Being able to travel light is something I consider a virtue. It is the ultimate expression of self sufficiency, of freedom to explore the wilds, to wander the world. There is a site about lightweight backpacking I often turn to, but I just found a site that is much more practical and aimed at “everyday” travel. The core principal: learning to live out of just one bag.

He who would travel happily must travel light.

- Antoine de Saint Exupéry

I’ve come to call my daily meditative ritual “grove tending,” and is a practice I would like to share with you. The practice is something of a combination of light gardening, walking meditation, journaling, and ritual. It is a quiet and peaceful means to connect to nature and the spirits around us, and to exercise our responsibility for our surroundings.

Druidic spirituality belongs in the outdoors as much as possible. Much of my early practice in druidry (well, early early practice. I’m still in my early practice.) was simply the kind of Zen practice I had pursued for years, only moved outside instead of facing a wall. It’s amazing what a difference that small change made. “Grove Tending” integrates that meditative discipline into what I consider a more complete druidic daily ritual.

As druids, we have many kinds of groves. We have the inner, spiritual groves we call upon in our meditative rituals, we have the formal circles of trees that we might hold larger rituals in; we have our small, private gardens. My concept of “grove” is very encompassing. It is any collection of plants, in some proximity to each other, with which we have a spiritual relationship.

We draw spiritual strength from the plants of our grove, and in return, we have a duty to nurture and protect those plants that give so much to us. This kind of grove can be the trees on the side of the road, the landscaping of a nearby commercial property, the vegetation of a public park, or a combination of all of those. It might spread across various artificial boundaries such as roads and fences. It might not be discernible as a grove by anyone but yourself, but it is a small parcel of the natural world you have chosen to build a bond with.

I am fortunate to have a yard that is almost an ideal grove. We have about a half an acre with a number of oak trees, a magnolia tree, a plum tree, and a wide variety of other shrubs and bushes. If I were not so fortunate, I would make a “grove” of whatever public park or bit of nature I could. If you do have a yard, or access to one, look at planting a wide variety of plants and bushes. In an urban environment, consider doing a bit of guerrilla gardening, building your grove and beautifying the blighted landscape. If your grove has to be indoors, try to have a variety of indoor plants. Variety is important.

To prepare for the grove tending, have all the tools you might need on hand with you as you walk. You don’t want to interrupt your walk by fetching this and that. I bought a light tool apron for $0.98 which holds my pruning sheers, journal, gloves, and other items. I might also carry a watering pitcher.

You start by slowly walking a circuit around the grove, clockwise. This is creating a sacred space, just as casting a circle in ritual. It may be very large, and not maybe not very “circular,” but that doesn’t matter so much. This “circle” takes whatever shape the grove has. Mine, for instance, is vaguely ‘L’ shaped. But, by completing the circle, the grove is sanctified and the bond between us and the land strengthened.

When I say to walk slowly, I mean slowly — barely a shuffle. This is a walking meditation where you open yourself to the pulse of life around you. In Zen, it is called kinhen and has similar meditative qualities to the usual sitting practice. Go barefoot if the weather permits. Be aware. Feel the wind, the earth, note the sway of the trees, the call of the birds.  Gently and smoothly place each step in rhythm  with your breathing.

Breathe deeply and slowly.  Note your own thoughts as they flow by. Visit the plants and trees as you make your round. If and when you feel there is a need a plant has, do your best to fill it. Trim and prune, water, clear away dead branches or weeds, pick up trash.

The tending activity should be gentle. It shouldn’t involve hacking, or macinery like a lawn mower. At the most active, it might involve a little sweeping or raking. I leave the machete I might take on more active wilderness adventures and stick to my small pruner, which is as much a magical ritual tool as any I have.

When I’ve completed my circle, I am at the spot I normally perform outdoor ritual. There I make an offering to the gods and spirits and sit in quiet meditation for a bit. If so inclined, I might sit with a tree and journal a while.

It seems simple. It is, but simple is good. We need to keep things as simple as we can. We need to slow down. We need to develop our relationships with the land and spirits, and this exercise does all that in one small, elegant package.

I’ve formed yet another set of forums. Yes, yet another thing to take time away from my blogging, unfortunately. This one is for those interested in “warrior” spirituality, and the closely related subject of pagan event security. It is found at www.paganstronghold.com. I invite anyone interested in emergency preparedness, martial arts, and security from a pagan point of view to come join us there.

There are actually a few pagan warrior groups out there, but they are all local in scale and are devoted to specific pagan faiths. This forum is intended to be common ground for all of them, and is not associated with any specific pagan religion, faith, or organization. My introduction to the forum reads:

We are modern pagans of various faiths who follow a “warrior path” of spirituality. We find it spiritually fulfilling to serve our communities by preparing ourselves, mentally and physically, to put ourselves in harm’s way should the need arise. This forum offers support to those who want to serve the Pagan community as protectors and where such people can coordinate with each other and with Pagan event organizers.

Modern paganism has reached a point of critical mass at which we have caught the attention of the mass media and the general population. Among many other issues this creates for us is a more evident need for security at our events — a task we still have good reason not to trust to third parties such as off-duty police who may not be sympathetic to our ways. Our public events and large gatherings are attracting more and more unwelcome attention and a wider variety of people in general. This means that altercations, confrontations, accidents and other minor emergencies are more and more likely.

In our member forums, you will find discussions and debates about the finer points of “warrior” pagan spirituality and philosophy, strategy, martial arts, tools and equipment, and event security coordination. If you would be interested in such discussions, or in talking to us about how members might be of assistance with your upcoming event, you are invited to join us.

Last week, I was tagged for a meme by Ali. The gist of this meme is that I tell folks what my major, ultimate, lifetime, shoot-for-the-moon, spiritual goals are.

Ali writes about her spiritual goals. As I consider this a “spiritual” site, it makes sense for me to do the same. But, I am reminded of Zen’s “goal of goallessness,” so part of me thinks that all goals are fundamentally un-spiritual. Being goal-oriented is counter to being spiritual, to some brands of spirituality. Putting that aside, since Zen really isn’t my model of spirituality anymore anyway, a spiritual goal would have to be something related in some way to my “spirituality” or “path” or “religion,” I suppose, but where does one draw the line? Especially when considering that I don’t, or try not to, make distinctions between the spiritual and the everyday, “spiritual goal” might be a bit redundant.

To the ancient Celts, there was no separate word for “religion,” as we understand it. It was just part of life, interwoven into everything. My spirituality informs how I see the world and shapes my desires and actions in pretty much every aspect. So, I intend to discuss all of my lifetime-dream goals, however spiritual or “un-spiritual” they may seem, but they are, in fact, very spiritual to me. They come right out of my Celtic-based philosophy of life.

1) Financial Security

It seems to be a popular goal. I don’t care much about being rich, but I do want financial security. That is living with no, or very manageable, debt; having sufficient assets to absorb major upsets in our lives and give some degree of flexibility; and having a dependable and steady source of income. Right now, I have a long, long way to go.

The first part, getting out of debt, is pretty self-explanatory. Debt is a chain around your neck — it’s a slavery. The second part, assets, would be to have enough liquidity to live for about three months with no income. The last part, I have fairly well covered by developing multiple useful skillsets. I am an attorney and training to be a firefighter and EMT. Attorneys may be able to make money, but nobody has every heard of a shortage of attorneys or a demand for them. Medical and emergency trained personnel are always in high demand, and would be even moreso in bad times. I’d also like to develop other useful “production” skills. I want to know how to make things. I don’t know exactly what, yet.. just.. you know… “things.”

2) Prepared for Emergencies

I want to be adequately prepared for a major catastrophe. I am talking about the “End of the World as We Know It” kind of emergency preparation. I want to have a year of food and supplies stored, and the ability to defend it. I want to be “off the grid,” having our own electricity and water generation. I want to be an expert at wilderness survival, primitive technology, agriculture, “1890’s” technology, and any other skill I can think of that would help wean us from over-dependence on technological and governmental infrastructures. I don’t have any illusions about being “totally independent,” though. I would want to develop interdependent relationships with a close-knit local community. That’s what kept people alive for thousands of years.

3) Skilled Warrior

I want to be an expert with every weapon I own, and own quite a collection: rifles, shotguns, pistols, crossbows, knives, spears, swords, and anything else that may be useful for defense of my family and is legal to own. I also want to be well proficient in unarmed combat. I have some Kung-Fu training, but I am thinking more along the lines of pragmatic combatives-style training. I don’t care about certifications there, just want to know I can kick ass if I needed to.

4) Ordained “Druid”

I want to be a Druid Priest. Basically, I want some kind of external, objective validification. I think by any functional criteria, I am a “Druid,” but, yes, I want some kind of certificate that says so, too. Call it ego. It is. But I think the drive for community recognition, “glory,” “honor,” is an important drive. It helps us reach for betterment as a people and is an adaptive trait for our survival. When I was a Buddhist, I tried to fight that drive. Now I embrace it. That is probably one of the major differences between my spiritual outlook as a Buddhist and now as a Druid. Now, what kind of certification do I want? Of course, $15 and a stamp will get me an ordination with some “churches.” But, I am thinking ADF. They have a rigor to their standards that would make such a certification mean something to me.

5) Physical Fitness

I want to be physically fit. Right now, my method, and measure, of physical fitness is found in the sport of parkour. I want to be able to walk on my hands 10′, run 2 miles in 17 minutes, scale a 10′ wall in 3 seconds, and jump from a one-story roof onto concrete without injury. As incredible as those may sound, I see them as quite do-able. I have already developed a level of skill and fitness I didn’t think possible for me a year ago. I do want to get my bodyweight down to about 210 lbs or less (about 25 lbs to go), but mainly because the other things really aren’t possible with the weight I have now.

6) A Prepared Son

I want my son to be well rounded in his education and highly capable and responsible when it is time for him to make his own way in the world. I want him to have the same outdoor skills I am working on. I want him to be as skilled as an Eagle Scout and knowledgeable as a Rhodes Scholar. He is only four right now, but he is well on his way. I think he is showing more aptitude with numbers and language than I had at his age, and a strong and noble heart.

7) Published Author

I want to write a book. More to the point, I want to have a book I write actually published, and not by some vanity press, either. I am thinking it would be some philosophical work. Maybe it would be styled as a “self-help” book, I don’t know. It seems that’s what it takes to get published: write a self-help book or romance novel, and I don’t see myself doing the latter. Who reads philosophy anymore? But self-help, especially when it has a good dose of pop-philosophy in it, seems to sell. I intend to write for my own benefit, to help me organize my thoughts and ideas. But publishing is about prestige, really, and ego-trippyness.

So, that’s the future idealized me: Fiacharrey, the (in)famous pagan writer, philosopher, outdoorsman, warrior priest. The future, beware!

Oh, right, gotta tag some folks, don’t I? Meh. I don’t feel like it right now. I might tag a few folks and edit this later.

One can hardly be surprised that I hug trees. I call myself a “modern druid,” after all, and isn’t that what druids are supposed to do? Hang around lots of trees? There is a lot to be said for hugging a tree, really. “Tree-hugger,” I know, is a common pejorative for hippies. But really, if you’ve never done it, just let go of your inhibitions and give it a try. When I do it, I feel such a connection to the earth, to the majesty of the living world. I feel the flow of life around me. Trees truly are majestic, noble beings and that is a sense of the tree you can best get by close physical contact.

But there is another form of tree-hugging that I indulge in and that I also invite you to try: tree climbing. It’s great physical exercise for one thing, and I’m all about that. But as a spiritual exercise, it has a lot going for it as well. Take whatever benefit your may get from tree-hugging and about quadruple it.

As I compose this, I am sitting in one of my favorite meditation places. I’m about 20′ in the air, in the branches of a moderately tall magnolia tree on our property. From here, I can look down on the roof of our two-story house, but more importantly, I am in the middle of a swarm of life all around me. It’s a completely different world from that of the ground a mere 20′ below.

You are not only feeling the flow of life, you are in it. Like a baby, cradled in its mothers arms, the boughs support you, gently rocking. You face your fears, climbing higher and higher, growing bolder, stronger, trusting more in the tree to support you.

In the branches of the tree, you are in a liminal space - a “between” place that is not Earth and not Sky, and is thus charged with spiritual potential. The liminality found in the branches of a tree was not lost on the Druids or ancient Norse. Consider the mistletoe, sacred at least in part because it grows neither on the earth nor under it, is not of the earth or of the sky. In Norse legend,  Loki crafted an arrow from the plant to kill Balder. In some tellings of the story, this was possible exactly because of those liminal qualities, having been missed by the Goddess Frigga in protecting Balder from all things of the four elements, or all plants that grow on or under the Earth.

Tree-climbing has grown from a child-hood pastime to something of an “extreme sport.” But it attracts a different sort of person from, say, rock climbing or snowboarding. Unlike other “extreme” activities, it isn’t so much the actual activity itself that engages most practitioners, the climbing into the tree, but the time they spend when they get to where they are going high in the branches. There, they may spend hours relaxing, may even sleep in a specially made hammock, or may just do what I do: commune with nature in an entirely different way than is possible on the ground.

The activity can be taken up relatively inexpensively and safely. It also doesn’t require much physical conditioning. The technical equipment needed costs about $300 or so to get started. That covers the cost of a special harness, rope, and the equipment to protect the tree and the rope from each other. So far, I haven’t used any of that, instead just “free-climbing,” but I’m limiting my options thereby. Unlike in rock climbing, tree climbing gear isn’t so much for safety as it is to open up options and to make it possible to get to places you otherwise can’t reach.

A few good sites for more information are:

Tree Climbers International

New Tribe

Dancing With Trees