User Profile

Life: I've been married to the same guy for a long, long time, and I'm still madly in love with him. We have 5 children, which may seem excessive in this day and age, but part of it is due to the above and the other part is that we love children.

This is our 11th year homeschooling. Sometimes I think the homeschooling is wildly successful. Other times I think it's the worst mistake we ever made. I usually fall somewhere in between. Our style has fluctuated over the years from unschooling to fairly structured. I would say we are "relaxed" homeschoolers -- meaning we use what works for each child, not holding to any one style or curricula for everyone, realizing that each child is unique and what works for one often will not work for the others.

Ethics: I try to live by Kant's second and third imperatives ("Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an end" and "So act as though you were through your maxims a law-making member of a kingdom of ends") and Buddhist philosophy.

Also, I made a realization a few years ago that many of my friends were no longer in my life. I've been overly judgmental in the past. About a year or so ago, I realized that given a long enough time frame, one would eventually tick off everyone he knows and everyone he knows will eventually tick him off. That's just the nature of people. We're not perfect. We make mistakes in judgment and tend to do stupid things. So -- when someone ticks me off, I try to let it go, knowing that it's simply their turn. And hopefully when I tick them off (and it's my turn), they will treat me as forgivingly.

Politics: I'm a libertarian. As long as your rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness do not infringe upon others and my rights to the same, I don't care what you do. It’s expressed in Wicca as “An’ it harm none, do what thou wilt.”

Religion: Religion is personal. No two people will ever view the Divine and spirituality the same way. The metaphor I’ve always used is that the Divine is like an infinitely faceted diamond; and everyone sees a different facet. Does it make my view right and your view wrong? No, just different. Our views are colored by our life, our learning, our personal philosophy and our experiences. My spirituality is a combination of many things. Here are a few that have influenced who I am.

Buddhism is more of a philosophy than a religion. Although I will probably never be a master Buddhist, my studies in Buddhism have affected greatly how I view the world. It taught me responsibility for my own happiness and misery. Incorporating the Buddhist concepts of mindfulness and meditation has deepened my understanding of the world and my contentment within it.

For many years, I've studied Wicca. Its duality in the Divine and nature called to me. The metaphors of the four elements plus one, the rich symbolism in the tools, the beautiful verbiage of the liturgy and the celebration of life and nature are all appealing.

Sometimes I've merely waded in the shallows of Pagan philosophy and religion; sometimes I've swum in the depths. I've always been a solitary, and not always by choice. Yet, in the past few years I have longed to deepen my spiritual growth in a way one can only do with others. Although one can learn much on one's own, there is something to be said of getting feedback from one's fellows.

This search for a deeper understanding and a fellow community has led me to Druidism. Druidry is not so different from Wicca. There is a reverence for the Earth and for the Mother Goddess, a belief in the immanence as well as the transcendence of the divine, the belief that all nature is divine, and many other commonalities.

What I’ve also found in Druidry is a community of fellows who, like myself, love to push their knowledge and experience to the limits, then beyond. I’ve been looking for training system that is more explorative than dictatorial, and a dedication to excellence. What I’ve found is a group well-rounded, educated Pagans, and many comrades amoung them.

Right now, I’m working on the Dedicant Path in ADF (Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship) and about to start the Bardic path in OBOD (Order of Bards Ovates & Druids) . Although I have almost 20 years experince in Paganism, I have no problem going over the basics -- the basics never get old.

Where this path will take me, I do not know. But then do we ever know where the roads we take will lead?

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