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Onward

Onward

Last updated on: May 22, 2025 at 9:18 am by Rev. Jean (Drum) Pagano

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Onward 2025-05-22T09:18:55-04:00 Rev. Jean (Drum) Pagano

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Onward

My time as Archdruid is at an end. It ended quietly in Europe, in France, in Brittany, and ultimately in the Meurthe-et-Moselle with me praying in the presence of my Ancestors.

Our lives are full of cycles. This one, in ADF leadership, lasted 16 years, roughly a quarter of my life. How little do we know of the orbits into which we find ourselves? These orbits cast wide arcs and take us through vistas we could never have imagined. O, the things I have seen.

Solitary

I came to the position of Archdruid as a long-time member and as a solitary. I was a solitary for almost twenty years before I found a home with Shining Lakes Grove. There was a subtle beauty in the Shining Lakes liturgy that hearkened to an earlier time in ADF. In a way, just like me.

To leadership, I was an outsider. I was a long-term member, but my interactions were more with Groves from the Upper Midwest than anywhere else. I remembered the early days of ADF and wished to remain true to the early vision of ADF while bringing it forward into the modern age.

Being an outsider was often a lonely place but was also a place of solitude and peace. Many years ago, when attending Pan Pagan Festival, I would camp at Pan Pagan in the evening, and then, in the early morning, I would drive the two hours to Chicago to work in the city and then return to the sanctity and safety of Pan Pagan. Being a solitary was a lot like this.

Orbits

I made many friends along the way. Some of those orbits coincided with mine for a brief period of time. Others endured longer, while some have lasted until this date. Some orbits coincided again in time; others were never to find a common path again.

I would like to think that I brought many good things to not only the position of Archdruid specifically, but to ADF in general. I was fortunate to serve with many good people. The Mother Grove of ADF (the ADF Board of Directors) is always a dream coming into being.

I had my fair share of challenges while Archdruid. Some came from within, others came from without. All were difficult and none were easy. I thank the Kindreds and most of all the Earth Mother for their presence during those times.

When I first became an ADF Listmaster in the mid-2000s, I did so because individuals were being dismissed on the ADF lists and that incivility was running rampant. I did my best to try to bring peace to those forums. While I was Archdruid, I also tried to keep the peace, which depending on how the wind was blowing and from which direction, was not always easy. I looked to the virtue of moderation and perseverance. Thank the Gods!

Goals

One of my major goals as Archdruid was to modernize the organization, to visit as many members as I could, attend events to represent ADF, and to reach out to other Druid groups to build upon our commonalities. I was successful in many of these points.

It was crucial to represent and strengthen our International Community – the Family of Druidry I called it – because I felt that the organization had been too focused on North America. I was able to see a new Asia-Pacific Region created, see Groves form in South America and visit them, and to see not only an Australian member on the Mother Grove, but Canadian members, and finally a European member.

Accomplishments

I ordained our first Canadian priest, our first European priest in Germany, and at the very end of my tenure, our first French / Breton priest. I look back at these events and feel fortunate and more than anything, blessed.

The annual Mother Grove retreat happened at my home during my tenure as Archdruid. This allowed as many of us as possible to sit face-to-face for a weekend of hospitality, friendship, and dedicated work. In the early years, my home was packed with Druids – everywhere. At our last meeting, it was split between my home and a local hotel.

I introduced foreign-language submissions into the ADF Study Programs and reviewed many submissions in French, along with some in Italian and Spanish. It is important to offer content in local languages whenever possible.

I was fortunate to have Rev. Rob Henderson as a role model for my own Clergy work. Earrach of Pittsburgh taught me many things and was kind and always helpful. He was one truly amazing priest. I took it upon myself to help protect the legacy and presence of our early ADF Priests, because of the early and continuing contributions to Our Own Druidry. I am ever thankful that several of them are still with us today.

Thank you

I have been similarly blessed in these last few years by a series of truly remarkable colleagues on the Mother Grove. To Rev. Jan Avende, former Vice Archdruid and current Archdruid, thank you for always showing up. I will do all that I can do to make sure that you do not revisit some of the challenges I faced.

To Brian, thank you for bringing a renewal to the Council of Senior Druids and for helping us move forward technologically. Thank you for always being available to talk.

Shaz, my dear friend, you have done remarkable work with the Council of Regional Druids – my former home – and thank you for bringing a truly Australian viewpoint to our International Organization. Thank you for calling bullshit when necessary.

To Lisa, thank you for bringing your heart and your abilities to a position of Advocacy. You care deeply, and an advocate should do just that.

To Mike, thank you for stepping in when it was needed.

Thank You, Continued

To Tami, you have been a voice of wisdom, fairness, and inclusion on the Mother Grove and I value your friendship and your wisdom on the Mother Grove. You are an important voice.

To Missy, it has been an honour serving with you. You did so many things on the Mother Grove, and you did them so very well. Thank you for your help in so many places.

To Jeffrey, you are a person of great wisdom and insight, especially in organizational matters. Your desire for fairness is key. I am so glad I sat down to talk to you in Battery Park so many years ago.

To Aimee, your quiet wisdom and fairness is so important on a Board of Directors. You bring your heart and your wisdom to each decision.

To Jane, our administrator, you have always been a valuable and knowledgeable member of our team. Your dedication to the position and to ADF is admirable. Jim, thank you for stepping in when we really needed it to help with the numbers.

To the Future

To Matthias, while I have not had the pleasure of serving with you on the Mother Grove, I know that you are a person of wisdom and integrity, which is key in leadership. I am so glad to see that a European sits on the Mother Grove, and I remain hopeful that there will be more Europeans on the Mother Grove very soon.

It is very important for our leadership to be fair and independent, with their focus on the best for the organization, as opposed to fealty to more local matters. I always tried to rule by consensus, and give the Mother Grove the choice, as opposed to forcing my viewpoint upon them. To not do so is to deny the Mother Grove the ability to make their own choice. It is the difference between offering a choice and making the choice for them.

I wish to thank, especially, those who voted for me throughout the years. I would not be here if it wasn’t for your belief and support.

To the many others who have helped me and have helped ADF, I thank you. Your contributions of time, skill, and love have been so unbelievably valuable.

The Road Ahead

As for myself, it has been an adjustment no longer being Archdruid. I arrived back in the US with two and a half hours left of my Archdruid term. I spent it quietly and at midnight, looked at the clock, and thanked the Earth Mother and the Gods.

While I expect to still be involved in ADF, my participation will be more peripheral. I still deeply care for ADF and its future. It is a part of me, and I am a part of it. I will always be here for it.

As a part of the Family of Druidry, I made many other important Druidic connections over the years. Philip Carr-Gomm and Eimear Burke of OBOD have both been delightful and cherished hosts during my travel abroad. I am a Druid Grade member of OBOD, and I love to see what OBOD does and how they change and grow. Damh the Bard is a tremendous musician – critically important to Druidry and Paganism – and a remarkably kind person. He is a Bard extraordinaire.

The Forest Ahead

Kristoffer Hughes of the Anglesey Druid Order is a friend and a brilliant and important Druid. I took his ADO course online last year and not only learned a lot, but I also saw in person the depth of his knowledge and his desire and commitment towards Druidry.

Druidry is not a collection of trees, but a living, growing forest, where the branches touch and they all share the same soil and sunlight as our roots reach deep in the past and our branches stretch far into the future, while our trunks grow here in the here and now.

I plan to continue traveling and speaking about Druidry. There are several trips planned to Europe this year and I hope the Gods are kind into the years ahead. I will to continue to share with you, and to work on my daily devotionals, as always. Thank you for sharing this look back, and now, it is time to focus on the road ahead.

Onwards.

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