Dance and Transformation

[Zylah]

I wrote a blog post this morning that feels like a good one to share here, for anyone who might be interested:

http://zylah.wordpress.com/2012/03/31/s ... nal-cells/

[Bricklayer]

Its a good article....reminds me of ghost dance.

[Ilvi]

It was recently brought to my view the impermanence of People and things within our lives. My question being in regards to this. How does druidism handle the impermanence of things. Friends/ people entering and leaving ones lives. Jobs/ volunteer positions starting and ending. It is a curiosity to me how things that "should" be permanent or at least semi permanent have become very fluid within our current culture. I did review the triads in hope of finding some wisdom there to meditate and to build on but nothing became apparent. How does our druid Faith and spirituality handle the concept of impermanence . How can one become more comfortable with it, how can we live with and accept that not all things will be there forever(including friends and partners whom we hold dear that haven't passed into the other place.)

[treegod]

I took tips about impermanence from Buddhism, and it's helped me a lot to consider everything through the lens of impermanence. Suddenly the present becomes much more important than what could/would/should be, and I stop my preoccupations about things I cannot control or are not my concern.

But a specifically druidic view I think is the association of change with the seasonals and the rhythms of life. Everything changes and transforms as part of the natural cycle of life and in how our own lives develop. The Wheel of the Year offers a model of the seasons, of modes of consciousness, stages and ages in our own lives. There's a lot of parallels.

[Art]

Impermanence is the natural state. That lesson is taught to us every day through the cycles of day and night, the cycles of the seasons, and the ever present shadow of death. Why then should we expect anything, or anyone, to be permanent? By accepting that concept, we open ourselves to the notion that today is important and this moment is a precious gift to be cherished and appreciated for its singular existence and inevitable impermanence. The only thing then that is real is the existing moment and that, whether we like it or not, is a product of the past which in itself was not permanent. We relish the idea of some sort of continuous unchanging reality but in truth there is no such thing.
Our forefathers may well have been better reconciled to the idea of impermanence than we are. Living closer to the land and the cycles of life tends to instill a sense of acceptance that nothing is forever. On the other hand, today we have the ability to grasp impermanence on a cosmic scale through the realization that not even the mountains or the stars are permanent. Yet we still wrestle with the realization that the people, places and things that are dear to us are not eternal in the physical sense.
Thus the only things we can say may approach everlasting, undying, and unending are spirit and memory, love and hate, smiles or frowns. We may not find comfort in the realization of the impermanence of all things but we can come to a level of acceptance that the universe is unfolding as it will and a greater appreciation of the intangibles that do appear to last at least beyond our own brief sojourn in this mortal form.

[Gwion]

How does druidism handle the impermanence of things.

I took tips about impermanence from Buddhism,

This book on Zen Druidry (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pagan-Portal-Ze ... inw_strp_1) is a good introduction to this topic, as is the author’s blog (https://downtheforestpath.wordpress.com/). One of the things that attracts me to druidry is the emphasis on living in the present and the understanding of the cycles of nature and the constancy of change.