Miscellaneous

by Maria Ede-Weaving The year is releasing itself, letting go with the kind of intense beauty that never fails to inspire awe in me. There was a time I used to dread this season, sensing the darkness closing in; the claustrophobia of the encroaching winter. Now I see how beautiful...

by Dr Kennan Taylor What is the Soul? Soul has become obscure, denigrated and even lost in the modern era; yet it has never completely gone away, neither as a concept or in fact. Soul can be expressed in diverse and indirect ways, such as describing music, domestic animals, or...

by Elizabeth Cruse ~ To enter a wood is to pass into a different world in which we ourselves are transformed. It is no accident that in the comedies of Shakespeare, people go into the greenwood to grow, learn and change. It is where you travel to find yourself, often,...

by Joanna Van Der Hoeven Far too often we allow our emotions to control us, dictating how we react and respond to situations and perhaps not in the best way. Some would argue that our emotions are what gets things done, however, something done with anger, for instance, may not...

by Chris Parks Along the ages, folk have put their faith in all manner of medicines, charms, prayers and superstitions to keep the bees in their hives healthy and the honey in their pots plentiful. Some of the lingering medieval powers that beekeepers invoked were those of Saint Valentine. Honey...

e leaves are like a myriad tiny green hands stretching upwards in a vain attempt to grasp the last vestiges of the now fading light of day, as the shadows grow ever longer. The old dead Lightening Oak nearby becomes a dark and mysterious silhouette in the fading light, eerie...

by Rosemary Gibson The following was drawn together from meditation on the Four Treasures of the Tuatha De Danaan inspired by events at the 1998 UK Lughnasadh Camp and by conversation with other Druids on Rites of Passage, which set bells ringing in my head on a subject I have...

by Dr Renata Bartoli It’s not possible to give a date when the concept of reincarnation first appeared among human beliefs because it seems to be as old as humankind itself and it is present in cultures all over the world. Its first manifestation seems to be in Shamanism. From...

by Abaris To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival. ~ Wendell Berry I went to Glastonbury last June to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Druid Order I belong to, the Order of Bards, Ovates, and Druids, or...

by Rev. Alistair Bate My Druid is Christ, the Son of God, Christ, Son of Mary, the Great Abbot, The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. ~ St. Columba It is well known that there are today, and have been, probably for nearly two thousand years, Christian Druids. This...

By J. Whitehead, N. A. of Lodge No. 135, Glodwick near Oldham. ~ Read before a Delegate Meeting, held at Middleton Sept. 20th. 1829 ~ It must be obvious to every enquiring and intelligent mind, that the description of a people such as the Druids were on the invasion of...

by Charles Upton ~ Once upon a time, poetry was a sacred art. It was immensely more “liturgical” than we can easily imagine nowadays, and dedicated to a double purpose: Memory and Theurgy. As Memory (the Muses being “the daughters of Memory”) it carried not only the chronicles and legends...

by Joanna Van Der Hoeven Gender roles can easily become too prominent within modern Paganism. In Wicca, the Great Rite is often enacted between High Priest and Priestess, symbolically or physically. Within Druidry, the focus is often on the product of the union, as opposed to the union itself. Where...

by Linda Caddick ~ Just like learning about the trees, you cannot truly learn about herbs (or anything) just by reading about it. You need to experience them. Look for herbs that grow easily in your area or plants that were used medicinally or ritually by the indigenous people of...

by Kennan Elkman Taylor MD After being involved with psychotherapy and analysis in establishment psychology and medicine for many years, I came to a rude awakening: it didn’t work. My feelings were further reinforced when a creative leader in the field, James Hillman, wrote a book of conversations with Michael...

by Mark Townsend As I sit here, punching away at the computer keyboard, I can see my book shelves in front of me and something about them stands out! When we moved house a year ago, we had to squeeze a large detached vicarage-full of belongings into a small semi-detached...

by Earl Conroy There are today lots and lots of social and cultural problems that need solving but there appear to be two crucial paradigms that particularly attract my attention. I’d like to share them with you all. First a Bardic poem written by Anghus in 1997 Mists and the...

by Ritchie Gale I am a 33 year old Bard in training. When does a spiritual journey begin and when does it end? Wisdom may suggest that there are no real beginnings and endings, and perhaps time is not linear but cyclical; perhaps you can always trace further backwards from...

by Lorraine Hammock While we witches, druids, shamans, and other assorted magical people often practice our craft discreetly, a large number of scientists have been busy, uncovering truths about our universe that prove us right. Most ancient cultures have myths that tell tales of great magick, such as levitation, causing...

by Rev. Roger Davidson Meditating in front of a tree, I closed my eyes and embraced the tree from within. As I sat upon the rock that had welcomed me, I began to feel the love that the tree was sending out. With every passing minute, more and more love...

by Ian Richardson It generally makes me smile when the King Arthur story is dismissed as ‘only legend’ because I enjoy pointing out that the word ‘legend’ originally meant ‘a story that recounts an event or happening’. The wider use of the word (implying that the original meaning was still...

by Chris Street There have been a surprising number of deliberate attempts to re-build London as The New Jerusalem. The first was by the Knights Templar who, in 1185, modelled their Temple Church on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and sited it exactly the same distance from St. Pauls...

by Dr Renata Bartoli When we undertake a past life regression we normally investigate the most important facts of that life and then we are led to the moment of our death and to the minutes just after it, when the soul detaches from the body, becoming free again, and...

by Fiona Ware I work in a crematorium as an Admin Assistant, it’s a job I sort of fell into rather than a deliberate career choice. On paper my job is handling and processing the paperwork involved in burials, cremations and memorials. It is answering the phone, typing letters, and...