Resources

A Signal To The Psyche
There are times when clinging on to the corpse of our old lives brings only more pain and loss. It takes a leap of faith to let the past go and open ourselves to the new ways of being that change offers…

Sheela Na Gig
I love Sheela na gig! I recall when I first met her in Scotland during my 20s, as my mother gifted me a ceramic necklace of her. She was fascinating! Ghastly and gorgeous, my image had a stark face, big sagging breasts (with a third nipple), and a wide open vulva! My first looks different…

The Thinning Veil Of Autumn
I’ve had a difficult relationship with Autumn all of my life, being a son of Summer and lover of Spring. I never trusted Autumn because as it approached it had one hand behind its back, holding Winter. However this year has been different. The storms have challenged my new-found love, but the beauty of the…

Ogham Tea Ceremony
The Ogham Tea Ceremony combines elements from a traditional Japanese tea ceremony and aspects of Ogham divination. The ceremony offers the participant a semi-traditional tea ceremony whilst receiving an Ogham reading focusing on the past, present, and future…

Dem Bones Dem Bones ~ Skeletons In Our Cupboard
How often in life have you gone “I think I’m in a good place” and definitely sorted out all my old skeletons, only to discover a secret panel and yet more lurking bones and rattling teeth taunting you?

Brown Is The New Black
Before my Pagan journey began, for many years I hated the descent into winter; as life retreated and the darkness and cold encroached, my gloominess increased. Pathologically blinkered against the beauty of winter for so long, I remember the change as a kind of road to Damascus moment, and the lightning bolt that struck was…

Stepping Into the Otherworld
Many Druids share a love of the North Cornish Coast and Tintagel Island. This area of Cornwall with its dramatic landscape and mythological associations has a particularly magical atmosphere, so we thought you would love this beautiful artwork by Craig Rossi. It depicts a gateway in Tintagel Castle and is entitled Stepping into the Otherworld.…

The Temple of Human Frailty
by Jude Neeme-Samson For many years I have undertaken journeys to places that have touched my soul and spirit. When I was young in Southern Africa I walked up Mount Aux Sources, visited God’s Window and watched fish eagles on the waters of the Okavango swamp. They all remain within my memory and when I…

Anglesey Druids Way
Will Parsons and the British Pilgrimage Trust has devised a path that will be of particular interest to Druids: Anglesey (Ynys Mon) Druids Way – Caernarfon to Holyhead – 80 miles, 7 days.

Drawing Water From The Deep Well: The Art of Natural Prayer
by Caitlín Matthews reposted from her Blog ~ Soundings Over the last thirty years, I’ve invited all my shamanic students to include prayer in their lives, regardless of whatever tradition they follow. Why do I feel this important? When we learn about spiritual healing, of course we cannot be of service unless we are first spiritually…

A Journey Home
For so much of my life, I didn’t really know you. I looked through eyes that never really saw you, and therefore you never really got to know me. I walked on your green fields, soft Downs, and saw your seas in storm, although mostly with more gentle small regular waves, but I yearned for…

Updwellings ~ Finding Centre
Autumn came creeping quietly this year. Her scent wafted in on the Westerlies in late August, now her colors begin to show in the sumacs and maples. She spreads her fruit-laden mantle across the land. The oaks and white pines breath sighs of relief at a chance to rest and recover from the relentless onslaught…

Corvids, Cats and Metaphors for the Soul
Yesterday a crow followed me home from the allotment, it flew low over my head and landed on the guttering of the bungalow, not five feet from my door, apparently to take a drink. I thought he would fly off as soon as I went to open door, but no, he watched me approach, cocked…

A Moment to Reflect
September is one of my favourite months. Here in the UK, the frenetic growth of spring and summer has eased and a mellow fullness has taken its place; the sunlight has both a clarity and golden softness to it and never fails to elicit joy and hope. It draws from me a certain type of…
25th Mount Haemus Lecture ~ Discovering Meaning In Ireland: Megalith Spiritual Experiences
Megalithic sites in Ireland have a profound effect on many people, drawing them in with a sense of wonder and curiosity. Some are interested in these structures from a historical or scientific perspective, while others view them as sacred and make pilgrimages to them. Paul M White’s study aims to explore the spiritual experiences of individuals who’s lives have been impacted by their visits to these ancient sites.

Gift of the Song and The Rhythm of Life
It was January and I was sitting in my meditation lodge as the rain battered down on the roof and the wind howled in the trees. I was journeying to the sound of my drum, flying high seeking the answer to a question that had been troubling me for some time…

Animism For Our Times
by James Nichol, a repost from his Blog, Contemplative Inquiry. This post looks at Animism as the guiding principal of my Druidry. The term itself comes from nineteenth century anthropology, and is somewhat problematic. Scholars from European and North American backgrounds , formed by a mix of Christian and secular ideas, were studying, and labelling,…

Jamie Reid – Artist and Visionary
We heard the sad news that Jamie Reid, artist, revolutionary, and druid has just died.
His great uncle was the founder of the Ancient Druid Order. OBOD awarded Jamie an Honorary Bardship in 2016.
Here you can see the presentation Jamie’s gallerist and friend John Marchant gave for us at the OBOD Summer Gathering in Glastonbury in 2016.

The Rookery: Magic in a Formal Garden
Streatham’s Rookery (1) is a formal garden within Streatham Common, one of south London’s many remarkable green spaces. I made a connection with it in 1992 when living close by. About a year before I discovered OBOD Druidry, I was working with R. J. Stewart’s The Way of Merlin (2). This taught me, first of all, about…

New YouTube Channel Launched – The Green Grimoire
Hello, my friends. Yes me and Cerri have launched a new YouTube channel. It’s been a while in the making and the first video was uploaded yesterday. If you are a regular reader of my blog you will have already seen some of my thoughts about what I’ve been calling the ‘Green Grimoire’ ie, the Book…

The Deer’s Secret
The fallow deer stags have shed their antlers on the heath and in the forest in the last few weeks. As I found one atop a small rise next to ancient Celtic tumuli (burial mounds), dropped on the grassy tuft of a half sunken oak stump, I was gifted with this beautiful reminder that we…

On Not Knowing Where We’re Going…
I live near a tourist town with a monthly free paper promoting dozens of occult/self-development courses. Depending on your point of view, it’s either a treasure-store of magical opportunities or an ad hoc market – an esoteric version of the ancient and much loved pre-ebay mag, ‘Exchange and Mart’, whose discerning reader kept firmly in…

Contemplating Magical Tools
David’s post on magical tools got me thinking about what I use in my own work. Animism is at the heart of my world view, so in my interactions with objects, I don’t tend to think of them as tools so much as I think of them as friends…