Words from the Hai Druid

Re-instating Tribal Culture

October 02, 2024

There can be a lot said about Tribal Culture. It kept humans going well before rulers started collecting humans into cites, for the purpose of having a ready army available. But it takes more than a dominate personality to be a good leader of a tribe. Intelligence, patience, counsel from those you trust, and fairness are also key. After all, without smart decisions, using proper bearing and tact in all situations, the tribe is doomed to failure. Ancient tribal culture was well laid out and had members working as a single unit. Teamwork was the key element for survival. Like a lion's pride, the human females did the hunting; the low center of gravity and smaller frame helped when stalking game. That allowed the males to do the heavy work, like building huts and storage areas for keeping food through the winter. Ancient children became workers much sooner than in this current day and age, because they were raised, taught, and supervised by the elders.

The replicating cycle of tribal life began by the elders teaching the children the ways of the tribe: creating those future members who would keep the tribe surviving and one day teach the youth themselves, if they survived to be an elder, of course. In today's day and age we have YouTube and Google teaching our youth. I suppose that is one way to try to progress man into listen to AI once the inevitable happens. The connection with the entire spectrum of family has been rapidly dissipating and reappearing in a mutated form. Families do stay together more; children are staying at home much longer, due primarily by the cost of living in general. Housing costs have soared so much that staying at home till you inherit the house has become more normal. But are these humans learning from each other, or are they spending more time trying to avoid each other, and living their own lives?

Being a tribe is being a group that wants to be together, wants to grow together, and be part of the productive team effort for survival. But most important, they must want to pass down everything they know, let alone have, to the next generation, for its continued survival. Do you know how to case harden metal without looking it up on the internet? Can you cure meat in a fashion that makes it last for months? Can you and the ones you love survive, without the comforts that we as Americans have come to know and love? Simple answer for the most part is, NO! So what good is having your group of like-minded Pagans no matter what you call it, if you are not making plans for the group's future?

We all see the global conflict brewing and bubbling over on the news currently. Massive global confrontation is pretty close to a foregone conclusion here. Since it would be advantageous to overload the American forces with multiple fronts, don't be surprise when North Korea, finally, after decades of threats, joins in with troops to further complicate the current global turmoil. We already have war in the Middle East and Ukraine. Any other conflict would make three major war areas on the planet, and China is still pondering its next move. After all, China can afford to wait and see just what happens before committing to military conflict. We are on the precipice of World War III, and the world at large—not just American politics—is doing the “Us versus Them” thing. The lines drawn in the sands have disappeared, just like the Gaza strip. The Middle Eastern people will not tolerate another Book of Numbers. It is possible that reversal karma is now in effect. In karma, religious organizations must pay for the violence of their beginnings. The Russian Orthodox is going after Ukraine. These are Abrahamic Tradition Wars, as with most of the wars humans have entered into in the past couple of millennia. This war mongering has to stop for man to survive, so with that in mind, it's time to prepare for what's about to happen.

These wars will keep the throngs of stupid humans way too busy to fix the ice caps. The main problem is the ice shelves themselves, really. Once they are no longer connected to the continent of Antarctica, the rapid part of heat acceleration will take over. Record temperatures and stronger, more frequent storms are becoming the new norm as it is. Without the ice shelves, it leaves no current scientific means of keeping the poles frozen, and we can only watch as Antarctica loses all of its ice while the storms get worse, and temperatures reach new highs on a regular basis. Granted, there are massive amounts of fresh water currently leaving Antarctica and going into the ocean. This is being masked by the ice shelves, which are covering the run-off rivers flowing from underneath the ice of Antarctica. The caverns under the ice of Antarctica are massive by now. When the weight of the ice becomes too much over the caverns, which are formed by the heat of the ground melting the bottom of the ice itself, a huge crack is then formed in the ice. Then the shifting and sliding begins. These huge sections are becoming more common place, too. I'm currently 66, and I am not sure I will still make it comfortably through my golden years; and I live fairly modestly in this day and age. Let alone, living my foreseeable future without the loss of our infrastructure because of the global conflict. Horticultural products (including fruits, nuts, vegetables, and beverages) accounted for half of U.S. Agricultural imports in 2023. But if you thought COVID food shortages were devastating, you are in for a huge shock.

As Pagans, you need to start creating foundations: to start creating and getting your tribe, clan, cell, coven, den, Temple and Church connections, treaties, and agreements together, now. Bury the hatchets, mend the fences, and start making amends with others that are not from the Abrahamic Tradition. You may wish to limit your involvement with the Abrahamic Tradition since that tradition tends to think that God will save them, or more like if money can't fix it, then you can solve it with prayer. Thoughts and prayers equate to nothing more than a huge pile of dung! All three aspects of the Abrahamic Tradition really cannot be trusted since many of them would sell you out to others of their specific tradition, if they had the chance. Nothing personal, it is just their track record. Of course, it is always their God's will. The entire tradition hasn't displayed much integrity, let alone honor, over the last two millennia, especially with tolerating other cultures and religions, unless of course they can assimilate it into their beliefs. The Native Americans are still fighting to keep their heritage. That is not to say that those whom devoutly want to rid themselves of that tradition can't be trusted. Most Modern Pagans were raised in the Abrahamic Tradition in one form or another. I was raised Roman Catholic, which made it much easier to see through the lies. There are those that do want to get away from all the lies, too, but they are stuck watching over their dying family, who have fallen prey to that tradition. These individuals know full well that those who wish to hang on to it are nothing but a lost cause, yet they love them anyway.

While trade with others will be essential in the future, sometimes keeping those who are shady, close, but not too close, is a good call, too. There are those who are very simple folk, like the Amish and such, who want to keep to themselves, as much as we do. They are not the problem. It's those who can't take no for an answer, or those who flat out want to screw you over, that you have to worry about—which includes all kinds of con artists, bullshitters, current and/or ex-meth/drug addicts, even those who have various forms of brain damage. From what I have found out over the last few decades, a very large number of them choose Lilith as their Goddess, thinking they are being sly. If the drug addicts were not included, you would almost think it's an organized effort from some Pseudo-Christian organization, because there are so many of them. The only reference to Lilith in ancient text is a demon, not a wife. Lilith is first mentioned in ancient Babylonian texts as a class of winged female demons that attack pregnant women and infants. From that beginning, the legend of “The Lilith” spread to ancient Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Egypt, and Greece. In the guise of a wilderness demoness, she appears in Isaiah 34:14 among a list of nocturnal creatures who will haunt the destroyed Kingdom of Edom. This being her only mention in the Bible, but her legend continued to grow in ancient Judaism lore for a reason. It was made up to complete a plot hole in the story of Genesis 1:27 and Genesis 2:7, 21-22. Lilith’s creation is also recounted in “The Tales of Ben Sira,” an apocryphal work from the tenth century CE that they claimed was originally written by King Solomon himself. So you need to take time to think: Do you want that type of fluffy bunny, with that type of role model, around your people? What are they really doing in your organization? From a basic psychological aspect, they pathetically cling like an infant child to the system that raised and abused them, very much like Stockholm Syndrome. This is the 21st Century, so having airheads who believe in a demoness as their Goddess is fairly common place. These people tend not to be that bright, they do reflect their true intentions fairly obviously, and are normally projectors.

Remember the Greek saying, “The Gods only help those that help themselves.” Let's face the facts. The Gods never really cared about mortals before. Why would they start now? While the stories, myths, and legends taught and inspired our ancestors, mortals were nothing but play toys, to do with as they will. The Gods were just as cruel as the environment in which that specific culture survived in, during ancient times. The Gods actually caring about mortals, other than to fornicate with them in order to make a child, wasn't the norm. In numerous mythologies it is very common to contain both male and female demi-deities born as a result of the affairs and flings of the deities with humans. Frankly, kindness and rewards just for believing, and punishment if you don't, is mostly an Abrahamic Tradition thing. It is their attempt to give their followers hope and fear at the same time for control purposes. Although Wicca and other New Age followings tend to do the same thing: try to make different Goddesses more kind and motherly, instead of the vengeful and jealous types that many were in the mythology. The belief in a kind deity is nothing more than hopeful thinking, or just trying to keep positive. Though, having God come to you and granting you a child was one way to explain why a son didn't look like his father. “God came to me and gave me this child,” won't work very well in this day and age. DNA tests are cheap. Alternatively, you can use the old fashioned method: just wait a few years, and you will probably be able to figure it out. Depends on which friend looks more like the son. Like my Lutheran ex-wife, God was a washing machine salesman before he joined the military, not that she said anything other than the son looks just like his father.

Main problem here is that getting real Pagans organized is no easy task. After all, we are Pagan because we don't like organized religion in the first place. Organized religion always has someone trying to take control, wanting to be in control, or someone being misconstrued as trying to take control. Too much drama and backstabbing to keep each others' perceived power intact. You may as well forget camaraderie. Our hatred for organized religion is why they say organizing Pagans is harder than herding cats. Tribes survived because they not only did things for themselves, but they also traded goods and knowledge. Nothing wrong with learning from each other on a larger scale than your tiny immediate group, but trade was a key thing. You make arrow heads, we make knives, they make sturdy clothes, they raise birds for eggs, that group grows beans, and that tribe raises goats. Let's do some trading here, was the ancient way. The interaction was helpful to build trust between groups then, it should work really well now that there is a lot more to trade. There are also problems with interbreeding, so diversification of your children's love interests should also extend to other tribes as your group grows and interacts with others. Relatives you get along with, in good standing within other tribes, is a good thing. Not all tribes, in this day and age, need to live together, so having tribe members that will simply band together when anything happens is an excellent start.

When the worst part of non-action on climate change comes to pass, that's when you may be the elder that everyone else needs to look towards. Learning new things in line with survival now will be advantageous in the future. Do you have enough knowledge and resources, without the internet, to keep a small tribe of people alive? When the chaos of the problems of planet Earth (be it manmade or not) comes into reality, will you have the physical assets to keep a tribe going, in a world where money is useless and gold is just a junk metal? Networking in a local area, say an area that can be hiked to within a week, will help in the long run. That means trying to find local Pagan groups within 50-80 miles, just to get to know them; this could be quite advantageous in the future. Mutual protection has always been beneficial in ancient times. If for nothing else than delaying the invaders long enough to let the children and elders escape, to carry on the tribe. While movies like Mad Max appeals to the masses, that lifestyle won't be very appealing for most humans. But how far is that movie from a post apocalyptic reality that could come about when the world goes nuts? I am not sure, really. Hopeful thinking may just be what makes you a casualty, not a survivor, let alone a leader of a tribe.

To help with doing all this, there are a lot of old resources that can still be obtained cheaply while the internet is up and running, let alone while global commerce is still intact. Old boy scout merit badge books (older the better, really) are a wealth of knowledge. There are other series out there that cost more than a simple merit badge book. The Foxfire series is the first that comes to mind as references you may want on hand. You don't need to immediately jump on Ebay and buy a $220 set of 12-14 brand new books when you can get them for as little as $5 each, plus shipping. Check what's in them first; some of them may not be worth getting for what you envision the direction your group is going. If you watch the auctions, a short set of the eight original Foxfire books may go for around $100, but do you really want all eight when you can get the 3 or 4 that you do want, for less than $30? Abe Books has the Chinese Traditional Medicine books I utilize for half of what I originally paid for them, 20 some years ago; they came out in 1998. Also remember, PDF's are all well and good to have. I have numerous PDF's, but a hard copy, if kept right, may just outlast the loss of technology that could happen in global confrontation, as fuel supplies dwindle. Laptop batteries and solar panels have a life expectancy, after all; they don't last forever.

Having all those references are great, but knowing and having practical knowledge on how to use them is priceless! What good are all those certificates you can earn online, if you don't have practical knowledge? That makes you nothing more than a Second Lieutenant with a map, a danger to all those around. Too little of a dosage, and you have wasted resources because nothing happened. Too much, something they are allergic to, or not taking into account other medications they are taking that interacts with the herbs you plan on using, and you have an escalated problem. A problem that now needs the attention of someone beyond your expertise. Practical knowledge is more beneficial than any piece of paper ever could be. This problem is compounded by the fact that Western herbalism hasn't really caught up with Eastern yet. One Eastern rule is only use tinctures when you need the volatile oils that would be destroyed by other methods or when utilizing alcohol to intensify certain herbs effects, but that is for a 30ml+ dosage category of herbs, not a few useless drops. That is just one thing that tincture-happy Western herbalism hasn't learned yet. The other delivery systems are far better for the body to take in the required herbal constituents. So don't mix your herbs with a poison such as alcohol, if not needed.

Keeping in mind that while most of America in general believes our country is the greatest, America only has 337 million people. China has 1.4 Billion, which equates to 5 to 1 odds in China's favor. India also has 1.4 Billion, so we have that going for us since tension on their boarders has been growing. We do have a home town advantage over the entire country with a gun behind every blade of grass, as a Japanese military leader in WWII once said. That should be enough to keep the armies of enemy soldiers from our shores, but you need take a look for yourselves at the global courtship that is going on currently. See just where the alliances are forming. I am not saying it will be a Red Dawn type of thing. No, that would take too much logistics. It would be much simpler to let America do all the logistics, while spreading our country's resources thin, then cut all trade and let famine, disease, and the brutality-of-man-in-a-struggle-for-survival deal with most of the humans. Those humans who survive the ICBM barrage targeting our major urban metropolises, we can't stop them all. That is just one possible cold war future that has been rehashed over and over by the movies.

This is the 21st Century and the plain truth is, all countries will be having food shortages during the heat acceleration phase of climate change. So the only reason to try and invade would be for more food or getting rid of the humans you don't want to feed. Killing them off, in fruitless assaults, into a meat grinder defense system saves food. If you have to wonder where that is happening at in the world today, you live under a rock. Letting the throngs of humans kill each other off is very efficient and uses less resources.

Ammunition is a finite resource, so the rich elite plan to wait it all out in their shelters. That is the mindset of the wealthy who are already building doomsday shelters. I mean, you don't really belong in the billionaire's club unless you are building a better shelter than everyone else, complete with all kinds of modern conveniences. Wonder how many people already have golden tickets to the Gates or Zuckerberg shelters? Be a good leader and elder for your tribe so your future children and grandchildren will be able to carry on without falling prey to these megalomaniacs. If your tribe is fairly self-sufficient and has trade already established, you will not be in need of whatever things the former ultra rich have to offer in their attempts to assimilate your group into their leadership's control. With other tribes and groups in your network, resisting an armed takeover from an egotistical elite would also be possible, since they would not expect their future peasants to be networked already.

As for my own Church, I call it “The Church of the Hai Druid” so the simple folks locally can understand. While we have a University nearby, most of the people in our neighborhood are lucky if they have a high school diploma. That is to be expected. After all, the rich don't need the help. Our Church is ran more like a Buddhist Temple, except we eat meat; that is why we are considered Anti-Buddhas, because eating meat is the biggest evil transgression in the Buddhist way of life. Anti-Buddhas have a right to exist, this is based upon the workings of samsara (the endless cycle of birth, mundane existence, and death). In animal soul terms, most Buddhist Monks were farm/herd animals (prey) during the endless progression of death and rebirth. Anti-Buddhas were more the lions, tigers, eagles, wolves, or even bear types (apex predators). We, like Buddhist Temples, don't recruit. When your soul is old enough to realize you do go through the cycle of death and rebirth, you will seek others that know of this. If a soul cannot accept the basic tenet of samsara, then that soul is too young and still needs to grow and experience more incarnations to comprehend. Absolutely no use working with them, let alone trying to advance their knowledge, until they do comprehend. If you can't comprehend the basics, then how can you proceed? Whether we wish to help or teach someone when their soul is old enough, is another story.

Our Church has non-perishable supplies stockpiled. Not just food as I wrote about previously, I also have numerous references and some essential herbs saved in honey (keeps forever that way), various medicinal plant seeds saved in the freezer, along with extensive knowledge in Chinese and Ayurvedic herbal treatments. Of course that is for the modest Pagan temple I run, basically myself, my wife and her priestesses that she is helping or working with, and the locals in my neighborhood. You see, being prepared doesn't have to mean you go through survivalist training. Just have a brain, and get your resources along with your emergency stockpiles together, before the prices enter the stratosphere. Prices went through the roof during COVID and haven't really come down much since, due mainly to transportation costs, along with the greed for profit. Now we have a dock workers strike that may go for awhile. We also have a garden area set aside when needed, and will be upgrading to raised garden beds in the next couple of years. We had no problems throughout the COVID shortages, because we have modest stockpiles as a normal part of our operations. Yes, a big carry over on the motto, “Be Prepared!”

Other than that, if you are wanting to seek out a Druid as a resource for your group, most old soul Druids, myself included, are back to the ancient standards. Normally a seeker of knowledge or even trade, would bring a gift—something useful and/or needed—when seeking out a Druid. Being that a good share of Druids are more introverted than extroverted, it helps. Druids really don't want to talk with most humans in the first place, because we don't want others in our future karma. So limiting time spent and limiting energy released during time spent is essential, since spending time with each other, especially if you are doing energy work, can bind those souls into your future karma and incarnations. A gift does break the ice, and like a Buddha, Druids normally do not refuse a gift. Granted there are always exceptions to the rules, let alone different definitions and/or true motivations of a so-called gift. Druids are not normally as naive about the world as the vegan Buddhist Monks. Druids tend to be a lot more worldly and have much more higher education than a majority of Buddhist Monks ever dreamed possible, although the monks do have quantum physics down pretty good.

The less people linked to your karma, the better, is something many old soul Druids believe in. Also, while old soul Druids normally only intervene when a life is at stake, we are not naive and don't go blindly into the abyss. Having just one member of your group as a representative would also be helpful in keeping the resources of a knowledgeable Druid within the reach of your grasping hand, when you need it the most. If the representative is the same one that is trading and representing multiple tribes, even better. While Druids do tend to help more than one tribe, coven, you should get the drift, we may even help connect you with other groups. We don't like tons of people around all the time. Too many people around all the time disrupts the daily rituals, bi-weekly energy work, various studies, meditations, and doing the art that is sold to fund our operations. We don't run restaurants, libraries, coffee shops, or other gathering places in our modest homes for a reason, people. We are like Buddhist Temples, we keep to ourselves while making things with our own hands, the sales of which help sustain the temple. Or as one old soul Druid in Northern Oklahoma said to me, “I'm just living on my farm, milking my goats, and making cheese.” He is hidden away somewhere around the Keifer, Oklahoma area.

I am not an exception to the norm being in a city, because as Druids, we are all individuals. As I have told other Druids, you may be your father's son, but you are not your father. Even told daughters they were not their mother, too. This was mainly to make them realize they did not have to follow in their parents' footsteps, nor where they responsible for their parents' actions. As a Druid, they have choices. Some Druids can adapt more than others to city life, that's all. Some Druids are also traders, who don't mind being the go-between for groups; gives them the chance to visit ancient friends who used to be in their karma. Traveling merchants are how we kept track of other civilizations, and always knew when they were coming for a surprise visit. Traveling merchants, the most effective recon teams known to ancient man. Wouldn't doubt that the Northerners used them extensively before the invaders of the North changed the religious focus from Matriarchal to Patriarchal in or around 4000 BCE. To know about that, however, you need to get into the text books and published works circa 1970-77.

So Says the Hai Druid.