Druid Blog

It really is a strange story of how I ended up in the 3-day long spiritual weekend in Nieuwpoort (Belgium). The weekend started on Friday, May 16th and lasted until Sunday the 18th.

Several months ago, I received an email from Erwin Pelgrims, who organized this weekend, with the question if we wanted to represent the Druids on this weekend, which technically consisted of various religions. Two years ago, on the first edition of this event, the Druids were represented by OBOD from the Netherlands, but they were unavailable this time.

Initially it looked very much like I would not be able to attend this weekend. After all, on that very Sunday we were asked to come talk about Druidism for another organisation. In addition to that, I was asked that same weekend, but then on Saturday, to perform a handfasting for a couple. But then it happened...
The organisation I had to go to on Sunday, cancelled due to circumstances, and around the same time I was also informed that the couple for the handfasting had decided to move the ritual to another date that was yet to be decided. And there I was... free for the entire weekend! As if we were meant to be there.

Looking back at the weekend now, it certainly does feel that I was meant to be there, and more so, I was glad to be there! In fact, I count this particular weekend among the most beautiful experiences of my life.

Nieuwpoort is a small coastal city in Belgium, about one and a half hour drive away from my home in Antwerp. I went there with Jenni, and with Hans (Zorro) who drove us there. My father drove along, so we would have enough space in the cars to transport all the needed material. We arrived there well on time, so that we could unload the cars and set everything up without any stress. By the time of our arrival, most other religious representatives had also arrived shortly before. I'll give you a list of all religions represented:

1. The Catholic Church
2. The Protestant Church
3. The Anglican Church
4. The Jewish Community
5. The Sufi
6. The Buddhists
7. The Hare Krishna
8. The Druids (we)
9. The Wicca

...like they say in "Lord of the Rings": Nine Companions shall be the Fellowship. And it felt like a fellowship indeed!

One would think that when people of such a variety of religions are together in one and the same place, there were bound to be tensions, arguments or other problems, but nothing could be further from the truth.

After a visit of a few schools, and an opening speech of the city's mayor, it was rather quiet and we didn't have a great number of visitors. This I consider a positive thing, because it gave us the perfect opportunity to "socialize" with the people of the other religions. The people of the Protestant Church kindly offered us a cup of tea, and the people of the Hare Krishna talked to us about the life cycles (which is very similar to the Druidic viewpoint).

Oh, there sure was discussion. People from other religions came to us (especially the Protestant Church) and asked us questions. They asked how we translate their concept of heaven and earth, if we have a "saviour" whom can grant us forgiveness for sins, and how we look upon the creation of the world. They did not ask any of these questions with any kind of judgement, but out of genuine interest in our answers, while each of us remained true to our own beliefs and maintained our integrity.

The same was true in the other direction. I asked the people of the Protestant Church on what they do different compared to the Catholic Church, and the explanation I received was very profound and educational. I may not consider myself Christian as such, but I do have a genuine interest in Christian theology, mythology and history (particularly if rooted in Western Europe and linked to Celtic Christianity). They told me that they do not have saints, because even a Christian priest is still only human, and that they do not have the system of confession through a priest, but instead ask God/Jesus for forgiveness directly. It made alot of sense to me.

But also the Catholic Church had something to offer. The man we talked to, spoke about meditations. And then I say meditations in such a positive manner that I can only support it from a Druid viewpoint. We couldn't do it better. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised when I heard what this man had to say. I also briefly spoke with a woman of the Anglican Church, who explained some sort of sign language which they use in their church. One of these signs looked suspiciously similar to the one that Teperis made, several years ago, and claimed to be an authentic Druidic greeting.

At the info stand of the Sufi there was this guy who made calculations based on your date of birth, using the Mayan calendar. He made a free calculation for me and Jenni, and his results were spot-on! He told me that order was important in my life, and he illustrated this by simply taking my name card and pointing out the word "order" in the name "New Order of Druids". He also added that one of my oracles was a dragon, and then noticed that the torc around my neck contained the symbol of a dragon. He told me that the direction I need to go into, is to be creative... create things, but in an elegant manner. My combination with Jenni was also a positive one: together we would achieve alot more than we would seperate.

Of all the people there, we had the best contact with, surprisingly, the people of the Hare Krishnia. Meeting them gave me a total different view of their religion than I had before (they are often condemned by society as a dangerous sect). Their belief in reincarnation, their use of mantra chanting and so on, finds many similarities with Druidism, and of course, we had one person in common that both of us know: Torc (not surprisingly ). Torc had been a Brahmin priest when he lived in Antwerp several years ago (before he decided to walk the Druid path) and since these people of the Hare Krishna also came all the way from Antwerp, like ourselves, it was not really a surprise that they knew him personally too from back in those days.

In fact, the people of the Hare Krishna and we the Druids, were the only two religions who actually actively worked together to bring something to the visitors. They chanted the Hare Krishna chant, and we sang along. Then we chanted the Awen and Nwyvre mantras, and they chanted along. Unfortunately we have no video material of the Awen and Nwyvre Chant of that day, but we do have one of their Hare Krishna chant:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6618273442174768568&q=spiritualiteit+in+nieuwpoort&ei=zxM0SNi8K4LmiQKejsjfCQ

And thus it was that we worked together in perfect harmony, while yet each of us kept the integrity of our own tradition and did not try to convince the other to join our own path. It did also help that me and Jenni happened to be lodged in the same bed & breakfast as a few of the Hare Krishna people, so that in the mornings at the breakfast table we had alot to talk about.

Now if only we could apply this harmony of religions on a worldwide scale...

The atmosphere was so spiritual and peaceful, that it literally "inspired" us. It didn't take long until me and Hans were talking about the idea of organizing this same setup in the Province of Antwerp. So we did our "tour" among the various info stands of each religion, and asked them what they thought about the idea.

Needless to say, we received great enthousiasm from each of them. Some of them said that they would then likely send other people to that event, that lived closer to it, but still I would love to meet all of the people of this past weekend again. Every single one of them. No exception.

The two people that we did not talk to yet about this proposal (simply because we didn't get around to it), was the woman of the Anglican Church, and the representative of the Jewish Community. But hopefully the organiser of the event, Erwin Pelgrims, can provide us their contact information. Of course, we also talked to him about this idea, because after all it was originally his initiative and it was by no means our intention to steal the idea from him. But he and his wife also liked the idea, and we told them that we would keep them informed of our progress once the idea became more substantial.

On Sunday morning, the Ecumenical Service took place in a church of Nieuwpoort, which stood right in view of the sea. The priest of that church was so kind to allow this to take place, even when it meant that other religions would represented in his church too. The service, which took about an hour, was very beautiful. Each of the nine religions was represented, and I was the one who represented the Druids. I would never have thought to ever stand in inside a church wearing my Druid robe, and speaking to the audience... and more so, sitting right next to the pastor of that church himself!

First, all nine representatives stood in a circle holding hands, for a few moments of meditation. A choir sang a number of beautiful songs to accompany the service. The two daughters of Erwin Pelgrims opened the service with a speech, and then each representative of a religion spoke for a few minutes to the audience, followed by a song that fitted his or her religion, sung beautifully as ever by the choir.

I was the second one to speak before the audience, preceded by the Hare Krishna and followed by the Christian priest of the church. Thus it was that all nine representatives spoke to the audience for a few minutes, save the Anglican Church: they brought a dance that incorporated the sign language of which I have spoken above.

The service was concluded by a few words of the priest, and once again we made a circle by holding hands to meditate for a few minutes. I experienced the entire service as serene and enlightening, and I can only hope that in the future I will be able to be part of such a harmony once again.

I will conclude by saying what I said also before the weekend came to a close, after observing the harmony of the religions:
"It is possible."
Then someone responded to me, saying:
"It is happening."