ABOUT US

The Guild of Induction Experience Designers (the GIED) is a think tank of Order of the Arrow members who develop induction programs. We are independent, unofficial, and have no official relationship with the National OA Committee or any part of the Boy Scouts of America. So NONE OF THE MATERIALS ON THIS SITE ARE OFFICIAL. We are all deeply interested and involved in the induction, but have an amazing variety of experience and expertise.

Our emphasis is on crafting the character development experiences offered by the OA, such as (but not limited to) the Ordeal as a Candidate, the Ordeal as an Elangomat, the Quest for the Arrow as a new member in your unit, and the Vigil. We view the ceremonies first and foremost as explanations that support the experiences and secondly as experiences themselves. We believe that the ceremonies should be designed to be understood by the candidates as they first hear them. We put less importance on obscure symbolism which appeals to induction experts (including ourselves) but is rarely understood by candidates. We believe that symbolic actions should be an expression of the actual relationships. For example, membership callouts should have the the units sending candidates to the Order, not the Order calling them forward from the units.

We are concerned about genuine misappropriation in the OA of Native American culture and religious culture in general. On the other hand, we love Indian lore in the Order. The sound of the drums, the singing, the bells, the patterns of dance, the regalia. Thus we seek to completely eliminate inappropriate program elements so that appropriate Indian culture can continue to exist in the Order without rancor.

Definition of gied (Old English): Poem, story, or song that prophesizes using legend.

Definition of gied (Scottish): Past tense of “give” such as “gave”, “given”, “gifted”, or even “gift”. (“The Scottish word for “give” is “gi”, and “gied” is its past tense.)

Our organization is called the GIED. Full participants are called Gied, and the “title” of a participant is Gied as well. Any document created within the GIED can also be called “a gied” (see Old English and Scottish definitions above).

We sometimes refer to ourselves as “the guided” because we seek guidance in our work.

Operating principle and rule: Friendship, both within the GIED, and toward others.

Corollary rule: When material is ready, we distribute it openly to all who might be interested. We celebrate if someone else takes ideas we developed, changes them, and implements them. We develop ideas for use by others.

We are not a committee. We are not exactly a team. We are a guild—a circle of stewards who believe that ceremonial design is a form of witness, and that every experience worth preserving must be authored with care.

Each GIED project begins with a single Author, a member who sees a need, feels a calling, and steps forward to shape an experience. The Author carries symbolic and editorial responsibility. Others may advise, review, or contribute, but the Author holds the thread. This ensures clarity of voice, coherence of vision, and accountability to meaning.

Every GIED member is a potential Author. If you carry a story, a tool, or a vision that could restore meaning to our ceremonies, you may already be an Author. The guild exists to support that journey—not to gatekeep it. We believe that ceremonial design is not a privilege of tenure, but a response to insight.

Some projects begin as failed attempts from decades ago, only to be revived, reinterpreted, and reborn by new members who recognize their value and carry them forward. We honor these restorations not as corrections, but as living lineage. In GIED, failure is not final. It is potential waiting for the right steward.

We do not design by consensus. We refine through story, structure, and symbolic timing. We believe that meaning has a custodian—and that ceremonial tools must be shaped with restraint, clarity, and moral resonance.