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INTRODUCTION:
As Modern Druids, we live and grow though and with the Universe. It is our task to allow the Light that dwells at the core of all things to illumine our lives, and times, and places, and reveal them for the sacred things that they are. Thus, we do not build impermeable walls around our souls, our communities, or our Rites, nor do we cut ourselves off from the World.
Our legends and our rituals flow to and from the Center. It is in the Center that the World Tree weaves the Three Worlds. It is in the Center that the Waters rise from the Well of Wisdom. And it is in the Center that the Sacred Fire of Kinship and Transformation burns.
Our Principles are not a barrier that separates us from those who do not share them, rather they are like a ritual Center towards which Folk and Friend choose to walk, and from which they might choose to walk out into the world.
It is said that nine is one of Druidic sacred numbers. Yet there are only six Principles. This is because our path is meant to be creative, and that which we have in common is meant to be balanced by individual differences. We invite each TDB Druid to come up with at least three more Principles that reflect their own Druid Path.
PRINCIPLES OF TUATHA DE BRIGHID:
PRINCIPLE OF PANENTHEISM: Godde, Whom we know as the One Universal Divinity, contains, indwells and encompasses all things, all life, and all Powers, endowing the Universe with life and purpose.
PRINCIPLE OF WHOLENESS: Spirit, the ever-flowing Breath of Godde, is the primal mover and essence of being, and all things are manifestations of Spirit - in the same manner as in the physical world matter is manifestation of energy.
PRINCIPLE OF INTERCONNECTION: All That Exists is infinitely and inseparably interconnected in the great Web of Life, known of old as the Web of Wyrd and by many other names.
PRINCIPLE OF DIVINE PERSONHOOD: Godde, Gods and Goddesses, Spirits of Place and Nature, Ancestor Spirits, as well as possibly infinitely many other Powers, are real. Each of them is worthy of honor in their own right. It is possible and good to develop a meaningful relationship with Them as our perception and choice guides.
PRINCIPLE OF ANIMISM: All things in the Cosmos, from the smallest atom to the greatest galaxy, from the smallest cell to the most complex organism, from the simplest idea to the greatest insight, are alive and possessed of dignity and individuality of Art and Spirit - that is, a soul.
PRINCIPLE OF EXCHANGE: It is by Exchange of Gifts that Order and Life are brought out of Chaos. Thus it is by exchange of gifts that we treat with the Powers, and it is by exchange of gifts that we aspire to treat with the World.
We are given - we give: We are created - we create... We are taught - we teach... We are loved - we love...
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