a deeper connection to the shining ones. I often feel we almost ignore our own personal issues when it comes to ritual and then wonder why we don’t feel a connection when we perform out rites. We perform magics in our rituals and we ask the divine for assistance and guidance as we walk the path of life. I personally feel it is ignorant to do these things and expect an answer while we don’t even address our own personal failings. Everyone has them but we ignore them or beg for those we want the attention from to ignore them as well. Our flaws are simply a part of us and thats okay.
The words I am using may sound and feel harsh but that is not the intent. I simply mean that deep down we are all only human. No one is above anyone else and we come with flaws. Our DNA is flawed, our lives are flawed. Our goals, our work ethics, our social interactions. They all have flaws in some way and that is one hundred percent ok. It’s ok to be flawed because there are no perfect people. What is wrong is to ignore those flaws and just to pretend they simply don’t exist. This in its self is a major flaw that we all ignore more and more.
As soon as we can get over that initial flaw though then we can embrace our other flaws and realize that in reality they are parts of us and are beautiful parts in some ways. The biggest issue a lot of people seem to lack other than ignoring their flaws is by allowing they flaws to take over and control our lives and our magics.
Iam going to start a small blog series here highlighting the various out-dwellers I feel effect us. This is just for personal reflection and nothing is meant by it. Everyone is entitled to view the out-dwellers as they see fit.