Dryads, Trees & the Fifth Element

The dryad is the spirit of the tree, its essential pattern. It is a living being linked to the tree and growing with it, but at the same time it is a trans-temporal and trans-spacial creature, living in the Astral dimension as much as in the mundane world. When a branch falls off a tree or is pruned, the dryad spirit is still in the wood. It is not really correct to speak of "parts" of a spirit, but one might consider the spirit of the wand to be part of the tree's consciousness. Some writers suggest that trees withdraw their life from a branch when they sense it is going to be cut and there is doubtless something to such observations. Nevertheless, in my experience, the spirit always remains in some degree and can be awoken by enchantment when the branch is crafted into a wand.

http://www.bardwood.com/woods.htm

hmmm...

sometimes the universe tests you...

elemental philosophy vs popular religion...

Taoism was a philosophy of how to live your life. It attempted to put man in harmony with nature by practicing the attitude of Wu Wei, which means inaction. It was not until the second century A.D. that religious Taoism began - more than 100 years after Christ. At that time emperor Huan ordered a temple built in honor of Lao-tzu. Over a period of five hundred years after that Taoism developed as a religion until there was a priesthood, sacred scripture, temples, disciples and a belief that a new age would come about. Over time a belief in gods, heaven and hell were added. The religion of Taoism developed hundred's of years after Christianity, and thus it is more likely that Taoism copied some things from Christianity, not the other way around.

so many ideas...

A Druid is a member of an ancient Celtic religion that covered the role of priest, scholar and judge for the Celtic people. The Celts lived in Britain, Ireland and Western Europe until around the 5th Century, A.D., by which time most had either disappeared or had been converted to Christianity. Typically, a Druid oversaw religious activities, performed rituals, and also acted as a tribal historian by preserving the histories of the Druid’s tribe through stories and oral tradition. Also assuming the role of judge, a Druid would advise the leaders of the tribe on political matters, make laws and settle disputes.

The religion practiced by the Druids was simply known as Druidism and was polytheistic, meaning that many gods were worshiped rather than just one. These gods could either beelemental, representing fire, for example, or be associated with a particular human action or trade such as metallurgy or fishing. A Druid typically practiced the art of divination, which is an attempt to predict the future through physical events, and believed that the human soul would live on through a new human body upon death. There were no written sets of religious beliefs for a Druid since this figure relied solely on oral tradition for passing on information through generations.

drawing down the moon...

available on amazon...one of my favorites...it dispels so many myths of how pagans are defined...the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker...it's a mind and soul experience, not a dress-code...when we realize too that there are many elemental spiritualities amongst many indigenous cultures, they have existed for thousands of years...realizing too that the definition or lack of, is sometimes confusing...

http://www.amazon.com/Drawing-Down-Moon-Witches-Goddess-Worshippers/dp/014019536X