The Importance Of Truth

First published by Moon-Books.net, October 2013


Recently I have had to deal with the problem of lying. In ten years of being involved in a druid grove I’ve witnessed no troubles with dishonesty, ego trippers etc, until very recently. The particular person involved is a very affable, likeable person who would have remained popular and widely accepted were it not for the unfortunate need to frequently invent, embellish and exaggerate.


In all areas of life honesty is usually the best policy, and in the area of spirituality, especially where it is public, honesty should be paramount. Modern society is already afflicted with professional liars within the pillars of government, industry, commerce and even within some religious organisations. The Druid movement, still being seen as on the margins of acceptability by many ordinary people, can ill-afford to host liars, cheats and dishonourable people amongst its numbers.

For any religion or spiritual path to be taken seriously its practitioners need to be beyond reproach so far as honesty is concerned. People will inevitably make mistakes as is bound to happen in all walks of life, however that is an entirely different matter from deception. Druidry being made up of a wide variety of orders and individuals does not have a universal mechanism for dealing with such matters, moreover it seems it is a matter for individuals, groups and organisations to decide for themselves what is morally acceptable.


Some might advocate doing nothing in response to wrongdoing, while others (like myself) feel that is usually appropriate to take some form of action – which could be to unveil what is hidden or perhaps even to censure the person who has transgressed. Whatever action or inaction Druids might consider appropriate, it is generally accepted by Druids that truth is one of the foundations of Druidry/Druidism.


If our thoughts and actions are based upon lies then all that is seeded by it can be none other than corrupted – like the proverbial bad apple spoiling the barrel. These are difficult times to live in on many levels and at such times I believe that adherence to truth and our moral principles is even more important – surely that is when they are most needed.


‘Three pillars of Druidry, no less three pillars of life: wisdom, truth and love. The greatest of these is truth, without truth all else has no value.’