Post by Lee on May 31, 2011 9:48:02 GMT -1
Afternoon all, one thing that we discussed on a sun washed rocky crag was a review of the core values of Brython. I will post them here and leave them open for discussion, opinion and change. Please feel free to chip in everybody (and i do mean everybody ;D )
Beliefs
These are usually arrived at through study, experience or interaction. Firstly, the belief in the Gods. The Gods are central to Brythonic beliefs. As polytheists, we accept their existence as independent functioning entities, with the capability to interact with us of their own choosing. Their names may, or at this time, may not, be known to us. For some, their name is an irrelevance as it is the message or information passed to us, that is at the crux of this interaction. Rather than submitting to the perceived “will” of any external entity, we ask to interact with these beings on as equal a footing as is possible at this time. We accept that there are things that, as humans at this moment in time, we may not be in a position to make a full or even correct judgement on, but rather than abdicate responsibility to a higher force, we choose to make our own decisions with the information available to us. This then leads to growth from both sides, for not only are we, as humans, learning from others, those others may be learning from us how to better communicate with us at this moment in time.
Our focus is on the entities that are connected either spiritually or physically with these lands. If the inclusion of foreign Gods can be shown to be of direct relevance in the correct context of what we are trying to achieve, then we are open to their inclusion as a basis for comparison. Evidence from primarily Romano-British times, consisting of inscriptions and any literal or even local knowledge, forms the basis for our consideration and thinking.
The accepted belief in the existence of external entities leads into the belief of existence of some form of continuation after the end of physicality. Most religions use the archetype as a metaphor for building interaction between humanity and the non physical. By building our knowledge of our local Gods, we hope to better understand our place within this scheme, placing us in a position to better understand the experiences of our ancestors that continue to contribute to our experiences of the non physical. Unlike the major religions, we do not accept the reward system of afterlife offered as the “goal” but instead seek to improve our lives in the now. We choose to develop our relationships with deity and ancestors, both individually and collectively, developing rituals and practices that are shown to have had some results, thus engaging with external entities in mutual interaction.
Methods
It is our intention to use methods available to us at this time, to create the framework with which to develop our understanding. Our preference is to use a multi-disciplinary approach drawing upon recent research in archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, academic-led Celtic studies and other fields as well as on the personal experiences of members to develop our theology. It is this multi-disciplinary approach combined with critical thinking and drawing as it does on the knowledge and experience of the group and not just a few individuals, that we consider to be one of our greatest strengths.
For any spirituality, one of the main objectives must be to create the means by which to understand any Unsubstantiated Personal Gnosis (UPG). We choose to interpret UPG using commonly arrived at rituals and then applying any relevant proven practice to the subject matter, to create a basis for further development, if possible at this time. If, at this time, there is not the means by which to understand the content, then this will be set aside, with a view to review again at a later date when new information or methodology becomes available. Thus, we create a theological foundation shown to have its basis in proven methodology, meaning it is more robust for the advancement of our objectives.
One method of connection to ancestors and other spirits, is the use of ritual. Use of modern resources enhance our perceptions of the lives of those who have gone before us and give us a better opportunity of creating ritual that is relevant and appropriate for recognition by our ancestors. This is an important aspect of experiential methodology for us.
Community
It is our belief that the development of any meaningful spiritual path is not arrived at in haste. We have a finite amount of time on Earth and there has not been shown to be any spirituality that has fully developed within one lifetime of a single individual, even if that individual was the main contributor of knowledge to said spirituality. Therefore, the logical conclusion must be that for a “fuller” and meaningful spirituality to emerge, it must be the result of the interactions of a committed community of like minded individuals. For an individual to make meaningful contributions, they must be in a position of knowing the aims and objectives of the community. This can only be arrived at through a period of interaction with measurable results. Thus, the community benefits from proven committed individuals and, hopefully, the aims and objectives advance successfully. Therefore, Brython, using our public face of Caer Feddwyd ( http://www.caerfeddwyd.co.uk) invite individuals to contribute to ongoing discussions and projects.
Some specifics concerning practice....
The Gods
We see the gods as distinct entities in their own right.
Our primary source of information regarding the gods should be from archaeological and literary sources extending from the Iron Age right up to the Medieval period. We recognise that the further from the Iron Age we move and the closer to the medieval literature we get the more diluted and corrupted the sources become. Therefore the ideal resource is with Romano-British archaeology and Roman historical writing.
Our secondary and perhaps most important understanding of the gods should come from direct experience of them, our interaction with them and the sharing of these experiences with others. We recognise that our own personal interaction with the gods is regarded as unsubstantiated personal gnosis (UPG), however a core practice within Brython is the sharing of this UPG with others in order to seek corroboration between those who also have a relationship with that same god. In this way we seek to turn UPG into substantiated personal gnosis (SPG). By using these two methods, we seek to construct a working spirituality that both acknowledges the work of the ancestors whilst at the same time, creating a framework for use in 21st century reality.
Those gods we seek to develop a relationship with are primarily those who emerge from the Brythonic peoples of the British Isles, such as; Brigantia, Rigantona, Belenus and Nodens. This is not an exclusive situation and as such we may develop a relationship with god who came here with migrating cultures such as the Anglo-Saxons and Gaelic Irish.
The Ancestors
The ancestors are those people, generally dead, who have in some way contributed towards making us the people we are today. They may be of three types;
Blood ancestors: those people who we can trace back as being part of our bloodline. Our genetic heritage.
Stone Ancestors: those people who have shared the landscape with our blood ancestors but who are of doubtful or no genetic heritage. Those people whose culture lineage we share and are involved with. Our landscape and cultural heritage.
Spirit Ancestors: those people who share no genetic heritage with us and only a tenuous cultural heritage. Those people whose actions inspire us in some way.
We recognise that the actions and lives of those who have died and gone before us contribute towards who we are today and are accountable for our very existence in the first place. As such we honour and remember these ancestors at appropriate times and with appropriate actions.
Spirits of Place
We see the land as being inhabited by a myriad of spirits of that place; the genus locii as referred to by the Romans. These entities may be seen as distinct beings in their own right and our relationships with them are as individual as we are.
We recognise that many of the beings we regard as gods are derived from spirits of place, as reflected by the localisation within the overall landscape.
We recognise that in some cases the terms ‘god’ and ‘spirit of place’ may be used interchangeably depending on the perception of those interacting with the god/spirit of place.
The Landscape
We see people as intricately entwined with the landscape on which they live. Communities are the products of the land on which they live and their culture reflects this relationship. This relationship is strengthened with the use of myth and legend which acts as the glue, bonding together the community, the gods and the landscape within which they live.
The Brythonic landscape includes all of mainland Great Britain and some of the smaller associated islands. As such it is not restricted only to Wales, it covers Norwich to Yeovil, Aberdeen to Dover; all are part of the Brythonic land.
The Tylwyth and the Aelwyd
The teguloktos/tylwyth refers to the people of Brython. We are the Teguloktos Rigantona; the Family of Rigantona. She is the goddess of the Grey Mare, our matron and the one who protects our family. If Brython is a fortress, then She guards its walls and those within. At present there is only one teguloktos forming Brython. As the concept of the teguloktos is rooted with the idea of a deity of large landscape area, it is likely all British Aelweddau will fall under the Teguloktos Rigantona. In time we forsee others joining Brython from other lands and therefore a new teguloktos may appear.
Within the fortress are many huts, some with several inhabitants, others with only one. Each of these is the Aelwyd, the hearth, and each may be guarded by additional gods of that Aelwyd
The Nyfed and Ritual
The ritual takes place in the Nyfed; the space set aside for that purpose and time.
We recognise ritual as a useful tool in connecting with the gods, the ancestors and spirits of place.
We recognize the potential for both individual and group oriented ritual, most start with individual ritual and with the building of commonality, trust and physical contact amongst the group, leads to further opportunities with which to develop direction and enhance further our understanding, and contact of, our Gods.
Experience and Evidence
Key to the ethos of Brython are evidence, experience and the sharing of this experience.
We regard historical, archaeological and literature evidence to be extremely useful in the search to understand our ancestors relationship with their gods.
Key to the development of Brython is the sharing of personal experience. Through this sharing we aim to build a common understanding of the gods. By this means we aim to turn UPG into Shared or Substantiated Personal Gnosis (SPG).
At times, experience will clash with evidence. This is not to say that evidence supercedes experience though, as SPG may offer glimpses of the development of our relationships with the gods. Things change and we should expect the gods to have done so too. What was true of 2000 years ago may not be true for the 21st century.
Evidence is the foundation on which we will build our fortress, but it will be the combination of this with current experience that shall be the walls and the roof over our heads. We might tell the same story as our ancestors, but the words will be our own.
Beliefs
These are usually arrived at through study, experience or interaction. Firstly, the belief in the Gods. The Gods are central to Brythonic beliefs. As polytheists, we accept their existence as independent functioning entities, with the capability to interact with us of their own choosing. Their names may, or at this time, may not, be known to us. For some, their name is an irrelevance as it is the message or information passed to us, that is at the crux of this interaction. Rather than submitting to the perceived “will” of any external entity, we ask to interact with these beings on as equal a footing as is possible at this time. We accept that there are things that, as humans at this moment in time, we may not be in a position to make a full or even correct judgement on, but rather than abdicate responsibility to a higher force, we choose to make our own decisions with the information available to us. This then leads to growth from both sides, for not only are we, as humans, learning from others, those others may be learning from us how to better communicate with us at this moment in time.
Our focus is on the entities that are connected either spiritually or physically with these lands. If the inclusion of foreign Gods can be shown to be of direct relevance in the correct context of what we are trying to achieve, then we are open to their inclusion as a basis for comparison. Evidence from primarily Romano-British times, consisting of inscriptions and any literal or even local knowledge, forms the basis for our consideration and thinking.
The accepted belief in the existence of external entities leads into the belief of existence of some form of continuation after the end of physicality. Most religions use the archetype as a metaphor for building interaction between humanity and the non physical. By building our knowledge of our local Gods, we hope to better understand our place within this scheme, placing us in a position to better understand the experiences of our ancestors that continue to contribute to our experiences of the non physical. Unlike the major religions, we do not accept the reward system of afterlife offered as the “goal” but instead seek to improve our lives in the now. We choose to develop our relationships with deity and ancestors, both individually and collectively, developing rituals and practices that are shown to have had some results, thus engaging with external entities in mutual interaction.
Methods
It is our intention to use methods available to us at this time, to create the framework with which to develop our understanding. Our preference is to use a multi-disciplinary approach drawing upon recent research in archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, academic-led Celtic studies and other fields as well as on the personal experiences of members to develop our theology. It is this multi-disciplinary approach combined with critical thinking and drawing as it does on the knowledge and experience of the group and not just a few individuals, that we consider to be one of our greatest strengths.
For any spirituality, one of the main objectives must be to create the means by which to understand any Unsubstantiated Personal Gnosis (UPG). We choose to interpret UPG using commonly arrived at rituals and then applying any relevant proven practice to the subject matter, to create a basis for further development, if possible at this time. If, at this time, there is not the means by which to understand the content, then this will be set aside, with a view to review again at a later date when new information or methodology becomes available. Thus, we create a theological foundation shown to have its basis in proven methodology, meaning it is more robust for the advancement of our objectives.
One method of connection to ancestors and other spirits, is the use of ritual. Use of modern resources enhance our perceptions of the lives of those who have gone before us and give us a better opportunity of creating ritual that is relevant and appropriate for recognition by our ancestors. This is an important aspect of experiential methodology for us.
Community
It is our belief that the development of any meaningful spiritual path is not arrived at in haste. We have a finite amount of time on Earth and there has not been shown to be any spirituality that has fully developed within one lifetime of a single individual, even if that individual was the main contributor of knowledge to said spirituality. Therefore, the logical conclusion must be that for a “fuller” and meaningful spirituality to emerge, it must be the result of the interactions of a committed community of like minded individuals. For an individual to make meaningful contributions, they must be in a position of knowing the aims and objectives of the community. This can only be arrived at through a period of interaction with measurable results. Thus, the community benefits from proven committed individuals and, hopefully, the aims and objectives advance successfully. Therefore, Brython, using our public face of Caer Feddwyd ( http://www.caerfeddwyd.co.uk) invite individuals to contribute to ongoing discussions and projects.
Some specifics concerning practice....
The Gods
We see the gods as distinct entities in their own right.
Our primary source of information regarding the gods should be from archaeological and literary sources extending from the Iron Age right up to the Medieval period. We recognise that the further from the Iron Age we move and the closer to the medieval literature we get the more diluted and corrupted the sources become. Therefore the ideal resource is with Romano-British archaeology and Roman historical writing.
Our secondary and perhaps most important understanding of the gods should come from direct experience of them, our interaction with them and the sharing of these experiences with others. We recognise that our own personal interaction with the gods is regarded as unsubstantiated personal gnosis (UPG), however a core practice within Brython is the sharing of this UPG with others in order to seek corroboration between those who also have a relationship with that same god. In this way we seek to turn UPG into substantiated personal gnosis (SPG). By using these two methods, we seek to construct a working spirituality that both acknowledges the work of the ancestors whilst at the same time, creating a framework for use in 21st century reality.
Those gods we seek to develop a relationship with are primarily those who emerge from the Brythonic peoples of the British Isles, such as; Brigantia, Rigantona, Belenus and Nodens. This is not an exclusive situation and as such we may develop a relationship with god who came here with migrating cultures such as the Anglo-Saxons and Gaelic Irish.
The Ancestors
The ancestors are those people, generally dead, who have in some way contributed towards making us the people we are today. They may be of three types;
Blood ancestors: those people who we can trace back as being part of our bloodline. Our genetic heritage.
Stone Ancestors: those people who have shared the landscape with our blood ancestors but who are of doubtful or no genetic heritage. Those people whose culture lineage we share and are involved with. Our landscape and cultural heritage.
Spirit Ancestors: those people who share no genetic heritage with us and only a tenuous cultural heritage. Those people whose actions inspire us in some way.
We recognise that the actions and lives of those who have died and gone before us contribute towards who we are today and are accountable for our very existence in the first place. As such we honour and remember these ancestors at appropriate times and with appropriate actions.
Spirits of Place
We see the land as being inhabited by a myriad of spirits of that place; the genus locii as referred to by the Romans. These entities may be seen as distinct beings in their own right and our relationships with them are as individual as we are.
We recognise that many of the beings we regard as gods are derived from spirits of place, as reflected by the localisation within the overall landscape.
We recognise that in some cases the terms ‘god’ and ‘spirit of place’ may be used interchangeably depending on the perception of those interacting with the god/spirit of place.
The Landscape
We see people as intricately entwined with the landscape on which they live. Communities are the products of the land on which they live and their culture reflects this relationship. This relationship is strengthened with the use of myth and legend which acts as the glue, bonding together the community, the gods and the landscape within which they live.
The Brythonic landscape includes all of mainland Great Britain and some of the smaller associated islands. As such it is not restricted only to Wales, it covers Norwich to Yeovil, Aberdeen to Dover; all are part of the Brythonic land.
The Tylwyth and the Aelwyd
The teguloktos/tylwyth refers to the people of Brython. We are the Teguloktos Rigantona; the Family of Rigantona. She is the goddess of the Grey Mare, our matron and the one who protects our family. If Brython is a fortress, then She guards its walls and those within. At present there is only one teguloktos forming Brython. As the concept of the teguloktos is rooted with the idea of a deity of large landscape area, it is likely all British Aelweddau will fall under the Teguloktos Rigantona. In time we forsee others joining Brython from other lands and therefore a new teguloktos may appear.
Within the fortress are many huts, some with several inhabitants, others with only one. Each of these is the Aelwyd, the hearth, and each may be guarded by additional gods of that Aelwyd
The Nyfed and Ritual
The ritual takes place in the Nyfed; the space set aside for that purpose and time.
We recognise ritual as a useful tool in connecting with the gods, the ancestors and spirits of place.
We recognize the potential for both individual and group oriented ritual, most start with individual ritual and with the building of commonality, trust and physical contact amongst the group, leads to further opportunities with which to develop direction and enhance further our understanding, and contact of, our Gods.
Experience and Evidence
Key to the ethos of Brython are evidence, experience and the sharing of this experience.
We regard historical, archaeological and literature evidence to be extremely useful in the search to understand our ancestors relationship with their gods.
Key to the development of Brython is the sharing of personal experience. Through this sharing we aim to build a common understanding of the gods. By this means we aim to turn UPG into Shared or Substantiated Personal Gnosis (SPG).
At times, experience will clash with evidence. This is not to say that evidence supercedes experience though, as SPG may offer glimpses of the development of our relationships with the gods. Things change and we should expect the gods to have done so too. What was true of 2000 years ago may not be true for the 21st century.
Evidence is the foundation on which we will build our fortress, but it will be the combination of this with current experience that shall be the walls and the roof over our heads. We might tell the same story as our ancestors, but the words will be our own.
