The Monarch Bear Institute
The Monarch Bear Institute is a daughter organization of the Manannan Mac Lir Grove of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids (OBOD). OBOD is an organization that was established in 1717 in Britain. Its first chief druid was the famous poet, William Blake. Further Druid Orders became established in the 18th and 19th centuries in Britain Canada, the US and other English Speaking Lands. They have functioned as fraternal and spiritual organizations similar to the Masonic and Rosicrucian Orders. The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids is now the largest Druid organization worldwide, with over 24 thousand members internationally.
Originally in the 18th and 19ith centuries, only male members populated OBOD, like almost all organizations during those times. OBOD has evolved in the twentieth century to include women and men without regard to race, religion, age or national origin. Its focus has become ecological, spiritual, and earth based. OBOD is inclusive of all religious and spiritual traditions without discrimination. A person may be a practicing, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Jew or any other religious tradition, and practice Druidry at the same time. Druidry involves traditions, beliefs and behaviors aimed at connecting to, respecting and care taking the earth and her myriad of living beings. Following is an excerpt from OBOD’s introductory brochure. It expresses their official history and philosophy:
Monarch Bear Institute supports it's Druid member, Goat in his development of the two hundred acres of sacred land he stewards as a spiritual retreat center. Click here for more information.
The Druid Tradition
The ancient teachings of the Druids represent one of the wellsprings of inspiration of the Western Spiritual Tradition. Druids were magicians and poets, counselors and healers, shamans and philosophers. In the early days, as pre-Celts, they built stone circles and worshipped Nature with her many faces. Later the Celts blended the inspiring esoteric, mathematical and engineering skills of these megalithic peoples with their own flamboyant artistry and wisdom traditions to create the Druidry described by the Greeks and Romans.
Although partly suppressed with the coming of Christianity, Druidry continued to live through the work of the Bardic schools and the folk traditions and customs of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England and Brittany. The 18th century saw a revival of Druid practice that continues to this day. The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, which traces its origins to 1717, is dedicated to presenting the Druid Tradition in a way that is totally relevant to the needs of our time, and yet which is firmly rooted in its ancestry and heritage.
In Tune with the Spirit of our Times
More than at any other time in human history, the fate of the planet depends upon our thoughts and our actions. More than ever, we need a spirituality that is rooted in a love of nature, a love of the land.
Druidry and the teaching programme of the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids is based upon this love for the natural world, and offers a powerful way of working with, and understanding the Self and Nature – speaking to that level of our soul and of our being which is in tune with the elements and the stars, the sun and the stones. Through the work of the Druids we are able to unite our natural, earthly selves with our spiritual selves while working, in however small a way, for the safeguarding of our planet.
As our technological age seems increasingly unable to answer our spiritual needs, more and more people are turning to traditions such as Druidry to find a spiritual direction which recognizes the importance and wonder of the natural world, and which makes care for the planet one of its central concerns.
(For additional information about OBOD please see www.druidry.org)
Mannanan Mac Lir Grove is composed of OBOD members in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is an officially recognized grove (congregation) of OBOD. The leader of Manannan Mac Lir Grove is Dr. Rodney Karr. He has been a member of OBOD for over 12 years, and is an initiated Druid and recognized Chief Druid of Manannan Mac Lir grove. He also is a licensed psychologist who has practiced for over 25 years in the San Francisco Bay Area. (see www.psychologist-sf-contracosta.org)
Manannan Mac Lir Grove has been meeting for over eight years in Walnut Creek, California. Physically, Manannan Mac Lir Grove’s temple is a 300-year-old Oak Grove, in which the eight festivals of the Celtic Wheel of the Year are celebrated in honor of the seasons of the year. Manannan Mac Lir grove, like it’s mother organization, OBOD. Is dedicated to the love and preservation of the earth, her peoples and creatures. Dr Rodney Karr is also director of the Monarch Bear Institute.
The members of the grove of Manannan Mac Lir have dedicated themselves to create the Monarch Bear Institute as an independent, though connected institution to facilitate the conservation and protection of the earth and it’s creatures, particularly in our state of California. The Monarch Bear Institute is also created to educate the people of California in ways to preserve and protect our State’s history, people, land, creatures and resources. We see the current ecological crisis also as a spiritual crisis and are dedicating our spiritual work to spiritualizing the ecological movement. More information on the Mannanan Mac Lir grove is available at www.druidry-sf.org.
Dr Rodney Karr has also been an ordained minister with the Association for the Integration of the Whole Person since 1995. The Association for the Integration of the Whole Person (AIWP) is a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization in California and the USA. It is certified as a Domestic Corporation in California, and classified as a Religious Corporation. The United States of America’s IRS has granted AIWP the non-profit number of #95-3455451. AIWP’s EIN is also this same number. Dr. Rodney Karr is ordained in AIWP as a minister of eco-nature spirituality.
The AIWP, similar to OBOD, is an interdenominational church with over 900 ministers and congregations, each practicing a variety of religious traditions including Buddhist, Hindu, Native American, Shamanistic, etc.
Manannan Mac Lir Grove is an official recognized congregation of AIWP and as such is a non-profit organization with full 501(C)3 designation and privileges. Manannan Mac Lir Grove is sponsoring and supporting Monarch Bear Institute’s formation as a separate educational institution, and supporting it to become an institution dedicated to land conservation and environmental protection in the state of California.