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The Gwyddonic Order
Author:
Posted: November 14th. 2001
Times Viewed: 15,566
History
The Gwyddonic Order was founded at Lughnassad 1998 when Mairwen y Gwydd separated her group (The College of the Blue Butterfly) from Trefn Gwyddoniad, an American-Welsh Celtic Tradition based in Northern California. The Gwyddoniad is a Welsh-Celtic spiritual, philosophical and metaphysical Tradition. Our philosophical foundation is Oneness: "Everything is the One, and the One is the All", meaning that no-thing and no-one is more or less the One than any-thing or any-one else.
Organization of groups We are Craft practitioners who follow strict teachings, certainly, but we are not Wiccans and do not call ourselves Witches or Druids. In The Gwyddonic Order a male is a "gwyddon" [gwih-thon], and a female is a "gwiddon" [gwie-thon]. A Third Degree Gwyddon is considered a High Priest.
The Gwyddonic Order has an ordered group structure. When a Seeker is Initiated, he is "born" into the Tuatha of Kerridwen; he becomes a member of our Tuatha, our tribe, our family. Our family structure may seem complicated on the surface, but it really isn't. Our main organization is The Gwyddonic Order; this is who we are, our Tradition. The Gwyddonic Order is further divided into colleges. A college consists of at least three people - a High Priestess, a High Priest, and one member. A college can be no larger than 25 members. A "College" is the basic community structure in the Gwyddoniad. As the name implies, its main purpose is to teach.
A Student may discontinue his formal studies when he reaches the Level of High Priest of the Craft, if he so wishes. At this point, the Priest is able to form his own College. Or, he may choose to continue his studies and become a Master of the Craft. The Craft Masters are divided into Druids (ritualists and administrators), Vatis (natural doctors and scientists), and Bards (artists and historians). Craft Mastership is purely optional, although it is quite possible to become a Thrice Master of the Craft. (One may also form a College and continue study.)
One of the main ways in which a college differs from a coven is its mutability; whereas a coven may practice for years with the same members, a college's main job is to train others in the Art and Craft so that they may start their own colleges - this however is not a requirement of our members.
Each college is served by a High Priestess and a High Priest, although unlike some covens, these positions are filled by Third Degree members, by group election, for a designated length of time (usually nine years). Mairwen and Sebastion founded the College of the Blue Butterfly at Bridget's Fire, 1996; SilverFox took over the High Priest duties shortly after. Pantheon The Gods we worship are Irish, Gaelic, Welsh, and Teutonic. Worship is the love and rapport we establish with our Gods. Our Greater Book of the Art and Craft has a list of 35 Gods, and we have an optional expanded list of 78 Gods. However, this doesn't mean we are limited to these Gods. The Indo-European God-family has over 500 members. The Tuatha [too-ah-thuh] de Danaan, or Tribe of the Goddess D'Anu [Dan-oo, or Dah-noo], the family members who are presently Gods, or humans who have transcended the physical limitations of their existence to become deity-like. D'Anu translates to "of the Great Mother". The Tuatha of Kerridwen [ker-ihd-win, or kuh-rid-win], the family members who are presently human, incarnate here on Earth.
Kerridwen the Great is our All Mother, and her consort Kernunnos [ker-nun-oas, or ker-noo-noas] is our All Father. Kerridwen the Great is the Ninefold One. That is to say, Kerridwen the Great has eight aspects - Bright and Dark, with three aspects each. Her names are D'Anna, Bridget, Nimué, Vivian, Morgana, Gabba, Kerridwen the Bright and Kerridwen the Dark. We are a part of Kerridwen, ever expanding, ever growing, learning from what has passed before, each of us a microcosm of "Her", the nine-rayed "cosmic" star, outside of space and time. Holidays In the Gwyddoniad [gwih-thon-ee-ad], we celebrate eight Great Days of the Sun (in February, March, May, June, August, September, November, and December); twelve or thirteen High Days of the Moon, which fall monthly (usually); and the New Moons as they fall. Our seasonal cycle follows the birth, death and rebirth of Tarvos the Bull, beginning at Yule. Each Great Day and each High Day has a Goddess and a Consort representing the energies present at these points in the cycle; at the New Moon, we work with the energies of Herdda, Epona, Bridget and D'Anna in order to set forth new, positive patterns.
This may make us sound like an earth-based Tradition. However, this isn't so. A Gwyddon honors All Things.
The typical definition of an Earth-based religion is one that believes in the divinity of the planet - as a sort of Gaia-Mother Earth figure. The Gwyddoniad does not take the view that nature (or natural magic) is the only way to get results. We do not worship Earth spirits, land wights, or elementals. We also do not entreaty them for aid. The gods of the Gwyddoniad exist in a transcendent state beyond the consideration of what is the "Earth".
In other words, the earth is just one of billions of other worlds in the universe. We do not center our religion (or my magical practices, with which the Gwyddoniad is more concerned) on this planet since we are one with everything in the universe. We ARE the Universe - We ARE All Things.
Ways of worship The College of the Blue Butterfly meets at the High Moons, New Moons and Great Days of the Sun. We also have weekly, online study discussions in our private club. We meet face-to-face as time and distance allow. During solar and lunar celebrations (rituals), we sometimes raise and send energy when warranted or requested, but not always. During the God Feast, which follows the rituals, we toast the Gods to show our love and respect for them; we discuss the Craft and metaphysics for personal and group growth; we tell stories, sing songs, and compose poems for our (and our god family's) amusement and growth; and much, much more.
What we do as Gwyddons encompasses more as worship, as opposed to magic. Magic is secondary to the Gwyddon, whose goal is to know what he is and what deity is. A Seeker will notice that we do not have volumes of spellwork, nor do we have pages of instruction on spell construction. A Gwyddon works through the Five Little Works to learn Gwyddon methods of using magic. That's it. Our Little Works are methods. Not spells.
The Greater Book of the Art and Craft is our book of ritual and lore. It contains our Preliminary Rituals, Little Works, Craft Law, New Moon, Full Moon and High Sun rituals. Directions for casting a circle, other rituals (those that are as College-specific, for example) and Craft information are found in the Mastery School lore books and the Lesser Book. Our Greater Book contains material which may not be changed unless a member understands the true intent and meaning of the original text - and even then, such changes aren't undertaken very lightly. Each College has leeway to change laws to fit its needs, however; these are called "by-laws" and are contained in the Druidic Lore book.
We have a Book of Shadows, but is called the Lesser Book of the Art and Craft, though some call their personal book their "magical journal" to avoid confusion. This is where a Gwyddon keeps all his Craft notes and thoughts, and is usually loose-leaf to allow greater ease in organization. In most respects, it is very personal to the person who wrote it. It will not be used by others in the Craft as a study guide or text book, unless the owner thinks it will be helpful. We aren't a group who routinely copies each other's personal Lesser Books. Also, we don't tell our members what we think they "should" put into or omit from their books; this makes each book truly unique. Study within the Tradition
Some of the qualities that make a good College member are someone with an open mind, someone who's willing to put forth the effort to learn. Our Tradition is a "tough" one; anyone on this path will tell you the same thing. We even have a disclaimer on our website which states that this is not a path for "wimps". If a person doesn't put forth the effort, he goes nowhere. If he tries to "follow the path of himself" within this Tradition, he's turned away. What makes a good Student is someone who's willing to "let go" of what he already thinks he knows in order to learn something new.
Our criteria for accepting Students (College members) are very simple. We ask that Seekers fill out a "membership petition". We ask for information such as a contact within the Pagan community, where we can ask questions to verify the Seeker's background, etc. We find out what books the Seeker has been reading and what he would like to read, what his goals are, why he is Seeking membership with us (particularly if he is a member of another group). We ask, also, how he defines "family" and how he views the Goddess and the God. We ask what he hopes to bring into the Tradition, and what he hopes to learn from us. There are other questions, as well, but that's the scope.
After acceptance, the Seeker is given materials to study along with certain rituals to perform over a six-month period, to give him a feel for what we do. After this period is over, he may petition his Teacher for Initiation. In Gwyddonic Tradition, a Seeker must be Initiated in order to Study. At Initiation, the Seeker is transformed to Student/Member, and his training starts. We have no set time beyond this for him to study. Study may take five months or five years - always at the Student's pace, and the Student's choice.
In order to progress, the Student must ask for the "next step" of Lessons, and in order to be Elevated to the next Level (or Degree), he must petition his Teacher. The Teacher assigns certain studies and projects for the Student to accomplish - but that accomplishment is totally up to the Student. We don't "hand hold" our Students/Priests like some groups do. The only way a Student can find himself and his Path is on his own. Reading and other references Short disclaimer: Reading the materials contained in this article and on our website, as well as materials contained in published books, does not in any way qualify anyone to call himself a Gwyddon. The Gwyddonic Order is not in any way affiliated with or associated with Trefn Gwyddoniad/y Awenechen or with Y Tylwyth Teg. We are not Witches, Wiccans or Druids.
If you would like more information about The Gwyddonic Order, please feel to visit our website, located at http://www.gwyddoniad.org, or send an e-mail to: Gwyddoniad@gwyddoniad.org.
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