adfdruidry

Reflections on My Installation as Archdruid

Rev. Drum (dressed in white robes) holds sickle to throat of Rev. Jan (dressed in multi-colored robes)

There are rites of passage that happen throughout our lives, and sometimes they pass without much fanfare, but other times they are spiritually significant and marked as such through ritual and community engagement.

At Wellspring this year I was installed at the 7th Archdruid of ADF at the main rite.  I planned most of the rite and scripted portions of it, but there was also a very real sense of “this is something that I need to let happen to me, and not control the experience.”  That’s hard to do for a very liturgical and spiritwork focused Priest. 😉 I’m used to making these experiences meaningful for others, but in this case I trusted others to make it meaningful, not just for me, but for ADF as a whole.

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ADF Elects a New Archdruid: Rev. Jan Avende To Focus On Empowerment and Connection

androgynous person in full ritual regalia looks calmly and confidently at the camera, against a green meadow background

Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF), has elected a new Archdruid by popular vote: Rev. Jan Avende (they/them). Also elected to serve on ADF’s governing body, the ADF Mother Grove, are Rovena Windsor (Chief of the Council of Senior Druids), Matthias Dolgner-Trampnau (Non-Officer Director), Tami Olsen (re-elected Non-Officer Director) and Mike Bierschenk (ADF Secretary, elected to a full term).

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Gender Diversity is Welcomed in ADF

For our US Druids, especially those who are gender diverse, I know the past few days have been a lot.  I want to assure you that ADF is a place where you are explicitly welcome.  You are valid.  You belong here. Your presence brightens our community and adds vibrance to our practice.  

Our system of practice and belief is centered around *ghosti.  Hospitality.  Building reciprocal relationships.  We welcome all those of good will into our spaces, and expect those we welcome to abide by the social contract of good will.  Our community will not tolerate hate speech or a debate regarding whether or not someone’s identity and existence is valid.  Our cis allies need to step up in this regard, and call out this behavior when you see it, so that appropriate action can be taken.  

Gender diverse members (trans, nonbinary, genderfluid, intersex, and beyond), please know that I am also processing this, but will make time to talk with you.  Please reach out if you need to.  Cis allies, if you need help processing this, I encourage you to reach out as well, though please be aware that I will refer you to another ally who can manage the emotional labor better than me at the moment. 

“Reflections on Prison Chaplaincy”

It’s amazing how serendipitous life changes can really affect your spirituality and the ways that you interact with the world.  Since becoming ordained in 2015 I’ve had an interest in pursuing professional chaplaincy, but as a minority religion there are even more barriers in place that there would be otherwise.  Even then, I thought I’d like higher education or hospital chaplaincy, and was pretty sure that prison chaplaincy was not for me.  But then this opportunity to work at the local women’s state prison fell into my lap, and I have found myself spirituality reinvigorated and deeply humbled in this work.  

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Connections Across Traditions

A lot of my time recently has been consumed with thoughts of theology, relationships, and pan-pagan interfaith work.  I’ve been volunteering at a local prison, and attended my first pan-pagan festival in many years recently (Appalachian Summer Solstice at the Wisteria Campground in Ohio).  These experiences can be more complex by virtue of the differing traditions, but also very rewarding. By being exposed to the thoughts and teachings of others, and welcoming those differences, I have been able to better examine my own practices and beliefs.  

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Use the Fancy Art Supplies

I’ve been thinking lately about the Winning of the Waters myth.  In brief, the Winning of the Waters is when one deity hoards all of the blessings and other “good stuff” for themselves.  They are often described with imagery relating to dragons, and the hoarding of wealth.  Then another deity acts as the hero who fights on behalf of mankind to get the Waters (the blessings, good stuff, the hoard) for us.  The hero deity fights the hoarding deity, with the former ultimately winning, and thus allowing the Waters and blessings to flow once more from the realms of the gods to us.  

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Artemis, for the right to choose

On this National Day of Prayer,
as we watch our rights threaten to be eroded,
I call out to Artemis, protector.

Artemis, you were born in conflict,
with your mother, Leto, making the choice to give birth.
You, in turn, helped deliver your brother.

Artemis, when you were but a child,
You demanded sovereignty:
to choose your own path,
to follow your own passions,
to remain childless,
and not forced into the role of mother.

Artemis, I ask you now to be present.
To stand beside those who fight
for their own right to choose as you did.
You have always defended your followers,
And in this fight I ask that you continue to do so.

Lend your strength of will,
Lend your protection,
Let your precedence sway the minds of those who rule.

Artemis, as you have always been there for me,
be there for us all now.