Changing this website’s name away from Druid’s of Turtle Island is not something I take or do lightly.
But in the end, I’m not quite sure if the Druids of Turtler Island name for this website is the best description of my path … my personal journey that is.
And that’s what THIS website is about … that journey.
Mistakes and all.
Druids of Turtle Island is about something larger than one person journey.
Druids has always, always been a dream born from another person who was walking his own path and who has since moved on from this realm.
Gone but his dream lingers.
At first, I thought the name perfect for this website’s name and a way to honor him.
But his dream was not a website but a community of like-minded People, each walking their own paths individually yet supporting one another while honoring, embracing and working with the spirits of THIS land here in the Americas , honoring and respecting the First Peoples of this land while following in an updated form of their European ancestors’ path, spirits and ancestral lands.
The trick was to embrace their own path (such as that of a druid) learning from their ancestors yet connecting with this land, honoring it ways, spirits and First Peoples as it has known for generations past.
We may walk a different path, but we still need to respect the land, spirits, and Peoples who were here long before our arrival. Even as we honor our own ancestral.
So, I believe that dream might not be this website, but it will come. … I can feel it.
That leaves the question as to a new name.
Right now, as I type this, a sacred Pipe is being forged by the blacksmith artists of Seven Shields Forge,
They have worked hard with me to bring it into being.
The name this Pipe has chosen for itself … the Sunstone Pipe.
It’s named after the Viking Sunstone — a navigational tool fashioned from a crystal, likely a piece of Iceland spar, that allowed old Norse seafarers to locate the sun’s position even when it was hidden by clouds or fog.
As my friend Maiah said upon the name’s reveal … “The sun and the stars are what the ancestors used to guide themselves as they sailed. Thus, the sun is vital for you as well. It is your reminder that you yourself are your guide as the pipe itself is your boat, but also a guide in its own right”
Keep in mind, I was trained to work with a Pipe by elders of the Bear Tribe Medicine Society and further guided by others of various tribal nations.
Gave up the Pipe after I met the original Druid of Turtle Island and realized I could find nature-based spirituality through the footsteps of my own People, my own ancestral pathways.
But after I gave up my prayer Pipe to walk these paths, the Malstrom Pipe chose me to carry it.
Challenged this at first and tried to run, but in the end … it chose me and after consulting an elder I’d crossed paths with, I accepted the responsibility.
And one thing the Pipe made clear, I was to continue walking my path even as I carried it.
I’ve seen Malstrom cause incredible things to happen and can say it serves as a bridge between this world and the next … between this land and those of Northern Tribes of Europe.
It is a ceremonial and community Pipe that is more than me and my journey … even if it has helped me here and there along the way.
Have walked with it for a few years now, and suddenly the spirit of another Pipe reached out and touched my heart and soul.
This one walks with me personally and shares a connection to me and my journey … or has chosen to do so.
It is a guide even as it is a ship I can use to travel the paths of Yggdrasil and life itself.
The Sunstone Pipe may well be more than a personal Pipe, but I cannot say for certain yet as it is only now being born.
But what is time for a spirit like that of a Pipe?
Unlike First People’s Pipes of this land, this one is being forged of iron and steel in the ancient ways of my ancestors.
And what is iron and steel but shaped Earth.
Please note I also walk with a forged staff and oath rings.
Sunstone is of me and my chosen Path.
Even before having it, its Spirit has helped me find my way from the path of a photojournalist to that of a healer, helping provide direct care for individuals with mental illness and trauma.
And I’m good at it.
But I digress.
This website is about my own journey and as part of my journey, I walk with the Sunstone Pipe as a guiding force.
When considering names, Sunstone felt appropriate and Avalon ties it to the lands of my ancestors.
Name changed, let’s see where all this leads.
~ The Pathfinder
