Starting a new path: changes in perception

Over the last year I have been questioning the very roots of the path I have been following, looking for the “Heritage”, the ancient thread that leads backwards through time.
We read so much about the ancient Druids in modern books and can even learn to be one by distance learning, like studying an open university degree, and so we forget to look for the truth ourselves and just go along with the excepted beliefs.
When we start to peel back the veneer of these so called ancient religions and see the substance beneath, we find that Paganism in general is not so archaic at all.
Wicca was invented by Gerald Gardner although he claimed an ancient secret heritage for it, but it now seems clear that he was heavily influenced by the work of Margaret Murray, and her book, The Witch Cult in Western Europe and The Golden Bough by Sir JG Frazer.
Modern Druidism as it is practiced today was put together by Ross Nichols, and like Gardner he claimed an ancient secret linage to this. He introduced Celtic mythology and Bardcraft, and the celebration of the full eight seasonal ceremonies in addition to arranging the teachings into three grades, in accordance with classical accounts of the three divisions of the Druids. Nichols was a friend of Gardner and one can imagine them cherry picking ideas from different sources to form the two “Ancient Religions”.
Listening to Prof. Ronald Huttons "Mount Haemus Lectures" have been an enormous influence on me in my search for “The Truth” as was his "The History of the Pagan Horned God " and I encourage you to give them a listen.
But these pathways have value, they help many people find their connection back to the natural world, and this is why we have seen a rise in numbers and a greater public awareness of Paganism in general. It all depends on what you personally want,and how you go about achieving that.
People come to spiritual paths for many reasons and sometimes it’s worth stopping and questioning yourself, examining your motives or the direction you are headed. Only by being honest and critical can we find the real value in our workings, and find the things that work for us.
Just because its written in a book or part of a course doesn't make it LAW. We are all unique and therefore should use the work of others just to start us off, building a framework around ourselves then start to work with our own intuition, but this comes with time, time spent just walking the land, wandering in the woods letting the spirits of the stones and trees speak to us. Try to learn from nature in the same way as the first ever Shaman had to, switching over to this kind of mindset is very powerful and whatever name you call the power of nature, or how you personify it is irrelevant, that energy is there and wants to connect with us again.
I find myself breaking away from books, rituals and all the syncretism of Paganism and returning to my original ways of walking “my path”, a trust in my instinct, a tree, the moon and my intuition. The mysteries are found in the land and inside myself, they are not attained by lighting the right colour candle and calling to the west, whilst burning that special incense from Starchild..........

Love and Unrest /|\