Each research paper is published online, and is also delivered as a lecture at a Mount Haemus Award day held every four years. In addition, every eight years, the papers are gathered together and published in a book. Find the lectures in the Resources Section, and the book collections in the Store.
The Mount Haemus Award
Thanks to the generosity of the Order's patroness, Dwina Murphy-Gibb, the Order grants a scholarship each year for original research in Druidism and related subjects. We have called this scholarship the Mount Haemus Award, after the apocryphal Druid grove of Mt Haemus that was said to have been established near Oxford in 1245.
Future Mt Haemus Awards
2020 – To mark this special year, in which one Chief retires and a new Chief becomes the head of the Order, we will be making two awards and publishing two papers:
The Feminist Druid: Making Way for New Stories/New Work
Dr. Michelle LaFrance, Assistant Professor of English, George Mason University (US), a feminist critical ethnographer, will urge Druids to consider the opportunities feminist thought presents to our spiritual practices. At the center of today’s Druidry lies an interesting conundrum. On the one hand, to be part of any neo-pagan movement means to be familiar with feminist principles—from goddess worship, to the empowerment of women, to the challenging of traditional religious structures that limit women’s roles and experiences, to the equation of environmental and social activism with human/women’s rights. On the other hand, even as some women hold key positions in this international movement (contributing books, blogs, and other resources), (mis)representations of Druidry as a path dominated by men are yet a mainstay. And no wonder, most of the historical knowledge we hold about Druids, including the traditional mythologies/poetics of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales that orient much of today’s Druidry, reinforces “the archetypal Druid” as a learned man in service to elite individuals, social structures, and culture. Exploring feminist thought and principles as they apply to 21st century Druidry is a rich opportunity for our living and evolving spiritual tradition. The author of this talk will draw upon several principles of current feminist thought to open out new visions, new stories, and new work for today’s revivalist Druid. Topics will include considering how feminist folktales may shape/reshape the inner landscapes of Druids, embracing the lessons of consent culture, and an exploration of animist principles which resist the gendering of nature, spirit, and practice. (Published September 2020 – read here).
The Well and the Chapel: Confluence
RoMa Johnson, MA, MDiv, a Druid member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, an ordained non-sectarian Christian, and a poet, has been writing and teaching on various topics of Celtic Spirituality for over 20 years.This paper was originally intended to explore in depth the synergy between the indigenous Celtic worldview and the evolution of early Celtic Christianity, between the created world of immanence and the hopefulness of imminence. Then the coronavirus entered the world, facing us with what seem to be apocalyptic questions: What does it mean? What do we do now? Here, the Well and the Chapel are used as lenses through which to view ourselves and the Other, in the Time Before and the Time Ahead. Confluence, not the choice between, or even the evolution of one to the next, will inform our efforts to co-create a transformed world. This paper is meant to be a spiritual thought problem, exploring five areas: Worldviews—Immanence and Imminence; Justice—Sin, Responsibility and Restoration; The Three—The Sacred Feminine and the Trinity; Immrama—The Soul’s Journey and Inspiration; and Confluence.In Awen. (Published July 2020 – read here).
2021 – World Druidry: A Globalizing Path of Nature Spirituality
Dr. Larisa A. White is an educator and independent scholar with over 25 years’ experience using mixed research methods to shed light on the ways in which people learn, grow, and change, under the influence of changing educational contexts. She is also a global nomad, fascinated with the ways in which intercultural mobility affects people, habits, and beliefs. She now turns the focus of her academic research on discerning the ways in which Druidry, as a globalizing path of nature spirituality, has evolved as it spread beyond the traditionally Celtic lands of its origin and took root in other countries and cultures. As practicing Druids around the world grow beyond the initial mastery of received ritual forms and practices, and begin to follow the Rule of Awen, what do they continue to hold in common? In what ways do their practices and beliefs diversify? What, if anything, forms the spiritual “common-core” of contemporary World Druidry that is able to transcend local culture? This paper will present the findings of an extensive survey-research project designed to answer those questions. (Published Beltane 2021 – read here).