Wisdom

One must always attempt to use good judgement while going through life. It is important to develop the skill of discerning the energy and intentions of people as well as the situations we encounters.  When faced with the need to reply to conversation or a situation, it is important to stop and think about the best way to respond.  It comes down to responding rather reacting!

In conversations with others, there are times when people speak harshly and provoke extreme feelings in us.  If we want to have any kind of meaningful result from those conversations, it is important to stop, breathe and consider a more peaceful response.  It that way there is opportunity for a more peaceful and meaningful result.

Situations can often feel welcoming to us and sensing that feeling, we can safely enter in. However, situations in life can also feel threatening, and it is important to decide how and if we will interact in them.  We can guard ourselves and make decisions about how to deal with things should we decide to take part, or we can safely leave.

Piety

In Druidry there are eight seasonal celebrations to observe.  It is important to honor them if we are living our path. They are observed with specific ritual and social festivities. We can also follow the energies of the cycles and phases of the moon.  All of these are based on natural energies, solar and lunar and even the stars, all guiding us on our path and in life. We also keep an altar, a place to do this sacred work.

There are also social customs and traditions, based on hospitality and kindness that we need to observe. They have their basis in ancient Celtic and Indo-European and Druidic history.

In working with the Old Gods and the Spirits that guide us, it is important that we not only give them honor, but also keep any and all commitments we make with them.

This holds true with ay commitments we make with others in our lives.

We keep the Old Ways, through ritual and prayer, and above all else honor our duty in keeping to these ways.

Vision

For many this can be a deep study into who we are.  It is important to have an understanding of our past – all of it.  This includes the good and the bad.  It can involve looking at shadow aspects left perhaps from old childhood trauma.  Without this understanding of ourselves, our fears, our likes, dislikes, pleasures and, yes, triggers, then the present and the future are greatly affected.

For me it is important to live in the now, this present moment. I have worked to develop ways to be in my body, connected to my senses, to see, hear, and feel what is happening now.  With this ability to tune into the senses our vision of the present is greatly enhanced.

To see the future in a bit less in our control.  I believe we can envision what that future might be like and then do what is necessary to capture that vision of the future as reality.  That falls under the area of manifestation which to me is creating a vision of the future.  For me I must “become” what it is I wish to be.

As for my place in the “cosmos” it is to be all that I can be.  For me this has been to be in service.  That service it two-fold. One in helping others expand in their wholeness and the other, in defending those who need that help.

Courage

Courage is having the ability to face adversity in the form of danger, fear or difficulty. It can be what is necessary to face both moral and mental fears, not just physical. It is moral strength and also persistent.

There are times when we must live our own truths in the face of disagreement.  Courage to act on one’s beliefs no matter how it feels to us.

To be courageous does not mean one feels no fear.  It is acting in spite of that fear. To be courageous is to speak out no matter the personal consequences. It is being aware because what we must do is the right thing do.

Sometimes being courageous involves being vulnerable. Stepping up and being authentic when not welcomed and/or speaking your truth in the face of adversity.

Integrity

To me integrity is first being true to one’s self.  That, of course, needs to include keeping oaths and promises, being honest and fair with others, and respecting yourself and others. Having and practicing these traits develops a sense of self-confidence. This self-confidence shown to others helps to boost them as well. What I mean if we show this strength of integrity with others, it inspires them to act in the same way.

For me, untruthfulness is the biggest killer of a relationship.  If someone lies to me, it either destroys that relationship or it changes it to one of wariness.

For me to be a good person, I need to know my other values and ethics and then live them.  I will respect others and honor the deity in others as best I can. Above all, I must be myself, truly myself and not put on any of these values for show.

Perseverance

I am not sure we would ever get anything done without perseverance.  Procrastination is our enemy in getting things done. I suppose we can procrastinate a bit, but only with a revision of the deadline!!

Perseverance is a beautiful thing.  With it we get things done! I am a perpetual student because I love to learn.  However, sometimes learning something takes a bit of work. It can mean setting up reasonable goals, a time schedule, something to keep us on track.  Keeping on track requires sticking to it or having perseverance!

To me perseverance is wanting something very much and then doing whatever it takes to accomplish it. Perseverance is having drive and drive is a super star!!!!

Hospitality

Hospitality is both being a good and gracious guest as well as a good and gracious host.  I wrote this one a few years back …

There is little known story that is having a deep impact on me. In the stories of the people of Ireland there were five invasions.  The one that concerns us now is when the Gaels came to Ireland.  They sailed ashore and after time conquered the Tuatha Dé Danann. In the conquest, the Gaels divided Ireland between the two peoples.  The Tuatha Dé were given their parts of Ireland and the Gaels, the rest.  However, after their conquest the Tuatha Dé, in retaliation, destroyed the wheat and milk of their conquerors.  Because of this the Sons of Mil (the Gaels) made a pact with the Dagda, the king of the Tuatha Dé and agreed to give back offerings to the Tuatha Dé for their bounty.  Ever since that time their descendants, the people of Ireland, remembering that treaty, have continued to reverence the People of the Goddess Dana by pouring libations of milk to them and by making them offerings of the fruits of the earth.

This story demonstrates honors of a gift for a gift.

Moderation

It is so easy to live with excess.  This can pertain to possessions, money, food, alcohol, almost anything we can consume as human beings. With all these things, if we consume to excess, they become like poisons to us.  They can in fact destroy our lives.

We are all familiar with alcohol and drug addictions.  We have seen clearly what it does to the lives of the users, their families and friendships. With possessions we can accumulate so much we keep needing more and more space to accommodate or even hoarders.

The constant drive for more and more money, ends up hurting others and creating mean spirited human beings. That kind of drive for more and more, steps on others, again destroying lives.

Food is one thing many of us struggle to not ingested in moderation.  We react too fast, we eat to much.  The end result at the least is the proper enjoyment of what we hoped to enjoy.  At the worst, extreme obesity, wrecking havoc on health!

Moderation allows us to enjoy life’s pleasures without harm, enjoying those pleasures. Experiencing life’s pleasure without harm.

Fertility

Fertile, fecund, fruitful, prolific mean producing or capable of producing offspring or fruit.

In the Case of Druidry and the Virtues it does not have to do with human reproduction but rather having a fertile mind leading to intelligent thought, creativity and prolific contributions to the path.

Fertile implies the power to reproduce in kind or to assist in growth. Being fertile “soil” for ideas and creativity for self and others. It is a readiness of invention and development. It is having a fertile mind and imagination. It is both for self and for sharing with others. There is an implication of desirable or useful results. A fertile writer is a prolific writer.

In our work and at our altars we can create an area that is a fertile breeding ground for creativity.  To do this work one needs to be both open and fertile! We tend the soil.  We feed it the nutrients needed for growth, wisdom, inspiration and creativity.

In comparison, we might look at the cardinal virtues of Aristotle, those of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. By living a certain set of virtues we develop certain character traits that allow us to act morally, certainly, things like honesty, courage, compassion, and prudence. They guide us to making good choices in our lives.

If we look closely, the Virtues of the ADF are these virtues expanded for living in this world today as a Druid.

Deanne Quarrie

12/01/2025