I Once Believed

 

 

 

Minstrels of the Twentieth Century

As one gets older one tries to look back and select a time, a decade that most influenced the years that would follow.  This is normal and I cannot believe that we all don’t do it, no matter how far around the wheel we have come.  I also suspect that many of us do not truly appreciate what we were gifted in our golden era. I like to think I do.  I am a child of the Sixties.

I lived in Windsor, Ontario for the last half of that decade, south of Detroit.  Mo Town was 600 yards away and the music of the Motor City was ubiquitously.   This was ‘cool’!  Little (and he was little) Stevie Wonder was the opening act at the Riverside Arena on Wednesday night. Santana played at our school sock-hop! ($5 instead of the usual $3)

While I enjoyed the beat of Sly and the Family Stone (I could kill Dance to the Music) I was more strongly drawn to a much different type of tune.  We called it Folk music and it had been slowly evolving over more than 100 years.

Such musical pioneers as Arlo Guthrie, Pete Seeger (who only passed over in 2014), and the unsurpassable Bob Dylan were instrumental in ripening the genre. Revolutionaries, every one. They were joined by a host of others, some we would still recognize today.  And the sprouting of small groups, duos and trios put the final touches art form, for that it truly was.  Peter, Paul and Mary, the Kingston Trio, the Limelighters, Joan Baez, Gordon Lightfoot …, these are but a few of those who turned my head and introduced me to critical thought, yes, revolutionary critical thought.

The lyrics of those songs were not meant to just entertain, which they did magnificently.  They were critiques of the times in which we lived, radical cultural redirection. Long hair, ‘free love’, blue jeans and bell bottoms (yep, had a pair), flower power, and weed and that great ogre lurking in the dark corner, Viet Nam were all part of a Cultural Revolution.

These ‘minstrels of sixties were not merely song writers and entertains.  They were the guardian of our passions, our core values, and our consciences. Their song awoke the passions within us and, in effect, called us to arms, just as minstrels, bards, did ages ago.  Sadly, folk music is rarely played any more, unless you are snared in a PBS Pledge drive. But We can still seek it out

You may have noticed (I delude myself to believe a few will struggle through one of my rants) that from time to time I submit the lyrics to a poignant (to me) tune.  I hope you take a few moments to ponder them. Whatever your taste in music, I hope it does the same for you as mine did for me.

 

 

Reflections

“What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in faculty! in form and moving how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world, the paragon of animals! ” – Hamlet

Hamlet, speaking with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, (who would soon betray him) indicates that the joy in his life has vanished.  He can still appreciate the magnificence of humanity (as designed by his creator), but Hamlet no longer finds happiness in human interactions. Or does he?

One could easily read sarcasm and loathing his words. Has hamlet come to that point in his life where he examines his life, past, present and, probably, what future is left, and finds he must re-assess all that he had previously held sacredly true?

Why do I bring this up now?  Because, like it or not, we will all come to this point, especially as we approach our Alban Arthuan, our solstizio d’inverno.  You may believe you have reached this point now, though if you are younger it was probably an early course adjustment.

But hold, all is not as dark as it would seem!  I do not advocate following Hamlet’s example, duels with poisoned daggers and all, but I would endorse that whenever you do approach this milestone first consider what is right for you. You will have come to a new portal, the oaken door Druids speak of.  It is an opportunity not to be missed, for if you choose well, your life will take a new, brighter and more satisfying turn.  If you choose well, you will spend the remainder of your days bringing joy and light to yourself, and those you choose to have in your circle and that can be a very wide circle (which I will come to in a moment).   Remember, if you are not happy, you cannot bring joy to others.  Joy is highly contagious.

Alban Arthuan, Yule, is a season for celebrating and giving.  Many equate giving to the number or size of the boxes they leave under the Yule tree.  That is a fun thing to do alright, but I would propose that the greatest gifts are those that come from your heart and those gifts cannot be contained in a box and shiny paper.  We live in a Druid Fellowship, by definition relationship of trust and communion.  However we are not isolated and all live in the wider circle of humankind, some intimate and close, some distant, nameless, faceless.

Some of my nameless circle attend a school for poor children in a city named Davao in the Philippine Islands.  I was introduced to them by a real friend (although an unrepentant Republican) who now lives there.  Many of you know Jim and I would hope realize what a selfless man he is. A few years ago I sent them my complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica for their school library.  They were the most beautiful set that I have ever owned, (sigh) but they weren’t being used here so …, just another curse of computers!

The school, Agdo Elementary, has 120 or so students, many of whom depend on their school dinner as the main, if not the only, meal of their day.  That meal consists of rice sometimes supplemented with a little fish and vegetables on the side, but always rice.  Now in their wisdom, the local powers that be have decided it is okay to chip in a few tax pesos for the fish and veggies, but to dissuade corruption, they don’t provide the rice.  The school consumes about one sack of rice per week for the whole school.  They don’t have school on weekends and the school year is ten months.  What the kids do for food on weekends and vacation … your guess is as good as mine.

I have found out that the current price for a bag of descent rice is about $38 American.  We, Blanchfleur and I, have committed to buying two bags and sending a little extra so they can have a few ‘goodies’.  We wish we could do more and in the future we hope to.  We do not ask you to do the same.  Some of us barely have the resources to put rice on our own tables.  However, the Order and Groves have had a tradition of giving modestly to the needy at Yuletide.  Do we have enough in our meager treasuries to buy even one bag?  It is often said that charity begins at home.  True, but as Druid citizens of this imperfect planet, is not our home much further than the horizon?

All I can say is that I know that there is pain and suffering in whichever direction one travels.  Nevertheless we have to start somewhere. And I can assure you that if can contribute in some small way, the Three-fold Rule will be sure to bless you.  That joy and happiness that evades Hamlet will not elude you.

 

Wishing each and every one of you and yours the very best and happiest Yule and a prosperous and

healthy New Year.

In Peace and Love,

Ollam In Ruadh Rofhessa

Archdruid and Chosen Chief, OSO, SOG