Religion/Spritial beliefs in bushcraft??

[Bigman]

Not religious, well not in the normal way.

I like the views of the druids as I was born in Cornwall and like nature.

Have learnt over the past few years that I have led a misguided path, worked in a factory for 17yrs, I had a well paid job and all the trappings of a successfull career.

But an accident and ill health made me realise that all the trappings are material things, did I really need them, did they make me happy, was it going to make me well again, the simple answer was No.

Hence now I believe in the simpler things in life;

I've gone back to watching wildlife again and listening to the sounds of nature, being at peace with oneself.
I have a real fascination with tree's, can't explain why, but it's always been there.
I like to sit in a wood and listen.

And I thought learning some bushcraft skills would enable me stay longer than a few hours plus increase my awareness of nature's surroundings.

 

[pibbleb]

I'm an active Christian and church leader. I personally think that if you dig deep enough you will find a simliarity between many religons.

This is not to undermine ones faith but I think that all churches/religons are ever growing and this is due to the people that follow and what ever has stirred their faith/belief and the fact that they carry this with them.

Personally when I used to be out on Dartmoor or I'm on the Downs I can't help but believe in a divine God and I'm spiritually touched and recharged. However, I appreciate that this does not necessarily sit well with all but the important thing is that you get out of bushcraft what ever you want and what ever brings you peace.

I respect all of you for discussing this subject in the way that you have no matter what your view. :You_Rock_

Pib

 

[Hawkeye The Noo]

Religion is how I make my living, I am a secondary school teacher of religion. In schools the subject has evolved. It used to be RI Religious Instruction this was when you told kids what to believe and how to participate. It evolved onto RE, Realigious Education; in this you had to teach the 6 most common religions in scotland: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism. This has evolved again into being RME, Religious and Moral Education; here ethics and morality is taught. (Bushcraft fits in well here.) At higher level the subject is called RMPS, the additional P being Philosophy. This is to suit the atheist and agnostic, humanism and marxism are taught here.

This is what I do for a living, I give head knowledge in these areas; faith is the heart knowledge thing. I consider atheism also to be a religion as it takes faith to say there is no god. The reason it is faith is that to say that there is no god cannot be empirically tested using the scientific method. I have to teach all of these in an unbiased way which is hard as I have my own beliefs. I have to say " Sikhs believe ......" I cannot say you should believe or the truth is etc. I have looked into Druidism and native American beliefs; I find it hard to find or explain the distinction between pantheism and panentheism which most pagans fall into. But there are many Christians who are into bushcraft that are very close to panentheism as they both believe in a creator god. By the way the druid concept of Awen is very similar to the Christian belief in the Holy Spirit. But to me most modern wicca, druidism and paganism is a modern manmade construct as the origional is long forgotten. Crowley had a lot to do with this modern construct, most people don't know he is also a contributor to modern free masonry as well.

I have said all this without nailing my beliefs to the mast. I am a Christian also in leadership of the Stewardship variety of bushcrafters. This post has been great as I often feel that it is ok to believe whatever you want as long as it is not Christian. Ps sorry the post is so long.

 

[Abbe Osram]

Religion is how I make my living, I am a secondary school teacher of religion. In schools the subject has evolved. It used to be RI Religious Instruction this was when you told kids what to believe and how to participate. It evolved onto RE, Realigious Education; in this you had to teach the 6 most common religions in scotland: Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Hinduism. This has evolved again into being RME, Religious and Moral Education; here ethics and morality is taught. (Bushcraft fits in well here.) At higher level the subject is called RMPS, the additional P being Philosophy. This is to suit the atheist and agnostic, humanism and marxism are taught here.

This is what I do for a living, I give head knowledge in these areas; faith is the heart knowledge thing. I consider atheism also to be a religion as it takes faith to say there is no god. The reason it is faith is that to say that there is no god cannot be empirically tested using the scientific method. I have to teach all of these in an unbiased way which is hard as I have my own beliefs. I have to say " Sikhs believe ......" I cannot say you should believe or the truth is etc. I have looked into Druidism and native American beliefs; I find it hard to find or explain the distinction between pantheism and panentheism which most pagans fall into. But there are many Christians who are into bushcraft that are very close to panentheism as they both believe in a creator god. By the way the druid concept of Awen is very similar to the Christian belief in the Holy Spirit. But to me most modern wicca, druidism and paganism is a modern manmade construct as the origional is long forgotten. Crowley had a lot to do with this modern construct, most people don't know he is also a contributor to modern free masonry as well.

I have said all this without nailing my beliefs to the mast. I am a Christian also in leadership of the Stewardship variety of bushcrafters. This post has been great as I often feel that it is ok to believe whatever you want as long as it is not Christian. Ps sorry the post is so long.

Very interesting read. The druid thing must be a english thing as I never have heard that in Sweden or Germany are Druids or that there is some kind of organized teaching behind. Surly it is not considered to be a religion as I never heard about it in school either. Do you have some links on the internet so I can read up a bit on the subject native believes, Druids, Awen etc etc.

thanks
Abbe

 

[Hawkeye The Noo]

Hi Abbe, anything anyone tells you on druidism is going to be highly subjective as it was an oral political/religion. There were no primary written texts. When the Romans destroyed the school on what is now Anglesey most of the knowledge was destroyed with them. You can read about ths on Tacitus. My subjective opinion is that they origionated from the pythagoreans and were the predominant manipulative political and religious dimension to the ancient masses on Celtic Britain and Europe. A bit like shamanism with, mathematics and astronomy added in. Just randomly google Druids, Awen etc, you will come up with different opinions. The druids make interesting reading in fiction: Bernard Cornwall does an Arthurian Trilogy from a strongly pagin aspect and Stephen Lawhead has two trilogies, the paradise war and his Arthurian trilogy. All make fun reading but as to the truth. Who knows, I believe it died with the druids and can only be guessed at in a highly diluted form.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[Hawkeye The Noo]

Here is an artice I found on Druidry and Christianity. The provision of this link does not mean that I endorse what the article says.

http://www.druidnetwork.org/interfaith/articles/richardthomas.html

 

[Bigman]

Most people treat Druidism as an odd, strange religion but I believe that we are entitled to our oddities and idiosyncracies(sp) and take an interest in all religions whether I believe in them or not.

This is an article by the bbc;

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cornwall/faith/stories/ed_prynn.shtml

 

[Abbe Osram]

Here is an artice I found on Druidry and Christianity. The provision of this link does not mean that I endorse what the article says.

http://www.druidnetwork.org/interfaith/articles/richardthomas.html

Thanks mate, I enjoyed reading the King Arthur when I was a child and loved Merlin. ;-)) My spiritual path was all the aspect of Christian faith, from the conservative pietistic movements to the new and carismatic movements. Ten years I left the christian faith as I didnt find that they followed the spiritual mystical path you even can find in the gospels. Specially in the writings of ST. John. I then moved to the teachings of Meister Eckhard, the Sufis, and studied the mystics and Zen Budism a bit. I am still on the path of mystical faith. I greatly enjoy the writings of

Eckhart Tolle click here
Anthony de Mello click here
and
J.Krisnamurti click here

I highly can reccoment these writers to you.

cheers
Abbe

Nice talking to you BTW ;-)

 

[Ranger Bob]

Firstly....well done everyone for keeping it civil :You_Rock_

While in Mongolia I learned a little about Mongolian/Siberian Shamanism.........it seemed to me at the time to be very nature orientated. In a nutshell......Its believed that Humanity's role in life is to live 'Tegsh' or in balance with the natural world. They venerate "Father Sky" and " Mother Earth", not as personified deities but as they are....the earth and sky...as the sources of all life. This article goes into details a bit more: http://members.tripod.com/Mongolian_Page/shaman.txt

 

[Bigman]

Very interesting.

 

[Abbe Osram]

I just put a pdf teaching from Eckhart Tolle on my webpage index page for you.
So for everyone who like to sniff out a bit of mystical teaching feel free to download the pdf file.

Click here

cheers
Abbe

 

[Bigman]

Thank you for your link Abbe Osram.

If anyone is interested in Celtic Druidism I found this on Google which does explain everything about it.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/druid.htm

 

[Abbe Osram]

Thank you for your link Abbe Osram.

If anyone is interested in Celtic Druidism I found this on Google which does explain everything about it.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/druid.htm

thanks mate, I am going to check your link out now!
cheers
Abbe

 

[gregorach]

To my mind, it doesn't really matter what you believe, or whether there is a god or not - what matters is how you treat other people and the world around you. I guess that might make me a humanist, but I wouldn't describe myself that way - my ethics don't stop at a species boundary.

 

[Grimnir]

Well I'm a Heathen, a follower of the religion of the pre-Christian Northern European times most commonly associated these days with the Vikings. There are quite a few of us into bushcraft (I'm a beginner in b/c). There is a very strong emphasis on personal responsibility in heathenry as there is in many faiths and we have a healthy respect for nature in all its forms. Part of this is not wasting what we have so bushcraft is a natural step for those of us with the opportunity to follow it.

A good site for those who wish to know more is Thorshof. It's run by a very good friend of mine

I don't want to go into the ins and outs of the religion here, its not the place for it, but I do feel it enhances my appreciation of nature and makes me want to learn how to live in harmony with nature in a way that modern society/city living has removed from us.

In frith,
Grim

 

[Matt Weir]

Well I'm a Heathen, a follower of the religion of the pre-Christian Northern European times most commonly associated these days with the Vikings. There are quite a few of us into bushcraft (I'm a beginner in b/c). There is a very strong emphasis on personal responsibility in heathenry as there is in many faiths and we have a healthy respect for nature in all its forms. Part of this is not wasting what we have so bushcraft is a natural step for those of us with the opportunity to follow it.

A good site for those who wish to know more is Thorshof. It's run by a very good friend of mine

I don't want to go into the ins and outs of the religion here, its not the place for it, but I do feel it enhances my appreciation of nature and makes me want to learn how to live in harmony with nature in a way that modern society/city living has removed from us.

In frith,
Grim

That's exactly how I feel Grimnir.

I have checked out the Gods quiz and in first place tied with 6 points each - Eostre, Holda & Frigg (looks like I am quite a ladies man )

Next tied group with 5 points each are -
Thor, Odin, Nerthus / Jord & Tyr.

Bottom of the league with just 1 point is -
Norns (Fates).

Matt.

 

[stonyman]

I used to be a Christian but found my lifestyle didn't fit in with "main stream" religions, so I am in a way an eclectic pagan, that is I take my teachings from all original land dwellers be they native americans or whatever,what you take from the earth try and put back, if you need to kill an animal to eat then take only what you need, (I don't apply this to disease carrying vermin i.e. rats). Some might say that is hypocritical of me, but I can't think of anyone who likes disease being spread.

This forum isn't the place for religious rants,so I have tried not to, We are all like minded people on this board, so if we can leave everything else but Buschraft aside then we'll be fine.

It's a good question what religion/spritual beliefs are we all, I always find it fascinating to find out what other peoples backgrounds are.

 

[Spikey DaPikey]

Im a Pagan, i have been to church in the past, but it just didnt "feel" right to me, dont really know why, its just the way it was.....

Always felt at home in the woods etc, so started to ask questions, and found the Pagan path

 

[janiepopps]

Wow, can't believe I missed this thread before.

Really interesting answers from a diverse mix of people, its not a subject that tends to get discussed in our society. In one of my first ever jobs I was told 'Never discuss sex, politics or religion' Sad really. Also I'm guessing its mostly guys on here and this isn't a conversation I've had with many fellas.

Personally I've been on a bit of an adventure with this one over the past couple of years. A personal loss led me into a pretty glum place which I could see no way out of. I remember thinking at the time I wish I had a belief, a 'church' or a spiritual leader to help me through. Having always considered myself an athiest (Isn't it funny how we wear our 'badges' with pride) this sat a bit uncomfortably.

I then began studying this train of thought and found that the one that made the most sense and felt 'real' to me was Paganism. To me it is a complete acceptance in the forces of the natural world, a celebration in the fact that day follows night, summer follows spring and that home grown tomatoes taste far better than plastic ones grown in Tesco!

I feel in todays society that this is spiritual choice, anyone that has ever sat waiting for fish to bite, tracked an animal or spent a sunny afternoon picking blackberrys or elderflowers has found the quietest, deepest meditation of all.

Growing up on a farm I consider myself lucky to have seen daily the impact of the moon, weather and the seasons. My 'city friends' feel uneasy when there are no sreet lights or rumble of background noise.
Know which I'd prefer...

BTW Abbe, your writing on the first page was beautiful

Hmm, back off to my cave now

 

[Spacemonkey]

...to me most modern wicca, druidism and paganism is a modern manmade construct as the origional is long forgotten. Crowley had a lot to do with this modern construct, most people don't know he is also a contributor to modern free masonry as well. anything anyone tells you on druidism is going to be highly subjective as it was an oral political/religion. There were no primary written texts. When the Romans destroyed the school on what is now Anglesey most of the knowledge was destroyed with them. You can read about ths on Tacitus. My subjective opinion is that they origionated from the pythagoreans and were the predominant manipulative political and religious dimension to the ancient masses on Celtic Britain and Europe. A bit like shamanism with, mathematics and astronomy added in.

Well, that's what I was itching to say. I guess nowadays as we like to label things we call ourselves, Druids or Wiccans or pagans if we're in the Natural way of life as a religious context.

Me? Atheist bordering on agnosticism with a hint of spiritualism and a dash of paganism thrown in for seasoning but i don't do religion if that makes sense. Basically, as i see so much death every day, I appreciate all forms of life and nowadays I couldn't kill anything without very good reason, even flies. Odd isn't it? (except things like bacteria, but hey, I guess they have feelings too... ) My ex wife led me into the Spiritualist thing in a roundabout kind of way which ended up with me receiving 'medium' training (stop laughing at the back... ) which proved a major eye opener ( pun intended..) and I don't know what it is I can 'tune' into, but something's there. It's something that my mother and brother also share as does my aunty. Maybe the Force grows strong in our family...