.. vim: set syntax=rst filetype=rst nosmartindent: +++ Modern Druids +++ Other names === * crash druids * hive druids * hive druids Description === The Earth is wounded. Druids see the problem coming from how humanity stopped serving the forests they lived inside. Humanity cleared forests to make room for fields for crops to feed armies to dominate other humans. So now, Druids believe, this whole system needs to end, and we need to live in harmony with nature. If we don't, any of these might happen: * The Earth dies and becomes like the other planets in our solar system. Likely devoid of any conscious life. Druids believe that our consciousness is The Earth / life force waking up. And this planet might be the only place in the entire universe with life on it, and if it dies here, it may never happen again, so the entire universe will go on without a consciousness to experience itself, which might be the whole point. This is the worst possible nightmare for druids. Some Druids experience a temporary or intermittent psychic link to the Gaia Consciousness and they all describe it as the end of the human experience of separation. They see all of us as bees in a hive, or leaves on a tree, or molecules of granite deep within the earth. See more on the effects of the psychic link to Gaia Consciousness below. * A massive extinction event occurs, but it doesn't sterilize the planet, just demolish a lot of biomass. Human civilization disappears Druids and Free Will === A modern Druid sees his/her/their own consciousness and free will as an illusion. A modern druid true purpose is to carry out some algorithm somehow encoded in their DNA, put there by the emergent planetary organism Gaia Consciousness. The world is very sick. Druids have always adored and worshipped nature. Now it is time to serve it directly. There are lands that were once covered in forests. Now erosion, pollution, climate change, and so many other harms have turned so much of the planet into barren dusty empty wasteland. The modern druid lives in hell and dreams of making it heaven. The modern druid may visit the remaining lush sacred holy places, and may work to protect them as well. Druids may have day jobs. Druids have a weird idea about disease. They see humanity as the problem and they see disease outbreaks as potentially not something that should be stopped, but instead, should be used to cut down the human population, or force a change of lifestyle. Some Crash Druids see a gigantic crash of the whole human civilization as a GOOD thing, because the system is so inherently toxic. Others disagree; they see the crash as something that needs to happen, but it needs to be managed, and so they want to destroy civilization by slower, more gradual means, so that there's nobody that notices. The Modern Druid Ritual to seek Gaia === This is how Druids realize that free will and consciousness is an illusion. Like I wrote before, there's times when Druids experience a conscious connection to the Gaia Consciousness. And really, when I say "Gaia Consciousness" that's just another name. Humans have been finding their way to connecting telepathically with the life spirit. All life radiates energy. Different ecosystems pump out different vibes. There's a moment when a druid in deep stillness can tap into the vibrations of life itself. First the druid learns how to listen to nearby vibrations. As skill improves, druids learn to listen to all of the life energy of entire systems of interacting organisms, and see each plant or animal as playing a role in a bigger system. And then, at some point, there is an experience where the druid connects / listens to so many organisms, that the druid realizes his / her / their own ego, their own point of view, their own conscious mind, is just an illusion, and really, this emergent consciousness hive mind is our true purpose. And then the ritual ends, and the druid's mental perspective again is returned to the body. This can be very sad for some people, and it can be very gratifying for others. Listening to the sky === Another druid ritual involve trying to hear anything from life on other planets. It involves finding a location with a very quiet, soft vibration locally, and then the druid focuses all their energy up overhead higher, and higher, and higher, and hopes to experience something other than the deep void. Nobody finds anything in the void. The druid aims to listen to life energy from outside the planet. This so far has never succeeded. Nobody has detected any signals from anywhere else. So, life here might truly be alone. It is possible to listen to the moon. The rocks harbor some strange bacteria that can survive in a near-dormant state. Maybe the bacteria are contaminants from Earth. They represent life, seeding the universe. The druid sees their holy purpose as helping to propagate life through the planet. Nature may require ten thousand years to reclaim a desert. Some wounds may only be reclaimed after a geological event transforms the landscape from a life-denying ecology, like a parking lot that goes in all directions for miles. A crash druid will find something like that horrifying and may even aim to destroy it. There are different schools of thought about how to terraform / heal the earth. Some druids feel that people that damage the earth forfeit their right to live. Others point out many people are working to earn money and have no other options. One famous druid is an assassin. He said to me, "I don't trust anyone else to do this right. I mean not to let their own petty grievances or unresolved jealousies to influence their decisions. Heck, I do the same thing. I didn't have to shoot the guy with the chainsaw. But I did, because I knew he was a threat to the forest, so there's no point in hesitating, or giving him a chance to change his ways. The forest is dying. The Earth is dying. It's now or maybe the whole universe blinks out. Life came here from somewhere else === Nature somehow managed to trigger the evolution of human minds. Human minds want to explore space, but the human biology is too delicate, too complex, too dependent on so many external factors to be sent through the vast amounts of emptiness. Distances in deep space are measured in light years. That's the distance that light travels in a year. Humans cannot survive in space ships for long enough to make the voyages, and even if they could arrive on some far-off planet, the crews would be living a miserable experience. Druids believe nature must already have a way to spread life through space, but it depends on having a healthy, robust planet, teeming with complex biomass, like a gigantic rain forest with millions of interacting species. Somehow some emergent organism may appear that can throw spores beyond the earth's gravity well. Druids mock the idea of sending crews of brave soldiers to go insane or die in deep space. Humans are just the servants of nature, so we should help nature explore space. Druids believe the psychic link they experience has likely been experienced by humans throughout time. And they leave room for more understanding over time. But they are convinced that when they connect to the hive mind, they want to spend their lives promoting the flourishing of the hive mind.