Spiritual Practise

When I was younger I had a great grandmother who was considered odd in our family. She had a pet chicken as well as a cat and a dog and at one point in her life a monkey. She would tell me that things around us where alive. They had a spirit and memories and they either worked with us or against us depending on how we treated them in our day to day lives. I always found this fascinating, but being stuck in rural Prince Edward Island there wasn’t exactly much information or knowledge to be shared. I always thought that what she had to share was amazing but how was I ever to follow up. Eventually she passed away peacefully and I moved to Halifax Nova Scotia where I learned much much more. I am convinced today if my Great Grandmother had access to knowledge she would have realized she was an animist and I wish I could tell her that.

While in Halifax I discovered our local pagan book store Little Mysteries. I became good friends with the owners and their family and explored many paths. I participated in a lot of Shaman training and looked into Wicca but I never felt connected to these paths and concepts. I appreciated them and what they presented but they for me where missing something. I eventually stumbled upon Druidry and felt an instant connection. The balance between education, nature conservation and community was the perfect balance for what I wanted. I learned of a local group which was trying to form a grove and I had the opportunity to attend a few moots, meeting a variety of local druids for the first time. We formed a grove but it was short lived. From the embers of that group though a few of us reformed. Through the store I also learned of a local pagan festival which I attended and had the opportunity to sit around a fire with three other Druids and we formed the Order of Nova Scotia Druids. Over time we learned of ADF and we decided as a grove to follow their tenants. Over time though we were requested to change our name and we did so to The Grove of Nova Scotia Druids. We achieved full chartered grove status in 2015.

Druidry for me has always focused on the three major druid tenants I identified with the most. Education, Community and Nature Conservation. I feel I have often let my own education slide in favour of community out reach. Over the years I have participated in some fairly major local Pagan community groups. The first organization I was a part of was the Maritime Pagan Gathering Festival Association. (MPGFA) This was the organization that mostly in charge of organizing that pagan festival where we first met. Avalon East Pagan Gathering (AEPG) was a fairly large festival for years here in Nova Scotia. at one point I was the member at large and was tasked with public out reach and communication between the community at large and the board who ran the festival. After some time with that organization I felt some burn out and decided to step down and refocus on our own Grove.

After a few years I found my self married to a fellow pagan I had originally met at that festival and she had joined our Grove. We felt the local community was lacking and we once again tried to create a local community group with at this point we feel is great success. We run an organization called the Maritime Pagan Community. It is just a simple Facebook group where other organizations are able to post events and news concerning local pagans and be able to reach out to more people than before. The group currently boasts 560 members and seems to grow daily.

An area I have felt I lacked in my own spiritual practise has been my own personal education when it comes to paganism. I have yet to find a connection between my self and a shining one. I have always felt more connected to nature spirits and ancestors and perhaps thats just how it is meant to be for me. This lack of a connection between me and the shining ones has often left me in a strange state of limbo when it comes to ritual. I personally feel more focus should be placed on the things that surround us, be it nature spirits, ancestors or even Out Dwellers but I know others have felt that connection and I respect that. This realization is a driving force behind me completing my Dedicant path, something I have started and stopped more times then I can count over the years. It will also propel me to complete the ADF Clergy training, my thirst for knowledge at the moment is beyond anything is has even been before.