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Why Join?

There are as many reasons to join Avalon Druid Order as there are people in the world. Some join for the lifetime membership. Others join in hopes of finding a local group, or because they live in remote areas and hope to find a teacher and share their experiences with others of like mind. A few desire only to explore our nine-month Home Study, "Kindling the Sacred Hearthfire", and the lessons presented in our Member's Handbook, The Books of Tribes, and some join as a way of supporting something they feel may be of benefit to everyone. All of these very special people become part of Avalon's "tribal community" as it is in this time, in this moment.

There are many benefits to membership, including:

Access to members-only services, events, and publications.

Guidance and support in starting or joining an ADO Learning Circle or Grove.

The fellowship of other Avalonians drawn to the native form of Druid community.

Opportunities to explore traditional scholarship and worship.

A return to the roots of family and spirit-based community.

Membership, community, and even spirituality itself are only what we make of them. Your membership will be most enjoyable when you take an active part, sharing your unique experiences of our spirituality with others in our community.

Lifetime Membership

Avalon Druid Order (ADO) is a registered nonprofit religious charity founded for the purposes of learning, sharing, and perpetuating our specific Druid tradition and faith. Members make a long-term commitment to each other through ongoing participation in our spiritual community, just as the Order makes a long-term commitment to us by providing the resources through which we may attain these goals. As in any real community, if we are to live and walk the path together we must share the same definitions of terms, practice the same spiritual tradition, and live by the same customs, ethics, and social guidelines. To become members of a real traditional community is a lifetime process; thus we have instituted a lifetime membership.

Free Lifetime Membership is awarded to those who take and pass all currently required introductory coursework and are approved by the Elder Council as possessing attitudes, ethics, values, goals, and beliefs appropriate to and compatible with those of the Order. Aspirants and members must be proficient in English. Membership, once awarded, is maintained by continuing to following the spiritual tenets of the Tradition, actively participate, and meet all current ADO member requirements. There are no guarantees. Membership is a relationship between you and the Order, in which each party remains free to end the arrangement at any time should it prove untenable. For those suited to the rigours of our spirituality, Lifetime Membership provides a place in a stable community of like-minded people who are all embarked upon the same Path, in pursuit of the same goals. The Tribes are our most precious resource, giving life to our Druid Way, meaning to our endeavors, and purpose to our ancestral legacy.

Upon taking oath as an ADO lifetime member you may proceed with further studies at your own pace and in a traditional manner of your own choosing: Learning Circles and Groves provide continuous, essentially free training to members; our e-community provides a cyber hearthfire around which to share and explore ADO spirituality at a distance, while preserving the cultural, spiritual, and historical context through which we open ourselves to the lessons contained within Avalon's Sacred Story Cycles. The skills learned from basic practice also provide a basis for the more advanced, Druid studies. Yearning for a more intensive immersion in Avalonian belief and culture? Consider a tuitioned group study (workshops, intensives, or immersions) or customized individual training under an ADO Elder. Though Avalonian Druidry demands all of our heart, faith, and effort, the spiritual toil is made sweet by the company of others along the Way. Though such a long-term commitment is rare in modern spirituality, the continuity and disciplined practice it promotes are absolutely vital to honing the discernment and skill required for powerful, profound spiritual work.

Thus, to accept Lifetime Membership is to enter into an intimate relationship with Avalon through the bonds of spiritual community: the deeper the roots of your commitment the stronger your spiritual tree; the stronger your tree, the sweeter the fruits it will bear and the better it will endure a sudden frost. Ours is not a spirituality designed for solitaries; for even as the tree draws strength from the grove, so we believe that our faith grows stronger and deeper when expressed collectively and collaboratively. If you do not live near an existing circle, we encourage you to consider starting your own; the Way is much easier and more pleasurable when we walk it with others.

Lifetime Members are eligible for member discounts (where applicable) and to attend ADO member moots, gatherings, and Gorseddau (cultural celebrations) locally and around the world. As we grow together, you may even connect with other members or Groves when you travel. The opportunities to meet and explore Avalon with other members are limited only by your own imagination and your willingness to go forth.

Why Give?

Fellowship

Why do people give to any Sanctuary, Temple, or Church? The altruistic reasons are many: As a way of giving thanks for having a gathering place to learn and celebrate our beliefs. As a gift in kind for the extensive coursework we are receiving and other resources that are provided for us. Because we are proud of our spiritual home and wish to see it grow, and to help ensure that it will still be here the next time we come, and for the next person who comes. The Order is the repository of our ancestral heritage and our legacy to the future; but it cannot thrive and grow without our love, nourishment, and support. And what is the Order if not its members? When we give in support of our spiritual community, we nourish our own soul's garden and that of our children as well, by helping to ensure that the same opportunities and resources are available to them in the flowering of their awareness. All of these are excellent reasons to give, but there are practical reasons as well, and foremost amongst them, self-respect.

Just as the body houses each individual person's souls, so the Order houses our collective spirit. This collective spirit is the soul of Avalon's people: our spiritual benefactors (the 'Gods', Fae, and Mighty Ancestors), our current spiritual family (the Tribes/membership, inheritors of Avalon's legacy in this time), and our spiritual heirs (those members yet to come, to whom we shall bequeath Avalon's spiritual legacy). We see ourselves as a people perpetually integral to a sanctified Creation; thus giving is a form of spiritual observance on every level, unifying the personal and the collective. Giving acknowledges sacred Unity in three ways: by caring for our own bodies, the body of the sacred land, and our collective spiritual body. It is an action that affirms our belief that all things are One.

Scholarship: The Introductory Course

Like all religious spiritualities, ADO requires all members to know and to follow the customs, tenets, and articles of its faith, community, and spiritual practice. While most people are familiar with the tenets of mainstream religions, those of traditional (or 'minority') faiths are no longer remembered by most people today; thus new members cannot be expected to know them, but must be trained in the basic tenets before beginning their spiritual practice. For this reason, passing the Home Study course, "Kindling the Sacred Hearthfire" is prerequisite to applying for Lifetime Membership.* This applies to both new and returning members. You may briefly pause in your studies (through a "Leave of Absence") or stop permanently (by written withdrawal) at any time, but you must finish the Home Study and be approved by the Elder Council to be eligible for membership.

We all begin as "Seekers" and become "Aspirants" upon enrolment. Upon completing the Home Study and with Council approval, we may enter into Lifetime Membership* and become Dedicants, devoting our lives to Avalon through service to our families, our spiritual community, and the world. Lifetime Members may continue spiritual study and practice within Learning Circles or Groves, through discourse with other members, or through tuitioned studies. We only receive back from ADO what we are willing to give. The Home Study course (or 'Aspirant') fee is more than 'payment for services rendered'; it is a love offering from you to your intended spiritual community in appreciation for gifts and blessings received, and helps to ensure that these resources remain available in future. We each have our own reasons for giving; your reasons will be unique to you. We give you thanks in advance for your support.

* (Note: Aspirants who do not pass the course the first time may retake it up to two (2) more times, if necessary, at no additional cost.

Regrets, but there are no refunds on early terminations or withdrawals, for unfinished coursework, or for Elder Council denial of ADO membership.

Lifetime Membership is contingent upon your continued compliance with all ADO member requirements, both present and future.)

Mentoring

(Provided based on member participation and mentor availability)

Without personal understanding and experience one cannot follow Avalon's Druid Way. As a branch of Faery Druidry we attain this wisdom through traditional learning: via the spoken word, direct observation, and personal practice. No one comes to the Tribes or to Avalonian Druidry by reading, intellectualizing, or discussing alone. You must do and redo the suggested explorations and projects, consistently participate in member gatherings, and maintain a regular personal and group spiritual practice if you are to reap the full benefit. Aside from the required Home Study and the continuous training provided within its Groves, the Order does not promise free training to every member. Mentoring Elders invite members to apprentice with them based on their own availability and the member's demonstrable readiness and service to our community. In addition, from time to time the Order may offer online chat sessions in support of individual study and practice, but provision of this service relies upon member participation and the availability of a reliable, free, and generally accessible chat client. When these resources are unavailable the service will not be provided. At such times the onus for study will remain with the individual members; the option to join or found a Learning Circle or enroll in tuitioned studies is ever there for you, should you choose to avail yourself of it.

Tradition teaches us not by 'giving us answers or explanations', but by questioning in ways that direct one's attention down paths of inquiry that may be fruitful. Whether the questions succeed will depend upon what one does with them; it is by your journey (and not ours) that you will arrive at wisdom. To benefit from traditional training you must be able and willing to see and experience traditional mentoring as a compassionate provocation to discovery, rather than as a struggle for power or authority. It is not enough to know this in your head; it must come naturally to your heart. If it does not, you may not experience the spiritual healing and self-empowerment that is central to our spiritual focus. To better understand, we encourage you to make a thorough study of the information at the links below. It is important to us that those who join are those for whom our Tradition will be most beneficial and satisfying.

Be assured that if you follow your intuition the right path will find you. Consider your feelings at this moment: If anxiety is already creeping into your belly and second thoughts are whispering in your ear -- honour them. There is a reason for your discomfort and it should be respected. If you are a good independent learner, enjoy solving puzzles, are not intimidated by being asked questions for which you cannot possibly have an answer, do not resent occasionally hearing hard truths, and if the idea of meeting these challenges kindles your sense of excitement and adventure, then this path may be perfect for you!

Worship: What Members Do

What members do depends in part upon three things: (1) the individual, (2) the collective of members with us at any given time, and (3) the needs of Tradition. The landscape of modern spirituality is a restless one with many drifters, dabblers, and observers passing through it; factors which make for an ebb and flow in our membership. We each help to define the sort of membership ADO has at any given time -- moment by moment, choice by choice. We are a working group, sharing the fruits of our labours with other members who are doing the same. Every group of members is different and we cannot, of course, tell you which sort of group will be with us at any given time. Our experience here can only be what each of us, by our dedication, commitment, and actions makes it; we hope you will find it a vibrant one and that you will help to enliven it!

Our membership thrives on action and reciprocity; thus the ideal ADO member is someone who is a dedicated, disciplined, and active participant. Those who "sit back and wait (or watch)" will receive nothing; those who enter wholeheartedly into the Order's intent and purpose will discover a spiritual practice of incomparable richness and depth. Active participants enjoy many opportunities to strengthen spiritual bonds with other members, including gatherings at "Member Moots", Tribes events, Druid Gorseddau, and celebrations in Groves and Learning Circles. Creative projects, shared study and spiritual practice, and lively explorations further deepen the experience of our spirituality. To enter into this experience will require you to accept that Avalon's Druid Way (and/or the Order's teachings) may not conform to your personal desires or expectations, that your own role within our spiritual community may be different from your imaginings, and that to name, confront, and release your own fears is absolutely vital to spiritual progress -- goals attainable through the consistent spiritual practice and belief we call Worship.

Who Can Join?

ADO has an international membership. Aspirants enrolled in the Home Study course are granted provisional membership conditional upon meeting all ADO member requirements. To become (and remain) a Lifetime Member you must: (1) Be of legal age (or submit a signed, dated, and notarized parental consent or COPPA); (2) Be proficient in spoken and written English; (3) Submit a completed Member Application-Home Study Enrolment Form (next page); (4) Pay the Aspirant Fee and successfully complete the required introductory Home Study course within the appointed time; (5) Be approved for membership by the Elder Council; (6) Abide by all ADO member requirements, now and in future; (7) Uphold Traditional ethics, values, and customs as taught in ADO, both in circle and in daily life; (8) Support and serve our spiritual community (to include, upon conferral of Lifetime Membership, providing regular tutoring to new Aspirants and other Lifetime Members); (9) Affirm and demonstrate an authentic spiritual calling to serve Avalon (i.e. volunteer in our members community, conform to the needs of Traditional, and practice good stewardship through sustainable living and compassionate community service).

What Else Is Required?

The harmony of our spiritual community depends upon the compatibility of its members with the Tradition, the Order, and its goals. Every community has its rules and guidelines and ours is no exception. We are each responsible to understand, to know, and to uphold these requirements as a condition of applying to join and remain members of the Order. As a Lifetime Member of our spiritual community you will take oath to uphold these requirements and expectations, so it is important that you understand and be in full agreement with them. Please review the documents below carefully. Should you have any questions or require any clarification as to their intent or meaning, please do not hesitate to contact our Members Registrar at: ado_admin@avalondruidorder.org (Subject Header: Members Registrar). We will gladly assist you.