Exploration on Emerald
.VI.
Avyndriel of the Sun

“To will change upon the self, is to change the world.

Only through Will can all balance be attained.”

- The Axiom of Will, Teachings of Sister Hurricane -

Emerald Duty

When we gaze upon the second Exploration of Emerald, Emerald Presence, we come to understand that our duty is not to consistently uphold the natural balance. The natural world will always persist, even after we abandon our ivory towers and stone castles. It needs no aid in its restoration.

Rather, it is my understanding that Gifted Druii possess their connection in aid against forces and creatures that were not made for our realm entirely. We can spend our days roaming the continent, restoring abandoned settlements and healing blight and other disturbances, but what is the use of our connection if we cannot battle the very forces causing this corruption?

If all we ever focus on is restoration and recovery, the forces will only ever grow in number and inevitably overwhelm us. You can spend your lifetime trimming a weed when it grows, or you can spend a moment removing its roots and preventing its return entirely. Our duty when attuned is not to embrace our connection and live in harmony. Our duty is to rise as the Aspects’ army, protecting their work in restoration and recovery within the Tayna, by combatting the unnatural entities who seek to wreak havoc upon our realm.

I recall Circles of old, from my youth, who were highly involved in such feats. Their gates always open, welcoming travelers regardless of origin and race, and praising any opportunity to spread the teachings of the natural world and their duties. I recall an era of harmony between Malin’s Kin and the Aspects’ Servants. 

The Oracle recalls this also. I spoke to her of the current era of the Druii, and she drew forth what I had originally written here - “I await its return, with bated breath”. With this, she then asked of me,

“Why do you wait, Avyn?”

“Seeking the right moment?”

I had originally written these Articles during my residence within the Vale of Nevaehlen. When I finally spoke to the Oracle of Emerald however, I had already relocated to the village of Oswin. I recognised the prevailing cowardice. I yearned for the return of our Golden Era. With this, Awaiti said simply,

“Then you are not waiting”

With my attunement, the Aspects called upon me to recognise the totem I had been blessed with. I came to understand that each of our totems is not simply a moniker of our stories thus far, but rather the duty granted upon us by the Lord and Lady. With this, I revealed what I understood mine to be.

“I wondered if perhaps I would take my Mother’s original moniker - but I suppose it would be best our paths are not alike. I will be strong where she was weak. I will shine where she began to falter. I will be the Sun that disgraced me so long ago. I will be radiant when the darkness seeks to envelop us. I will be your hope, when my brethren begin to wither and fade.

As long as I remain, the Druii will persevere. The light will never fade. The Sun will never set.”

This is my duty.

Exploration on Emerald
.V.
Avyndriel of the Sun

“To will change upon the self, is to change the world.

Only through Will can all balance be attained.”

- The Axiom of Will, Teachings of Sister Hurricane -

Emerald Communion

If we look upon the first Exploration on Emerald; Emerald Aspectism, we find a connection between the concept of the Tayna, and the living energy we have always known to exist within the natural world. This living energy that ebbs and flows is much akin to the Song of Nature; the Tayna, which increases and silences according to the state of the natural world. Are they not simply one and the same?

To recognise this, and understand that it may be so, then helps us gaze upon the process of a Druidic Attunement, and those connected. After a recent conversation with a dear friend of mine, whom was transported to a realm without any Nature, I began to contemplate.

To her, the realm was deafening, yet silent. It made sense, of course - for someone who is so used to hearing the lull of Nature around her, to suddenly hear naught. However, it opened my eyes upon the Nature of the Tayna itself and our connection to it once we are attuned.

One who is attuned is near immediately thrown into a cacophony of unfamiliar sounds and screeches. We have all seen it - a new Druid who stumbles about lost in their head, struggling to find direction. Often, they are encouraged to meditate for some time until they are ready to begin their first lessons. But why is this? What is the difference between hearing the Tayna at first attunement, and as an esteemed Druid?

I believe it lies in the Song itself. Druii are connected to Nature on an almost spiritual level. They are capable of weaving roots and vines as if they were their own limbs. I believe Druii become an extension of the land itself - sentient husks that roam and live whilst consistently hearing the melody around them regardless of their communion or not. That is the very key to all of this: the melody.

It is my belief that when a Druid is first connected, this meditation they must undertake to find direction and grow used to these new sounds of Nature, is actually them learning how to adapt their mental and spiritual selves to this new song. They search through the torment of these unusual sounds, eventually learning to warp their very self to match the tempo and rhythm of Nature’s Lullaby. Once this is achieved, they become capable of communion through falling in step with this song, and wielding its melody against their opponents.

This would mean, of course, when a Druid is confined to a realm or location void of the song of Nature, they lose track of this melody, and thus are thrown mentally and spiritually out of tune. They scramble to find the rhythm once more, but are lost in the deafening absence of song.

However, if this contemplation proves to be true, this then enables us to examine the possibility of different songs. Druii have an arsenal of capabilities - whether it be the healing of blight or creation of healing poultices. Would this healing result in a gentle pull and tug to return Nature to its original song, or perhaps a crescendo of instrumental volume in order to overwhelm whatever absence or taint is withholding Nature from its lullaby?

Exploration on Emerald
.IV.
Avyndriel of the Sun

“To will change upon the self, is to change the world.

Only through Will can all balance be attained.”

- The Axiom of Will, Teachings of Sister Hurricane -

Emerald Drive

One thing I feel has not been thoroughly explained, or conceptualised, is the focus upon what drives one’s Will. The definition and understanding of Will itself is explained and written upon endlessly, however we have yet to explore what enables a person to enforce such a strong Will.

If we were to think of Will as the fire that burns within all of us, enabling us to stand strong and resolute, and never sway from our duties, then that fire is in need of a source of fuel. For everyone, of course, that fuel will always be different. For instance, some are driven by the desire to protect their kin, whilst others by the very love bestowed upon them by those kin. Some less healthy drives could be the desire to seek vengeance for a misdeed enacted upon them, or revenge upon a foe who harmed a beloved.

Before we are capable of strengthening our Will, and our resolve, I believe we must first take time to gaze upon the self and reflect. Meditate often. Turn to your thoughts and history and examine all that you have endured and experienced thus far, both good and bad. We must ensure that whatever drives our Will is something healthy and continuous. To have a drive that can be someday achieved, such as ending a specific foe, or protecting a friend from consequences, is not entirely the best drive to have. However, some of these goal-oriented drives can also become evolving drives.

For example, someone who has the desire to one day build a family, has a goal-oriented drive. Once that family is built, their desire will most likely shift towards the protection and preservation of that family - thus making it an evolving drive. This is healthy, as it focuses on the wellbeing and happiness of themselves, and those around them.

To have a drive focused upon someone else, in which you seek revenge for their death, or to ensure their own progression over yours etc, is not healthy. These sorts of drives do not work for the enforcement of Will, as they are temporary and unable to evolve into a higher form, and may easily cloud one’s judgment in the heat of battle or any encounters with the foe or person in question. 

To be Emerald is to focus upon ones’ self. Trust in the Will of the World, and focus on procuring happiness for yourself and others, rather than allowing your hate and disdain fester over the ways you have been wronged. Find your own drive, and reflect on how healthy it truly is. 

Exploration on Emerald
.III.
Avyndriel of the Sun

“To will change upon the self, is to change the world.

Only through Will can all balance be attained.”

- The Axiom of Will, Teachings of Sister Hurricane -

Emerald Mortality

Following a discussion held with a friend, the concept of giving one’s life to the Druidic Mission and what such entails began to linger within my mind.

The Emerald Path focuses so heavily upon the enforcement of one’s will and living within the moment, but to also uphold the necessity of perspective from various angles, that I fear it fails to acknowledge how these two principles struggle to overlap in a heated conflict. For example, if an individual found themselves involved in a conflict in which they were suddenly faced by a great enemy, their will would either carry them forth to seek victory whilst the heat of the battle would prevent them from taking a moment to examine their available paths.

The most obvious option would be to momentarily retreat, enabling them to examine the entire battlefield to determine whether a full withdrawal is necessary, but when faced with such a great enemy it is highly unlikely they’d be permitted such an opportunity.

In the face of this comes the ultimate query; is it Emerald to seek a glorious death through the ultimate drive of will, or to retreat when capable and reassess your chances of victory versus defeat?

Personally, I believe the answer to be neither of these. There is no shame in fearing death and fighting to keep your life, especially when such a life could change the tides in future battles. However, as one of the last War-Clerics of the Stag, I also believe the concept of a glorious death to be false. One does not simply perish in a “blaze of glory”, as such a death then shifts into a grab at fame. The only difference in this context is a death of planned sacrifice, as we saw with Tanila and her restoration of Ando Alur’s tragedy, though even this was an event wreaked with sorrow and pain for all involved.

However, to assume all sacrifices, whether planned or not, to be the same is the very opposite of Emerald. It should be understood that the concept of perspective within the Emerald Principles is an understanding that no two incidents will ever be identical. It is with this that I came to understand the truth in this concept of death within a heated, unpredictable battle; 

to be Emerald is to sharpen your mind to be capable of rapidly gaining perspective in the most dire of situations - to make immediate assessments and decisions. 

To be Emerald is to trust your gut and intelligence, and to know when to push through will, and retreat with perspective.

Exploration on Emerald
.II.
Avyndriel of the Sun

“To will change upon the self, is to change the world.

Only through Will can all balance be attained.”

- The Axiom of Will, Teachings of Sister Hurricane -

Emerald Presence

The Aspects are a very controversial topic, as the form in which they exist is often interpreted in many ways. However, there are some Druii who either refuse to believe in them at all, or are instead angered by the Aspects’ lack of touch upon the mortal realm. Their absence within our realm is difficult to prove, especially due to the many interpretations of their manner of existence. To believe they are the energy within the Natural world itself, would mean that they are forever present within our realm.

For a time, I believed the Aspects to be some form of invisible force - guiding the Tayna as weavers of threads and composers of songs. I believed the Tayna itself to be incapable of being left without guidance, akin to a still lake lacking a river to ripple the surface and provide momentum. It was not until my eventual attunement that I learnt more of the connection within nature, and came to understood this truth.

If we return to the first Exploration on Emerald, we revisit the idea of the Aspects being the very embodiment of the flow of living energy. The heat, courage, and fear within conflict, and the joy, growth, and breath of new life. The Aspects’ Will in physical form, presenting themselves to us with every beat of a wing, or howl at the moon. Every blade of grass, and every sigh as the wind trickles through the canopy.

Gazing upon the Emerald Tomes, one must come to understand that the Descendants, in these teachings, are not considered natural entities. Rather than coexist with the world around us, we seek to break it down and reforge it into our desired form; weapons, armour, cities, castles. But even in this, we are simply recycling natural resources. With our absence, all of these items and constructs will inevitably return to the nature around us - rusted and weathered by air and age, or fractured and broken by weed and moss.

To then consider how large our world is - how much we have already ventured across, and how many more realms and continents are yet to be explored, is to then consider the workload of our Aspects. We see their work in birth and death. We see their presence in flourishing valleys and forests stretching towards the sun. To me, they cannot be found in true, singular form for they are too entwined within the Tayna that is woven throughout all natural life. Their work is endless, like the sun and moon. They cannot stop, and thus cannot have time for us beyond momentary, magical moments of nature. They show themselves in these fleeting moments of pure wonder; the shimmering of a lake coated in luminescent algae, or the fluttering of millions of butterfly in a field of flowers. These wonders are proof of their presence. A gentle reminder that they can always be found, even in the darkest of times.

Exploration on Emerald
.I.
Avyndriel of the Sun

“To will change upon the self, is to change the world.

Only through Will can all balance be attained.”

- The Axiom of Will, Teachings of Sister Hurricane -

Emerald Aspectism

The Emerald Way values critical thinking and perspective highly, encouraging its followers to not simply accept doctrine and knowledge as it is, but rather to seek out further answers. It is for this very reason that many advancements in Aspectism have occurred; the returning of the Seeds in early Vailor, the splitting of the Circles upon Axios, and now the formation of Mani Priesthoods and Paths of Aspectism. Without the few Mali who have dared to step beyond the bounds of the known, and sought out answers to the past and present, our culture would be forever unchanging and our traditions with their meanings lost upon us.

When I began my study of the Paths of Aspectism, I read through the tomes of each to properly assess which path would most benefit me. The Sages appeared most enticing; to remain neutral and calm, unbiased. To have control. I would like to believe that my history within Tahariae’s Order had prepared me for such a path, with the ability to steel my emotions and thought in the midst of even the most emotional conflicts. However, this simply wasn’t true.

It wasn’t that I gained control of my Self in those battles. Rather, it was because I understood what needed to be done, and thus drove forth regardless of wound and injury. It was my determination. My Will. Though I admired the Sages’ school of thought, I knew within that it was not the correct path I had to follow. Instead, I delved into the Tomes of Emerald, and felt all that I had known warp around me. 

Having been raised by an Archdruid, Renn of the Wheat and Wisteria, I had always felt comfortable in my knowledge of the Aspects and their gifts. Cerridwen, the Mother of Life and Lady of Wheat. Cernunnos, the Father of Death and Lord of the Hunt. The books upon them were relatively identical in their understanding and knowledge. The most variation came from the Aspects and their interpretations; the Lord and Lady existing as energy within all living things, as entities within the Eternal Forest with vessels through which they enacted their Will, or some vague mixture of both.

Throughout my three centuries of life, it was not until I studied the Emerald Way that I realised there was so much more within these stories. So much more to be explored and questioned and found. Cernunnos. Not a Lord who brought the mercy of death when the clock eventually chimed, but rather the very embodiment of the courage and fear felt by predator and prey as they raced through the forest. Heightening emotions driving them forth and exhausting themselves, until they are brought upon the brink of death. The shifting from vessels as lifeforce flows, departing a weakening form to greet the surrounding world and revitalise it with an excess of melody. 

Cerridwen. Nae a Lady who births life into the realm, but rather the rising, strengthening hum of pure life as it seeps within an expectant mother to bless the growing babe within. The warmth of the sun as it wittles down blankets of snow, nourishing the ground beneath with both water and light. Returning flora as it stretches across the landscape in an endless web; creeping through cracks in stone, and stretching towards the smallest glimpses of light in a dark cave.

The Aspects, as I quickly learnt, are not as easily describable as we thought. Their gifts are ever changing, flowing within the river of the Tayna that possesses all of nature. I observed the world around me as my perspective adjusted, understanding finally that this living energy did not simply fade upon death or conjure upon birth, but instead amassed in new forms borrowed from the old. It flows akin to a stream; corroding aging surfaces and whirling around new stones.

Aspectism is no longer the mere worship of two deities. It is now a deep and profound understanding of the interconnected natural world that lives all around us. The Emerald Way blessed me with a new vision, and has enabled me to explore new paths of thought rather than simply accepting what is.

A Personal Reflection and Understanding upon the Tomes of the Emerald Way

Tome of Two Balances

“To will change upon the self, is to change the world.

Only through Will can all balance be attained.”

- The Axiom of Will, Teachings of Sister Hurricane -

.I.
Morality as Inner Balance

When it comes to the topic of neutrality, such an idea has been toyed with near endlessly, both in the present, past, and undoubtedly in the future also. We see it woven throughout both the history of Druidic Cultures, and Descendant Cultures alike; in the form of the Bronze Elves who sought indifference and control of emotion, through to our own Path of the Sage. However, this neutrality is unnatural to Descendant.

Our hearts race with excitement and pound with fear, the blood rushing through our body in moments of extreme emotion. Such is natural for us, and thus we must let it be so. To attempt to be neutral; to examine and assess in an attempt to act as the Aspects might, is not our duty. We should not strive to be as the Aspects are, but rather to be as we are; the Druii. Their frontline defence and support upon the materialistic realm.

In the same fashion, our communities and Nations that form among the like-minded are also not to be avoided. Descendants are social creatures who require emotional attachments to not only thrive emotionally, mentally, and physically, but to also aid in the development of new perspectives, the progression of ideologies, and the preservation of traditions. How else are we expected to uphold our mission if we cannot even uphold our own health and histories?

.II.
Will Within Balance

Often we, as Druii, focus so entirely on the balance that we strive to protect and preserve that we fail to remember the balance within ourselves that must be initially uphold in order to successfully conduct such duties.

So many are the Druii who rely entirely on their gifts - not always at a fault of their own. Many Guides fail to understand that the trials and tribulations their students endure in order to receive the Gift are meant not as preparation for the receival, but rather to sharpen and enforce their minds, bodies, and spirits. It is for this reason that many believe that the world is weak; forever requiring the hand of the Aspects’ servants to aid in its natural restoration when it is the very opposite entirely.

The balance of the world knows a will far greater than our own. 

Life will find a way, no matter how damaged it may be.

The true weakness lies in the Men who rely upon their gifts. To permit their bodies and minds to atrophy rather than embolden their own Will to match that of the world around them. It is not us whom the world relies upon to resume its natural state, but rather the World whom we rely upon to guide us in our mission.

.III.
The Nature of Will

A man can change everything if he is willing to sacrifice for it.
The greatest changes require the strongest wills,
And we must give much for the salvation of this world.

In the beginning, we have nothing.
Our privilege is the dirt.
In such darkness, our will guides us to light
Perspective pierces the veil of dark.

Our birthright is our failings, and the pain we suffer.
When darkness comes, we can rely on no other to face it for us.

Only through our willpower can balance be attained.

.IV.
Beings of the Present Self

There is no lasting stillness. It is impossible. Accept this. Know it in your bones.

The balance is everflowing; everchanging in its shapes and forms, temper and moods. We see it in the way a river corrodes the banks of rock and stone with time, and in the weather that wanes from shimmering to pour in mere hours.

Each second, we are brought into a new world. A new reality. Nothing ever will be, or has ever been the same. The past exists a mere second behind the present, and with this understanding must come the acceptance that it cannot be changed, and thus must only be learnt from and released from our hearts and minds. We mustn't linger upon what once was, for the world changes form along with us, and thus we will never be alone in our acceptance of what once was.

Rather than changing what once was, we can instead choose to learn from it and seek to change what currently is. We use these tools and lessons from our past to mold the world as it currently stands; through our will we are capable of living in a greater environment.

Once we learn to release our past and shape our present into a healthier form, we are capable of relinquishing whatever fear lies in the anticipation of the future. By focusing on our present, the dangers of the future are less likely to arise. Through understanding comes acceptance and health.

Live in the moment, and your will can shape the future.

.V.
The Balance of the Self

The encouragement of thriving within a community not only pertains to the progression of ideologies and culture, nor the necessity of seeking other perspectives on a variety of affairs. Most importantly, it reflects upon the various experiences that aid towards each individuals’ understanding of the concept of ‘Good’ and ‘Evil’. However, this concept cannot be branded so simply.

It is better to view it as the concept of Selflessness versus Selfishness. As many Druii could, and should, attest to, the world cannot exist with only the ‘Good’, nor can it with ‘Evil’. In the same vein, the Descendants who actively shape and form our histories and religions cannot act in an entirely selfish manner, nor a selfless one, for being selfish for the sake of restoring ones’ health can also be deemed selfless, and the selfless sacrifice of a life can also be selfish for the agony their loved ones will endure.

Not every situation is the same, for every situation holds different individuals, experiences, and intents. Perspective must always be upheld, to properly assess when it is best to sacrifice ones’ strength to aid in the greater cause, or to withhold it to aid another in gaining the skills and experience from fighting their own battles.

This sentiment is evident across all walks of life, no matter how large or small. One cannot be inherently Good, for even pure intentions can produce dark repercussions. Context and perspective is necessary. True balance in all forms, not just within the natural world, is key.

Tome of Strife

“To will change upon the self, is to change the world.

Only through Will can all balance be attained.”

- The Axiom of Will, Teachings of Sister Hurricane -

.I.
The Absence of Understanding

We are missing something within our teachings, a piece that allows others to break their chains and to be free from the slavery of secular thought.

Regardless of how much one seeks true sight and understanding of the world around them, there will never be a threshold upon which they can claim they have achieved.

True understanding, in this manner, is not to fully understand the world around us in all of its beauty and darkness, but rather to understand what it is we lack, where our weaknesses lie, and to act in search of mending these ailments. For this, we can never truly understand, for as the ages flow, our culture and gifts gradually shift along with them.

The inability to look inwards and not only acknowledge our shortcomings, but to also admit to them and have the courage to grow from them is one of the largest causes of failure within our Order. From the teachings that are delivered as early as Dedicancy, to the true definition of what makes a Druid, and even the content dependency on current beliefs, our Order holds many flaws that have only begun to be burrowed into due to the enlightenment and encouragement from the Emerald Path.

To blindly follow doctrine as its taught, with no intent to further ones’ beliefs or understanding, or reflect upon the blatant flaws and issues that arise due to its methods, is to be blind to the truth.

Become what strengthens an ideology, not a slave to it by following it dogmatically. Without this contrast, we are but marionettes, tangled in the strings of weaknesses in our ideologies.

.II.
The Value of Struggle and Self Reliance

The Devout, Druii without gifts, are simply those with greater will. With the proper will, everything can be changed, such is the nature of will itself.

Learn not to require the Aspects’ Gifts in order to serve Nature, but to be blessed with them as a result of unending devotion to the healing and guidance of nature over its wounds and pain. The Gifts are given to aid a Druii in their work as they help Nature to reclaim the land and restore it to its natural state - a state not defined as how it existed before an interruption, but as Nature breaking down wall and stone to reunite with the earth in a new physical formation. The Tayna is restored, in a new state.

.III.
The Nature of Life and Death

Death does not exist. This life created by the Mother never leaves this world, it merely passes from vessel to vessel.

The Role of the Father is oft misunderstood, as he is not death. His name is Strength, for his power to move the energies of life from one vessel to the next.

The Mother is a creator of life, growing, nurturing, healing, and guiding it across the realm. Aiding in the restoration of wounds within the Tayna - the soul and living energy of the natural world. The Father does not take this life, nor destroy it. He shifts it, taking the energy of a dying elk laying itself to rest within the forest, and transferring it to the grass and earth below to embolden their life and growth. 

As the Mother creates and guides new life and growth, the Father transfers it into new forms once it reaches its end.

If you define yourself by your ability to usher Death, your strength is as fleeting as grains of sand in the wind.

To recognise and understand that death is not the taking of a life and removal of its energy from our realm, but the transference of life between vessels, is to understand the Father’s true strength, and by extension our own.

.IV.
Facing Conflict

Live your life, and act with great respect and wisdom, for you must be a beacon of change for the world, a fount of knowledge and veneration.

To live a life is to live one with layers. At the foremost, one must appear stable with morals guided upon principles - of which our will spills forth and enforces our actions that are based upon such morality. However, the inability to fully see the world around us - to explore, learn, and continuously fill our plates with new knowledge and understanding will only ever hinder the development of our principles.

Such are meant to be updated and adjusted regularly, lest we fall into a stagnant cycle built upon religious doctrines of old; irrelevant to the modern age and poorly extracted from.

As the saying goes, learn from past mistakes. But these mistakes are not only of our own, of our culture and people, or of our Nations. They are also the mistakes of others, regardless of race, gender, or origin. We must learn from other sentient forms we may interact with, learning of the world through various eyes and beliefs. Only then may we form knowledgeable and understanding principles and truly learn from all, both mistakes, failures, and successes.

Will, 

Principle, 

Perspective,

These are the three great values that the Emerald Way promotes

.V.
The Place of Gifts and Tools

The dependency of Druii upon their blessings and gifts is an everlasting struggle, as some rely upon them for even the simplest of daily tasks. Even when faced with the greatest of struggles and challenges within their mission, Druii rely entirely on their gifts to pave the way to success. 

True devotion to the Druidic Path and the Lord and Lady who bless it may be achieved regardless of a Druid’s connection. To require the gifts to conduct a Druid's duties is untrue, and only those who truly understand this are those who are truly devoted to their mission and the understanding of it.

The truth of such affairs are that the blessings received through attunement are merely one of many tools available at our disposal. Ones’ mind, physical strength, charisma, and words are merely but a few of the alternative tools forever within our arsenal, yet rarely used instead of our gifts. 

A Druid is not an entity blessed with the gift of communion, but rather a devout entity who protects the balance to the best of their ability.

The Order should enforce teachings of these inherent tools that we already possess, rather than preparing them to rely on their gifts.

Tome of Emerald

“To will change upon the self, is to change the world.

Only through Will can all balance be attained.”

- The Axiom of Will, Teachings of Sister Hurricane -

.I.
Amongst the Shadows, the Hunter Preys

When the darkness comes, we can rely on no other to face it.

Within our world, even in the communities, friendships, and partnerships we build, we must understand that we are alone. We will never be capable of relying on another entirely - for even the closest companion will never fully agree on everything, or be able to match another’s strengths. We must learn to rely on ourselves entirely. To be capable of enduring and overcoming on our own, even in our darkest and weakest moments. 

At first glance, one might assume the Hunter within the Shadows to be an ever present foe. An enemy. Or perhaps a fear. Something that consistently preys on the self and urges for betterment. However, this is only further proof of how much relyance one needs on themself. To become strong within, and capable of overcoming all obstacles without external aid, warps the self into that very same Hunter.

Amongst the Shadows, the Hunter Preys. Remain in these shadows. Hold your tools to your chest. Mask your understanding and knowledge. Withhold from lashing out with physical force. Allow others to question your presence, and wonder if you truly are capable of anything more. In their moments of doubt and comfort, when the shadows stretch their furthest and the clock nears twilight, strike. Seek out the most opportune of timing, and unleash all you have kept within.

Live in service to the two balances. Give your all to both of them, and sacrifice little to anything else. Become a devoted servant to the path before you, and utilise violence only when necessary for survival.

.II.
The Power of Identity

In all things, know who you are.

An understanding of one’s self is imperative to the two balances. Your strengths and weaknesses. Your hopes and fears. Lingering guilt and shame from experiences past, or newfound friendship and love. Meditate to seek understanding of the self, and all that has occurred to shape you into who you are. Come to revelation in realisation, and grasp upon the reigns of your growth.

When understanding is found, the ability to control your identity and who you are becomes entirely yours. Take control of your name, shape and change it as you see fit. Adjust your appearance and style. Break free from the restraints of society and seek your own comforts and risks.

No one is born with a profound understanding of who they are. It is found only through deep reflection of the self.

.III.
The Importance of Endurance as Mali

We as Mali were cursed with longevity. For eons we have lived knowing this to the point that our very civilizations have been adjusted to account for our lifespan. Coming of Age ceremonies. Distinct, historical bloodlines and seeds. Our reverence of history. Throughout all that we have faced, we have remained. Throughout all of our experiences, scars, and trauma. We have remained.

It is for this reason that we must build upon and develop our endurance. We have lived among mountains, forests, and seas, and watched our brethren fall to foe of various forms. We have had to wash the grass of blood of our kin, and live on with their stories embedded in our memory.

We were cursed with longevity, but left with the same mental fortitude of a human. We must strengthen ourselves and our resolve, and be capable of watching the world change around us whilst we remain unmoved. We must endure.

.IV.
On Mani

With the reveal of the Mani, and the uncovering of many such patrons, our faith has delved even further into new sects and worship. A wondrous feat, soon twisted by darker hearts and minds. Awaiti observed the followers of Morea and Moccus lead an exodus from the lands of the Dominion, beginning with the revolt of Kairn Ithelanen. My own brother.

In her observation, Awaiti remained faithful to her understanding that the Aspects are above all. It is for this reason that the Emerald Way favors no Mani. They may be worshiped and revered, but the Aspects must be heralded above them always. We may be vulnerable to segregation due to our Patron Mani, but we will always be united as brethren of the Aspects’ Path. We must remember this, and hold it to our core.

A collection of writings from Sister Orison on the Emerald Way

On the Nature of the Tayna

Tayna. The soul of life. It is the living energy that contains all. I speak of the balance, of the living, breathing, growing, changing soul, one alive just as you are. You are part of the tayna- connected and one with every living thing on this world. With every moment, ripples and changes cascade outwards as time goes on. Just as any living being, it can be harmed just as you can. But it also can heal, and grow just as you. One can hear these ripples, these... cadences if one tunes themselves into the world around them. The tayna sings these changes constantly, and with a trained ear, one can sense and notice this song. To do this, a disciple must be sensitive to all of the living beings around them, to each and every one, no matter how insignificant they may seem on the surface. Once you do this, you will hear the song of the tayna, and you will know its will. By being in tune with the balance, you will be guided. It will influence your feelings, your instincts, and it will bring you where you are needed most. Follow your instincts, and your feelings, and the balance will show you its will. It will become your own.

And now a question we face, a question answered in different ways by the creeds. Are the Aspects like water, formless spirits of nature? Or beings such as you and I, living, breathing, talking? The answer is not so simple, I think. I believe them to be both. They exist within the balance, and I know that the balance is but one living and growing energy within the world. It holds but one soul, in which is held every life as we know it. It makes its presence solid through its various forms. A blade of grass, a boar, a tree, and even the mani themselves. And within this soul, I believe the Aspects dwell as well. Their spirit formless as ours all are, but omnipresent as the tayna. But still, beings that live and breath just as you and I. Must the two be mutually exclusive when dealing with forces as universal and powerful as the tayna and the Aspects?

To Strengthen the Three

Your body is your tool for your will, and the tayna’s. Your instrument with which to tune the world. It is both your sword and shield that you must use to defend yourself and the balance that we hold so dearly. It is the arrow that reaches its target, and the home that protects you from the biting winter rains. What use is a broken tool? Would you fight with a blunt blade, or a shattered shield? Would you seek shelter inside of a rundown shack? I would think not. As one would sharpen their blade, so too must we sharpen ourselves. And just as one would survey a fortress’ walls, we can leave no part of ourselves unable to withstand the coming battles. This process does not come without pain. To build yourself up in such a way is to undertake great suffering. A necessary suffering to build a fortress from crude beings such as we.
This hardiness sits at the core of the Emerald Way. Endurance through all things. In order to become as emerald, the mind, body, and spirit must be trained and hardened to withstand all that a disciple of the Aspects may come across. To become a guardian of the Emerald Way, one must undergo this rigorous conditioning, that they may uphold the balance in the face of the countless threats this world offers the balance.
 

Mind - To be sharp and alert. Aware of the world around you, and of the world within you. To remain calm when confronted with great tragedy and terrible loss. To stand unflinching against unimaginable horrors. Do not let adversity shake you, even when faced with overwhelming odds. Find the calm which keeps your serenity through the darkest of times. A calm, steady mind brings strength, and through strength you will endure. This is what it means to follow the Emerald Way.
Body -  Let not the frost bite, nor the flame burn. Let not the blade sting, nor the arrow pierce. Make your skin as an ironwood shield, your breath deep and cavernous! Know thy body, and wield it as you would a quill. From now forward, you pen a letter to those above with your life.
Spirit - Live in tune with the tayna- the living energy that runs through the veins of the world, and within the veins of every creature that walks it. The energy that both contains us, and that we contain within. For those that live at one with the tayna will be able to bring the Eternal Forest to the earth. Open your eyes, and look within the balance to show you the path ahead. Trust in the will of the tayna, and allow it to guide your actions within the world.

To Be in Tune with the Tayna

Bring yourself to the present moment. The song does not exist within the past, nor the future. Do not allow your mind to bring you to these places. Do not dwell on the events of the past, nor on what has yet to come. Be mindful of them, but do not allow them to tear you from the present. Do not allow your worries, or your shame to distract you. Focus. It will determine where you are. If you live within the past, then within the past you shall live. If you seek to reach into the future, the moment you are in will slip by without notice. Be now. Keep your serenity. A calm mind brings strength, and through strength you will endure.
When you are in tune with the tayna, you will become one with it. It will make its will known to you, deep in your heart. When you are in tune with the tayna, your feelings will guide you towards its will. You will be able to sense its cadences, its ripples. You will be able to read them as one reads a book. Trust in your feelings and in your instincts when you are at peace. It may be the will of the balance making itself known to you. 

To Fight for Harmony

Cities of stone are great wounds upon the earth. Great wounds within the tayna- within the Balance. Picture this place, the bustling roads full of people. Picture the great towers of cut stone that threaten to pierce the sky.
Now picture a ruin. A fallen fortress within your mind’s eye. It is overgrown, reclaimed by the life around it. Between the stones in the walls, life stretches between, breaking even the tallest of walls into piles of rubble. Water floods once busy causeways, washing away even the memories of the past into the rivers and into the oceans. 
This is the power of the tayna when it is allowed to heal. Life reclaims all in due time. These stone palaces can know no permanence when left at peace. When the bustling roads become barren, and the constant fight against the balance ends, the tayna reclaims. As adherents of the tayna, our fight must be to bring this peace to fruition- to end the constant fight against nature, that these wounds may heal on their own.
By this, I do not mean to fight against those within cities. I do not intend to end the city as we know it. No, our path lies in teaching harmony to those within cities and stone. Look to Irrinor. Look to Talus, though it is not a city of its own- many people live within its borders. These places are examples of how we may live in harmony and peace with nature. See how the streets themselves are bountiful with life, and the places in which they live provide bounty of their own. In return, they provide protection for the land upon which they rest. The tayna need not fear wounds within their bounds. They work in tandem for mutual benefit.
Bring this harmony to the world, and fight against those that would seek to upset it. Fight against those that would have discord and chaos. 
 

The Emerald Way

The Way of Will, The Emerald Path

Perfection is unattainable,

But it is no excuse not to strive for it,

This henceforth is my quest,

My ideal, my call.

I will try when my arms grow too weary,

And face the unbeatable foe.

I will bear with unbearable sorrow,

And I will right the unrightable wrong,

What is sickness to the body of Emerald?

What matters pain?

For each time I fall, I shall rise again,

And woe be unto the wicked!

For I am Emerald

I will endure all things,

and be vigilant in my stand,

From this day until the end of my days.

The Oath of Emerald, scribed by the Oracle Hurricane

The Emerald Way holds no place amongst the annals of history.

I, it’s creator, am no ancient mali of yore.

Yet the way has taken root within our culture, and it grows now.

It began with the pilgrimage of the Oracle Awaiti Aureon, who took to the wilds in search of a solution to bring together the Naelurir of Caras Eldar once again. Over her time in the wilds, she scribed the beginnings of the philosophy, and laid down the framework for the creeds of the wild faith. The Emerald Way was born then as the first creed of the wild faith. From the birth of the first creed, others were motivated to kindle the beginnings of their own creeds. What followed was a renaissance of philosophy within the wild faith, and the birth of the Ichorian Creed, and the Sage Way. Their own separate and unique philosophies.

In the darkest reaches of the forests, the Ichorians dwelled, seeking to cultivate raw strength to match the power of the primal wilds. The sages took to their own, focusing on the balance within, ignoring the material need. But those that followed the Emerald Way took a different path.

After the exodus of the Ithelanen and the Torena seeds to the Gladewynn Company, the Oracle left her people, leaving the philosophy in the hands of her students.Within the budding nation, her students kept to the ways. To endure, to fight for what is right and just, and to revere the aspects in all things.

Core Values

Indomitable Will

To be understanding, yet absolute. To not bow, or bend, or break. For the Emeraldians know that true strength does not come from the body, but from the will.

Great Courage

Not to be without fear. But to recognize that there is something more important than fear, something that outshines fear. From this, will is born.

Emotional Resilience

To stand strong despite unspeakable horror. Despite loss and anger. To be able to think with a clear mind, while the world crashes down around you.

Foresight

“The Storm Rises”

To look ahead, and prepare for the worst. The key is to look forward without becoming fearful or paranoid of what has not yet come. I pray caution.

“And Emerald shall rise to meet it.”

Philosophy of the Emerald Way

The Emerald Way can be summed up in its axiom

“To will change upon the self is to change the world. Only through will can all balance be attained”

This axiom rests upon several truths.

• The self is malleable. Changeable. Nothing is untouchable by great change.
• The world can be changed by the effort of the self. Our actions cause change.
• Balance is gained through change. Change is obtained through will. Will is forged by choice.

As followers of the Emerald Way, we use these truths as a guide for our lives.

Cerridwen

The Mother. Lady of Life. Bearer of all fruits. Cerridwen. She holds many names, and titles in our faith. She is the mother of life, the shaper of all that is living. She is often depicted as a beautiful woman, carrying a staff. She created all that is living, each and every tree and frog and tiger. It is to her that we owe our fruitful harvests, and it is to her that we thank for the shade of the great elder trees. We shape her trees into homes, that we may be sheltered from the storm.

Think of life itself as water. And think of every creature and plant as clay vases. Cerridwen created all of the vases, and filled them with this water of life. In the Emerald Way, we view her as the great unifier. We are all united by these waters of life, and each and every descendant carries this water of life inside of them.

Cernunnos

The Father. The Horned Lord. Strength. Cernunnos. He holds many names, and many titles in our faith. He is the lord of the hunt, and the father of strength. He is often depicted as a horned man, carrying a bow, or a spear. It is to him that we owe our bountiful hunts, and it is to him that we are granted our strength. We enjoy full bellies, and great feasts because of him. But despite this, many view him as lord over death as well. After all, he chooses what lives and dies by granting strength and taking it. But the Emerald Way views him in a different light.

He is instead, the lord of change. Instead of drying the oceans, he is the tide, ever changing the world around him. And he is the current, ever shifting life around. In the Emerald Way, there is no death. There is only life. A corpse feeds the grasses, and enriches that life. Suddenly, more grass arises. We are fed, and we give birth to our sons and daughters. Life never leaves this world. It only shifts from form to form. Think back to the vases and waters in Cerridwen’s passage. Instead of breaking the vases, Cernunnos merely pours water from vase to vase, and shapes new ones. There is great peace in this. I take heart knowing that I will live on this world even when the last elf has fallen.

I. Morality as Inner Balance

On yesterday's eve, I witnessed a sight most common, though for some unknown reason, it struck me strange. An elk was torn into by a beast, and ripped into, to eat. A common occurrence, yes, this is known. Tis’ the way of nature, the beasts eat the common gazelle, and so on. The predator eats the prey, and the prey feeds on what it can. There is no evil in it, the predator must eat as much as the prey, and the prey must eat what it can, and there is only survival in it. The predator feels naught for devouring its prey, nor does the prey when it grazes upon the grasses, despite life being taken from the world. Such is the unseen way of all natural life. Life passes on and on and through each moving piece of it. There is no evil or good in the natural balance, only what is and what survives.

Such also is the way of druidism, our gifts are given without thought of good and evil, but with only this delicate balance of the cycle of life in mind. Druids are expected to be as neutral as nature in this sense, are we not? It is the duty of druids to correct the balance, wheresoever it may be corrupted, without heed for borders. It is our duty to correct it, we must. We have been charged by the aspects above to do our sacred duties, and the order has decided we must do it this way, completely neutrally.

But this charge ignores a most fundamental principle of our life as descendants, of how we have grown and developed to live with morality, to have the sense of good and evil, and all in between. It is what makes us what we are, it is what gives us our humanity, and this makes us truly and beautifully unique. We are not a part of this balance the aspects have created for us, but we surely live with it. Though to attempt to live without morality, to attempt to live neutrally and strive to think as the aspects do, without heed of what is good and evil, this is unnatural of our own being. It makes us only as simple as the beasts and prey that are in the balance we seek so desperately to protect. We cannot, and we should not deny what we are, how we think, but we must find a balance of our own, and look over the balance of nature with a sense of right and wrong.

To live along with both the balance and the descendants, separately, yet together. In this, we are allowed to exercise our sense of right and wrong and do our duty to protect the balance with great strength. It is not the nature of men to keep out of everything, we, as Malin's kin, must be involved in the survival of our people, and our culture, for surely the theatre of the world seeks to stamp us out yet. One would say it distracts us from our duty, to be a part of a nation. This is not the case, nay. I might even say it better allows us to perform our duties. While we cannot live as neutral, we are able to do our best to spread what is good, and what is just. It is of the utmost importance that druids maintain strong ties to the world they live in and protect, they cannot fly above it all. Neutrality is a disease that leaves men weak, and staggeringly alone, as many beasts are. Fellow priests of the balance, I say to you. Do not catch the disease of neutrality. Hone your sense of right and wrong, fight always for the path of good for you and your people. Do not become unnatural men, stripped of all sense of what is good or evil in the world. In morality, we find our strength together. Apathy is a fate worse than death, for even a rotting corpse feeds new life.

II. Will Within Balance

We are inherently separate from the thing we protect so dearly, as druii. The balance consists of life around us, the seen and hidden movements of nature ever moving in a circle around us. The birds and trees die out, but there is ever a forest standing, no? Songbirds fill the air, do they not? We are ever surrounded by life, yet death lurks and strikes here and there. No matter how oft or how heavy death’s strikes may be, life ever moves on. Many druii take our duty to protect the balance as a sign that the world is weak. It is the opposite indeed, for the balance of the world knows a will far greater than our own. Life will find a way, no matter how damaged it may be. We druii exist only as a means of preserving the balance’s state, and correcting it where we find imbalance.

Yet as I say, we are inherently separate from the balance of the world. Instead, we hold a force of our own within, potentially even equal to this primordial balance of the world. The balance of the self. The Emerald way is, at its core, the way of two balances. One cannot neglect this balance of the self when protecting the balance of the world, for it is far more fragile, and far weaker. This balance, in a way, is even more important than that which the druii are sworn to protect. With this separation from the balance of the world, the circle of life is entirely indifferent to us, to our very being. We have little sway over it, though many druids seem to rely on it for their source of strength. They use their gifts frivolously, and have grown dangerously dependant on them.

They fail to realize that to rely on their gifts to do protect is dangerous, and leaves men weak. No man or woman can hope to fully control this primordial force, and they are left with atrophied bodies, defenseless without their gifts. They fail to realize that true strength comes from within, and that in order to change the balance, and protect it, we must cultivate our own will to match the strength of the world’s will. While faith is important, true strength is drawn from our own volition; The power to use your will, which is equally important as obtaining power itself. Never live for the sake of another, or an ideology. Live for yourself, and no other. With that, we empower ourselves to carry out the will of the aspects, to protect the balance.

III. The Nature of Will

A man can change everything if he is willing to sacrifice for it.

The greatest changes require the strongest wills,

And we must give much for the salvation of this world.

In the beginning, we have nothing.

Our privilege is the dirt.

In such darkness, our will guides us to light

Perspective pierces the veil of dark.

Our birthright is our failings, and the pain we suffer.

When darkness comes, we can rely on no other to face it for us.

Only through our willpower can balance be attained.

IV. Beings of the Present Self

The balance does not, nor can it be made to be still for long. All things move until they pass on, and even then their energies move ever forward into other forms, other vessels that will move on and on. And from movement, movement is born, ever arching outward. You, druii, are no exception to this commotion. We constantly expend our energies in creating islands of quiet within our lives, trying to still the waves that march ever onward, yet it cannot last. Time encroaches, it consumes all things. Fling yourself to the waves of life, druii, engage in the here and now, and you will find that the key to living is your own will. The will to see life for its flaws, and the will to better it, to create your own waves.

One cannot focus on the waves that have long since passed, the echoes of feelings you once felt. The past does hold merit in giving us its teachings, but from there, move on. It holds nothing for you. Let the past die, and use what you have learned to shape your present. With the lessons of the past, we can focus on dealing with what is here and now, with the waves that crash over us. Use what you have learned to enact your will, and shape the waves around you. And perhaps prevent a tidal wave from overwhelming you in the future by dispersing it before it happens. By changing your destiny. There is no lasting stillness.  It is impossible. Accept this. Know it in your bones.  Watch the world happening around you, and through your will, forge your own echoes, your own cadence in this world. Live in the moment, and your will can shape the future.

V. The Balance of the Self

My words earlier in these pages were far too simple, I’m afraid, for they leave out a great deal in seeking to express the point, but they failed to truly explain my deeper meaning. Earlier, I stated that the balance within consists of the will to act on the sense of good and evil. Though I do not refute that, I’m afraid that the truer meaning of the inner balance is lost on such words. Good and evil are a point of view, different to each person. I have found better words to explain such a dichotomy. Instead of viewing the inner balance as the senses of good and evil, replace such words with selfishness and selflessness. To act for the self, and to act for others. This opens the situations to all by providing a common meaning.

You cannot have one without the other in life. Pure selfishness only harms others, and amassing your own power can lead you to enact your desires as opposed to working toward the balance. Instead, one must use the powers gained from selfishness to act selflessly in life. To sacrifice for the good of others, and of the balance. But beware, lliran. Pure selflessness is just as destructive as pure selfishness. Benevolence for the sake of benevolence leaves you in a worse position than when you started, it weakens you and sacrifices your own strength to help. In addition, it robs others of their struggles, their own opportunities to learn and gain their own strength. Never sacrifice your own strength to rob another of their struggles. As I said before. Recognize the value in letting people fight their own battles, and they will be all the stronger for it.

Selfishness for the sake of selflessness… this is how we can protect the balance. By enacting our own will through this, we have the strength to alter the balance and preserve it.  This inner balance is not inherent to druids, or even the balance that they protect. It is inherent to the descendants, this ability to act in selfishness and selflessness. It is where inner strength is drawn, the will to enact change upon the world. Such a principle applies to all aspects of life, and so it is important that druids hone their will to act on this sense. A druid who has mastered their ability to act on this sense will go far. A soldier who has mastered it will find his enemies falling before him. A farmer who has mastered it will know only bountiful harvests. It applies to all paths through life. If we cannot find the strength to act on this and hold balance in our sense of selfishness and selflessness, how then can we hope to protect the primordial balance of the world? We cannot.

VI. The Absence of Understanding

The Lord and Lady have blessed you with eyes to see and ears to hear, and a whole world to experience. Yet we remain blind and deaf to most of it. I remain blind, despite teachings that were meant to open my eyes and help me see the world for what it was. We consider it a great tragedy when one falls to darkness, when they stray away from the teachings of the order, and when they fall into hands that turn them to violence and disparity. Many of our students are failing, falling to darkness in their belief continuously. Those that remain follow blindly to their teachers, like sheep, unable to think past the surface of druidism. Most haven't thought yet to dive in. We are missing something within our teachings. Missing a piece that keeps the ambitious prodigies away from darkness, and a piece that allows others to break their chains and to be free from the slavery of secular thought.

The teachings of our order, I find, ignore the dark of the world. They preach only the light, and are blind for it. I have sought the contrast myself, the dark to compliment the light, not to oppose it. I will not tell what I have learned here, only that the current teachings do not hold all of the answers you need. By learning what they have not taught me, I have seen what makes us weak. If you are to truly understand, then you too must seek this contrast, not adherence to this single ideal. To believe in an ideal is to be willing to betray it, to look where it may forbid you to go. It is a lesson of strength. If you do believe in an ideology, then find its opposite, so that you may reinforce it by correcting its flaws. Become what strengthens an ideology, not a slave to it by following it dogmatically. Without this contrast, we are but marionettes, tangled in the strings of weaknesses in our ideologies.

VII. The Value of Struggle and Self Reliance

Pure benevolence weakens the self, and those to whom it is cast upon. Do not roam the world, dispensing pity and self sacrifice unto others. By giving others the chance to fight their own struggles, internally and externally, we give them the chance to cultivate their own will. Do not be a thief in the night, stealing strength from others where you would mask it with benevolence. If you truly wish to help another, recognize the value in letting them cultivate their strength and will through their struggles. When they triumph, their victory will be far greater than it would be if you would help them.

Through your own struggles, cultivate this inner will, and you will find the path to balance. Create a strict reliance on yourself, rather than your connection to the balance, to the thing you protect. Too many druids of our age focus on honing their gifts to better serve the lord and lady above on this earth. I ask you, strip them of their gifts, and what do they become? Only empty shells, incapable of enacting their duty to the balance without the gifts of the aspects. And that is no true disciple of the balance. Without will, we are nothing.

This brings us to a fundamental question: If a druid loses her powers, is she still a druid? The way you would answer would depend on your view. If you say no, you believe inherently that only those with the gifts can make a difference in this world, and you are wrong. The devout, druii without gifts, are simply those with greater will. With the proper will, everything can be changed, such is the nature of will itself. Druidism is something greater than simply gifts. Those that would choose death over a life without their gifts are those whose wills are weak, and were unworthy of them in the first place.

VIII. The Nature of Life and Death

The Mother above creates and cares for life throughout the world, and spreads it over the land. Helps it grow, nurtures it. Heals it. Guides it. The energy of life exists through all living things. Tt surrounds us, penetrates us. It binds the world together, and unifies it all. It is fluid, like the water that carries it. This is known.

Death does not exist. This life created by the mother never leaves this world, it merely passes from vessel to vessel. The fallen elk feeds the grasses, and the prey feeds the predator. On and on the cycle moves, life being poured from vase to vase. It holds many different shapes and forms, but at its core, all forms are simply life. We are no exception to this. It is because of this that the role of the father is oft misunderstood, however. He is not death, nor is he the hunt. His name is strength, not for his ability to take life, or hold mastery over it. But for his power to move the energies of life from one vessel to the next. It is from his will that the balance exists. It is from his own will that life moves from vessel to vessel, never stagnating, never finding stillness. It is due to this change that life is truly precious, and each form just as valuable as the last.

So where do we lay among all of these vessels? Where does our power come from? We cannot define ourselves by our ability to take life, to control it even or possess it. To do so is to have nothing, truly. Death does not exist, and to define yourself by your ability to usher it, your strength is as fleeting as grains of sand in the wind. But if we define ourselves by our ability to will great change in the world, to move and change the vessels of life as Cernunnos does? That is true strength, lliran. This is what the focus of druii should be. Cultivating the will to usher change.

IX. Facing Conflict

I speak much against a neutral stance, and this much holds true. One should always act when they have the opportunity to, and when there is greater suffering in the world. But I have not always been clear on what it is to act on, or how one should carry themselves. In my life, I have been through many struggles of my own, and this is the view I have learned thus far, and it is the view I shall give unto the Emerald Way, that others may find a better way to approach their problems.

Live your life, and act with great respect and wisdom, for you must be a beacon of change for the world, a fount of knowledge and veneration. Without strong principles to guide us through our own morality, what then can we enact our will from? A principled life, one with a strong basis for which we act is the only life worth living. But what is principle without the perspective to see the world around you as it is? Through rigorous meditation we gain clearer perspective, and can find the solution to any problem. When on your journey through life, take one step at a time, look up from your feet and observe the living world around you. Speak to all you may meet and soak in all the details you can, learn what comes to you. Life is to be savoured, taken slowly. Rashness is the path toward greater suffering. Will. Principle. Perspective. These are three values that the Emerald Way promotes. Through these values, act with a tempered and clear mind, and seek always to see more than what you are shown. From these values, we find the strength to change anything in this world. Even destiny.

X. The Place of Gifts and Tools

I have said before, the druids rely on the gifts far too much. It overtakes their being, and in some cases, druids cannot function in day to day life without the use of their gifts. It becomes a crutch, one that would leave a druid crippled without it. Such deep rooted dependency is something to be avoided, something to be shut down and moved away from. And even in our divine mission, many rely entirely on this aspect-given gift to do our work. Without them, I don’t doubt that many would fail in their mission, that they would cease to protect the balance without their precious gifts.

And I sense an even more sinister plot. That many druids are here only for the power that they may receive from the gifts. Devotion is a scarce thing to see these days, true devotion to the lord and lady above. Many druids fall, and when they lose their gifts, they simply move onto something else that may give them the power they seek to enact their wills. Give many of the druids of the order only silence, and you will truly see who follows the aspects.

But you may see this as me having a negative view of the gifts, which cannot be further from the truth. I have only a negative view of druids that rely on such gifts, that depend on them, sometimes to the extent of needing them to live. Such reliance is weakness, and weakens the order as a whole. However, the gifts themselves are not to blame.

We have many tools at our disposal to aid us in our mission of preserving the balance of life. Our mind, our physical strength, our charisma, our words, and yes, our gifts. The gifts are but one singular tool with many uses, just like the other tools. You do not need the gifts in order to protect the balance, just like you do not need the gifts in order to be a druid. To believe that one must have the gifts in order to carry out our divine mission is vanity, don’t you see it? I would rather a devout person without gifts that protects the balance to the best of their ability rather than a druid who uses their gifts for personal gain, or one that seeks personal power.

The Order should enforce teachings of these inherent tools that we already possess, and their uses in protecting the balance, rather than preparing them to rely on their gifts. Teaching students that only their new power can preserve the balance is a dangerous and self destructive way of thinking, and is the reason behind many of the greatest failings of our order. There is a silent lust for power within our teachings, I think, and we are utterly blind to it. Always, the next step in learning is to master a new gift. At least, this is what I have seen in the world. There is a great flaw in this method.

XI. Amongst the Shadows, the Hunter Preys
 

“When the darkness comes, we can rely on no other to face it.”

A hard truth that rings out in the Nature of Will. We are alone in this world, and we can rely on no other, be it a nation, or a friend, to protect us from the evils that seek to cause imbalance in ourselves and in the world around us. Sure, others can assist you in your journey to find balance, but ultimately, we are on our own on this path. This includes when the walls of our world come crashing down around us, and when others draw blades in offense.

Remember this lesson though, amongst the shadows the hunter preys. Stick to the shadows and become the hunter, not the hunted any longer. The wild hunter works alone, or perhaps in a smaller group, staying away until the moment is right to strike. Be the wild hunter, and stick to the shadows like paste, be they physical shadows or metaphorical. A hunter can navigate through the webs that society weaves just as well as the darkest depths of the forests.

Watch always. Strike without warning. Wait for the opportune moment to strike. And train with but a close teacher watching, no others. Do not show others your strength until the last possible moment. Hold your strengths, your tools close to your chest, and they become all the more powerful. When traipsing through society’s webs, blend in. Do not draw attention to yourself.

To walk the path of a druid is to live in service to the two balances. Fight for both of them, and little else. Use violence for necessity and defense, never for indulgence or boasting. Survival is key. Balance is key.

XII. The Power of Identity

In all things, know who you are. Your identity as a person is imperative to the two balances. Control your identity. Form it. Shape it. Let no other have reign over it. For when your identity is controlled, you are controlled, and your ability to serve the balance diminishes. Your name is your own, and no other’s. In terms of your tools, it is among your strongest.

Forge a new identity if you must, in order to break the chains placed upon you by others. Take no titles but those you forge for yourself. Self control is the path to true will.

XIII. The Importance of Endurance as Mali

As mali, our people are fragile. We are few in number, but long lived. Much can happen within our lives, and we must be prepared to face everything. Be it death, war, famine, or genocide. Be it the murders that haunt us, or the misdeeds and sins of the many. Be it our own failures. We must endure through all things.

We must stand at the highest peaks, until the wind tears the mountain into the sea. We must live amongst the forests until they no longer stand. We must endure a thousand wars and watch the blood of our brothers and sisters stain the grasses.

This is why we must value endurance to the point of zealotry. We must tune the mind and body to last through all these things. We must constantly stand tall, or we are doomed to fail in our mission as druii.

As the world changes around you, remain unmoved by it. You have a duty to your brothers and sisters to endure. But more importantly, you have a duty to yourself, and to the aspects to endure.

XIV. On Mani

I have noticed something that quite disturbs me. It has brought questions that have shaken my being.

In the decline of the Dominion, before we were split to the core, I was beginning to see the rise of the worship of mani. At first, I was quite pleased to see it, watching the faithful delve deeper into the mysteries that the aspects laid before us. But before long, I saw trouble brewing.

The faithful began directing their prayers only unto the mani. They rose their names higher and higher, and I watched as many began to favor the statues of the mani over those of the aspects themselves. Before long, our faith began dividing itself yet again, its members grouping themselves by their patron mani. When I saw this, I suspected a schism to pass, yet I did little to change the fate I saw before me. And before I knew it, the followers of Morea and Moccus led an exodus from our lands.

This disheartens me. Watching my brothers and sisters place others over the aspects themselves. Perhaps it was the natural progression of this faith, I do not know. But even after I watched as many followed down this path, I knew that the aspects are above all. The Emerald Way will hold no mani of its own, that we may show our reverence to the aspects above all else.

Revere the mani, yes. Worship the mani, yes. But in all things, the aspects reign over all.

The Emerald Path

The dedicancy of an aspiring druid is a path that varies greatly between circles, and even between kindred druii. All of our brothers and sisters have been birthed from these various dedicancies, and many great druids have been birthed from it. Yet despite these successes, we’ve been failing our students. I’ve seen two extremes of our failure within the Naelurir. Our students become mindless sheep, unable and unwilling to explore the deeper mysteries of our world. They cannot act until they’re ordered to, and are often the victims of sloth. They do not carry out the tasks required by our priesthood.

And the other side are the independent minds. The ambitious ones with their own agenda in mind. Ones that seek power before faith. These are the dark ones that come from our order. We are responsible for them, for their actions as an order. We’ve always blamed them, their own passions and shortcomings, but we’ve never pointed a finger to ourselves. There is great fault in our teachings, a lack of tempering for these minds that leads them to search elsewhere for better answers.

Thus, the basic teachings of the Emerald Way;

Faith Studies

After taking their oath to the aspects in blood, a strong foundation and understanding of the wild faith is important in fostering a deeper understanding from which we can truly become independent thinkers. To pass through the trials, one must have these foundations prebuilt, that they may fully utilize the tasks they’ve been given. Therefore, before tasks can begin, a student should have in depth instruction on at least the following topics, if not further.

• The Core Teachings
  • Cerridwen, Cernunnos, The Balance, The Mani
• The History of Mali
  • Taynei’hiylu, Irrin Sirame, Seed Era, Modern History
• Survival
  • Medicine and Combat
• Studies of the Mysteries
  • The Eternal Forest, Rituals, Prayers, and Offerings

The Insight of Creeds

To search for deeper insight. This is the purpose of examining the three creeds of the aspectist faith. It is one thing to know your duties, to perform them to the best of your ability. It is another to fully understand why you do them, and to find a deeper meaning in them that may echo in all of your actions. A creed is not something to tell you how to live your life, nor to tell you how exactly to do your duties. They are simply ways for finding a deeper understanding of druidism and aspectism in your life, and connecting the self to the balance in ways unheard of before.

Thus, it should be required of all dedicants that they examine each of them, learn from their heralds about each of them. To understand the contrast betwixt the three creeds is of the utmost importance, even when dedicated to the Emerald Path alone.

Path of an Acolyte

To further prove dedication to the aspects themselves, and to prove the prowess of the self, dedicants must serve the priesthood as unattuned persons, assisting their guides in protecting the balance through whatever means are required. Whether that be defending a druid during their travels and in their duty, or witnessing a conversion. Through their time as an acolyte, a dedicant should learn how to act as a priest, and how a priest must carry themselves.

The Trials

After an acolyte has taken the path, and shadowed a priest, the priest overseeing them will announce them to be ready for the trials. The priest must present them either before two high priests, or two oracles to be judged if they are worthy to become priests. If found wanting, they will be returned to the path of an Acolyte. If they have been judged worthy, they will begin their trials to ascend to priesthood.

Which trials to be taken are up to the priest overseeing their acolyte. If one has joined a creed, then they may follow the trials of the creed. If not, a teacher may start them on their own trials. If a teacher has not developed their own tasks, they may follow the ones below.

• Trial of Knowledge: The acolyte must write a thesis on the lessons of the wild faith, and of the Emerald Way to show their understanding and provide a new perspective on either of the three to show critical thinking. If they can find another way to show what they have learned, they may show it that way. It will be left to the judgement of the priest overseeing.
• Trial of Steel: An acolyte must show great courage and bravery, be it through fighting a great enemy, or facing down against a great evil. Defeating a dark creature, or fighting in a war. Any great feat of bravery must be shown.
• Trial of Endurance: An acolyte must endure great hardship, struggle, pain, or loss. Be it through battle, or the rending of flesh. Battle scars may suffice. If an acolyte cannot endure loss, or pain, how can they be expected to uphold their own character, and that of the order?
• Trial of Reflection: Give dedicant peyote or other herb that makes them disoriented. Then, take him to a mountain nearby with a dagger and nothing else to learn about Cernunnos. To feel that longing for food and to experience the grit of the hunt. They must come back with a kill. (OOC NOTE: For this one, make them write a short story about their character’s experience, like a forum post, as making them emote at nothing while they’re on their own in a forest is boring.)
• Trial of Faith: Perform a public ritual (Wedding/Last Rites/Warpainting/Leading a group offering), with an elder priest to oversee. OR an acolyte may bring two other mali into the fold of aspectism. Or in some way, the dedicant must demonstrate a considerable knowledge of the wild faith. Either will do.
• GRAND TRIAL: Dedicant comes up with what they want their grand task to be. Guide has to approve it. Must be Grand

Attunement

“The gifts do not maketh the priest. The priest maketh the gifts.” - The Oracle, Hurricane

After their path has been taken, and their trials complete, it has come time for a priest to be attuned, and to undertake the burden of the two balances.

Copies of the Tome are sent to the Libraries of the Naelurir, of the Mother Grove, and to the druii of the Maelstrom for all that wish to read them. They are marked with the Circle of the Emerald Way.

The Tome of Strife

Writings of Sister Hurricane

“To will change upon the self is to change the world. Only through will can all balance be attained.” - The Axiom of Will, Teachings of Sister Hurricane

I. The Absence of Understanding

   The Lord and Lady have blessed you with eyes to see and ears to hear, and a whole world to experience. Yet we remain blind and deaf to most of it. I remain blind, despite teachings that were meant to open my eyes and help me see the world for what it was. We consider it a great tragedy when one falls to darkness, when they stray away from the teachings of the order, and when they fall into hands that turn them to violence and disparity. Many of our students are failing, falling to darkness in their belief continuously. Those that remain follow blindly to their teachers, like sheep, unable to think past the surface of druidism. Most haven't thought yet to dive in. We are missing something within our teachings. Missing a piece that keeps the ambitious prodigies away from darkness, and a piece that allows others to break their chains and to be free from the slavery of secular thought.

   The teachings of our order, I find, ignore the dark of the world. They preach only the light, and are blind for it. I have sought the contrast myself, the dark to compliment the light, not to oppose it. I will not tell what I have learned here, only that the current teachings do not hold all of the answers you need. By learning what they have not taught me, I have seen what makes us weak. If you are to truly understand, then you too must seek this contrast, not adherence to this single ideal. To believe in an ideal is to be willing to betray it, to look where it may forbid you to go. It is a lesson of strength. If you do believe in an ideology, then find its opposite, so that you may reinforce it by correcting its flaws. Become what strengthens an ideology, not a slave to it by following it dogmatically. Without this contrast, we are but marionettes, tangled in the strings of weaknesses in our ideologies.

II. The Value of Struggle and Self Reliance

   Pure benevolence weakens the self, and those to whom it is cast upon. Do not roam the world, dispensing pity and self sacrifice unto others. By giving others the chance to fight their own struggles, internally and externally, we give them the chance to cultivate their own will. Do not be a thief in the night, stealing strength from others where you would mask it with benevolence. If you truly wish to help another, recognize the value in letting them cultivate their strength and will through their struggles. When they triumph, their victory will be far greater than it would be if you would help them.

   Through your own struggles, cultivate this inner will, and you will find the path to balance. Create a strict reliance on yourself, rather than your connection to the balance, to the thing you protect. Too many druids of our age focus on honing their gifts to better serve the lord and lady above on this earth. I ask you, strip them of their gifts, and what do they become? Only empty shells, incapable of enacting their duty to the balance without the gifts of the aspects. And that is no true disciple of the balance. Without will, we are nothing.

   This brings us to a fundamental question: If a druid loses her powers, is she still a druid? The way you would answer would depend on your view. If you say no, you believe inherently that only those with the gifts can make a difference in this world, and you are wrong. The devout, druii without gifts, are simply those with greater will. With the proper will, everything can be changed, such is the nature of will itself. Druidism is something greater than simply gifts. Those that would choose death over a life without their gifts are those whose wills are weak, and were unworthy of them in the first place.

III. The Nature of Life and Death

   The Mother above creates and cares for life throughout the world, and spreads it over the land. Helps it grow, nurtures it. Heals it. Guides it. The energy of life exists through all living things. Tt surrounds us, penetrates us. It binds the world together, and unifies it all. It is fluid, like the water that carries it. This is known.

   Death does not exist. This life created by the mother never leaves this world, it merely passes from vessel to vessel. The fallen elk feeds the grasses, and the prey feeds the predator. On and on the cycle moves, life being poured from vase to vase. It holds many different shapes and forms, but at its core, all forms are simply life. We are no exception to this. It is because of this that the role of the father is oft misunderstood, however. He is not death, nor is he the hunt. His name is strength, not for his ability to take life, or hold mastery over it. But for his power to move the energies of life from one vessel to the next. It is from his will that the balance exists. It is from his own will that life moves from vessel to vessel, never stagnating, never finding stillness. It is due to this change that life is truly precious, and each form just as valuable as the last.

   So where do we lay among all of these vessels? Where does our power come from? We cannot define ourselves by our ability to take life, to control it even or possess it. To do so is to have nothing, truly. Death does not exist, and if you define yourself by your ability to usher it, your strength is as fleeting as grains of sand in the wind. But if we define ourselves by our ability to will great change in the world, to move and change the vessels of life as Cernunnos does? That is true strength, lliran. This is what the focus of druii should be. Cultivating the will to usher change.

IV. Facing Conflict

   I speak much against a neutral stance, and this much holds true. One should always act when they have the opportunity to, and when there is greater suffering in the world. But I have not always been clear on what it is to act on, or how one should carry themselves. In my life, I have been through many struggles of my own, and this is the view I have learned thus far, and it is the view I shall give unto the Emerald Way, that others may find a better way to approach their problems.

   Live your life, and act with great respect and wisdom, for you must be a beacon of change for the world, a fount of knowledge and veneration. Without strong principles to guide us through our own morality, what then can we enact our will from? A principled life, one with a strong basis for which we act is the only life worth living. But what is principle without the perspective to see the world around you as it is? Through rigorous meditation we gain clearer perspective, and can find the solution to any problem. When on your journey through life, take one step at a time, look up from your feet and observe the living world around you. Speak to all you may meet and soak in all the details you can, learn what comes to you. Life is to be savored, taken slowly. Rashness is the path toward greater suffering. Will. Principle. Perspective. These are the three great values that the Emerald Way promotes. Through these values, act with a tempered and clear mind, and seek always to see more than what you are shown. From these values, we find the strength to change anything in this world. Even destiny.

V. The Place of Gifts and Tools

   I have said before, the druids rely on the gifts far too much. It overtakes their being, and in some cases, druids cannot function in day to day life without the use of their gifts. It becomes a crutch, one that would leave a druid crippled without it. Such deep rooted dependency is something to be avoided, something to be shut down and moved away from. And even in our divine mission, many rely entirely on this aspect-given gift to do our work. Without them, I don’t doubt that many would fail in their mission, that they would cease to protect the balance without their precious gifts.

   And I sense an even more sinister plot. That many druids are here only for the power that they may receive from the gifts. Devotion is a scarce thing to see these days, true devotion to the lord and lady above. Many druids fall, and when they lose their gifts, they simply move onto something else that may give them the power they seek to enact their wills. Give many of the druids of the order only silence, and you will truly see who follows the aspects.

   But you may see this as me having a negative view of the gifts, which cannot be further from the truth. I have only a negative view of druids that rely on such gifts, that depend on them, sometimes to the extent of needing them to live. Such reliance is weakness, and weakens the order as a whole. However, the gifts themselves are not to blame.

   We have many tools at our disposal to aid us in our mission of preserving the balance of life. Our mind, our physical strength, our charisma, our words, and yes, our gifts. The gifts are but one singular tool with many uses, just like the other tools. You do not need the gifts in order to protect the balance, just like you do not need the gifts in order to be a druid. To believe that one must have the gifts in order to carry out our divine mission is vanity, don’t you see it? I would rather a devout person without gifts that protects the balance to the best of their ability rather than a druid who uses their gifts for personal gain, or one that seeks personal power.

   The Order should enforce teachings of these inherent tools that we already possess, and their uses in protecting the balance, rather than preparing them to rely on their gifts. Teaching students that only their new power can preserve the balance is a dangerous and self destructive way of thinking, and is the reason behind many of the greatest failings of our order. There is a silent lust for power within our teachings, I think, and we are utterly blind to it. Always, the next step in learning is to master a new gift. At least, this is what I have seen in the world. There is a great flaw in this method.

Copies of the Tome are sent to the Libraries of the Naelurir, of the Mother Grove, and to the druii of the Maelstrom for all that wish to read them. They are marked with the Circle of the Emerald Way.

The Tome of Two Balances

Writings of Sister Hurricane

“To will change upon the self is to change the world. Only through will can all balance be attained.” - Teachings of Sister Hurricane, the Axiom of Will

I. Morality as Inner Balance

    On yesterday's eve, I witnessed a sight most common, though for some unknown reason, it struck me strange. An elk was torn into by a beast, and ripped into, to eat. A common occurrence, yes, this is known. Tis’ the way of nature, the beasts eat the common gazelle, and so on. The predator eats the prey, and the prey feeds on what it can. There is no evil in it, the predator must eat as much as the prey, and the prey must eat what it can. There is only survival in it. The predator feels naught for devouring its prey, nor does the prey when it grazes upon the grasses, despite life being taken from the world. Such is the unseen way of all natural life. Life passes on and on and through each moving piece of it. There is no evil or good in the natural balance, only what is and what survives.
 

    Such also is the way of druidism, our gifts are given without thought of good and evil, but with only this delicate balance of the cycle of life in mind. Druids are expected to be as neutral as nature in this sense, are we not? It is the duty of druids to correct the balance, wheresoever it may be corrupted, without heed for borders. It is our duty to correct it, we must. We have been charged by the aspects above to do our sacred duties, and the order has decided we must do it this way, completely neutrally.

    But this charge ignores a most fundamental principle of our life as descendants, of how we have grown and developed to live with morality, to have the sense of good and evil, and all in between. It is what makes us what we are, it is what gives us our humanity, and this makes us truly and beautifully unique. We are not a part of this balance the aspects have created for us, but we surely live with it. Though, to attempt to live without morality, to attempt to live neutrally and strive to think as the aspects do, without heed of what is good and evil, this is unnatural of our own being. It makes us only as simple as the beasts and prey that are in the balance we seek so desperately to protect. We cannot, and we should not deny what we are, how we think, but we must find a balance of our own, and look over the balance of nature with a sense of right and wrong.

    To live along with both the balance and the descendants, separately, yet together. In this, we are allowed to exercise our sense of right and wrong and do our duty to protect the balance with great strength. It is not the nature of men to keep out of everything. One would say it distracts us from our duty, to say, be a part of a nation. This is not the case, I don't think. I might even say it better allows us to perform our duties. While we cannot live as neutral, we are able to do our best to spread what is good, and what is just. It is of the utmost importance that druids maintain strong ties to the world they live in and protect, they cannot fly above it all. Neutrality is a disease that leaves men weak, and staggeringly alone, as many beasts are. Fellow priests of the balance, I say to you. Do not catch the disease of neutrality. Hone your sense of right and wrong, fight always for the path of good for you and your people. Do not become unnatural men, stripped of all sense of what is good or evil in the world. In morality, we find our strength together. Apathy is a fate worse than death, for even a rotting corpse feeds new life.

II. Will Within Balance

    We are inherently separate from the thing we protect so dearly, as druii. The balance consists of life around us, the seen and hidden movements of nature ever moving in a circle around us. The birds and trees die out, but there is ever a forest standing, no? Songbirds fill the air, do they not? We are ever surrounded by life, yet death lurks and strikes here and there. No matter how oft or how heavy death’s strikes may be, life ever moves on. Many druii take our duty to protect the balance as a sign that the world is weak. It is the opposite indeed, for the balance of the world knows a will far greater than our own. Life will find a way, no matter how damaged it may be. We druii exist only as a means of preserving the balance’s state, and correcting it where we find imbalance.

    Yet as I say, we are inherently separate from the balance of the world. Instead, we hold a force of our own within, potentially even equal to this primordial balance of the world. The balance of the self. The Emerald way is, at its core, the way of two balances. One cannot neglect this balance of the self when protecting the balance of the world, for it is far more fragile, and far weaker. This balance, in a way, is even more important than that which the druii are sworn to protect. With this separation from the balance of the world, the circle of life is entirely indifferent to us, to our very being. We have little sway over it, though many druids seem to rely on it for their source of strength. They use their gifts frivolously, and have grown dangerously dependent on them.

    They fail to realize that to rely on their gifts to protect the balance is dangerous, and leaves men weak. No man or woman can hope to fully control this primordial force, and they are left with atrophied bodies, defenseless without their gifts. They fail to realize that true strength comes from within, and that in order to change the balance, and protect it, we must cultivate our own will to match the strength of the world’s will. While faith is important, true strength is drawn from our own volition; The power to use your will, which is equally important as obtaining power itself. Never live for the sake of another, or an ideology. Live for yourself, and no other. With that, we empower ourselves to carry out the will of the aspects, to protect the balance. 

III. The Nature of Will

A man can change everything if he is willing to sacrifice for it.
The greatest sacrifices require the strongest wills,
And we must give much for the salvation of this world.
In the beginning, we have nothing.
Our privilege is the dirt.
In such darkness, our will guides us to light
Perspective pierces the veil of dark.
Our birthright is our failings, and the pain we suffer.
When darkness comes, we can rely on no other to face it for us.
Only in our willpower can balance be attained.

IV. Beings of the Present Self

    The balance does not, nor can it be made to be still for long. All things move until they pass on, and even then their energies move ever forward into other forms, other vessels that will move on and on. And from movement, movement is born, ever arching outward. You, druii, are no exception to this commotion. We constantly expend our energies in creating islands of quiet within our lives, trying to still the waves that march ever onward, yet it cannot last. Time encroaches, it consumes all things. Fling yourself to the waves of life, druii, engage in the here and now, and you will find that the key to living is your own will. The will to see life for its flaws, and the will to better it, to create your own waves.

    One cannot focus on the waves that have long since passed, the echoes of feelings you once felt. The past does hold merit in giving us its teachings, but from there, move on. It holds nothing for you. Let the past die, and use what you have learned to shape your present. With the lessons of the past, we can focus on dealing with what is here and now, with the waves that crash over us. Use what you have learned to enact your will, and shape the waves around you. And perhaps prevent a tidal wave from overwhelming you in the future by dispersing it before it happens. By changing your destiny. There is no lasting stillness.  It is impossible.  Accept this.  Know it in your bones.  Watch the world happening around you, and through your will, forge your own echoes, your own cadence in this world. Live in the moment, and your will can shape the future.

V. The Balance of the Self

    My words earlier in these pages were far too simple, I’m afraid, for they leave out a great deal in seeking to express the point, but they failed to truly explain my deeper meaning. Earlier, I stated that the balance within consists of the will to act on the sense of good and evil. Though I do not refute that, I’m afraid that the truer meaning of the inner balance is lost on such words. Good and evil are a point of view, different to each person. I have found better words to explain such a dichotomy. Instead of viewing the inner balance as the senses of good and evil, replace such words with selfishness and selflessness. To act for the self, and to act for others. This opens the situations to all by providing a common meaning.

    You cannot have one without the other in life. Pure selfishness only harms others, and amassing your own power can lead you to enact your desires. Instead, one must use the powers gained from selfishness to act selflessly in life. To sacrifice for the good of others, and of the balance. But beware, lliran. Pure selflessness is just as destructive as pure selfishness. Benevolence for the sake of benevolence leaves you in a worse position than when you started, it weakens you and sacrifices your own strength to help. In addition, it robs others of their struggles, their own opportunities to learn and gain their own strength. Never sacrifice your own strength to rob another of their struggles. As I said before. Recognize the value in letting people fight their own battles, and they will be all the stronger for it.

    Selfishness for the sake of selflessness- this is how we can protect the balance. By enacting our own will through this, we have the strength to alter the balance and preserve it.  This inner balance is not inherent to druids, or even the balance that they protect. It is inherent to the descendants, this ability to act in selfishness and selflessness. It is where inner strength is drawn, the will to enact change upon the world. Such a principle applies to all aspects of life, and so it is important that druids hone their will to act on this sense. A druid who has mastered their ability to act on this sense will go far. A soldier who has mastered it will find his enemies falling before him. A farmer who has mastered it will know only bountiful harvests. It applies to all paths through life. If we cannot find the strength to act on this and hold balance in our sense of selfishness and selflessness, how then can we hope to protect the primordial balance of the world? We cannot.