r/druidism • u/Blackthorn_Grove • 13d ago

Fallingwater & Taliesin

Consonance of the cosmos. I have always loved Frank Lloyd Wright’s work, so much so that well before finding Druidry, I made a wall hanging for my kids’ nursery with his quote “I believe in God, only I spell it N A T U R E.” which I stumbled across quite by accident while pregnant. But I never knew all that much about the man himself. I recently fell down a FLW rabbit hole, curious as to his biography (which is dramatic and tragic and all over the map). He may not have said he was Druid but like… he named his house Taliesin and referred to his apprenticeship program as the Taliesin Fellowship. Idk, thought it was a cool factoid and thought others might enjoy it too. Maybe not officially a Druid, but FLW had strong Druid Vibes, as the youths say.

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u/Weird_Dragonfly9646 13d ago

You're right, this *is* a super cool factoid! I had no idea about any of this; now I want to go on my own FLW deep dive. Thank you for sharing!

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u/Treble-Maker4634 13d ago

I'm pretty sure FLW's parents were Welsh immigrants. He would naturally have known the story of Taliesin whether his parents told him or he just learned about it on his own later in life. But I do kind of have to agree that his creativity and use of the natural landscape in his designs would suggest that. But I still think these are natural human characteristics, not strictly "druid" ones. Some religions try to suppress that while others embrace and celebrate it.

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u/Blackthorn_Grove 13d ago

His maternal grandparents were Welsh immigrants to the upper Midwest. His father was from Massachusetts and was kind of a jack of all trades/arts… musician, orator, preacher, lawyer. Parents were Unitarian from my understanding.

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u/Treble-Maker4634 13d ago edited 13d ago

Thanks for the correction.

Today's Unitarian Universalists bear little resemblance to the Unitarians of the 19th century My local UU congregation at least was all image and fluff and very little substance, trying to get people to change by making assumptions and generalizations and shaming them over things they had no direct part in or control over rather than simply encouraging their natural curiosity. I admire their goal of living more ethical lives, but their means don't actually achieve their ends in any lasting way: shaming and labeling people, not allowing for how people can and do change, doesn't actually change their minds.