A Druid’s Mindfulness Ritual

Gathering of elements in nature. (Photo credit: wikipedia)

My favorite morning practice is to open the door as soon as I wake up and smell the crisp, clean air while looking at the sky – it reminds you of the majesty of earth

It’s been a while since I’ve spoken about anything related to Druidry, but I had the clear presence of mind this morning to share a personal practice with you that aligns with my path.

My favorite morning ritual (especially if the weather permits it) is to throw my door open as soon as I am up and take in the scenery. I smell the sharp, crisp air and look up to the sky. I take a moment to let the sun warm my body before stepping out to look at the scenery around me. The beauty of this short ritual is that it puts you immediately in the present and it’s hard to think about anything else other than the majesty of earth and nature.

There is a practice that goes along with this that teaches Druids to look at earth as our parent and to regard nature as a person. Traditionally the elements are split between masculine and feminine qualities, such as earth and water being female while air and fire are male. To Druids, all elements carry aspects of both genders and we put ourselves in that moment to acknowledge which aspect nature is embodying. If we are to draw close to the natural world and share a connection with it, we should be aware of how the earth is feeling and be able to draw from its wisdom.

For Druids, we do our best to ignore stereotyping and fitting these gender aspects into obvious slots. We take our time to reflect on what we see and experience without being rigid in our thought process. We may see the raging waters of a furious river and instantly identify it as being masculine, and that may be our intuitive reaction, but is it the one we should stick with? We take the time to consider the river and think of how feminine qualities could still fit with the element, such as a mother animal readying itself for a fight to protect its young.

While fires may roar and crackle, don’t we feel comforted and relaxed when we curled up by one? For some, this may not represent a masculine feature, but a more maternal one. We need to take the time when we’re with nature to really listen and consider not only our views, but the earth’s and how it’s trying to relate to us.

When I step out in the morning to greet the day and the earth, I take that time to feel the impression I receive and make it an intimate experience. Some days the earth feels masculine when it returns my greeting, other days it’s feminine. There are days where it’s both and neither. Be open to your experience with nature and take time to learn from it.