The Druid Revival: its Collapse and Future
Jun. 7th, 2022 12:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
causticusNot long after I first delved into the magical side of John Michael Greer’s (JMG) work, I began contemplating the idea of getting involved with organized Revival Druidry. Eventually, after about a year of somewhat-steady SOP practice and casual occult study, I joined the Ancient Order of Druids of America (AODA). However, to this day, I have yet to become active there, in terms of starting their curriculum, or getting involved in their online forum and chat group. I joined, thinking they were the last "sane" organization of this type still around. And by sane, I mean not totally overtaken by the woke mind virus that has consumed nearly every alt-spirituality organization. I figured that AODA came to be in its current form largely thanks to the great efforts of JMG in saving the order from near-death and rebuilding it into a robust and active organization. Granted, he rebuilt the order long before the general culture shifted its collective focus to politics away from non-political things. Before this shift (c. 2013), most organized human activities here in the US, be it hobbies, pop-culture fandoms, religious groups, sports clubs, ect. were primarily focused on whatever the actual purpose of their group was. The intrusion of outside politics tended to be minimal. Well, not so today!!
Vibes Do Tell
When I first signed up for AODA, I read over its literature quite meticulously so as to get an overall feel of the organization’s “vibe.” I tend to be very cagey and cautious when it comes to getting involved with any new group. Being already quite familiar with Revival Druidry, what I read in the literature wasn’t all that surprising. But a few things rubbed me the wrong way. I could tell that the overall group culture leaned pretty far to the left. The typical “progressive” and “PC” values were right there, front and center, though not in any kind of aggressive or obnoxious form. There was no obvious “Cultural Marxism” (i.e. “oppressor vs. oppressed” demographic conflict rhetoric) that has become the mainstay of most of the Neopagan scene in recent years. But I saw the seeds of this eventual intrusion lying in wait. It was clear much of the membership base came from the typical middle-class “PMC” university-educated background. People in this cultural bubble are usually dialed into the ubiquitous Neoliberal mass media echo chamber, and thus their political and cultural beliefs on any given day tend to be whatever the mainstream media feeds them; even if last month’s “news” totally contradicts this week’s “news.” Granted, conservatives are dialed into their own media echo chamber, and their own “news” parroting behavior is very little different from that of the left’s. But I don’t have space or patience to further explore the topic of media critique, so I’ll leave that off right here.
Woke Progressivism Consumes All
So even that vibe didn’t deter me from considering to start the curriculum at some point. But life got in the way and various duties and distractions became a barrier to me being able to devote my undivided attention to what would be a very involved grade-advancement process. So that non-active state persisted for many months as I kept weighing the pro’s and con’s of getting involved. And then one day, on one of these Ecosophia-adjacent DW blogs, I read an interesting comment that suggested something I had suspected would eventually happen to AODA. To paraphrase the comment, “AODA is currently imploding from wokeness.” Of course, I must acknowledge that this was an anonymous comment, and taken at face value, is merely a rumor coming from one person who claims to be a member of the group. Since I’m not involved in the group’s discussion spaces, I have no real way of conforming or denying the rumor. But, if there is any truth to the rumor, I have to say I’m not surprised at all. Circling back to the group’s literature, I remember quite clearly being a bit off-put by overall writing style of the contributing authors: the sheer amount of wishy-washy relativism, permissiveness (the seeming urge to be 'inclusive' of everything under the sun that doesn’t oppose progressivism), and general female-orientation to the whole affair. These attributes are quite typical of new age, neopagan, and alt-spirituality groups in this era; all which are cultural offshoots of the 1960’s counterculture. Basically, the Druid Revival in its current form, despite its “Mesopagan” roots, is firmly adjacent to the Neopagan scene; one that happens to be in a state of full-blown collapse right now. Thus I’ve concluded that it's a not good idea to get involved with any of these groups right now, as they've all been infected by the aforementioned woke virus, which itself seems to be merely a symptom of the collapse of the Neoliberal Order, and the Professional-Managerial Class (PMC) which serves as the overseer class of this regime. Because of these monumental cultural forces at play, I’m loathe to blame the leadership of these DR organizations for what’s currently happening. The current Grand Archdruid of AODA seems like a very nice and wise person. But she can’t control the kind of media and other pop-culture influences the broader membership consumes on a daily basis. She can’t control which friends, family, and work colleagues each member fraternizes with. After all, one of the central ethical planks of Revival Druidry is to not employ the methods of mind-control cults!! At the end of the day, people are going to do what they are going to do, and in reality this usually means going along with whatever herdthink prevails among one’s own subculture or social class.
So, HYPOTHETICALLY, if say 65% of AODA's membership goes woke and starts demanding the leadership make woke ideology the organization’s main stated purpose for existing, there’s nothing the leadership can do except, (a) capitulate to the mob’s demands and make the organization officially woke, which is what happened to ADF, (b) resign and walk away, leaving the organization in the hands of a new woke leadership, or (c) immediately purge all the wokesters and brace for impact; (d) quietly disband the organization and wait for all the culture war insanity to die down before re-forming the group. Unless the leadership has an iron cohones, super thick skin (not afraid of hurting people’s feelings), and knack for decisiveness, (c) ain’t going to happen, and probably not (d) either. Option (c) seems rather un-Druidly anyway, since the leader would have to become a Grand Inquisitor and devote their time and energy to engaging in counter-witchhunts. A weak or negligent leader will often go with (a), naively thinking they can appease the mob and comply their way out of mass hysteria. It’s perhaps (b) which would be the most foolish choice of all, as it will result in wokesters taking over and essentially destroying the organization and its brand/symbolism, and possibly contaminating the group’s egregore to the point of no return. Overall, it seems like anything but (d) is the makings of a lose-lose situation.
Without Groves, What's the Point?
On a more personal note, even if AODA wasn't compromised (which may be the case still, as I'm going on just a rumor), I still think that participating probably wouldn't give me much more than I'd get from self-study and self-initiation. The organization itself is rather small and as a result there's very few local groves that actually exist. One of the big advantages I'd see from joining a Druid Order would be the opportunity to be part of a local grove. But, fearing the aforementioned rumor is likely true to some extent, getting involved with a local grove probably wouldn't be all the helpful or desirable for me given the sort of left-progressive culture that permeates these groups. No, I most certainly don't want to be a part of any human activity where I have to constantly walk on eggshells around the other participants, out of fear of saying something "offensive" to whatever The Current Thing deems offensive this week. And if I'm really looking for peer support in this work, I honestly think at this point the Ecosophia/MM commentariat is more than sufficient.
Going Along to Get Along vs. Going Against the Grain
To reiterate something I was getting at above, I think even the best and well-meaning organizations within the Neopagan/Alt-Spirituality fold are essentially defenseless against the woke onslaught. It's not so much these groups get "infiltrated" by wokesters; rather it's the membership base that has been in these groups all along is constantly downloading mental "software updates" via their preferred media echo chamber, and what typically happens is that next week the The Current Thing updates to some new cause-du-jour, and the rank and file start making demands on the leadership to "take a stand" against whatever The Current Thing is raging at the moment. If the leadership is evasive or does nothing, an even bigger stink is made until they capitulate; if still nothing is done, some kind of split or schism with the group happens and the "old faction" which refuses to get with the times is quickly denounced as being complicit or sympathetic with whatever the mob happens to be shrieking about, thus the “brace for impact” quip above. I think in most cases, otherwise-well-meaning leadership is weak or simply afraid of negative publicity or people being offended, thus they fold. And thus another one bites the dust.
Sadly, I believe the Druid Revival (as a group activity) will not survive the cultural collapse we’re going through right now. If it’s to re-form some time in the future after the dust finally settles, it must rise from the ashes in a new form; a form that is as distant as possible from anything reeking of Neopagan, New Age, Boomerism, or Neoliberal “Progressive” aesthetics and values.
Vibes Do Tell
When I first signed up for AODA, I read over its literature quite meticulously so as to get an overall feel of the organization’s “vibe.” I tend to be very cagey and cautious when it comes to getting involved with any new group. Being already quite familiar with Revival Druidry, what I read in the literature wasn’t all that surprising. But a few things rubbed me the wrong way. I could tell that the overall group culture leaned pretty far to the left. The typical “progressive” and “PC” values were right there, front and center, though not in any kind of aggressive or obnoxious form. There was no obvious “Cultural Marxism” (i.e. “oppressor vs. oppressed” demographic conflict rhetoric) that has become the mainstay of most of the Neopagan scene in recent years. But I saw the seeds of this eventual intrusion lying in wait. It was clear much of the membership base came from the typical middle-class “PMC” university-educated background. People in this cultural bubble are usually dialed into the ubiquitous Neoliberal mass media echo chamber, and thus their political and cultural beliefs on any given day tend to be whatever the mainstream media feeds them; even if last month’s “news” totally contradicts this week’s “news.” Granted, conservatives are dialed into their own media echo chamber, and their own “news” parroting behavior is very little different from that of the left’s. But I don’t have space or patience to further explore the topic of media critique, so I’ll leave that off right here.
Woke Progressivism Consumes All
So even that vibe didn’t deter me from considering to start the curriculum at some point. But life got in the way and various duties and distractions became a barrier to me being able to devote my undivided attention to what would be a very involved grade-advancement process. So that non-active state persisted for many months as I kept weighing the pro’s and con’s of getting involved. And then one day, on one of these Ecosophia-adjacent DW blogs, I read an interesting comment that suggested something I had suspected would eventually happen to AODA. To paraphrase the comment, “AODA is currently imploding from wokeness.” Of course, I must acknowledge that this was an anonymous comment, and taken at face value, is merely a rumor coming from one person who claims to be a member of the group. Since I’m not involved in the group’s discussion spaces, I have no real way of conforming or denying the rumor. But, if there is any truth to the rumor, I have to say I’m not surprised at all. Circling back to the group’s literature, I remember quite clearly being a bit off-put by overall writing style of the contributing authors: the sheer amount of wishy-washy relativism, permissiveness (the seeming urge to be 'inclusive' of everything under the sun that doesn’t oppose progressivism), and general female-orientation to the whole affair. These attributes are quite typical of new age, neopagan, and alt-spirituality groups in this era; all which are cultural offshoots of the 1960’s counterculture. Basically, the Druid Revival in its current form, despite its “Mesopagan” roots, is firmly adjacent to the Neopagan scene; one that happens to be in a state of full-blown collapse right now. Thus I’ve concluded that it's a not good idea to get involved with any of these groups right now, as they've all been infected by the aforementioned woke virus, which itself seems to be merely a symptom of the collapse of the Neoliberal Order, and the Professional-Managerial Class (PMC) which serves as the overseer class of this regime. Because of these monumental cultural forces at play, I’m loathe to blame the leadership of these DR organizations for what’s currently happening. The current Grand Archdruid of AODA seems like a very nice and wise person. But she can’t control the kind of media and other pop-culture influences the broader membership consumes on a daily basis. She can’t control which friends, family, and work colleagues each member fraternizes with. After all, one of the central ethical planks of Revival Druidry is to not employ the methods of mind-control cults!! At the end of the day, people are going to do what they are going to do, and in reality this usually means going along with whatever herdthink prevails among one’s own subculture or social class.
So, HYPOTHETICALLY, if say 65% of AODA's membership goes woke and starts demanding the leadership make woke ideology the organization’s main stated purpose for existing, there’s nothing the leadership can do except, (a) capitulate to the mob’s demands and make the organization officially woke, which is what happened to ADF, (b) resign and walk away, leaving the organization in the hands of a new woke leadership, or (c) immediately purge all the wokesters and brace for impact; (d) quietly disband the organization and wait for all the culture war insanity to die down before re-forming the group. Unless the leadership has an iron cohones, super thick skin (not afraid of hurting people’s feelings), and knack for decisiveness, (c) ain’t going to happen, and probably not (d) either. Option (c) seems rather un-Druidly anyway, since the leader would have to become a Grand Inquisitor and devote their time and energy to engaging in counter-witchhunts. A weak or negligent leader will often go with (a), naively thinking they can appease the mob and comply their way out of mass hysteria. It’s perhaps (b) which would be the most foolish choice of all, as it will result in wokesters taking over and essentially destroying the organization and its brand/symbolism, and possibly contaminating the group’s egregore to the point of no return. Overall, it seems like anything but (d) is the makings of a lose-lose situation.
Without Groves, What's the Point?
On a more personal note, even if AODA wasn't compromised (which may be the case still, as I'm going on just a rumor), I still think that participating probably wouldn't give me much more than I'd get from self-study and self-initiation. The organization itself is rather small and as a result there's very few local groves that actually exist. One of the big advantages I'd see from joining a Druid Order would be the opportunity to be part of a local grove. But, fearing the aforementioned rumor is likely true to some extent, getting involved with a local grove probably wouldn't be all the helpful or desirable for me given the sort of left-progressive culture that permeates these groups. No, I most certainly don't want to be a part of any human activity where I have to constantly walk on eggshells around the other participants, out of fear of saying something "offensive" to whatever The Current Thing deems offensive this week. And if I'm really looking for peer support in this work, I honestly think at this point the Ecosophia/MM commentariat is more than sufficient.
Going Along to Get Along vs. Going Against the Grain
To reiterate something I was getting at above, I think even the best and well-meaning organizations within the Neopagan/Alt-Spirituality fold are essentially defenseless against the woke onslaught. It's not so much these groups get "infiltrated" by wokesters; rather it's the membership base that has been in these groups all along is constantly downloading mental "software updates" via their preferred media echo chamber, and what typically happens is that next week the The Current Thing updates to some new cause-du-jour, and the rank and file start making demands on the leadership to "take a stand" against whatever The Current Thing is raging at the moment. If the leadership is evasive or does nothing, an even bigger stink is made until they capitulate; if still nothing is done, some kind of split or schism with the group happens and the "old faction" which refuses to get with the times is quickly denounced as being complicit or sympathetic with whatever the mob happens to be shrieking about, thus the “brace for impact” quip above. I think in most cases, otherwise-well-meaning leadership is weak or simply afraid of negative publicity or people being offended, thus they fold. And thus another one bites the dust.
Sadly, I believe the Druid Revival (as a group activity) will not survive the cultural collapse we’re going through right now. If it’s to re-form some time in the future after the dust finally settles, it must rise from the ashes in a new form; a form that is as distant as possible from anything reeking of Neopagan, New Age, Boomerism, or Neoliberal “Progressive” aesthetics and values.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-07 06:49 pm (UTC)Your post reminds me of some thoughts I've had on a comment from this week's Magic Monday about some neopagans invoking Loki as a "gender-bending god who fights oppression and speaks truth" and one anonymous commenter said it sounded like SJW/Woke entryism. I didn't have a chance to post, as the thought didn't take shape until after the post closed, but I figured I'd share here, since it seems fairly on-topic.
First off, if it's unclear to anyone following along "entryism" is a tactic developed and taught by the communist party throughout the 20th century. The idea is to join an organization ostensibly to take part in whatever it is about, but then gradually turn it into an organization helpful to the communist cause.
Okay, with that definition out of the way, I think the real problem for revival druidry is not this kind of intentional tactic (though certain folks of that ideological persuasion absolutely do follow this tactic intentionally, I assume they usually target more influential organizations with wider membership!). Rather, I think that there's a combination of factors here:
1. Your point about mental "software updates"
2. The evolutionary fitness of woke ideology as a means of getting power
3. Small, stubborn groups can wield disproportionate power
4. The lack of natural defenses due to some of the philosophical assumptions of revival druidry
1. Software updates: I think you've covered this one well, so I won't add much, except to point out that the changes in what problems need to be fixed can be pretty incremental and still take you from somewhere like "maybe everybody should be treated equally by the law" to "we should destroy your business if it doesn't contain enough people of [group identity label]" without necessarily having any one step stand out to an otherwise reasonable person as "have I gone too far? is this crazy?"
2. Evolutionary Fitness of Activism: Okay, here, I'm largely borrowing from Curtis Yarvin, and I think this one is the crux of the "entryism" not being a conscious tactic in most cases. Instead, it's more like the folks who are maybe a little woke, but it's not their whole deal, they join and just go about the rituals and sharing gardening tips and so forth. On the other hand, folks for whom wokeness is a crusade, a defining element of their morality and worldview, they are going to make sure it comes up and start agitating to get something done about it. The more concessions they get, the more they can reasonably expect success in the future. Everyone else joined the organization to commune with nature, not to have political fights, so without some clear rules and early interventions (see 4. below), they're not that likely to put up much of fight early on, and by the time things have gone crazy, the folks motivated by their ideology have gotten power in the organization. Add in your observation that most alt-spirituality groups lean pretty left anyway, and so even the non-politically-active members will likely be sympathetic to the smaller demands of the activist folks, and you're left with almost no chance of stopping things without a very clear rule/social norm that people can invoke. I should close, of course, by pointing out that "evolutionarily fit" doesn't mean "good" and doesn't even mean "good for the host" - Covid's pretty evolutionarily fit!
3. Small, Stubborn Groups: In your thought experiment above, you mention "65% of the organization" being sympathetic to woke causes as a hypothetical. Unfortunately, it's likely even worse than this. Nassim Taleb talks about the disproportionate power small groups, well below a majority, can wield over the wider population if they are sufficiently consistent and stubborn (here's an article explaining it, which is also a chapter in his book Skin in the Game: https://medium.com/incerto/the-most-intolerant-wins-the-dictatorship-of-the-small-minority-3f1f83ce4e15). Simple example: in the US, manufacturers make a lot of food products Kosher even though the vast majority of their customers don't care or even notice - but the small group that do have made it pretty much a requirement. I bring this up, because it makes the below point even more important.
4. Natural Defenses (or the Lack thereof): Most organizations and subcultures that I know of that have successfully avoided becoming battlegrounds of the culture wars are those that have pretty bright-line rules about "we're here to do [thing the organization is about], and any talk about politics not directly related to that will not be allowed". Now, of course, for the activist, this is just evidence that you're part of the problem, so there's tremendous pressure to abandon such rules. One of the best examples I know is in the open source software development world (Eric S. Raymond, who led the charge in popularizing the term "open source", rather than "free software" writes about this here and elsewhere on his blog: http://esr.ibiblio.org/?p=8609). Heavily linked with Silicon Valley, but with traditions as old as computer programming itself that focus on what you produce rather than what you believe, there's been a struggle there, but it hasn't succumbed as fast as some other sub-cultures. I think the other thing that helps is having a clear positive goal that is not social reform or politics, or if it must be, is heavily circumscribed.
All of which is to say that I think, unfortunately, you're most likely right that revival druidry, at least as a coherent "scene" made up of organizations with memberships, events, mailing lists, and so forth may be in some serious trouble. On the other hand, as your own experience illustrates, thanks in large part to JMG, it is now easier than ever to find your own way through individual study and practice supported by looser, less formal ties, and it's a spiritual tradition that has survived a lot of ups and downs for the past 300 years or so, so that makes me hopeful.
Cheers,
Jeff
(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-08 12:00 am (UTC)Regarding these points, I think they are a brilliant expansion on my OP above! Thanks so much for taking the time to elaborate your thoughts in this much detail.
4. I totally agree this is a crushing weakness for DR groups in this political climate. Being too chill/lax effectively means a lack of defenses against bad actors and those who operate in bad faith. They will always use your good will against you. No fortifications or defenders means an easy plunder for hostile parties.
I think that Druidry in its next incarnation (if it's to be successful) must incorporate Martial and Saturnine energies back into its ethos, aesthetics, practices, and code of conduct. Because it's those two elements that pretty much the entire alt-spirituality and new age paradigm has rejected and done away with. According to moral foundations theory, the only values the left champions tends to be "Fairness" (i.e. egalitarianism) and "Caring" (motherly nurturing); others like Loyalty, Sanctity, Authority, and Liberty get ignored or perverted.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-09 01:31 pm (UTC)For running a group, my personal feeling is that you can accomplish quite a lot if your approach is "totally chill, except for these well-defined areas, where we are utterly hammer fisted." As you mention below, this is perhaps best exercised by a single responsible person.
Hmm, I hadn't considered the lack of Martial & Saturnine energies, but I think you're likely right - not just in the alt spirituality scene, but in our culture generally, those generally don't get a lot of positive depiction.
And thanks for bringing up Moral Foundations theory - I think it's incredibly insightful and helps to explain a lot about how the left and the right talk right past each other and see the other side as incomprehensibly bad and wrong. It might also give some practical guidance on how a group could go about incorporating those Martial and Saturnine elements.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-09 02:36 pm (UTC)2. Your approach is probably the most effective. I think you touch on the reality that a humor and lightheartedness factor must always be present, or else the discussion space starts to take itself too seriously, become increasingly paranoid, and possibly become puritanical to the point where it loses all collective self-awareness. Eventually, purity-spiraling and the circular firing squad ends up consuming whatever is left. Which is precisely what's been happening to almost all leftist/progressian spaces since about 2013. I think Discordian-type humor is the perfect antidote to this sort of self-righteous self-destruction.
3. No problem. I actually think the theory could be improved on a bit via being re-interpreted through an occult lens (I think Jonathan Haidt is an atheist-materialist, though a very astute one). I'm sure there's a corresponding moral value for each of the planets and much of that is likely already present in the current model.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-09 04:52 pm (UTC)Given what you've said, my first stab might go something like this:
Mercury: ???
Venus: Caring
Mars: Loyalty
Jupiter: Fairness
Saturn: Authority
Uranus: Liberty (This could also go to Mercury, especially if sticking with the classical planets)
Neptune: Sanctity (Not sure here, Sanctity was a bit harder to place for me)
(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-09 05:57 pm (UTC)Some of the others I could go different ways on. I'm not sure how Mercury would fit into this. Maybe there would have to be a moral dimension called Reason or Rationality.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-09 10:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-08 02:54 pm (UTC)Functionally, Ecosophia is a Monarchy (in the de-facto sense) and JMG is the Monarch. I think this is one of several reasons why it functions to well! And so well in this age when most groups that are concerned with this same subject matter (occult, paganism, alt-spirituality, ect.) are crumbling before our eyes.
There's no Oligarchy in our treasured community, i.e. a bureaucratic committee, board of directors, or "Mother Grove" to second guess or block/stymie JMG's editorial and moderation decisions. Nope, it's just him and it runs so smoothly and judiciously. IMHO, Oligarchy always ends up being a way for cowards and crooks to exercise power without any of the corresponding responsibility, accountability, or visibility that comes along with the territory of transparent power. The downfall of ADF I think is very illustrative of a Byzantine Oligarchy presiding over an alt-spirituality organization.
Something to consider...
(no subject)
Date: 2022-06-09 01:35 pm (UTC)One obvious failure mode that leads to the kind of oligarchy you discuss is that a blogger/writer/other interesting person starts seeing some success, and the comments get to be huge. Said interesting person doesn't want to be a forum moderator, but rather a blogger/writer/whatever, and so recruits one (or more) moderators. Once you've brought someone else in, you introduce the possibility for disagreement and maneuvering, and you've set the precedent that it's not your space, full-stop.
As you say, definitely something interesting to consider.