The Two Tenets of RDNA

As some of you may know, I am currently studying the ways of the RDNA in addition to the Our Druidry of ADF. I has been fascinating to see some of the origins of our own cosmology and symbolism. Before one may be elevated to the Second Order, they ask that you study and reflect upon the Two Tenets of RDNA, commonly recited simply as "Nature is good. Nature is very good."

From the Book of the Law 1.5: “The object of the search for religious truth, which is universal and a never-ending search, may be found through the Earth Mother, which is Nature; but this is one way, yea, among many.” This Tenet has been boiled down to the simple statement, “Nature is good.”

This first tenet places the Earth Mother, equated to Nature, as the end result of the quest for religious truth. The quest is “universal and never-ending,” and though there are other avenues, the Earth Mother must be accepted as a true path to this truth. In other words, the path of Druidry is a valid and meaningful means by which we may find religious truth in our lives. I do not necessarily feel that reducing this tenet to “Nature is good” quite translates the same meaning, but Druids are known for their witty and often cryptic speech.

From the Book of the Law 1.6: “And great is the importance, which is of a spiritual importance, of Nature, which is the Earth Mother; for it is one of the objects of Creation, and with it men do live, yea, even as they do struggle through life are they come face to face with it.” Likewise, this tenet has become, “Nature is very good.”

The second tenet elaborates on the first tenet, illustrating that the Earth Mother is of the greatest importance, because without her, humankind would not survive. The authors refer to the Creation of Nature with a capital “C,” which seems to denote a divine origin for its formation. Further, our struggles and hardships are ours along the way, but no matter our path, it is a path of the Earth, and we all must face this fact eventually. Reducing this tenet to “Nature is very good” makes even less sense here, because it completely strips the gravity of importance from the statement.

If I may suggest, perhaps a better pair of statements would be:

1. Nature is truth.
2. Nature is essential truth.

Those, to me, speak more loudly about the very basics of the reform.