It’s funny. …. I had to let go of the title “Druid of Turtle Island” to truly figure out what it means.

Or to quite my mind so my heart could show me its meaning.

Was talking to someone at work when the puzzle pieces started to slide together.

The concepts are nothing new which is why “puzzle pieces” are an apt description.

For me, it’s about embracing the spirits of the natural world and the natural order / flow of things while using the lense of the Northern Peoples (such as those of old Norse / Gaelic ancestry) to help see and access it.

My personal walk has this as embracing spirits like that of the wolf, bear, Earth, Sun, Moon …. etc.

These spirits guide us. We can feel them and, in some ways, literally touch them. Like that within a crystal or rock … tree or herb … animal or bird.

And leaving here in the Americas, it involves listening to this land and the spirits of this land — a land that for hundreds or thousands of years interacted with the First Peoples born of this land.

The land and those Peoples understood and still understand one another.

Likely better than most of the Northern Peoples understand our own ancestral lands … with those few exceptions.

Now, the First Peoples of this land … like the Cherokee, Lakota, Tuscarora, Apache, Hopi, etc. … see and interact with the natural world through the lense of their People’s stories and way of seeing and doing.

For us, a Druid of Turtle Island would do the same … through the lense of our own stories, our own ancestors and the Northern Peoples.

Our ancestors … and their stories and lessons help ground all of this and anchor ourselves.

The lens through which we perceive and interact.

It’s the bridge that connects us from this world to the next.

A quote comes to mind.

“The Great Spirit moves in mysterious, mystical, and mythic ways. He communicates through nature by using a system of symbols. His language is telepathic, or what you might call psychic or spiritual, but it is also physical, although it appears to be supernatural because the Earth, the World, the Universe, as we know it, is both spiritual and physical. That is the ultimate truth and reality, within realities. It’s beyond most human realization, and there are many realities, even with differences of perception.” ~Wahsek

When I read those words originally, it helped me realize that Lakota or the other tribes may see nature and the universe one way while we see it another.

Neither is wrong.

For me, it’s through the lens of the World Tree or Yggdrasil … which to me is the very universe or creation itself.

Now, one of the reasons I had a hard time slipping into the mantle of “Druid” is because you hear that term and you immediately start thinking of the people who study for years, memorizing old stories and old rituals and the old ways of doing things.

Almost like a prescribed formula.

But what *is* a druid truthfully?

Let’s boil it down …

“Today, the term also refers to a modern spiritual follower of Druidry, a nature-based religion that draws on ancient practices and beliefs. Both ancient and modern druids are connected to the natural world, with an emphasis on wisdom, creativity, and love.” 

And another place has the definition as …

“In both ancient and modern traditions, Druids are nature-focused, connecting with the land and the magic it holds.”

Here is the core for me … “Druids are nature-focused, connecting with the land and the magic it holds.“

Truth is, we are just guessing as to what I druid really was and so right now in this time and place … a druid does not need to be placed in some box with one set of rules governing.

For me, I am a Druid of Turtle Island.

And although I look to the ways of my own ancestors and Peoples for guidance and understanding, I also walk with the sacred Pipe as brought to this earth through the First Peoples of the Americas.

It was shown how to pray and use it through elders of a few different tribes, yet let me share the biggest lesson Ken Marsh, one of my original teachers, shared with me when he helped teach me how to pray with the Pipe.

“Make your prayers your own as what works for me might well not work for you. And what works for you might not work for me.”

So I walk with the sacred Pipe and the foundation of how I use it is the same, but the prayers and way in which I do so is unique and my own … drawing from teachings and wisdom of my own Peoples and our beliefs.

I also want to say that I took another lesson from the Peoples of this land, which I believe to be something our own ancestors would have known once upon a time.

Ever hear of “Indian Time” ?

It’s not about being locked into set rituals that never change and are recited to the point they become hollow and stale.

It’s also not about following a watch and doing something just because its what human time and society demand.

It’s about listening to spirit and the flow of the natural world around you, and following its lead.

Like going on a trip and suddenly having the strong feeling you should take an offramp from the interstate … following the roads that feel right and ending up finding a special place you never knew existed before … or meeting a person you were meant to meet, and would have missed if you’d not listened to spirit.

For me, this means listening to the flow of the strands and web of destiny that is the Wyrd, and the flow of life’s energy that is Awen.

My original foundations work and that ties me to this land.

The stories of the Northern Peoples and my ancestors help connect me to Spirit and the One Great Being with the Pipe a bridge … or for us — a longboat that helps us … me navigate those waters.

~ The Pathfinder