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Some Books Are Not Written To Be Read

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I was thrilled when my copy of Jaan Puhvel’s Comparative Mythology showed up on my doorstep. It was a busy week for all package deliverers driving down my block. Puhvel’s book arrived, as did J.P. Mallory’s In Search of the Indo-Europeans (a title my husband was interested in), Kevan Manwaring’s The Bardic Handbook, and ADF Senior Priest, Rev. Michael Dangler’s companion to the ADF Dedicant Path Through the Wheel of the Year, A Journal of Things Done.

Like I said, busy week.

I’ve shelved The Bardic Handbook for now – one new learning system at a time, please. I anticipate bringing it out if I should encounter any creative dry spells. Rev. Dangler’s Journal was a terrific purchase. It’s a must have for anyone who ever excelled at workbook-style learning (a little structure and guidance can go a long way). I put it straight to use.

Now, the Puhvel book. Let me tell you about the Puhvel book.

This is not a book to read. This is a book to reference. All it took was the Introduction and about three pages of the first section to figure this out.

No disrespect to Puhvel. He’s smart. Uber smart. And I’m sure that there’s plenty of valuable information in this book. I just think my brain might break into a billion bits if I try to read it cover to cover. And I don’t really think he wrote it for me to read. I think he wrote it for academia, and I don’t know if he means for them to read it either. It’s a good text, but not really a good read.

I think I’m going reach across the bed and steal my husband’s copy of In Search of the Indo-Europeans. I’ll let him take a stab at the impenetrable tome.

WWDD: What Would Druids Do?

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In a few days I should receive a copy of Rev. Dangler’s newly released DP Journal. I’m not sure exactly how I’ll use is, or whether pen and paper will be able to compete with keys and pixels. It’s much easier to use all 10 digits to keep up with my mind, and my meager forearm is less likely to cramp when I type. But, I like paper, even if I don’t use it as much as I used to. I like the idea of paper.

I wonder what the Druids of old would think about my documenting these esoteric studies and experiences on a blog. Or better yet, what would they think of a blog?

Would they see this collection of text and color, space and lines, as nothing more than the illusion of paper; an untouchable substitute for true script?

I’ve heard that the Druids underwent extensive training to learn the secrets of their kind*. Upwards of 20 years would be spent studying, memorizing. They committed the wisdom of their kin, their tribes, their ancestors to memory. No books. No one-click ordering a tome of knowledge and having it delivered to your doorstep in 2 Business Days, only to be skimmed and shelved. These cats were memory rich. Their wisdom was a slow growth forest; not a downloadable book.

(*I’m not sure if there is any reliable evidence of this claim. I’ve still got some reading to do.)

This musing is not self-righteousness. I am not blanket-condemming the digital landscape and all of it’s parts. I enjoy the benefits, just like whoever might be reading this post. Who knows – you might be the person who posts a comment that completely changes the way I see all of this. In an instant you could transform my understanding; light-speed alchemy.

No, I’m not anti-digital.

I’m just a Neo-Pagan member of a modern Druid Fellowship, who finds much of his sense of community through the internet, and who documents his progress on this spiritual path through publicly visible, digital text, wondering what my spiritual development would look like to my druidic, spiritual ancestors?

Would they scoff, or would they approve?