Healing - | Druidic Dawn - Volume 5 Issue 1.pdf · ganism is a sure way to be condemned to eternal...
34
Volume 4, Issue 4 Aontacht • 1 Aontacht ISSN 2044-1339 Healing
Transcript of Healing - | Druidic Dawn - Volume 5 Issue 1.pdf · ganism is a sure way to be condemned to eternal...
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 1
Aontacht ISSN 2044-1339
Healing
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 2
O
Zaontachtcreating unity in community
Cover photo: Oak © Allison
9 Caer AustralisFeature Interview
14 Healing the landDana Driscoll
22 The great spring of the townshipR.W. Morrell
27 What is a Pagan? A Druid's ViewGeorge King
18 Nature as Living Story: Lectio Divina in the Natural WorldAlison Leigh Lilly
20 Keys to Healing the Self21 Grip the moment21 Light
Caroline Mulcahy
25 Vegetable Mousaka26 Honey Cake26 Fresh Ginger Root
Gillian Monks
29 A Guide to Ogam29 Research Guides for Irish Local History30 Faith Fern & Compass...Podcast
3 Contributors Page
5 From The DeskRichard Fox Editor
8 News from the Druidic Dawn Management Team
Jonathan Cleaver
31 Community Calendar
34 What is in our next issue
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 3
O
Contributorsaontacht
Environmental BenefitsStatement
Aontacht magazine is onlyavailable online as a free .pdfdownload; thereby savingtrees, water, solid waste andgreenhouse gases. It is de-signed on an Energy Star ratedcomputer.
Aontacht is published four timesa year by Druidic Dawn, CIC.Aontacht, Volume 4, Issue 4 ©2012 Druidic Dawn, all rights re-served. All contained content iscopyright to its respective own-ers, including art and photos. Thecontents of this publication maynot be reproduced in whole or inpart without the consent of thecopyright owner.
EditorRichard FoxCo-Editor
VacantProduction ManagerDruidic Dawn Rep.
Nigel DaileyFeature Editor - Wild Earth
Alison Leigh LillyFeature Editor - Formulary
Faye BoydFeature Editor - Poetry
Sarah WardPublisher
Druidic Dawn, CICOriginal Layout Design
Aestas Designsaestas.dieromantic.com
General InquiriesAll questions, comments and et-cetera can be sent to the follow-ing address:
AdvertisingAt the moment we are offering adspace. To the community ofDruidic Dawn. This is subject tochange.
Opinions and views expressedare not necessarily those of
the editors, publisher or staff.
Caer Australis presents an exploration andcelebration of traditions born in the Heroicage and recorded for centuries sincethroughout the Celtic world. To under-stand the past so that we may meet thefuture with knowledge and wisdom is aworthy challenge and it is worth seekingwith honesty, passion and integrity.
Dana Driscoll is a Druid-grade member ofthe Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids(OBOD) and a Druid Companion in theAncient Order of Druids in America (AO-DA). She is also one of the two foundingmembers of Crescent Birch Grove, a Druidgrove located in South-East Michigan. Herblog and ongoing discussion of issues sur-rounding druidry, environmentalism, sus-tainability, and permaculture can be foundat http://druidgarden.wordpress.com
Maya St. Clair resides in Kuwait, is an IrishPolytheist, and a mechanical engineer witha love of history, mythology and culture.She is editor of the Oran Mor, the officialnewsletter of the New Order of Druids. Shealso serves on their Council. Maya is anIrish Gaelic student and regularly writes awide variety of articles and book reviewson Celtic and religious topics.
Gillian Monks lives in the Nantlle Valley,in Gwynedd, North Wales. She is a Quak-er, Theosophist, practicing Holistic Aro-matherapist and the Grove Mother ofCylch Blodeuwedd. Gillian also regularlyruns a series of workshops called Earth-walking from her home about practicalCeltic spirituality for everyday life.
creating unity in community
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 4
Caroline Queen of Celtica has a great love ofnature and meditation, and lives in Y Drenew-ydd in Cymru, in the beautiful Welsh moun-tains. Presently runs the record label Great Oak,with a mission to create a sustainable greenCeltica, filled with Great Oaks and High Con-sciousness.
v
Editorial Notes
You do not have to be amember of the Druidic
Dawn community to submitto the magazine.
Please submit contribu-tions directly to the edito-
rial staff via email to:
Refer to the last page ofthis issue for writer’s guide-
lines and more informa-tion, before you submit
inquiries or contributions.
Below is the theme for thenext issue
Contributors
Alison Leigh Lilly resides in the lovely,thrice-rivered city of Pittsburgh. She devotesher time to cultivating a spiritual life foundedon peace, poesis, and attentive engagementwith the inner and outer landscapes ofwildness, wilderness and nature in all itscomplexity. She explores these themesthrough essays, poetry and photography, andher work has appeared in a number ofpublications both in print and online. Moreinformation about Alison and her work can befound on her website: alisonleighlilly.com
Publishers of books and booklets on folklore,mythology, local history and much more.
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 5
This is a unique time of opportunity within theDruid and earth based faith communities. Peopleare leaving fear based Christianity in unprecedent-ed droves and many are looking for a spiritualalternative. Many have walked away from theirtraditional faith as scandals rock their clergy, andtheir beliefs have been twisted to support ques-tionable political agendas.
I believe all in all, that an increasing number ofpeople have just grown weary of being told theyare going to hell for infractions of the "rules" andwith this increasing disenfranchising comes anopportunity we have not faced in two thousandyears - an opportunity to introduce many newpeople to the concept of GAIA and her uncondi-tional love.
Just so I am clear, I am not advocating againstChristians. As with all people, they have the rightto believe in what they choose. I have no doubtthere are many fine Christians out there as well asmany great Christian built and run hospitals andother Christian based projects. But neither shouldwe feel bad about assisting those who have leftChristianity and are looking for a new approach totheir spiritual progress.
This influx of interested people comes with a someunique challenges. Many Christians for instancehave been trained for centuries that any looking ator researching earth centers spiritual paths or pa-
ganism is a sure way to be condemned to eternaldamnation and perpetual torture. They might beseeking a different path, but they also have a lot ofmisinformation that may need to be addressedand nurtured back to a more accurate and positiveframework.
In order to adapt to our greater acceptance andincreasingly public role, we will need to adaptourselves and our organizations so we can pro-vide different services to more people and indifferent ways.
We will likely have to develop larger organiza-tions to cover the basics in a more general way, butalso maintain our smaller, more intimate groupsthat provide the hands-on experience that is re-quired for those wanting to delve further into theirspiritual path.
Some complain though that already, ill-trainedand fraudulent people are offering initiations andcourses and charging large sums of money for thiscanned spirituality. All of us along the Druid pathknow that spirituality cannot be bought. That itcomes from constant learning...and from frontlineexperiencing and participating in spiritual practic-es.
Yet these sellers of spirituality are on to something.
They have identified a need that the rest of ourcommunity is not yet fully addressing and we
News from the AontachtProduction Team
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 6
create the space for them by our absence. Theyrecognize the growing desire for knowledge thatis out there these days to be part of a communitythat works with nature, not in dominion over it.
People want to be a participant in their spiritual-ity, not just someone filling a pew, but they oftendon't understand what it takes to be an active partof a spiritual community. So they reach out to thefraudulent ones and pay large sums of money fora spectrum of spiritual training and experiences.
Some of our existing groups need to grow and beable to provide more services to more people, allof who are at very different levels of knowledgeand often carrying over many concepts from theirformer religion.
This retraction from Christianity is also coming atan unprecedented time in history where Druidsand Wicca and many forms of paganism are gain-ing public recognition and acceptance. We arecertainly more open in society than at any timesince Christianity began to dominate. The internethas also opened up our ability to reach out andcommunicate with like minded people fromaround our towns and states, but also from acrossthe planet. More and more GAIA based followersalso have greater resources and are willing to putthem into play. Financial resources, land resourc-es, talents and many diverse skills - all powerfulresources indeed. Despite all the opennessthough, it still takes courage to stand up for ourbeliefs, even if we are somewhat more toleratedthese days.
Many of us in active leadership roles accept thatwe have self identified ourselves and some believethat many Christians still have a desire to light usup. Indeed, for all the improvements, it is still ascary time. And as Christianity writhes in its selfafflicted wounds, remember that a beast is mostdangerous when it is wounded.
I also believe that for us to grow and provide anew home for many more people that as a globalcommunity, we need to look hard and long at our
thoughts and feelings about money. While volun-teering is a powerful and integral core of our path,it too often digresses into looking at raising moneyand having money as bad and something to avoid.
For me, this is the path to continued powerlessness.
Having money does come with some powerful andimportant issues that must be addressed, but nothaving much money also has a huge downside,has not served our historical needs very well andcertainly will not support the anticipated signifi-cant growth in the years ahead.
I am not advocating that we aim at becomingExxon... but we need to be able to grow and pro-vide more services and do so consistently and thatis going to take us getting more comfortable aboutcharging fees, having people earn a reasonableliving and raising capital for projects and assets.Wouldn't it be good if we had a water spirit train-ing facility along a lake, a wind retreat in the highmountains perhaps? Maybe more organic farmsthat train people in the ways of working withGAIA?
Money is OK. Reasonable profit and coveringoverhead is good.
Greed is neither... and furthermore it is unacceptable.
Admittedly, distinguishing where the exactboundaries are between OK, good and greed can bedifficult. For now though, we need to raise the barand start the conversations and most importantly,we need to develop a new vision of what successlooks like -of what we could become. We need toget beyond the survival strategy that we have livedwithin for so many years, for so many centuries.
That is going to take some concerted effort and alot of open conversations about money and whereit is appropriate and where it is not. Ultimately,we have to give ourselves permission to earn aliving while honoring GAIA and come to a betterunderstanding of how we can grow and multiplyour resources in a good and humble way.
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 7
Indeed, we must give up focusing on the differenc-es between us and live up to our roles as diversecaretakers of GAIA, each path and each orderserving her needs in different ways. We need tomove beyond so called "witch wars" and baitingeach other and protecting our small ego basedturfs. We need to honor those elders around uswho have given so much of themselves breakingtrail over the last several decades. We need tothrow away the concept of devouring our leaders,and instead find ways to disseminate their wis-dom and have them boldly and respectfully men-tor those who are coming up behind them.
We have been granted the ability to move withinsociety once again - to celebrate the great Wheel ofLife, and honor our gods and goddesses.
Will we choose to spread our wings and fly or willwe close the door to our own cell and choose tolive happily in a matrix of our own making? Wewill decide with our actions and our willingness towork together - unity in the community.
Renard
EditorAontacht Magazine
Keltoiradio, la prima videoradio italiana del mondo celticointeramente online e in diretta sul web; puoi trovare ru-briche dall'Italia e dal mondo su spiritualità, ricerca deiluoghi sacri, sull'armonia dell'abitare, lettura del tempo edegli astri, rispetto dell'equilibrio naturale delle moltepliciforme di vita, miti storie e leggende... e ancora interviste,concerti, eventi live!...
Keltoiradio, the first italian videoradio of the Celtic worldentirely online and live; You’ll find reports from Italy andthe world about spirituality, search for the holy places, theharmony of living, reading time and the stars, respect of thenatural balance of all forms of life, myths and stories… andeven interviews, concerts, live events!...
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 8
Druidic Dawn has been established for nearly fiveyears and in this time we have strived to developa strong platform for sharing druidic content. Overthe five years we have benefited from a growingmembership base and more people read thequarterly magazine Aontacht with each editionreleased. Unfortunately we do not operate in avacuum and the infrastructure that keeps all thisgood stuff running requires financial resources.Therefore it is the managements greatest regret tohave to monetize the site. ...Somehow!
Also we would like to be in a position to begin allthe great conservation projects that are beingdeveloped in the background, and making theplatform financially self sufficient would act as anenabler to achieve this worthy aim.
We propose that much of the content andcommunity access remains free. Because theexisting site has been suggested to be quite techieand difficult to navigate this has meant barriershave been erected preventing some parts of thecommunity accessing all the good stuff. Thus wehave decided to recreate a new vision for druidicdawn that we hope will be easier to use and enablemore engagement between community members.The vision is to create a beautiful platform that actsas a companion to an individuals spiritual journeyand promote the community to support each otheron your own path, like a digital journal.
Part of this vision is to enable the site to become aplatform for transforming passive activity topromote the benefits of participating in a sharingand encouraging way. After all Druidry is a veryexperiential activity it would be right to have a sitethat supports these worthy aims in a safeenvironment.
Much of the site will remain free and universal,and we propose that this can be achieved byopening up new channels of potential memberswith a single user facebook or google log in id.For individuals who contribute a small annualsubscription we will reward you with free adver-tising space for your craft, both in the magazineand on the website plus additional functionalityfor organising your druidic path on line. Priorityaccess to the current magazine and we hope tobuild added functionality and courses to this areaof the site. The next few months will be a periodof consultation to the community before any ma-jor changes happen and these following questionshave been written to gauge your interest and initi-ate further discussions.
The Future of Druidic Dawn - A community con-sultation
Survey closes 1st July 2012
Jon Cleaver
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 9
Druidic DawnFeature Interview
A Conversation with Caer Australis,
Renard and the Druidic Dawn Community.
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 10
Caer Australis is based in Sydney, Australia and uses the Grove as a form of expression throughpoetry and songs from times past and also original poems by the members.
The celebrations are a time and space for inspiration and creativity. They have the alternative viewof Paganism throughout the year, hailing from the Southern hemisphere- Beltaine being in Novem-ber and Samhain being in May. They celebrate a great Celtic cultural pride in their four Gorseddsthroughout the year at Beltaine, Lughnasa, Samhain and Oimelc through the sharing of poetry,music and mythology.
DD: Can you tell us a little more about CaerAustralis, for instance is it mainly a researchgroup; or a group of people which come togetherto celebrate the seasonal wheel or perhaps a focalpoint for all things which are Celtic in Australia?
CA: Caer Australis is simply our website, but assuch it has been around for as long as it has beenpossible to have websites – from a very humbleand simple presence, growing to host a prettyvibrant email list in the 1990s, and developingever avoiding social media to be a venue to shareour ideas; over the years a small but friendlygroup of people keep in touch, and we from timeto time contribute to other email listings. We hap-pily include links to Australian Celtic festivalstrusting this simple act of support promotes thesecultural events.
DD: How does the Australian landscape affectyour druidry? Does its flora, fauna, weather andseasons, night skies etc impact on your practice?
CA: Our focus is on the sense of being Celtic in anAustralian context, and by marking the fire feastsin their order and noting their natures to be sea-sonal join in the wide range of groups who wishto acknowledge the difference south of the equa-tor. As far as the beauty of the native plants andanimals, and indeed the European and other exot-ic species, their response to the seasons is like inkind. Other artists in Australia do a much more
overt celebration of the wildlife and we happilylink to them!
DD: Australia and the Southern Lands experi-ence the seasons off-set half a year to the Celtichomelands. As you say, "celebrating the Firefeasts with the progress of the southern seasonspresents a dilemma, for at Beltaine on May eve,the southern seasons are turning to the winter."How does this impact your ceremonial work andyour Celtic path?
CA: Well, it simply is this: the natural phenomenatake precedence. The symbologies developed inthe homelands, responding to light and life, arerequired to be transformed: north and south arewarm and cold, the seasons are displaced by halfa year. The dilemma resides in the choice betweenacknowledging nature or sticking to prescribedassociations written down in another hemisphere:mind you, it is not so simple as it may seem andeven on, say, May eve when passing through theveil to wintertime, the mind’s eye is full of thebrightness of light in the homelands!
DD: You present a fascinating proposition thatthe beginning of the Celtic year is at the openingof summer. Can you give us some background onwhat your research has uncovered and your per-spective about this approach?
CA: First, this must be said to be an ever adaptingarea of study, and the many people seeking anunderstanding of the Celtic year have much to
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 11
contribute to each other ; what was published inAontacht recently has undergone some transfor-mation of detail already, but the general principalremains. Celtic languages continental and insularreflect and respond and concepts travel the geog-raphy, and across the hundreds of individualCeltic countries by market trade or by druidmeet. The best discovery is that there is yet awealth of understanding yet to be gained of ourancestors ; but simultaneously there are timeswhen we need to sit back a reassess some pastconclusions for both their own merits but also inlight of the context they were made. The basicproposition of a Gaulish Samon-Giamon yearrecorded on the parapegma found at Coligny asbeing a record of a year commencing in the Sum-mertime comes from the meaning of those monthnames; and the extended proposition that such anarrangement extended culturally in Celtic lan-guage countries develops from observing thesame names used in Ireland in the first millenni-um: cet-soman and mi gam ; This simple associa-tion of names opens up the path of discovery ofhow the literature celebrates the onset of sum-mer, and celebrates a summery otherworld, howthe maponos is a summery figure. This ‘CelticLight’ comes to displace any other notion, and sothe path continues.
DD: Can you tell us more about Caer Australis'sArthur Project and how it reintroduces people tothe Arthurian legends and the historical endeav-ors to penetrate the Dark Age of Britain?
CA: Can you believe it – this subsite was in facta university assignment not for its content, butfor the coding of the website itself! But wegrabbed the opportunity presented by the as-signment at hand that called for a series of shortand focused interlinked pages to see what wecould do regards Arthur. So as the visitor willsee, the strands of context, name, story develop-ment and the enduring theme have been giventheir respective pages. Maybe in there someoneembarking on the path to meet Arthur will beassisted in getting a handle of the complex andinterwoven and ever-changing ideas and devel-
opments. Let it be considered a torchlight thatwill need to be replaced by one’s own light ofdiscovery!
DD: On your website, your Conquest sectionseeks to provide an insight into the history ofconquest of the Celtic world by Rome from theperspective of the Celts. Can you explain howthis is different than what most people have readabout these four and a half centuries of conflict?
CA: Well, in there it is hoped that the hard deci-sions that needed to be made at the time get tobe revealed. We used source material as best wecould to create a narrative. We try to show thatthe internal dynamic of the Celtic world as it metthe external influences at the time can be foundin the sources or understood from them – unpal-atable alliances, fierce resistances, noble defeats:finding out how to exist in a world where therewas not a simple answer available, for Romemade an error – it razed Carthage rather thandeal with other powers on an equal footing ; wesuffer from that decision even our cultural mind-sets today.
DD: In the Goddesses in the Grove section ofyour website you state that Goddess has sixgifts: She is the most beautiful woman of all,and She is mother and She is nature. Her life-giving sustenance reflects in her role as Motherof Mabon and title of Great Queen. Can youelaborate on this?
CA: The collection of excerpts from myth andpoetry concerning the Goddess is so introduced.Within the collection are a portrayal of Her fromthe literature, so we see how she is regarded,and how she is manifest. Overall the collectionhopefully reflects that she is our foundation andthat she is the nurturer. Also within, the trans-formation of her multiplicity to singularity, hercontinued role in the new religion and some-thing of her present role as Nature so muchgreater than anything else can be discerned.
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 12
DD: Are you interested in forging relationshipswith other Australian Druids and if so, whatwould you bring to them and what would youlike from them?
CA: Any great conversation about a roaring fireis always welcome! We’ll bring the mead, andthey may have ready the bread J
DD: Rhys - you mention that you were born inAustralia with Aussie parents of Irish and Cym-raec descent, and that it has been a fascinatingand fun journey to learn and develop the "CeltWithin". Across the world and far from the orig-inal Celtic homeland an increasing number ofpeople are adopting Celtic ways. Can you speakto this and how it has been for you developingthis personal path there in Australia?
CA: Learning and developing the Celt Withinhas started when I was quite young, and ourMum would tell us some of the stories that hervery Irish mother told her. It wasn’t until I wasolder and began to read the myths that I sawthat these tales had a firm basis in the more an-cient aspects of Eire. It was remarkable that thethreads remained. As I grew older, I gained agreater interest in the Cymraec part of my herit-age. The Irish are well represented in Australia,the Cymru less so. The mythology, and indeedhistory, of Cymru rang a bit truer to my innerself. My personal path isn’t based on other‘paths”; it is indeed personal. As are my philos-ophies and spirituality. These have, however,been very influenced by my ancestors, there tri-als and triumphs, both ancient and modern.
DD: John - In your poem Green you say:
The ancient oak tree perceives the skyIs brighter and lighterAnd slumber is overBudding bursts forthAgain the green leafy fineness
Do you believe that Trees are sentient beings?How about Gaia? Some like Lovelock postulatesthat GAIA is intelligent and living, but that doesnot mean that she is necessarily a conscious enti-ty. Do you think that GAIA and nature is con-scious?
CA: I have in mind that when great and ancientoaks finally meet their day to fall, that is when adragon comes into this world from out of withinthe wood. I talk to trees, I feel their response; Itwould be satisfying to be a tree, I think. But Idon’t have an answer to this, yet I will not saytrees are not sentient, nor the planet. Is that be-cause the part cannot understand the whole?
DD: John - You mention that you left science re-search objecting to the notion, practice and impli-cations to humankind of mammalian cloning,but your interest in an understanding of evolu-tion remains. Can you elaborate on what youdid not like about cloning and tell us a bit moreabout your interest in evolution?
CA: Ripping out the new life of held by the nu-cleus of a fertilized egg and replacing it is atro-phy, and considerably repugnant in itsextinguishment. The dance that is the develop-ment of life, ecosystems, cultures, oaks and drag-ons is a wonder to behold.
DD: Throughout life, the universe sends usmany books to help us along our paths. Can yourecommend five books to our readers?
CA: Fiction ranging from Le Guin’s Earthsea andKurtz’s Deryni stories, Attenborough’s Life onEarth, Graves’ Greek Myths, Asimov’s Founda-tion, and of course the Mabinogion .
DD: What might we expect from Caer Australisthis next year? Is there a website where ourreaders can keep up with your activities?
CA: For now we’ll need to focus on keeping itup to date rather than a new section, and it has
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 13
suffered from lack of attention due to daily grindstuff ; A section ‘Herbs in The Grove’ is beingput together.
DD: Any last comments you would like to leavewith our community?
CA: ‘Most things grow old and perish, as thecenturies go on and on. Very few are the pre-
cious things that remain precious, or the talesthat are still told.’ – Thar to Arha in The Tombsof Atuan, in Le Guin’s Earthsea.
: Thank you for taking the time to have thisinterview with us today. We appreciate you tak-ing the time to share your thoughts with theDruidic Dawn community.
Next Interview - Dr Thomas Clough Daffern,Druid Peace Order, Scotland.
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 14
Walking the Path of the Ovate: Healing the Land
We live in a time where our land, the very thing wedruids hold sacred, is continually under threat.From massive deforestation to forest fires, from oilspills to global warming, many of these problemsseem beyond our control. The Ovate path in theOBOD asks us to learn about trees and healing,and so naturally much of this work leads to healingof the land. In this article, I tell the story of my ownOvate path in healing the land on a very local level,and present some suggestions for those who mayfind themselves called to be healers of the land.
The Suffering of the Land
In a beautiful pool of water you can see paintedturtles, leopard frogs, tadpoles, and many varietiesof dragonflies. Cattails and reeds grow up from theclear depths. Behind the water is a small field fullof wild strawberries, daisies, and wild grasses.Beyond the field, a small wooded area beckons.This landscape sounds like a fantasy realm—untilyou enter the forest. Garbage—bottles, old refrig-erators, old car batteries, half-burned couches andcarpets, tires and rusted fence posts are littered inenormous heaps combined with dirt and cut treetrunks. A closer inspection of the non-woodedareas showed much misuse—garbage strewnabout the land and in the pond, a huge burn pile
filled with nail polish tubes, dirty diapers, andshattered glass.This was the scene that greeted me last summer,when my husband and I were searching for ahome to purchase in a rural part of South-EastMichigan. We had fallen in love with the homeand the land and ended up purchasing it, but Iknew that this land would need much healing andthat my Ovate teachings would be able to help.
Healing in Two Worlds
When I first walked on the land, I could sense thatthe spirits of the land were angry and sorrowful.It was if the land had been crying out in pain andin resentment. The garbage and illegal burninghad been apparent enough, but what was onlyclear later through much detective work was thatan acre or more of trees in the center of the prop-erty had been cut for no reason other than theowner of the property didn’t like them (as re-vealed to me through the neighbors). The woodthat had been cut hadn’t been used, but ratherdumped in the back of the property in the forest.No wonder these spirits had been suffering!
Drawing upon my knowledge of druidry, I knewthat this land needed serious healing, and it had tobe done in a delicate and careful manner on boththe physical and spiritual realms.
Healing the LandHealing the Land Dana Driscoll
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 15
Understanding the Healing Process
Although the work I describe took place in an areaonly three acres in size, I believe that some of whatI describe could be used to heal many kinds ofland. Here are the things that I have learned that Ihope will be of use to others engaging in thishealing work.
1. Answering the Call
Since much of the damage to our lands and wild-life is human-driven, humans can be the first stepin healing. You will know if you have been calledto do this kind of deep healing work. The spiritsmay speak to you, or you may sense it withinyourself. You may be drawn to a piece of landrepeatedly and recognize that it is this land youare to help heal. When you have been given thiscall, it is wise to answer. Often, asking directly isa good way to get guidance on how to begin.
When I arrived the land, I knew that I had beencalled here to help heal it. But just because I hadbeen called, didn’t mean I knew the best way toproceed! I used the teachings in the Ovate gradeas a starting point, and I opened myself up to theland and asked the spirits how I might best help.
2. Recognizing Challenges and Trials
While healing the land can be immensely reward-ing, it can also be very difficult. I found that I hadto gain the trust of the spirits—and this was noeasy task. The spirits of the land were not veryresponsive to words or simply expressing intent.“Talk is cheap” was the response I received.Building trust takes time, and you may be asked todo unexpected things or even be tested to see ifyou are ready to engage with the work on thespiritual and physical realms.
On a warm summer day while doing some medi-tation work for my Ovate course, I saw a raccoonin our field swaying back and forth, appearingalmost drunk. It was at this moment that the landspoke to me—“this raccoon has come here to die,and you must help him.” Although it was difficultto watch a creature die, knowing that you cannotsave him, I did so, staying with the raccoon intothe evening and sending him peaceful energy. Thenext morning, he was still there, lying in the field.He lifted his head at me and gave a small nod. Ihad to go to work that day, and when I returned,the raccoon had passed on. I spoke to the spiritsand was directed towards a spot below a mapletree. I was directed to pile his grave high withstones and keep watch over it so that no wildanimals could dig him up. That night, the spirit ofthe raccoon visited me in a dream and said onlytwo words, “Thank you.”After conducting some
Picture of the Property before Tending (in earlyMay, 2010) - lots of garbage! And the pondreflection teaches us the lesson of healing intwo worlds.
So much life in the pond!
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 16
research on his behaviour and symptoms, I havecome to the conclusion that the raccoon had Ca-nine Distemper, and that, had I not buried him, thedisease would have likely spread to other animalsin the forest (and possibly nearby dogs if notvaccinated). This was also a turning point in mywork with the sprits of the land—after this mo-ment, I sensed they were more open and willing towork with me.
3. Participating in the Two Levels of Healing
When the land is mistreated, polluted, or other-wise damaged, healing must take place on twolevels: the physical and the spiritual. It wasn’tenough just to pick up and remove the garbage onthe land. This would have left a clean space, butnot necessarily healed the damage in the spiritrealm. If we think about human victims of trau-matic experiences, we know that surface woundscan heal much more quickly than the humanmind. Our lands are no different—we can clean upa space, physically remove garbage, oil, or replanttrees but the damage on the spirit realm may re-quire other kinds of work.Spiritual healing must be done slowly, carefully, andwith purpose. Speak to the spirits of the land andlisten to them. I found that bringing in positiveenergy to he land in many different forms, and atmany different times, can help. I formulated a treehealing incense and used that while I was doingany work (spiritual, physical, or both) on the land.
I brought my pan flute into the forest and playedit—the positive energy that the music had wascalming and peaceful. I spoke to the spirits andtold them of my own life and the healing in it.
Physical healing should be done carefully and withadequate safeguards. Depending on the kind ofhealing that you will be doing, you may need toprotect yourself from dangerous substances—tox-ic chemicals, sharp objects, etc. If you have nothad experience doing clean-up work, consider vol-unteering for an organization who does such workso that you can learn proper precautions.
4. Seeking out Help
Seek out and work with guardian spirits. Bodies ofland and water, great and small, often have guard-ian spirits. These may be in physical form-trees,stones, animals, or amphibians, or may be spiritform alone. I have found these guardians to be ofgreat help in showing me the path forward andconnecting me with the many different spirits ofthe land. This may be as simple as following abird’s path in flight and discovering a barrel of oldoil ready to leak onto other parts of the land andpollute waterways (as I did).
Seek out help from your fellow druids. When we firstmoved to the property, I asked for the help of myseed group members to help cleanse and bless theproperty. This simple home and land cleansingwas a great first step—as we walked the land to
Unfolding of Spring Flowers;
the land continues to heal.
Healing can happen!
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 17
bless it with water and fire, an amazing cleansingrain came out of nowhere poured and poured!
Seek out resources and information. Since beginningthis work, I have worked to educate myself aboutthe forest and its inhabitants, about how to cleanup and properly dispose of hazardous chemicals,what can be recycled, and so much more. Knowl-edge is power, and druidry is a path of knowledge.
5, Practical Wisdom
Use grounding techniques and be mindful of your ownenergy. Through healing work on a deep spirituallevel, you must be mindful of your own energy. IfI went into the forest to clean up garbage withoutgrounding, I would find myself very drained afteronly a half hour or forty-five minutes of work. Butby performing the OBOD’s Light Body exerciseand grounding myself, I was able to work muchlonger because the energy I was using to heal wascoming from the earth, rather than from myself.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. One of my challenges in thephysical clean-up of the land was to recycle orreuse as much of the “garbage heap” as I could.For example, the roll of chain link fencing found inthe weeds was used to help keep critters out of thegarden. A lot of the cut trees and wood has beenturned into seats, altars for our outdoor grove, orfirewood for our ritual fires. Glass, plastic, andaluminum was all recycled. I made a leaf com-poster out of some old rusted wire. Everythingthat can be reused, was reused or repurposed.
Closing Thoughts
After much work, the physical landscape is beingcleared of garbage and the spirits of the land arebeginning to heal. I have planted new trees,cleansed and blessed the land with the help of myseed group, and will continue to this process ofhealing. My work is nowhere yet complete oneither the physical or spiritual levels, and willlikely not be for many years. But the spirits of theland, the energies of the land, and my own ener-gies have been renewed and refreshed as part ofthis process. I now walk into a forest that is peace-ful rather than angry, and engaged rather thandistant. Eventually, when all of the garbage iscleared, our outdoor grove will be in the placewhere the garbage piles once stood. To me, this isthe ultimate gift of druidry—to be able to replacepiles of poisonous garbage carelessly thrown intothe forest with a sacred grove where the forest andher spirits will be respected and revered.
Dana Driscoll
This article I wrote for Touchstone (the OBOD’sjournal) in 2011. This tells the story of the landupon which I work and gives some suggestions forthose looking to–or finding themselves needingto–heal the land.
Wildflowers in the field!
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 18
"Go play outside," my dad would tell us on nicesummer days. And my brother and I would gotumbling out the backdoor, ready to climb trees ordance through the sprinkler in the backyard, eagerto splash through neighbourhood creeks, scale oldwooden jungle gyms, or chase after frisbees in thewide meadowy fields nearby. Never mind thescrapes and bruises (and two broken arms in onesummer!), the muddy pant cuffs and worn-through knees, the sunburns and bug bites. "Goplay outside." What a simple, wonderful com-mand!
And it's one I'm still as eager to follow, as I am togive. Sometimes I think that simple, earnest sug-gestion, more than anything else, has been themost valuable and meaningful gift Druidry hasgiven me. The encouragement and the permissionto go outside and play; it's something that we needmore as adults when so many Serious ImportantGrown-Up Things seem to demand our time andattention. Just learning to lighten up, be silly,climb a tree or collect pretty stones and weeds inthe park, run or dance or skip or throw my armsup towards the sun---we need those things, thosemoments and opportunities to be child-like andjoyful, to revel with complete abandon in the gloryof living in a beautiful, messy natural world.
You and I need those things not just for a happysoul, but for a healthy body and mind as well.Every day, it seems a new study comes out abouthow vital the natural world is for our physical,emotional and psychological health. Scientists inthe UK have discovered that spending time out-doors in tranquil settings has a pronounced effecton the interconnected neural pathways in ourbrains. Relaxing on a quiet beach, for instance,listening to the rhythmic lapping of the wavesupon the shore, brings the many different parts ofour brains into sync with one another, tuning ourmind to our body and its surroundings. Spendingtime in quiet meditation in an outdoor setting is ashealthy for the mind as a brisk swim is for thebody, toning our mental and physical musclesalike in ways that help us release stress and recon-nect.Spending time in the wild outdoors also helpsboost our creativity, intuition, our ability to solveproblems, even our capacity to be kind and gener-ous with others. Researchers at the University ofKansas studied the effects of wilderness backpack-ing and found that after only a few days in thenatural world free from the distractions and stressof modern digital technologies and their constantdemands on our attention, backpackers saw pro-nounced benefits: increased creativity, imagina-
The Wild EarthStories of our World
Go Play Outside!
Alison Leigh Lilly
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 19
tion and a more positive mood. As animalsourselves, human beings thrive in natural settingswhere we can rediscover the clarity and creativityof what researcher Ruth Ann Atchley calls the"softly fascinating environment" of the wilderness.Even after as short a time as a long weekend,nature works her healing magic on our wearysouls.
Photo: Llyn Trefor: Astrocelt 2012
I don't know if other writers experience this oddwhine of feedback ringing in their ears, when onedesire comes too close to another, one value rubsup against another.... There are times when I wantto fill every piece I write with the single, concisedirective, over and over: Go play outside! Youlovely people, for gods' sake, go play outside! Stepaway from the computer screen, get up from yourdesk, open a window, unlock the door, step intothe beautiful world and breathe deep. But on theother hand: read this! Stay here, listen, let us sitand think quietly and seriously for a while, let usexchange stories and experiences, see what we canlearn from one another.
Of course, I want us to communicate, to converse,to share and explore and ruminate together. I lovethe outdoors, the shorelines and the horizons andthe twilights where I can slip into the liminal wild-ness of nature. But I also love to write. I couldspend hours in front of a computer, tweaking andrevising and chewing on my lip, working to say
what I really want to say. I love the gritty feelingof satisfaction when I manage to write somethinginteresting, substantive, maybe even poetic or in-spiring. It's like the grit of dirt that reminds youthese vegetables come from your own modestgarden. So of course I want you to read what Iwrite. It's a gift, it's why I write, so that I can givewhat I have written away to whoever is willing toreceive. But then.... oh, but then. If you're in herereading blog posts instead of going outside toplay.…
Hear it?! Hear that whine? The harsh ringing of amicrophone too close to the speaker.…
I know, I know, there are so many interestingthings to read right now, so many fascinating arti-cles by so many wonderful writers and thinkers.How can I bring myself to ask you to read yetanother one, when green fields and blue skies andwarm summer rains are just waiting to be en-joyed? But I promise, I'll keep cramming in asmuch poetry and thoughtfulness and clever turns-of-phrase as I can; if you promise that, once in awhile, you'll take a break to just step outside,stretch your arms wide towards the sun and givea great big bear-hug to your favourite tree.Do we have a deal?
Alison Leigh Lilly
Resources:"Nature’s tranquility helps brain connect,"Futurity.org, http://www.futurity.org/science-technology/natures-tranquility-helps-brain-con-nect/ (14 September 2010)"Researchers find time in wild boosts creativity,insight and problem solving," The University ofKansas,http://www.news.ku.edu/2012/april/23/outdoors.shtml (23 April 2012)
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 20
Keys to Healing the Self
Feet on the ground,Toes squidging into the mud,Roots growing from the soles of the feet,Deep, into the centre of the earth,Where the magmic core glows,Radiating red hot, fiery, life force,Up keen, strong roots,To fill the being with electricity.
From the head, held high, grows a chord,Stretching to the heavens,Showering golden light into the soul,The self brims full with this peace,Every muscle relaxes with each breath out,Rays ooze from every pore,The beams from above & the force from below,Meet & entwine in the heart,Spinning forward, glowing green this heart,Pumps, feel the heart, feel the fusion, ignite.
Centre the self in the heart,Fill the chest with the might of strength,Proud & sure, with every breath.
The base chakra; glowing red orb at the groin.Feel the intensity of this red fiery centre, grow,Infusing the basis of life’s reality,With the might of heaven & earth’s power,Surging through the being.
Orange in between the hip bones,Spinning centre, radiates heat,Swelling the vigour for life’s passions,Bringing the gusto of succeeding,Feel the spark at the centre,Grow it’s own life force,
Ebbing up into a yellow, bright stomach,This bright bold radiant core,Turns, churning the life to come to action,Charging all the organs with high frequency,To empower to heart, glowing so green.
Oh heart bounding green,How every stretch of the self,Be filled with radiant will,Peaceful, brave, rhythm of life,The dance seeps from the eyes.
The heart wills the love to say,Filling the throat with blue,Blue centre of the speech,Be charged with centred exuberance,Willing every word to be loving & true.
In the middle of the forehead glows the third eye,Indigo centre, of seeing our best way,Feel the force of love up the neck,
Filling the brain with vigour & light,Centring the orb above the eyes,To make every thought, positive & simple,Think to this centre, then think.
hBardic WhispersExpressions from the Soul
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 21
Oh pray to charge & keep the crown chakra cen-tred,Glowing orb, sparks above the head,Brimming with incandescent pink rays,This orb brings the connection,To our highest visions,Of life’s ultimate dream,Charge this centre, to dare to be.
Always imagine a glowing, golden orb under thefeet as well,
Helps to keep the being realistic, feet on theground,Praying for every step forward, to be good. When balancing all these energies,Be at peace.Breathing, loving the self.
Feel the flow between all these chakras,Blending the colours as the kundalini rises,Feel the self becoming a rainbow,The gold rays filling the soul.
Caroline Mulcahy
One knows life when the urge comes to grip tight to the moments we feel the love.
Hold the heart dear, be truly exasperate to those we care about to make sure all know,
How much it means to be in times of joyful appreciation of the loved smile’s bounty,
Being with those we love, are the moments for which we strive,
Giving us the reason & the will to fight to better all,
Oh hold dear the love in the eye, for it is the power behind every hour’s toil.
Caroline Mulcahy
Light chords send a pillar through me, keeping
These feet on the ground & the head held high
& the heart holds strong chest, upholding the feeling,
To be pumping assurity, each move divine.
Strength of heart, hub glowing furnace, feeds the altar,
These deeds of all rituals to the day we do make
& each day we succeed in relaxing in ease at all,
Loving the purity of child’s joy as we awake.
Caroline Mulcahy
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 22
To the north of Nottingham in what was onceSherwood Forest is the site of the town's bestknown holy well, an ice-cold spring, the water ofwhich had for centuries a reputation for being ableto cure rheumatic afflictions and other ailments.Known now as St Ann's Well, this was not itsearliest name but one given it by some monks whohad seized the site and erected a chapel therewhich they dedicated to St Ann, renaming thespring in the process. Prior to this it had beencalled Robin Hood's Well. The change of name didnot meet with local approval for people continuedwell into the 18th century to refer to the spring asRobin Hood's Well.
Circumstantial evidence derived from linguisticstudies suggests the spring to have been a healingwell in pre-christian times. It enters history knownas the Brodewell; a few years later it had becomeThe Owswell. In Anglo-Saxon Brod (e) can mean'coming together' or 'to shoot' or 'spout', thus theword could be used as a descriptive term for wateremerging with some force from the rock at the sideof the valley where the spring is located. The wordOss, or Os may well be a localised vulgarisation ofthe Anglo-Saxon Eostre, a fertility goddess whosefestival was to be absorbed into the christian cultto become Easter. At what date the spring becameassociated with Robin Hood is not known, but onemight speculate that it was sometime in the thir-
teenth century when ballads about the outlaw hadbecome popular.The christianisation of Robin Hood's Well tookplace sometime early in the fourteenth century,while the unpopularity of the act is suggested byofficial local references to 'Robin Hood's Well aliasSt Ann's Well'. Some Nottingham antiquarians inthe nineteenth century attempted to establish thatthere was a hermitage near the well. However,they produced no documentary or archaeologicalevidence in support of their contention. As her-mits sought to keep away from the public it ap-pears the notion that a hermitage should belocated next to a major route from Nottingham tothe north at a place which itself is highly improba-ble. Sometime in the late fourteenth or early fif-teenth centuries the authorities at St Mary's churchNottingham are said to have seized 'the greatspring of the township' and built a chapel dedicat-ed 'to the mother of the patroness of the church,' StAnn. This personage was mythical, as even theRoman Catholic authority on saints, Donald Att-water, admits. There is no trace either of a chapeldedicated to St Ann or 'a great spring' in medievalNottingham, though there was a side altar dedi-cated to her in St Mary's itself, as might be expect-ed. Consequently we must look elsewhere for bothand the only place which fits in with the scenariois Robin Hood's Well a mile outside Nottinghambut in an area in which the town authorities ap-pear to have held properties.
The great spring of the townshipR.W. Morrell
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 23
St Mary's is the oldest christian church in Notting-ham, having been built in the settlement whichwas to develop into Nottingham. Bede has pre-served a letter from the Pope to Melitus whichencouraged missionaries to take over and dese-crate pagan holy places. St Mary's was controlledby the Cluniacs of Lenton Priory, who had re-ceived its 'temporalities' as part of their endow-ment from the Norman overlord of Nottingham,William Peveril, who had invited them to settlenear his town and castle sometime between 1109and 1114. Abundant records testify to the Priory'sgreed and in respect to St Mary's they sought toextract the maximum revenue for minimal duties.By 1290 this situation had become such a scandalthat the Archbishop of York was forced to install aresident vicar (perpetuus vicarius), to take charge ofthe church, though ultimate control of the reve-nues remained with the monks. It was in keepingwith the character of such a monastic house tohave viewed a popular but secular holy well as apotential source of additional income, hence theirtake-over. Sometime early in the fifteenth century,Bishop Edward Trollope gives the date as 1409 [1]the monks of Lenton had a chapel built adjacent tothe spring, dedicating both it and the spring to StAnn.
The monks did not long enjoy the fruits of theirill-gotten gain, for within a few years of the con-struction of the chapel Lenton Priory was dis-solved and its abbot hanged for taking part in theso-called Pilgrimage of Grace. The spring site re-verted to the ownership of the Nottingham townauthorities who abandoned the chapel while start-ing to develop the site both as the home for anofficial in charge of the town's woodlands but alsoto cater for visitors to the well, of which there werea great many. Eventually the site was to become asort of pleasure ground cum spa and remained sountil the first quarter of the nineteenth century.
On high ground to the south-east of the healingspring was to be found a turf maze called theShepherds' Race, or Robin Hood's Race. At what
date the maze was created is not known, thoughthere is no reference to it in local records prior tothe late seventeenth century. Local antiquarianshave speculated at some length as to whetherthere was a connection between it and the healingwell, but no one has yet come up with anythingpositive, except for one Earth mysteries 'authority'who managed to place the maze next to the well,having, it would seem, mistaken a small-sizednineteenth century replica of it dug near the wellsome years after the original maze had beenploughed on February 17, 1797 to make way for afield of potatoes. A second replica was created at atea garden not far from the original maze site.Some antiquarians thought that monks serving StAnn's chapel had dug the maze 'to give them-selves a breathing for want of other exercise', anidea Dr Trollope described as 'ludicrous' [2].
According to seventeenth century records theMayor of Nottingham along with the town alder-men and local officials, all attired in their officialrobes of office and accompanied by their wivesand the town musicians, processed from Notting-ham annually every Black (Easter) Sunday to thespring. This tradition had commenced accordingto one local historian writing in the eighteenthcentury, 'time beyond memory'. However, atwhatever date this custom originated (perhaps itwas a secularised Rogationtide procession), itceased at the outbreak of the Civil War and wasnever resumed, despite an attempt to revive itfollowing the Restoration.
Despite its long popularity as a healing shrine onlyone print has been published actually showing it.This appears on a plate illustrating several RobinHood relics published in Throsby's expanded edi-tion of Robert Thoroton's, History of Nottingham-shire (1797). The small engraving depicts the waterof the spring to have been fed into a rectangularstone lined bath covered by an arched roof, per-haps of brink. Steps lead from a platform downinto the water, which Throsby describes as beingso cold that it would kill a toad. Several later
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 24
writers who tried the water confirm it to have beenexeptionally cold. No scale is given for the illustra-tion.
In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centu-ries the house at the well site became the centre ofactivities for what appears on the surface to havebeen a strange group of Robin Hood devoteesknown as the Brotherhood of the Chair. The 'rites'of this group involved the use of several relics saidto be associated with Robin Hood which werepreserved at the house. Visitors would be seated inRobin Hood's Chair then capped with his iron cap.Secretive features of the rites were hinted at but, ifthe historian, John Blackner, is to be believed,these consisted of nothing more than the con-sumption of 'large quantities of Woodward's nut-brown ale.'
The development of the area in which the springwas located which commenced in the nineteenthcentury as Nottingham expanded, led eventuallyto a decline in the popularity of the spring site andin November 1855 the town authorities (Notting-ham did not become a city until 1897) decided toredevelop the site. Such was the continuing affec-tion for the ancient healing spring that in Augustof the following year the council decided to takesteps to preserve the well itself by spending notmore than £100 to enclose its site and cover it. Adiminutive gothic-like spired structure was erect-ed around which a small garden was laid out.Although the value of the spring's water wasgained by bathing in it this was ignored, access toit only being provided for those who wanted toconsume the water. This monument to past glorieswas to have a short life for in August 1887 it wasdemolished and the site sold to a railway compa-ny, who built an embankment over it. The councilrefused the railway company's offer of the wellmonument for erection elsewhere.
So an ancient healing well disappeared from pub-lic view, but not its existence, for excavationsthrough the remains of the former railway em-bankment at the well site in 1987 established that
the ancient spring still flows and may even beresponsible for the flooding of some gardens fromtime to time. An attempt to interest NottinghamCity Council in providing funds to establish aheritage centre at the site in which the ancientspring would have been the focal came to nought.The Council approved of the idea but not of hav-ing to find the money to carry it out. Perhaps,though, one day they will change their minds.
Note on sourcesVarious works have been consulted while writingthis article. To list them all would take up toomuch space so to avoid this I will simply cite themost important. Nottingham Borough Records, vari-ous volumes. Deering, C. Nottinghania Vetus etNova. Ayscough & Willington, Nottingham, 1751.Morrell, R.W. St Ann's Well and Other Medicinal andHoly Wells of Nottingham. APRA/NUFOIS, 1987.Stapleton. Some Account of the Religious Institutionsof Old Nottingham. Forman, 1899.References1: Old Nottinghamshire, ed. by J.P.Briscoe. London,Hamilton, Adams & Co., 1881, p782: Op. cit. p.80. See also Mercian Mysteries No.21990 for my 'Mysteries and mazes in Nottingham'article, subsequently reprinted as Nottingham'smysterious mazes (APRA Press 1990).Originally published in Mercian Mysteries No.21November 1994.
At the Edge home pageIndex of articles uploaded
http://www.indigogroup.co.uk/edge/
Copyright 1994, 1996, 2001
At the Edge / Bob Trubshaw / [email protected] April 1996; updated November 2008
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 25
Vegetable Mousaka
by Gillian Monks
for the base:
4 oz brown lentils
1.5 pints water
4 tblsp olive oil
1 onion peeled and finely chopped
1 clove garlic crushed or chopped
¼ lb mushrooms, whipped and chopped
2-3 tblsp tomato puree
2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp grated nutmeg
salt and fresh ground black pepper
12 oz or 1 large aubergine/eggplant, washed andsliced thickly
2 potatoes peeled boiled and sliced thickly
2 tomatoes washed and sliced thickly
for the sauce:
¼ pint water
¼ pint milk
4 oz cheese, grated
2 beaten eggs
breadcrumbs
Method:
Bring lentils to boil, take off heat and leave tosteep. Heat half of oil and fry onion and garlic.Add chopped mushrooms and cooked lentils andcook for a further few minutes, stirring occasion-ally. Mix tomato puree and oregano, salt andpepper. Slice aubergene and potato and coat inmixture. Fry in rest of oil, both sides. Grease ovenproof dish. Place lentil mixture in bottom. Layeraubergene and potato slices on top. Make cheesesauce by melting butter, mixing in the flour, add-ing the water and milk and bringing all to justbelow boiling so that flour has 'burst' and saucehas thickened. Stir in beaten egg and gratedcheese. Pour over contents of dish and top withsprinkling of breadcrumbs. Best served withfresh salad.
The
Recipes from the Community
Formulary
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 26
Honey Cake
by Gillian Monks
5 oz butter or margarine
4 oz sugar
3 well heaped tsp honey
1 tblsp water
7 oz self raising flour
2-3 eggs
Lithuanian honey cake: Bearas
Place first four ingredients in a pan and melt overlow heat. Do not allow to boil. Add flour and thenbeaten eggs to mixture. Beat in well with balloonwhisk if necessary. Pour into greased and linedcake tin. 7 inch square is good size. Bake for 30-35minutes till well risen and golden brown. Particu-larly good with fresh honey from local bees!
Ginger Root
Fresh Ginger Root
by Gillian Monks
Keep fresh ginger roots stored in a glass jar, wellcovered in sherry in a cool place. The ginger roots'absorb' the sherry over time, so keep liquidtopped up. Serve as a delicacy on their own, usein baking, or slice into individual bits and coverthem in dark chocolate for a special treat!
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 27
Let me first say that I believe you will find mydefinition of what a Pagan really is may be verydifferent than those you have heard from others.Before we dig into the core of Paganism pleaselet me share a quote from Mr. Tom Graves thatresonates with my Pagan Soul each time I read it.
"The Earth is Alive; Living pulsing.It Lives, but sleeps, stirring at time: and the peo-ple of cities try to ignore it, hoping it will stayasleep.
It breathes; and the wind batters the grimy arro-gance of the townsman, who dreams of 'Man'sincreased control over the blind forces of Nature'.
It pulses, its seasons and cycles turn in all theirsubtleties; and those pulses are accepted andrealized in the lives of everyone and everythingin the countryside." (Ref. 1)
We have for the most part become too Civilizedto know that the Earth is still alive. Modern Manas he became Citified or as we know it today asCivilized and has lost real everyday touch withNature.
We have even forgotten that the real War wasnot of Religious Dogma, but was between Pagusand Civis. For how we see our self's and whoreally owns the World.
The new Faiths often called the Abramic Faithsgave Mankind dominion over Nature. Where theold Faiths had Mankind as just another one ofNature's children, living in her Garden of Life.
It seems interesting to note that the Abramicfaiths show Man as being driven from the Gar-den of Life because he / she ate of the fruit ofKnowledge. So what did this claimed Knowl-edge give us?
Law and Order of all the World as symbolizedby our new culture of technology, Courts ofLaw, Banks Coin of the Realms, Ownership ofthe Land and enslavement of all that is natural.As we try to bend the thin surface of this Worldto our will.
Still I believe this old story to be wrong, Man didnot gain Knowledge but instead lost his highersenses and communion with his Mother Earth.
The old Religo Paganorum, the Religion of theVillagers, the true children of the Garden of Life.These are the PAGANS and their Pagan culturesthat maintained a direct symbiotic relationshipwith the subtle and not so subtle forces of outtrue Mother "NATURE", these natural Pagansaccepted these forces and lived within Nature'sLaws.
Now most have left the Pagan path for CIVIS,City and Civilization. Creating an artificial sep-aration between Mankind and Nature. Eventhose old old, that many today call Pagan likethe Romans and Greeks had already walledNature out and put their own names on hermany faces and forces. The so called Gods andGoddesses who now could be commanded andlived in Man's stone temples. Needing special
What is a Pagan? A Druid's View
Glastonbury Tor June 2012 Photo Astrocelt
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 28
Technicians (Priest) to interface with them, for therest of now Civilized Mankind living outside Na-ture's "Garden of Life".
What I am saying is it is not not the Religion orFaith that one follows that makes you a CIVIS orPAGUS. It is are you above Mother Nature, warm-ly wrapped in Man's Technology, Science and liv-ing in our Man made stone caves? Or does the beatof your heart flutter with the wind and the tears ofyour soul fall with the rain?
Does wherever you are, a special voice whisper inyour ear? These are the true voices of the old Godsand Goddesses, they are GENIUS LOCI, the spirtsof a place. Nature's great caretakers that reallykeep life humming along. If you hear them, seethem, sense them and above all work with themyou are PAGUS a true Pagan and my Sister orBrother.
The Druid King
Footnotes:
I can not thank Mr. Tom Graves enough for for hiswonderful insight and special wisdom he shareswith the world in his book Needles of Stone. Hehas opened the very doors of time to reawaken myPagus Spirt. (Ref. 1)The curious reader may also gain more insight inthe nexus of Pagans, Witches / Druids and Witch-craft from (Ref.2 and Ref. 3)
References:Ref. 1) Book Needles of Stone by Tom Graveshttp://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0586049657?i.e.=UTF8&tag=soupeateaofth-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=0586049657Ref. 2) What is Witchcraft ?http://thedruidking.blogspot.com/2011/08/what-is-witchcraft.HTMLRef. 3) What is a Natural Witch ?Http://thedruidking.blogspot.com/2011/07/reference-what-really-is-natural-witch.HTML
Copyright October 29, 2011 by George King
Your people are gathering in the redwoods of Ben Lomondon the Central PacificCoast. Join this Gorsedd of the House of Danu. 4 days and 3 nights of evening Bardiccampfires, workshops on Druid skills and advanced drumming techniques, a livelyEisteddfod on Saturday, a grand procession and ritual on Sunday, grade meetings, andinitiations for those who are ready. You can converse with our chief, Phillip Carr-Gomm who will meet with us by live video Skype from Barbados. On Sunday nightwe emerge in our finest black and red attire and masques for The MORRIGAN: acostume ball of the dark goddess. You will move to sensual drumming rhythms thatblend seamlessly with the sounds spun by our Digital Druid, Murias O’Ceallagh.
WHEN: Friday, July 13, 2012at 2:00p.m to Monday, July 16, 2012at 2:00p.m.
WHERE: The Gorsedd is being held in a secluded private retreat center known asEarth Matters. 11629 Love Creek Road, Ben Lomond, CA(831) 336-2875. We will beoff the grid. It presents a variety of housing options including camping, cabins, tipis,a yurt, bunk beds in the lodge and a private apartment. There is a hot tub. Housingis also available offsite at local hotels and campgrounds in Ben Lomond, Felton, andSanta Cruz
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 29
A Guide to OgamDamian McManus
Published: 1991ISBN: 1870684753
Reviewed by Maya St. Clair
I read this book as part of my research into Ogam.I wanted to see what its history was and where itfirst began as well as where it was found.
The author of this book does an excellent job ofdiscussing the history of the Ogam alphabet,where it was found, what it was used for andwhen it might have originated and where.
The book certainly gave me a lot to think about. Itdiscusses the two types of Ogam, gives somemeanings to the original script, and gives us sourc-es to look at in mythology and else where as to theuses of Ogam and how some of the misconcep-tions about it may have started.
A word of warning though, the book does go intothe inscriptions themselves and does some trans-
lating so some chapters are just about that withonly a little information, I found myself skimmingthem since they were mostly names of people,interesting though that might be it was not what Iwas after. In the end though I got A LOT out of thisbook. And feel ready enough to read the morerecent books on the subject from a divinationstand point.
Research Guides for Irish Local HistoryKatharine Simms
ISBN 13: 9781846821370
Synopsis: This book is intended to serve as a prac-tical guide to Gaelic language sources (as opposedto administrative or ecclesiastical records in Latin,French, or English) for the history of these commu-nities in the high Middle Ages, laying emphasis onpublished texts for which English translations areavailable. Under six headings (annals, genealo-gies, poems, prose tracts and sagas, legal material,
Reviews
J
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 30
colophons and marginalia), it discusses not onlythe nature of the sources themselves, the purposefor which they were originally created, and theirsurvival and availability to researchers, but alsohow to glean usable historical information fromthem.
Review: The aim of this book is to introduce peo-ple to medieval sources in the Gaelic languages, toexplain the purpose of their creation, how theysurvived, whether they are available in publishedform, and how to get usable historical informationfrom them. There is a complementary book to thisone, which the author herself talks about in herintroduction, called Medieval Record Sources(Maynooth Research Guides for Irish Local Histo-ry, number 4); in that book the records discussedare in English, French and Latin. I’ve ordered thatbook and will be reading and reviewing it when itarrives.
The manuscripts that are discussed in the book arewritten in three stages of Gaelic; Old Irish (650 –900 CE), Middle Irish (900 – 1200 CE), and Classi-cal or Early Modern Irish (1200 – 1650 CE). Theauthor gives a short history of the three divisionsof the language and a history of how reliable thetranslations are that I found engaging and veryinteresting.
The book is not a very large one, all together only131 pages long. But it is a treasure trove of infor-mation in the sense that by the end of it you knowabout the Gaelic sources, their strengths andweaknesses. You know the background of howand where they came into being and who wrotethem as well as who influenced the writers andhow. You get a sense of who translated them andhow reliable these translations are and what youcan as a modern reader get from them if you arelooking for historical information. Another im-pressive part of this book is of course the FurtherReading section and the Index.
Another highly recommended book if you arelooking for the origins of the sources you are read-ing.
Faith Fern & Compass...Podcast
Reviewed by Jon Cleaver
Faith, Fern & Compass is a beautifully construct-ed and enjoyable podcast. Gentle in its approachthe podcasts are rich in context and dialoguewhilst retaining a fresh sound. These guys suc-cessfully knit together and integrate interdepend-ent strands that form the backbone of modernDruidry. Listening in helps command a deeperunderstanding of what a nature based spiritualrelationship with the earth might mean in prac-tice, as society learns to adapt from intensive ur-banisation. The conversations are both matureand sensible helping us all adopt a stronger vo-cabulary in the rich tapestry of subjects that aimto remember how to embrace biodiversity. Grasp-ing thorny subjects like invasive species, and, ask-ing whether humans ourselves are indeedinvasive or native. The first few podcasts havesucceeded in enquiring about systemic problemsthat 21st century society faces with a passion toenjoy a deeper relationship with nature. Avoid-ing political or activist sentiment, sprinkling inmodest touches of humour. I immensely enjoyedthe podcasts already available, they are well re-searched articles with good sound quality andvery informative and will look forward to furtherinstallments.
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 31
Community Events CalendarListing your event is free and you can submit up to five entries at a time. Note: We reserve the right to editor omit entries. To submit, please send an e-mail to [email protected] with ‘DD Event Listing’ in thesubject line. Include the date, title of event, location (including country), a short description and any contactdetails.
Note: Inclusion of events here does not imply endorsement from Druidic Dawn, magazine or itseditors.
General on going events for 2012
Anam Cara - Weekly Meditation Group
'A Weekly Meditation Group to be held in Oswestry,(UK) to explore everything from the Breath technique;mantra/ chanting’ to hopefully movement and sha-manic journeying.' To participate and for furtherdetails, seehttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1070
NEW MOON MEDITATIONS every new moon, Den-mark; ring 004575757131 for next meditation:
We’ll make a circle and connect with the powers ofEarth and Sky, I will then play channelled harpmusic from a time past, and the participants will beguided into some deep mediation to the Holy Grailwithin our hearts. Go beyond time and space toprevious incidents/ present problems/ diseases. Seethem, solve them, let go. Afterwards we’ll discusswhat happened, and I will aid with my clairvoyance.To participate and for further details, seehttp://www.sosha.dk/kurserUK.html
NYMÅNEMEDITATIONER I BRYRUP: Ring fortilmelding og nærmere tidspunktVi vil danne en cirkel, forbinde os med Himlens ogJordens kræfter og jeg vil spille kanaliseret musik fraen svunden tid på min harpe, under det første num-mer vil mine hjælpere fortælle mig om den førstemeditation, derefter vil jeg videregive den til cirklensom en guidet meditation, med den forskel, at medi-tationen først påbegyndes når jeg atter begynder atspille på min harpe og undervejs vil mine hjælperefølge alle deltagerne og støtte dem. Jeg vil spille mensdeltagerne rejser til deres destination i den andenvirkelighed, derefter vil jeg bede deltagerne vendetilbage samme vej som de kom fra, takke deres hjælp-
ere og vende tilbage til cirklen. Her vil hver enkeltdeltager have mulighed for at fortælle om sine oplev-elser, hvis nødvendigt, vil jeg gå ind og hjælpe medmine clairvoyante evner. Dernæst holder vi en pause,hvor vi får noget te og noget godt at spise. Så fortsæt-ter vi med endnu en meditation.http://www.sosha.dk/kurser.html
Pathways
A named Pathways, in Ellesmere, Shropshire, on theWelsh borders. The time together will be used todiscuss anything that anyone wants to about spiritu-al pathways. All are invited, from those who have aclear idea about where they are going, to those whoare just curious, and all explorers in between. Cometo raise questions, talk about books you are reading,workshops you have attended, stuff that is comingup, etc. Self-advertising is allowed/encouraged, ifrelevant to the spiritual pathways subject. Meetingsare held on the third Thursday of each month in theFunction room of the Ellesmere Hotel. Parking isplentiful very nearby. Meet in the bar from 7.30pm;go to the room from 8pm. If you are late, come inanyway! There is no charge, and the drinks are cheap.
Ellesmere is part of what is locally known as theShropshire Lake District. The energy of the town isgiven by the fabulous Mere in the edge oftown. Future meetings might include a walk down tothe Mere and through the public gardens. This is thebeginning of something new, and the direction willevolve with time.
If you need any more details, you can contact Johnand Rachel on [email protected] see http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1698
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 32
June 2012
19th -21st, Jun; RJ and Anastacia are delightedto be back at Fairy Congress to give workshopsand a concert. For more information and detailssee http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/197;http://www.rjstewart.org/calendar.html andhttp://www.fairycongress.com
20th Jun; Summer Solstice with the SassafrasGrove located in Pittsburgh, USA. Further de-tails seehttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/187 orhttp://www.sassafrasgrove.orgpage_id=156#date=2012-06-01,mode=month
22nd Jun; Alban Herruinwith the Druid Orderof the three Realms, Georgia, USA. Further de-tails seehttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1369 orhttp://druid3realms.org/home/calendar/?month=jun&yr=2012
23rd Jun; Winter Solstice Ceremony with theMelbourne Grove, Victoria, Australia. For fur-ther details seehttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/2949 orhttp://themelbournegrove.org/events/categories/tmg-events/
23rd Jun; Winter Solstice /Te Maruaroa o teTakurua / Matariki – Herald of the New Year(Stonehenge Aotearoa) with the Grove of theSouthern Stars, Pukerua Bay, NewZealand.Further details seehttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/64 orhttp://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~thewoolshed/gro_festivals.htm24th Jun; Summer Solstice Rite, he Three CranesGrove, Columbus OH, USA. Ffurther detailsavailable fromhttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/186 orhttp://www.threecranes.org/calendars/
28th June - 1st July; Tarot Workshop in Birken-feld Germany, with Philip Carr-Gomm further
details available fromhttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1365 andhttp://www.philipcarrgomm.druidry.org
July
5 - 8th July; The Miracle Tree with RJ Stewart,Stroud,UK. Further details available fromhttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/211;http://www.hallowquest.org.uk/index.html andhttp://www.hallowquest.org.uk/pdfs/Magical%20Courses%20Caitlin%20and%20John%20Mathews.pdf
13th-16th July; Gorsedd of the House of Danu,Central Pacific Coast, Ben Lomond, CaliforniaUSA. For further details seehttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/3020 andhttp://www.houseofdanu.com
29th July; Imbolc Ceremony with the MelbourneGrove, Victoria, Australia. For further detailsseehttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/2949 orhttp://themelbournegrove.org/events/categories/tmg-events/
August
4th Aug; Lughasadh Ritual with the Druid Or-der of the three Realms, Georgia, USA. Furtherdetails seehttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1369 orhttp://druid3realms.org/home/calendar/?month=aug&yr=2012
5th Aug: Imbolc / Pakawera / Brighid / FirstLight / Candlemasswith the Grove of the Southern Stars, PukeruaBay, New Zealand.Further details seehttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/64 orhttp://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~thewoolshed/gro_festivals.htm
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 33
5th Aug; Lughasadh Rite: Three Cranes GroveADF, Ohio, USAhttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/186 andhttp://www.threecranes.org/calendars/
17th-19th of Aug; Basic CourseClairvoyance/Healing with Sosha, Netherlands.Further details available fromhttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/2933
24th-26th, Aug; The Two Battles of Moytura withRobin Williamson & Greywolf, Shropshire, UKhttp://www.druidry.co.uk/bdoworkshops.htmland http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/872
September
13-16th Sept; Talks and workshops for OBODUSA's East Coast Gathering in Milford, Pennsyl-vania. with Philip Carr-Gomm further detailsavailable fromhttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1365 andhttp://www.philipcarrgomm.druidry.org
15-16th Sept; Walker Between the Worlds, OxfordUK with John Matthews and Wil Kingham. Fur-ther details available fromhttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/211;http://www.hallowquest.org.uk/index.htmland
http://www.hallowquest.org.uk/pdfs/Shamanic%20Courses%20Caitlin%20and%20John%20Mathews.pdf
22nd Sept; Spring Equinox / Alban Eiler / Oestre/ TeWha o Mahura /Te Koanga with the Groveof the Southern Stars, Pukerua Bay, NewZealand.Further details seehttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/64 orhttp://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~thewoolshed/gro_festivals.htm
22nd Sept; Alban Eluedwith the Druid Order ofthe three Realms, Georgia, USA. Further detailssee http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1369 orhttp://druid3realms.org/home/calendar/?mon
th=sept&yr=2012
23th Sept; Spring Equinox Ceremony with theMelbourne Grove, Victoria, Australia. For furtherdetails seehttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/2949 orhttp://themelbournegrove.org/events/categories/tmg-events/29th Sept 2012; The Mount Heamus Lectures;Hosted by the Order of Bards Ovates and Druids;Salisbury, Wilshire UK. Additional details fromhttp://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1365 andhttp://www.philipcarrgomm.druidry.org
Volume 4, Issue 4
Aontacht • 34
You do not have to be a member ofthe Druidic Dawn community to sub-
mit to the newsletter.
Please submit contributions directly tothe editorial staff via email to:
Refer to the writer’s guidelines, beforeyou submit contributions or inquiries.Below are our upcoming issues in caseyou'd like to get ahead on submissions.Be sure to specify which issue you aresubmitting to.
Aontacht – Aitumn/Spring |Equinox 2012DRUIDIC DAWN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
We hope will participate in the by being the next issue of ourmagazine. Send us your News, Events, Reviews, Editorials, Articles, Essays, Recipes, Devotion-al Pieces, Photos and other materials to us at:
We specifically want you to be part of our upcoming interview with Dr. Thomas C. Daffernis the Director of the International Institute of Peace Studies and Global Philosophy. He is aphilosopher, Druid, intellectual historian and teacher of religious studies who has developedthe Order of Peace Poets, Bards and Druids - Centre for Druid Philosophy to advance studyand research into the complex, multilayered and ancient legacy of Druid thought. This is anincredible time to ask your personal questions and get a direct response from brothers andsisters following the faith down under.
You can find out more information about Dr. Thomas C. Daffernhttp://www.educationaid.net/homepage.html
So send in your questions that you would like to ask. Don’t be shy! We love to hear everyperspective, and we value all questions received from our members. Take a moment out andbecome an important part of Druidic Dawn!
i Submit original work only. Essays & articles should be between 1,000-2,000 words(footnotes and bibliography included). There is not a word limit for poetry, however, pleasedo not submit epic verse.
ii You may submit multiple pieces. Only electronic submissions are accepted and should beeither compressed (.zip/.rar) and attached (preferred for photos & artwork), or pasted intothe email body. Document submissions should be in Plain Text (.txt) or Rich Text (.rtf)formats only; Photos/artwork as .jpg or .png.
Please cite your sources and clearly mark when using UPG [Unverified Personal Gnosis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unverified_Personal_Gnosis)iii Articles should be relevant to the Celtic/Druidic communities (refer to Subject Areas
below) and must match the theme of the issue (if the issue is themed).iv Run a grammar/spell check on your work before submittal.v Keep work in a friendly manner. No racism, bigotry, violence or hated.
· Pre-Christian: Discussion of history, anthropology, archeology and more, but also of thecurrent Reconstructionist or Traditional movements happening today.
· Modern Druidry: Discussion of Druidism within the last 300 years; includes Revivalist andNeo-Druid.
· Modern Celtic: Talk on surviving beliefs, folklore and superstitions still alive today on theCeltic isles, i.e., Fairy Faith.
· Celtic Christianity: Looks into this truly beautiful and unique branch of Christianity.· Inter-Faith: How people incorporate other cultures into their Celtic/Druidic practice, or
getting along with those of other faiths.
Submissions can be sent to [email protected]
: International copyright law will protect all materials published. However, submitting your workwill not guarantee its publication. Also note that as is a free publication, which generates noprofit, you will not be paid for your contributions.
