The Gorsedd [[Prayer]] comes from the Barddas of Iolo Morganwg. Before you continue, you may want to familiarize yourself with [[The Problem of Iolo Morganwg]] if you are not familiar with him or his work. A Gorsedd /ˈɡɔːɹsɛð/ is a community of bards. The word comes from the Welsh Gorsedd which means, "throne." These prayers are used as a convocation at gatherings and as personal [[devotions]]. In many ways, they often function as a creed or statement of faith in Druidry. Iolo includes six versions of this prayer in the Barddas, but we are only going to talk about one of them. ## The Gorsedd Prayer, from another Book. Iolo calls this one The Gorsedd Prayer, from another Book. It is the one most commonly used in modern Druid rituals. > [!quote] [The Gorsedd Prayer, from another Book. The Barddas of Iolo Morganwg, Vol. I., ed. by J. Williams Ab Ithel, (1862)](https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/bim1/bim1123.htm) > > Grant, O God, Thy protection; > And in protection, strength; > And in strength, understanding; > And in understanding, knowledge; > And in knowledge, the knowledge of justice; > And in the knowledge of justice, the love of it; > And in that love, the love of all existences; > And in the love of all existences, the love of God. > God and all goodness. Since the early Druid Revival was a Christian movement, and the same is true of the God in the Barddas. ### Grant your protection The protection we seek is both for ourselves and from ourselves as we begin the work. We will always be tempted to use our talents for either selfish aims or worse, to impose our will on others in the misguided belief we are helping them. At the beginning of every action we take, we must first reflect on our intentions and methods. For this we need the protection that arises from the the Place of our Aliveness (HaMakom Chiuteinu) or the God in whom we live, move, and have our being. ### And in protection, strength; We ask for protection in order to develop stability and courage, which are the source of strength, but we need to be careful. Strength can equally help and hurt. As we develop and grow in strength, the temptation to use that strength "for the greater good" arises within us. The problem is, determining "the greater good" is never a simple matter. Evangelical Christians are a great example of this problem. They have abdicated their moral and ethical decisions to a book, not a book they read, but one they have delegated the authority to interpret to others. This has been a problem within Christianity for centuries. This kind of authority is a mask over weakness to masquerade as strength. True strength is the courage and willingness to endure for ones own beliefs, and the power to stand up for those beliefs. True strength cannot abdicate responsibility to others. This doesn't mean that we have to be an expert on every topic we have an opinion on, but it does mean we have to take responsibility for what we believe and how we came to those opinions. At the opening of this essay, I mentioned and linked to my article about [[The Problem of Iolo Morganwg]]. It is important as a modern Druid for me to discuss the issues and cultural appropriation that are rampant in the movement, especially at its beginning. It is not weak to discuss these issues, it grounds us in our strength. Living Truth is, after all, the heart of Druidry. It isn't weak to point out that the words we use to discuss the spiritual work are made up. Every word in every tradition is. The power is not in the word, or the history, it is in the tradition. Tradition is not the rote repetition of the actions and beliefs of the past, but growth and development of those actions and beliefs in a profound lineage so we don't have to reinvent the wheel in every generation. True strength is always open to the possibility of being wrong. Certainty is a cage we pretend is armor. It traps us within it as much as it holds the truth at bay. Strength grows and changes, and doesn't feel the need to force its beliefs and practices on others. The strong know if they are right, others will be drawn in and they don't have to demand submission from others. Domination and dominionism are masks from fragility. ### And in strength, understanding; This is why and how in strength we find understanding. Just as strength requires us to understand ourselves and world, it gives rise to a curiosity about the world, opening us up to dialogue about differences between us and others. Understanding ([[3- Binah|Binah]]), like strength ([[5- Geburah|Geburah]]) is one of the ten energies said to emanate from God from the beginning of the cosmos. It is the third of these powers situated between wisdom ([[2- Chokmah|Chokmah]]) and loving kindness ([[4- Chesed|Chesed]]). Understanding arises from [[3- Mindfulness|mindfulness]], the noting of what is now focusing on truth. Too many people shorthand understanding to common sense, but it is not accepting the conventional wisdom and the confirmation bias of the community we live in. True understanding grounds itself in strength so we can find and face the truth of a situation as it is through a mindful approach. We have to clear our eyes, mind, and spirit so we behold and know the world and circumstance around us. ### And in understanding, knowledge; This is how understanding gives rise to knowledge. It grows through study and practice. Our mindfulness opens our eyes and helps us to see clearly, but we do not and can never see the truth, even though it is the constant yearning of our heart and the focus of our practice. What we learn through mindfulness is the questions we need to ask. Through those questions, we seek out knowledge through either direct study or study of the works of experts in the topic. Mindfulness also reminds us of the talents and expertise we have and don't have. It also illuminates those qualities in others. I am not an expert in physics even though I love to read physics papers and study so many topics, but I am not doing the work. I am not even qualified to review these papers. My opinions are just that, opinions. I have a rough understanding of the facts and have learned the knowledge I am capable of having, but I am not an expert. We all need to know and be honest about the limitations of our expertise. All practitioners of [[What is Creation Spirituality|Creation Spirituality]] are devotees, mystics, artists, and prophets, but that only makes us experts in our personal spirituality. When we share our insights and knowledge with others, we are not speaking the truth. The Truth cannot be spoken, written or etched into stone. The truth is beyond words. We are not speaking the [[Word of God]]. Only God can speak the word and we cannot bear to hear it. Every devotee, mystic, artist, and prophet is a compass seeking true north. We share our findings, or knowledge so we can help each other align our ourselves as we seek our destination beyond the infinite horizon. We don't all walk the same path because at this distance, the paths converge so far away. Knowledge is a guidepost, not a destination. ### And in knowledge, the knowledge of justice; This is how knowledge gives rise to knowledge of justice. Notice that we find the knowledge of justice and not justice itself. Justice like truth is a ideal to strive for that is often beyond our reach, but every once and a while, we do achieve it, even if only for a little time. Justice is not: - fairness: fairness is the same to all with no mercy or grace. - revenge: revenge is repaying of evil for evil. - balancing the scales: the scales will never be balanced, for every action an infinite number of actions arise like a stone making ripples in the water. - final: it is an ideal we always strive for that can slip away without our vigilance. Justice is an amalgamation our morals, ethics, beliefs, and sense of equity. It is an instinct, an intuition, and sense. We like to believe that it is something real, something tangible, but it will forever be a moving target. It is so easy for us to hold past generations accountable for their actions based on our sense of justice. But our sense of justice grew from their actions. Don't misunderstand me. Many for the greatest villains of history knew what they are doing was wrong. Christopher Columbus knew what he was doing was wrong by the standards of his own day and age. This is why they changed the standards to justify their actions. There is a fine line between justice and justification. Most codes of justice are little more than justification systems designed to absolve their users of blame or guilt as long as they are following the rules and procedures. Knowledge of justice is rooted in principles, not laws and code. My principles start with compassion. Compassion is living by the gold and silver rules. - The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. - The Silver Rule: What you find harmful, do not do to others. I add to that from Jesus' teaching in Matthew 25:35-45: - feed the hungry - give water to the thirsty - take in the stranger - clothe the naked - visiting the imprisoned. It is sad that so many call themselves Christian today to follow the path to outer darkness described in this passage. For me, justice is about equality, equity, diversity, care for our fellow humans and all life in our world. As such, I strive to learn as much as I can to keep myself on the path to justice. ### And in the knowledge of justice, the love of it; This is how the love of it arises from the knowledge of justice. I love the path, the discernment, and the dream of a just world. In a lot of ways, for the love of it makes the path easy and fulfilling to walk. If we seek justice for the love of it, it is harder to fall into anger, hate, and thoughts of revenge. If we live justice for the love of it, it gives our life purpose and meaning. If we speak for justice with love of it, it allures others to find and follow their path toward justice. Don't misunderstand me, justice is not always easy to love. At times, it feels elusive, distant, or so far way. We see the greed and power of the unjust and our faith and love waiver. If we truly love justice, it is worth standing for and defending, just like all life. ### And in that love, the love of all existences; This is how the love of all existences arises from the love of justice. This love of the knowledge of justice teaches us to take care of our fellow humans, the animals, the plants. the minerals, the land and the sea, and even the spirits. How glorious is this world and the cosmos in which it was born? From the first flaring forth, the forces unleashed have built upon themselves to create this beautiful world in which we live. I accept the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, and the first truth is Duhkha ("unease" or "standing unstable"). Duhkha is often translated as suffering, or unsatisfying, but I prefer to see this as: the world is unstable because everything is impermanent and lack a separate self which makes our footing unstable, distracting us from tranquility. The world is good, not perfect. Impermanence and a lack of separate self are a part of that goodness. Contrast, change, and growth require them. They can be hard to bear and can shake our faith, hope, mindfulness, and compassion, but without them, everything would always stay the same. In this changeless state of permeance, there is no hope, no love, no kindness, no goodness, and no justice. Everything would exist as a fatalistic robot doomed to perform meaningless tasks in a nihilistic universe. ### And in the love of all existences, the love of God. This is how the love of God arises from the love of all existences. God is the ground of all being and becoming. God is reality. Everything is in God and God is in everything. "'For in him we live, and move, and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also his offspring (Acts 17:28).'" God is not a being, but being itself. As YHVH, God is the aliveness (chiut) around us. Ehyeh is the God we awaken to as the aliveness (chiut) within us. God is our aliveness (Chiuteinu), the one life flowing through all things. To love God is to love everything and to love everything is to love God. ### God and all goodness. And so the prayer ends God and all goodness because they are one and the same. We serve the One Life, our Aliveness, which manifests in the abundant diversity of the world.