GewessiMan's Philosophy

Philosophical perspectives

Five Personal Principles

Created by an OBOD Heathen living in the Weald

developed from a cauldron of Druidic, Heathen and Logos knowledge.

These are high level ideas that influence how I live. As a pagan in the western world

YAGNI - You Ain't Gonna Need It

"Always implement things when you actually need them, never when you just foresee that you need them."

This principle is taken from a computer coding background to stop developers wasting time and energy on things that aren't going to be used.  From this personal philosophical view this is it's primary purpose - to keep one's focus away from the marketing chatter of a consumerist society. Our western way of life has businesses driven by a marketing need to sell and an economy requiring consumers to buy. This leads it to be profligate and wasteful so this principle is aimed at keeping a balancing thought from the drivers we are exposed to daily that encourage us to buy, buy, buy.

I have taken this to be an ascetic idea that ranges across our modern materialistic world. For example I apply it to food shopping so that waste from rotten fruit & veg is kept to a minimum. It ripples out to buying monthly the basics and then picking up the perishables every couple of days. When holiday packing the aim is to have walk on luggage for anything less than a 1 week holiday. It may seem to be following a minimalist, "less is more" approach, where the focus is most definitely on what is needed rather than what is wanted. It can be used when de- cluttering to measure the 'stuff' you really need.

There is also it's relation to the Eastern mysticism principle of the suffering brought by material goods. Our houses and streets are full of these from the Chelsea Tractor to the huge T.V. set in every room. That desire for what can't be afforded causes untold misery and suffering to those that 'want' them but can't afford them - but do they need them?

This ties into Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs but also includes Ecosophy in that our human needs, as indicated by Maslow, have to be balanced against the Deep Ecological needs of our environment. YAGNI is the discipline to review one's behaviour and actions against. It is the stick principle that aims to keep us walking lightly on this planet. The rune Nauthiz is related to YAGNI and needs; necessity being the mother of invention. This idea, due to it's ascetic content, is related to the Neopythagoric philosophy.

ALBOWUF - A little bit of what you fancy

Not a white shaggy dog story...

This was a repetitive saying of my mother's when I was growing up. It is the balancing principle to YAGNI. Too much ascetism makes Jack a dull or fed up boy. Where YAGNI shows it's puritanical roots ALBOWUF is it's cavalier counterpart. The problem is always the question of how much is a little bit?  I'm guessing the answer lies somewhere around the few point. Once the biscuits / cake / beers head from 'a couple' into 'a few' is when you've moved beyond ALBOWUF, obviously there are some things (opiates comes to mind!) when ALBOWUF really can never apply.

Even those athletic ascetics of the road - the professional cycling peloton - are given a little bit of ALBOWUF in their feed bags, called musettes, during a road race stage. So whilst the majority of the content are energy bars and gels the soigneurs will add the riders favourite snack as well. All of us need a little bit of joy to break the dreary monotony of the days. It helps motivate us to carry on.

To my mind this principle is about letting off steam. Even the 8 fold year allowed this at Yule time when the Lord of Misrule would be appointed in charge of Christmas festivities. It's allows our human- animal time to break free a little bit. Emotionally it's about allowing some joy into life and balancing discipline with freedom. Sometimes after a hard day a beer is allowed.

It brings a pleasure principle to balance the YAGNI pain principle. This is core to Druidry in keeping a balance between the various principles. ALBOWUF is the pleasure of achievement, the moment at the top of the mountain to look back on the achievement of climbing it. ALBOWUF is the little reward for accomplishment, a little bit of carrot to the YAGNI stick of the world. The rune Wunjo, the flag of joy, is related to ALBOWUF. This principle is rooted in an Epicurean philosophy thanks to Alain de Botton.

Embrace complexity

There is no silver bullet

"A human being should be able to change a diaper/nappy, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, navigate a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, co-operate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly..." paraphrased from Heinlein's Lazarus Long.

This is driven against the modern desire to reduce things to abstract simplicity, against the sound-bite and dumbing-down of information so that it becomes mis-information. Some things are complex and as humans we need to understand that complexity or realise that we do not understand the complexity with humility. Currently we, as a society, play with things, such as fracking and genetics, without much humility and are surprised when the natural world turns out to be more complex than a safe, clinical laboratory or computer simulation. Simple solutions do not usually work for complex problems. Thus we humans, are complex individually, our society is complex and our universe is complex so we need to engage and accept complexity not shun it.

Civilisation forms in highly complex societies. Modern western civilisation is insanely complicated. Things that people now think as simple, such as a text message, involve a highly complex interaction of a technical network that took 50 years to evolve. It's why revolution, as a simple approach to change, seldom has quite the desired affect whilst evolution allows for reaction to unexpected complexity. Complex things take time to understand and manage and we need to embrace that complexity. It also requires subtle thinking to understand the complexity.

Essentially this is about the realisation of my internal civilised higher self / Renaissance man. It's about developing one-self to be a cultural 'jack of all trades' but this has to balanced by also specialising in a specific area. It is also reactionary against tabloid and 'celebrity' culture where dedication and effort are too often re-written as simple homily's to emphasise a preceived over-night success. The rune Mannaz is related to this as its shape shows a network of connections. This principle is rooted in the
      Neoplatonic philosophy.

Barbarian attitudes

Conan the noble savage

This was my first philosophical awareness. Throughout Robert E Howard's stories is a perception of the barbarian viewpoint as natural and uncorrupted. A simple, honourable and humanistic view of the world where Conan is strong because of his primitive, natural state of being. He is a part of the natural world and at one within it. Within this civilisation is viewed as weakening the spirit, particular one's morality, and dulling the senses. If anything it explains that people are often happier out in nature - that there is a deep, visceral need for humans to interract with the natural world.

Later I came to realise that this was an expression of the 'Noble Savage' romantic philosophy but also to Rousseau's Theory of the Natural Human "...nothing is so gentle as man in his primitive state, when placed by nature at an equal distance from the stupidity of brutes and the fatal enlightenment of civil man." It is a simple philosophy, one readily challenged, but it has become influential in many areas not least of which is cooking. I prefer to cook and eat rustic food - whilst I can appreciate haute cuisine my favourite meals are often much simpler.

Conan is based upon Robert E Howard's fantasy Irish Celtic ancestor and his god Crom is based upon the pre-Christian deity Crom Cruach who, ironically when we consider Barbarian philosophy, was allegedly worshipped with human sacrifice! However, Conan's attitude to Crom is very heathen in it's tone. There is no worship in this view but honour and respect for Gods instead. Prayers are not offered but thanks or an acknowledgement instead. Deities are seen as people who offer wisdom and enlightenment rather than omnipotent controllers of the spiritual world - "I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom's realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer's Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live"

In essence this a simplistic philosophy that balances against the drive of the civilised embracing of complexity. It places morality within a simple world of primitive honour and honesty. It emphasis self- reliance and one where self-discipline is natural. In reality it explains a need to get into nature and use the senses. Where flow makes you feel alive and the external tranquility becomes mirrored with the internal 'tranquilo' feeling of directed energy. The rune Uruz is related to the Barbarian attitude due to it's wild energy and in many respects it is a Stoic philosophy.

Erde (Mother Earth) Theory

A philosophy of natural equilibrium

This is a conflagration of Gaia Theory, Deep Ecology and Gewessi thought. Fundamentally it means that we humans are part of the natural world. We are not lords of it. It is the basic concept that each one of us is a caretaker of the earth. As the dominant species we have a duty of care for each and every ecosystem on the planet. Thus the separation of landscape into man-made and natural disappears. People are part of nature and so their impact on nature is natural. It can be for weal or for woe. In weal farming practice can create greater bio-diversity, such as the South Downs, in woe we can over-industrialise , over-fertilise and end up creating a dust bowl.

Within this theory there is hope, for the planet if not for humans. Life will survive any cataclysmic events that are created or contributed to by humans. Indeed the planet may be better off without, or with a much reduced, human population. There is also hope for human ability to learn and grow - that we can progress far enough to create a balanced planet where humans can live and enhance the natural ecosystems much as a great gardener can do with a plot of land. A great organic gardener works in harmony with nature to create a great environment for all creatures. This, I believe, is where our future lies; accepting our role within nature to manage this world, Earth / Gaia/ MidGard, with the care of an organic gardener.

At a deeper level it means upheaval for society in many ways - our economic models are wrong and don't include ecological costs, our farming practices need revision and our population needs controlling. So the affects would be economic & social, however, the current technological revolution is impacting these as well.

Within my personal gnosis the triad that supports walking the Gewessi path can be linked to the philosophy through the Òran Mór, the Irmunsûl and Logos. Three of the live strands of the Proto- Indo-European languages Celtic, Germanic and Greek; the influences that form the basis of the western world. Here is a further definition:

  • Òran Mór from Druidic philosophy. The view of the world as the big music and that all the streams within it forms chords of the song. The 3 circles of abred form the world of existence. The three lines of Awen - the Druidic symbol reflect this:
    1. Annwn: the Underworld.
    2. Abred: This world. The world of mortals.
    3. Gwynvyd: The Summerlands or the world beyond. A place of perfection.
  • Irmunsûl from Heathen spirituality. The great and mighty pillar or trunk that the universe turns around and is, arguably, the world tree, Yggdrasil, whose branches extend to the stars and whose roots go to the centre of the earth. Yggdrasil also contains the 9 worlds, that can be aligned to the 3 Celtic circles.
  • Logos from Scientific philosophy. A wonderfully complex word that has been ascribed different meanings by all the great philosophies. In a way of embracing complexity this means all of those but is rooted in modern western rationalism. Which is starting to embrace the complex natural cycles and their interaction with each other. A drought in Texas can mean a flood in Wales.

This is where the Germanic Mother Earth & Celtic Goddess as spirit of the land comes from. It emphasises our role and part within the patterns that are the tapestry of Wyrd in the natural world. A bindrune would align to this pattern and it relates to modern Deep Ecology philosophy.

Philosophy

the rational investigation of the truths and principles of being, knowledge, or conduct.

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