#Iolo Morgannwg

[gawrkin]

Notable Sorcerers of British Mythology (other than Merlin)

King Bladdud, from Historia Regum Britanniae. Father of King Leir and Grandfather of Gonoril, Regan and Cordelia. The earliest known necromancer in Britain.

[...]

Celidoine, King of Scotland and North Wales, son of Nasciens and ancestor of Sir Lancelot and Galahad. Buried in Camelot.

From the Red Book of Hergest Welsh Triads: Math ap Mathonwy, King of Gwynedd, brother of Don, and uncle of his protege, Gwydion, the magician-trickster hero of the Mabinogi. Amongst other things, punished his wayward nephews for raping Goewin by shapeshifting them, tested Arianrhod's virginity with his wand (which she failed), and is co-creator of Blodeuwedd, the flower-bride of Lleu Llaw Gyffes. Uther Pendragon, King Arthur's father, who mentored Menw, one of Arthur's own enchanter-knights. Infamous for using shapeshifting to seduce Igraine, siring Arthur. This triad implies Uther himself was a practicioner of the magical arts and has his own apprentice, with the assistance of Merlin in Historia being Geoffrey of Monmouth's spin. Gwythelyn the Dwarf. Unknown, but his nephew-protege, Coll ap Collfrewy, is one of the mighty swineherds of Britain and the owner of the magical sow, Henwen.

From Iolo Morgannwg's own dubious triads (so take them with a grain of salt): Idris Gawr of Merionydd, of Cadair Idris fame. A huge giant learned in poetry, astronomy and philosophy, who's throne/chair is a mountain said to be able to grant poetic skill or madness. Gwydion fab Don, the trickster figure of the Mabinogi and student of his uncle Math. The Milky Way Galaxy is said to be his fortress. Gwyn ap Nudd, Lord of the Wild Hunt and King of the Fairies of Glastonbury. King Arthur's cousin and huntsman. Doomed by Arthur to fight Gwythyr ap Greidawl for the hand of Creiddylad until the End of the World.

*(Not included are Klingsor and Gansguoter of the German Arthurian Tradition)

It is very notable that many of these Sorcerers are Kings, lordly rulers in their own right.

[cmrosens]

Bisexual Panic! In the Greenwood

I got some interest on Bluesky for doing a series of videos on Welsh folklore, fables and folktales, so I thought as it’s Bi Visibility Month I’d start with an 18thC fable that Iolo Morgannwg recorded in his infamous manuscripts called Einion and the Lady of the Wood. I’ll do a video on who Iolo Morgannwg was another time, but you can Google him if you’re curious.  Iolo claimed this tale was…

[gingersnaptaff]

(Okay, so I know I said I was gonna do marriage laws and queenship stuff in regards to welsh laws - and I will! - but here is a nice, quick round-up about BARDS

*SHREDS ON A HARP*

Okay, so this is inspired by @gawrkin 's recent posts on bards because the laws surrounding them are SUPER FUN. And Wales LOVES LOVES LOVES their bards. (Myself included.)

Right, so, without further ado, ONWARDS.

*shreds harp aggressively again*

So the 'spurious triads' the author is referring to are presumably to do with IOLO MORGANNWG *ominous thunderclap*.

I shan't go too much into him as suffice to say, we gotta keep this shit SHORT, but he was a massive forger from Glamorgan (that's what Morgannwg means. It's his bardic name. Iolo is Edward.) who made up a bunch of triads and Celtic / medieval manuscripts including some of the Welsh Triads. Also, he is the reason why the Eisteddfod has the Gorsedd of bards.

So a mixed bag, y'know.

ANYWAY. They're very high-rank on account of being the literally Yellow Pages of Celtic and medieval Welsh societies. If you had a question that needed answering you'd ask a bard. They were like Google. They would know a man's lineage (and Welsh lineages are confusing. There were men named Dafydd ap Dafydd ap Dafydd ap Dafydd. No, I'm not joking.) battles, monarchs, myths, songs, stories. Anything.

And they had to SING. And play an instrument. Namely either a harp or a crwth.

This baby is crwth! It's a little like a violin but much darker in tone. They were extinct for a while but they've undergone a revival and they are FUN!

Also, the court bard had to SING to the queen about Camlann 'in a low voice.' I've heard various reasons suggested as to why and one of them is to remind her that Gwenhwyfar's infidelity was the main reason for King Arthur's downfall, but I think it's probably because of The Slap. Idk though. I'm just guessing, buddies.

Still, it's cool that the queen got a special sing-song.

Also, the bard being 'invested with a chess board' suggests to me that the game of Gwyddbwyll that Arthur and Owain play in the Mabinogion signals that they're bards. Gwyddbwyll being the type of chess the bards would've been familiar with. Plus, we know Arthur is somewhat of an amateur bard (Culhwch and Olwen being the prime example where he sings his terrible englyn about Cai to his face. Arthur, ur a fuckin BASTARD.) so it's in keeping with his character.

Also, I think it's adorable that the harp 'always descended to the youngest son.'

If you want a story that deals with bards and their privileged position in Welsh society and also wants ur heart RIPPED OUT may I suggest 'The Assembly of the Severed Head' by Hugh Lupton. It deals with a bard in a monastery after he's almost perished in a raid and the monks writing out the Mabinogion so they can give it to Llywelyn Fawr. It deals with war, love, loss, and also stonking good historical context. Also lots of poetry!!!!

Final fact: bards in Wales weren't wiped out by Edward the First. That's a fuckin myth. Don't come round here with ur fuckin myths. Old Longshanks has done enough already. May he eat shit.

(Also, Taliesin gets all the good rep but what about my boy Aneirin?)

Okay, BYEEEEE!!!!

P.S.: have an Eisteddfod chair!

[eldestnightwingsyndrome]

i think every girl needs an obscure dead nemesis. mine is iolo morgannwg.

[finnlongman]

So, way back in the day -- by which I mean 2017 -- I decided, while pulling an all-nighter, to reread Stephen Lawhead’s Song of Albion trilogy. It had been a favourite during my earlier teens and I was intrigued to see how well it stood up after I’d actually studied Celtic Studies.

The answer was “not very well”, and my increasingly sarcastic liveblog can be found on this blog under the tag “song of albion reread 2k17″, if anyone is curious. Brief takeaways, for those who can’t be bothered to read through: indiscriminate mixing of Irish and Welsh elements, describing a visibly Brittonic language as ‘proto-Gaelic’, ascribing epithets to completely different characters to whom they originally belonged, lack of developed female characters, and occasionally appearing to take both Caesar and Iolo Morgannwg literally as sources.

I only got through the first book and I had concluded I wasn’t masochistic enough to do the others, but, well, I’ve been short of ways to procrastinate recently. I found somewhere I can read book 2, The Silver Hand, online -- I’m dubious about its legality, but since I do own a physical, hardback copy of the book and only happen to be separated from it by the Irish Sea and a pandemic, I figure we can let it slide just this once.

Which means... we can continue.

You’re probably going to want to blacklist “song of albion reread 2k20″, though.

[itsmonika]

Celtic Symbols

For quite a long time, Celtic images and signs held unbelievable power for the old Celts all around of life.

"Celtic" alludes to individuals who lived in Britain and Western Europe from 500 BC and 400 AD. Celts were of the Iron Age and lived in little towns drove by fighter bosses.

Ireland has been home to different civilisations for millennia with its rich history and culture.

A portion of these Celtic images have even become images of Ireland itself.

It's nothing unexpected that Celtic images and their implications are a necessary piece of Irish history and culture.

In any case, did you had any idea about that these images have more significant and astounding implications?

Celtic Symbols That You Will Find In This Article:

Top 20 Celtic Symbols And Their Meanings

Snap to leap to any of them:

The Awen - addresses the congruity of alternate extremes in the universe.

St Brigid's Cross - Brigid's Cross is attached to Brigid of the Tuatha de Danaan, which, in Irish Celtic Mythology, is known as a nurturing goddess.

The Celtic Cross - According to one hypothesis, the Celtic Cross addresses the four cardinal headings.

The Green Man addresses the richness of vegetation and the appearance of spring and summer.

Irish Harp - The public symbol of Ireland

The Dara Knot - The name Dara comes from "doire," which is the Irish word for "oak tree."

The Shamrock - The public blossom of Ireland.

The Celtic Tree Of Life - Symbolizes the Druid faith in the association among paradise and earth.

The Trinity Knot - represents everlasting otherworldly life, one with no start and no closure.

The Triskele - addresses three phases of life: life, demise, and resurrection.

The Claddagh Ring - addresses love, reliability, and fellowship.

The Shillelagh - The Irish battling stick

Quaternary Celtic Knot

The Celtic Bull

The Ailm Celtic Symbol

Serch Bythol - The Celtic image for everlasting affection

Beltane - Celts image for the start of summer

Celtic Five Fold Symbol - The heavenly Celtic image.

The Eternity Knot or Eternal Knot

St Brigid's Cross - 1 February - Celtic Symbol

1. The Awen or the Three Rays of Light - Celtic Symbols

Awen - Celtic Symbols

This neo-Druid image, a famous plan for tattoos, adornments and work of art, is said to have been developed by Iolo Morgannwg, an eighteenth century Welsh artist.

In any case, studies recommend that the image may be more seasoned than at first suspected.

"Awen" signifies motivation or pith in the Celtic language, and it initially showed up in the ninth century book "Historia Brittonum."

The Awen was said to address the amicability of contrary energies in the universe.

For example, the two external beams address manly and female energy, while the beam in the center addresses the harmony between them.

There are different implications for the Awen Celtic image.

[llyfrenfys]

Iolo Morgannwg be like

meme picture of the cat wearing the suit reading the newspaper i should falsify historical and/or religious texts

[pontiobangor]

Five minutes with ... Seiriol Davies

Which production that had the biggest impact on you?

I’m useless at having to choose one, so I’m not going to try! The musicals that my parents (Eleri Cwyfan and Gareth Glyn) wrote for children when I was really young, like Seren Newydd, were a huge influence, the Magdalen that Dad did with Glanaethwy. I have a lot of memories of musicals from Theatr Fach and Theatr Gwynedd and the Eisteddfod when I was younger – I remember something with Cefin Roberts in drag, with a wall being built across the middle of the stage, and the audience split in two, with each half watching the other half disappear – it all made me think what is ‘allowed’ to be done on stage.

That’s the theme that has the biggest impression: the things that project / extend / lengthen. Off the top of my head; Mr Burns by Anne Washburn in the Almeida had an amazingly cool structure, Eraritjaritjaka by Heiner Goebbels in the EIF (it started with a dollhouse on stage, and slowly, amongst other things a man, robots, camera crew, more robots, an orchestra, and a full-sized house emerged); Sam Mendes’ Cabaret in New York (the back of the stage demolishes at the end of the show and it breaks your heart!) and so on. Recently, I saw 24-Decade History of Popular Music by Taylor Mac in the Barbican, if you get a chance to see this, blimey, it’s brilliant: passionate, funny, crazy drag; that re-tells American history from the perspective of sub-cultures and rebels, using a mixture of lectures, drag, a noson lawen type evening and a game show. Flipping brilliant.

Anyway, one of those I suppose.

When creating / writing new content or a new production, what inspires you?

Anything can. Shows like I’ve mentioned. A good story. I really enjoy dealing with irony and the absurd, and the times when what we say is the total opposite of what we really think. So any news or story that brings out that narrative works for me.

I like to couple up the regular world with the highest levels of fantasy as well, so I love playing video games. Myths is something we created to make sense of the mundane, so why not bring both of them together again.

Also, you get the best costumes when you do that.

When I write I have to find something at its core that makes me uncomfortable: so I fight it alongside the characters. If I don’t do that, I find it hard to connect with the characters and the theme; I don’t think it’s possible; it all stay in the abstract and is soulless.

Like my next show, Milky Peaks, that will open after Covid-19, i started with the question of Welushness. I was raised as a Welsh Nationalist and Eisteddfotwr, to protect our ways no matter what, in a totally uncomplicated way. But then, I found out that Nick Griffin, the Holocoust denier and leader of the BNP at the time had moved to Wales and brought his children up speaking Welsh to avoid ‘Multi-cultural Britain’, because he identified with our fight of ‘us against the outsiders’. That hurt. So writing Milky Peaks was a process to try and work out the poison in the system out, by dealing with it.

I should also mention that this show is a load of fun! All singing-all-dancing, glitter-coming-out-of-the-toilet, a fun night out. Working the poison out can be a riot!

Do you have anything exciting coming up? Be in the near future or when our theatres re-open?

So, as mentioned Milky Peaks will open in Theatr Clwyd and will tour Wales as soon as we can which is brilliant (we were about to open when the lockdown came!)

I have a few exciting things coming up as well, to me at least!

I’ve just finished writing a short show that is completely bonkers during lockdown, to be released online by HOME in Manchester and Lime Pictures called ActualQuest, which is a fantasy game that you play on your phone, inspired by fantasy games like Knightmare by ITV in the 90s, and brilliantly naff VHS board games like Atmosfear.

I’m working on a sexy, fierce and passionate version of Branwen as a musical with Cwmni’r Frân Wen, Hanna Jarman and Elgan Rhys that’s going to be ace, and still developing a drag show about the Orsedd, the Eisteddfod and Iolo Morgannwg, Corn Gwlad, with Elgan and Gethin Evans and the National Eisteddfod. We performed a version with a stunningcast in the Llanrwst Eisteddfod last year.

I’m also writing a musical with the actor and playwright Maxine Peake for the Royal Exchange in Manchester, which is a load of fun.

What would your advice be for young people who wish to work in the industry?

Try and be flexible, and try things. Even if it’s just to find that it’s not for you, you know through experience. Create, even if you think it’s crap, and share: you’ll learn something about yourself. There are more opportunities in the world if you can create your own opportunities, and the less you sit by the phone (or the modern equivalent ... sit by the internet?) waiting for someone to choose you, the better.

It’s bloody frustrating advice, I know, but don’t wait for permission – it’ll come late if it ever does come – find out what you want to do and how to get it accross. Learn from every experience. I did loads of cabaret before making my first show: you had to survive on stage for a night when you hadn’t prepared enough, and the audience is pissed and wants to be entertained, so you have to pull something out of the bag; it teaches you – you either succeed or don’t!

In the same way, filling grant forms or writing a marketing copy for your show, teaches you how to difine yourself and your voice. They’re never fun, but they’re worthwhile. And having a pint with someone who has an expertise in the industry that you don’t is always beneficial; playwright, musican, artist, marketeer... you’ll see things from a different perspective.

Keep open-minded; an honest, bright reaction to the world is a lot more interesting than an inward thinking opinion.

Help eachother; there are forces in society that have a way of making life harder for some than for others, it’s important that we do everything to undo those forces.

Oh, and where possible, don’t agree to work for somebody for free when they have the money. They shouldn’t get away with it.

[marthamee83]

This neo-Druid symbol, which is a popular design for tattoos, jewellery and artwork, is said to be invented by Iolo Morgannwg, an 18th-century Welsh poet. However, studies suggest that the symbol might be older than initially thought. The word “Awen” means inspiration or essence in the Celtic language. It was said that it represents the harmony of opposites in the universe. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_deYPHleam/?igshid=1aeydkyh0pubq

[llyfrenfys]

Does William Owen Pughe count as a blorbo? He was a real person but he comes up *so much* in my field due to how prolific his 'contributions' to the Welsh language were. Also Iolo Morgannwg.

"Blorbo from my shows" no. Blorbo from my BA. Blorbo from my major. Blorbo from my primary source document.

[pontiobangor]

Pum munud gyda... Seiriol Davies

Beth yw’r cynhyrchiad a gafodd yr argraff fwyaf arnoch erioed?

Dwi’n useless yn pigo petha fel hyn, so dwi’m yn mynd i drio pigo un! Oedd y sioeau cerdd oedd Mam a Dad (Eleri Cwyfan a Gareth Glyn) yn neud i blant pan oeddwn i’n fach fach, fel Seren Newydd, yn ddylanwad anferth, wedyn Magdalen nath Dad efo Glanaethwy. A dwi’n cofio llwythi o bits o sioeau o Theatr Fach a Theatr Gwynedd a’r Steddfod pan oeddwn i’n hogyn - dwi’n cofio rhwbath efo Cefin Roberts in drag, efo wal yn cael ei adeiladu dros ganol y llwyfan yn ystod y sioe, a’r gynulleidfa wedi ei rhannu yn ddau, a bob hannar yn gwylio’r hannar arall yn diflannu - i gyd oedd yn ymestyn be oeddwn i’n feddwl oeddat ti’n ‘cael’ neud ar lwyfan.

Wedyn hynna di’r thema wedyn efo y petha sy’n cal yr argraff fwya: petha sy’n ymestyn. O dop ym mhen: Mr Burns gan Anne Washburn yn yr Almeida ma gael y strwythyr mwya anghredadwy o cwl, Eraritjaritjaka gan Heiner Goebbels yn yr EIF (oedd yn dechra efo ty dol ar y llwyfan, ac yn raddol allan ohono fo ddoth, ymysg pethau eraill, dyn, llond llaw o robots, criw camera, mwy o robots, cerddorfa, a thy llawn faint); fersiwn Sam Mendes o Cabaret yn Efrog Newydd (cefn y llwyfan yn dymchwel ar ddiwedd y sioe a mae o’n torri dy galon di) ayyb ayyb. Yn fwy diweddar nesh i weld un chunk o 24-Decade History of Popular Music gan Taylor Mac yn y Barbican, ac os gewch chi gyfle i weld hwnnw, blimey, mae o’n ysgubol: drag angerddol, doniol, gwyllt; sort of deud hanes America o berspectif is-ddiwylliannau a rebals, ar ffurf cyfuniad o ddarlith, sioe gerdd, sioe drag, noson lawen a game show. Flipping gwych.

Eniwe, un o rheina, mwn.

Pan yn ysgrifennu/creu cynnyrch neu sioe newydd, beth sy’n eich ysbrydoli?

Unrhywbeth yn gallu. Sioeau fel yr uchod. Stori gre. Dwi’n mwynhau delio mewn eironi a’r abswrd, a’r amseroedd pan ma’ be da ni’n ddeud yn glir wrthwyneb i be da ni’n feddwl. Felly mae unrhyw newyddion neu stori sy’n amlygu hynny i fi fatha stec amrwd i gi.

Dwi’n licio cyplysu y byd cyffredin efo lefeloedd uchel ffantasi llwyr hefyd, so dwi’n wrth fy modd yn chwara gemau fideo. Mae chwedloniaeth yn ddyfais nathon ni greu i drio neud synnwyr o’r byd banal, so pam ddim dod â’r ddwy lefel at ei gilydd eto.

Plys ti’n cael y costiwms gorau pan ti’n neud hynny.

Pan dwi’n sgwennu rwbath ma rhaid i fi ffindio rhywbeth yn ei graidd o sy’n fy ngwneud i’n anghyffyrddus rywsut: rhyw gwlwm i fi ymladd efo fo drwy’r cymeriada. Gosa dwi’n gneud hynny fedrai’m cysylltu efo unrhyw gymeriad na thema: dwi’m yn credu fod o’n bosib; mae o gyd yn aros yn abstract ac yn ddi-enaid.

Fatha, efo fy sioe nesa i, Milky Peaks, fydd yn agor ar ol y Gofid Mawr, nesh i gychwyn efo cwestiwn o Gymreictod. Gesh i’n magu yn Genedlaetholwr Eisteddfotol “Gormes a Brad” Cymreig, yn sôn am amddiffyn ein ffyrdd ni be bynnag a ddel, mewn termau hollol ddigymleth. Ond wedyn wnes i ffindio fod Nick Griffin, y gwadwr Holocaust ac arweinydd y BNP ar y pryd, wedi symud i fyw i galon Cymru ac yn magu ei blant i siarad Cymraeg, er mwyn osgoi “Prydain Aml-Ddiwylliannol”, gan fod o’n uniaethu efo’n brwydyr ni o “ni versus yr allanwr”. Awtsh roedd hynna’n brifo. Felly roedd sgwennu Milky Peaks yn broses mewn ffordd o drio gweithio’r gwenwyn yna allan o’r sustem, drwy ddelio efo fo.

Ddylswn i ddeud hefyd fod o yn sioe sy’n dunnell o hwyl! All-singing-all-dancing, glitter-yn-ffrwydro-allan-o-doilet, noson allan hwyl. Ma gweithio’r gwenwyn allan yn gallu bod yn reiat!

A oes unrhywbeth cyffrous ar y gweill gennych? Boed yn y dyfodol agos neu pan fydd ein theatrau wedi ailagor?

Ah, so y rhagddywededig Milky Peaks fydd yn agor yn Theatr Clwyd ac yn teithio Cymru cyn gynted gallwn ni ac sydd yn ffab (oeddan ni ar fin agor pan ddaeth lockdown!).

Wedyn amryw i beth arall cyffroes iawn i ddeud gwir, o leia i mi!

Dwi newydd orffan sioe fer hollol wirion yn ystod lockdown i’w gael ei ryddhau arlein gan HOME yn Manceinion a Lime Pictures, o’r enw ActualQuest, sydd yn gêm-rôl ffantasi ti’n chwarae ar dy ffôn, wedi ysbrydoli gan gemau ffantasi fatha Knightmare ar ITV yn y 90au, a gemau bwrdd VHS brilliantly naff fatha Atmosfear.

Dwi’n gweithio ar fersiwn secsi, ffyrnig, angerddol o Branwen fel sioe gerdd efo Cwmni’r Frân Wen, Hanna Jarman ac Elgan Rhys sydd yn mynd i fod yn ês, a pharhau i ddatblygu sioe ddrag am yr Orsedd, yr Eisteddfod a Iolo Morgannwg, Corn Gwlad efo Elgan a Gethin Evans a’r Eisteddfod Genedlaethol, a naethon ni fersiwn ohoni efo cast styning yn Steddfod Llanrwst flywddyn dwytha.

Dwi hefyd yn sgwennu sioe gerdd efo yr actores a dramodydd Maxine Peake ar gyfer y Royal Exchange yn Manceinion, sydd yn lwythi o hwyl.

Beth fyddai eich cyngor i bobl ifanc sy’n dymuno gweithio yn y diwydiant?

Triwch fod yn hyblyg, a thrio pethau. Hyd yn oed os i jyst ddarganfod, drwy brofiad, fod o ddim yn siwtio. Crëwch, hyd yn oed os da chi’n meddwl fod o’n crap, a rhannwch: newch chi ddysgu rwbath amdano chi eich hun. Mae mwy o gyfleoedd yn y byd os allwch chi greu eich cyfleoedd eich hun, a gora po leia da chi’n ista wrth y ffôn (neu be bynnag di’r fersiwn fodern… ista wrth yr internet?) yn disgwyl i rywun ddewis chi.

Mae o’n gyngor blydi frustrating, dwi’n gwbod, ond peidiwch a disgwyl am ganiatâd - ddeith o’n hwyr os ddeith o fyth - ffindiwch allan be da chi isio ddeud a sut i gal o ar draws. Dysgwch o bob profiad. Nesh i lwythi o cabaret cyn gneud fy sioe gynta: ma goroesi ar lwyfan am noson pan ti ddim wedi paratoi ddigon, a ma’r gynulleidfa’n pissed ac isio adloniant, so ma jyst raid ti dynnu rwbath allan o rwla; mae o’n dysgu rwbath i ti, prun ai ti’n llwyddo neu’n bomio!

Yn yr un ffordd ma llenwi ffurflen grant, neu sgwennu copi marchnata ar gyfer dy sioe, yn dysgu ti sut i ddiffinio dy hun a dy lais. Dy nhw byth yn hwyl, ond mae nhw’n werthfawr. A ma gwerth enfawr mewn cal peint efo rhywun sydd efo arbennigedd sgynoch chi ddim o fewn y diwydiant; dylunudd, dramodydd, cerddor, marchnatydd... newch chi weld pethau o agwedd welsoch chi’m o’r blaen.

Aroswch yn agored i’r byd; mae ymateb gonest, gloyw rhywun i’r byd yn lot mwy diddorol na thybiannau o dy fewn eu pen.

Helpwch eich gilydd; mae na rymoedd o fewn cymdeithas sydd yn gneud bywyd yn anoddach i rai nac eraill, ac mae’n bwysig neud be bynnag bosib i wrth-neud hynny.

O, a, lle’n bosib, triwch peidio cytuno i weithio i rywun am ddim os oes pres ganddyn nhw. Ddylsa nhw ddim cael get awê.

[cycas]

Really not sure about this. Druidism is a genuine religion, genuinely practiced by real people. It is a religion that has held Stonehenge (and other ancient sites) to be a sacred site for over a hundred years, and doesn't appear to be doing anyone any harm by doing so.

Regardless of what Stonehenge was built for, or who built it, or any iffy origins of the religion, surely it IS now a sacred site for modern Druidism? Who said that we weren't allowed to have any new religions? Who said someone reacting to eighteenth century Christianity couldn't remake Druidism? Who said Stonehenge can't be held sacred by a new religion?

They are planning on putting a sodding dual carriageway through the surrounding sacred landscape, though a massive tunnel. And this article thinks the *druids* shouldn't get access to Stonehenge? Have they not noticed the bigger issue here?

I don't know, I am not a member of any religion, but it seems to me that the founders of religions are often a bit iffy, and I'm not sure why people feel it's fine to call Iolo Morgannwg a 'self-styled bard' when they would never call Jesus a 'self-styled messiah'.

Seventeenth-century English antiquarians thought that Stonehenge was built by Celtic Druids. They were relying on the earliest written history they had: Julius Caesar’s narrative of his two unsuccessful invasions of Britain in 54 and 55 BC. Caesar had said the local priests were called Druids. John Aubrey (1626–1697) and William Stukeley (1687–1765) cemented the Stonehenge/Druid connection, while self-styled bard Edward Williams (1747–1826), who changed his name to Iolo Morganwg, invented “authentic” Druidic rituals. Druidism has come a long way since. In 2010, The Druid Network was listed as a charity in England and Wales, essentially marking the official recognition of Druidism as a religion. (74,000 called themselves Druids in a recent census.) Historian Carole M. Cusack positions Druidism as one of the branches of the tree of Paganism and/or New Age-ism(s), which burst into all sorts of growth during the twentieth century. Modern Druidism fits into the smorgasbord of what Cusack calls the “deregulated spiritual marketplace” of our times. But there’s a disconnect here. In the popular imagination, Stonehenge and Druidism now go together like tea and crumpets. Historically, Stonehenge, a product of Neolithic Britain, predates Caesar by thousands of years. It had nothing to do with Druids and certainly nothing to do with modern Druidism. “The false association of [Stonehenge] with the Druids has persisted to the present day,” Cusak writes, “and has become a form of folklore or folk-memory that has enabled modern Druids to obtain access and a degree of respect in their interactions with Stonehenge and other megalithic sites.��

Learn more from our friends at JSTOR Daily in “Stonehenge Before the Druids (Long, Long, Before The Druids)” by Matthew Wills.

Image credit: Spectators gather at Stonehenge to watch a group of Druids carry out the Dawn Ceremony on the summer solstice, or longest day of the year, 1956. Getty.

[cerimatho]

EDWARD WILLIAMS (1747-1826) Iolo Morgannwg

• EDWARD WILLIAMS (1747-1826) was, and remains, better known by his bardic name IOLO MORGANWG. He was known as "Mad Ned" by his London acquaintances, who included William Blake, Keats, Wordsworth, Tom Paine, Mary Wollstonecraft and others • As his bardic name suggests, Iolo was a native of GLAMORGAN, and it is this county and its history that became the focal point of his bardic vision. • Like his father, Iolo worked at his trade as a STONEMASON. • Iolo was a prolific POET in both Welsh and English, writing in the guise of other poets as well as in his own voice. • Iolo was a self-taught POLYMATH and his manuscripts attest to the sheer diversity of his interests: druidism, poetry, folk songs, antiquities, architecture, agriculture, geology, language and dialect, pedigrees, radicalism and abolitionism. • As eighteenth-century Wales's most prodigious letter-writer, Iolo has left a rich and varied corpus of CORRESPONDENCE which captures all the dynamism and contentiousness of his life and times. • Iolo embraced political and religious RADICALISM. As well as being involved with the London-Welsh Gwyneddigion society who supported 'Freedom in State and Church' ('Rhydd-did mewn Gwlad ac Eglwys'), Iolo moved in London's radical circles during the 1790s. Inspired by the foremost radical thinkers of his time, he became acquainted with many of them: George Dyer, William Godwin, Joseph Johnson, Thomas Paine, Joseph Priestley, Robert Southey, John Thelwall, Horne Tooke, Gilbert Wakefield, and David Williams. In religious terms, Iolo was a Rational Dissenter and was instrumental in establishing the UNITARIAN cause in south Wales. • Iolo's poetry and bardic vision bear the hallmarks of ROMANTICISM. His Romantic image of Wales and its past had a far-reaching effect on the way in which the Welsh envisaged their own national identity during the nineteenth century.

More info here http://iolomorganwg.wales.ac.uk/index.php

[cerimatho]

Schools of Welsh poetry, a sketch. By Edward Williams

Schools of Welsh poetry, a sketch 'Schools of Welsh poetry, a sketch', NLW 13098B, pp. 87-90. This essay by Iolo aims to classify medieval Welsh poetry into distinct schools. In doing so, Iolo juxtaposes what he sees as the sophistication of the druidical bards of south Wales with the barbarism of the undruidical poets of north Wales. It is not improbable but that what remained in manuscript or retained by oral tradition, or rather Bardic tradition, of the most ancient of our Bards, as Taliesin &c, with the various triads, and such fragments as remained of history, might have been collected about the 10th and thence to the 12th century, when a dawn of revival of literature appeared in most countries in Europe, and amongst others, very remarkably in Wales. This may be fairly infer'd from the dissimilarities that appear in the language, versification, style, idiom, modes of thinking &c in the manuscript collections of those ages. In the 'Llyfr Du Caerfyrddin', where pieces of the 6th as well as of the 11th & 12th centuries appear, injudicious collectors, antiquaries, critics &c have not been able to make the proper and necessary distinctions when handling these subjects, amongst other very prominent characteristics of Taliesin are the Druidical mythology & philosophy, frequently blended with the Primitive Christianity. Spurious pieces attributed to Taliesin of the 12th century (obviously so from their language & versification) are stuffed with the depraved popish Christianity of the times, with attempts (doubtless to impose) to interlard them with something of the philosophy & mythology of Taliesin by such as appear to be totally ignorant of the character & true principles of these things. (88) The 3 schools of Welsh poetry may be termed and described as follows: 1. The Ancient or School of Taliesin, for of what is still more ancient we have very little remaining, and nothing but what may be included under the head, or in the system of the School of Taliesin. 2. The Northwalian, or School of Gruffudd ap Cynan. This seems to have derived most of its distinguishing characteristics from the Scandinavian scalds, owing to the circumstance of Gruffudd ap Cynan having been brought up in the court of a Scandinavian Prince. Compare many of the odes of Gwalchmai &c with that of Regner Lodbrog: the same savage sublimity, the same ferocious grandure, in both. The versifications of this school are chiefly of the heroic kinds, very little of the lyric, if any, properly speaking, and the variety not great. It commenced under Gruffudd ab Cynan in the beginning of the 11th century. 3. The Southwalian. This is in a great measure, (and much more so than that of north Wales, the offspring, and in many things, a continuation of the Ancient or Taliesinian School. The variety of its versification and metres are very great. It seems to delight more in lyrical than in heroical subjects and metres, and all the pastoral, rural or domestic (teuluaidd) poetry appears as of this school, less heroical than the Northwalian, less grand, but more natural. Its subjects are chiefly rural description, love, conviviality, domestic manners, &c, and its deviations from the Ancient School appear to have been derived from the southern parts of Europe thro' the medium of the Norman conquest. (compare Soniais feinwar am garu of D. Gwilym with a scene in Romeo and Juliet.) Dafydd ap Gwilym &c are Bards of this school. In this the cynghanedd received its ultimate polish. After the subjugation of N.W. by Edward the 2nd the North Walian school declined and after Iolo Goch it became nearly extinct, whilst the more civilized School of south Wales extended itself into north Wales. Amongst the characteristics of the S.Walian School we observe the metres, rhythm and manner of the Taliesinian retained and familiarly known as late as the end of the 16th century. All the light lyric or song metres seem to have originated (at least for the most part) in south Wales, and very few are the instances of any such metres, or any such kind of poetry, to be met with in N.Wales previous to the commencement of the 17th century. Even some of the N. Walian writers affirm that the lyric or song metres now so much esteemed amongst then were derived (89) from S.Wales, and first introduced by Hwmffre Dafydd ab Evan about the year 1600. (Sion Philip o Hendre Waelod - Daf. Elis, &c). The cywydd, tho' in some use before D.G., seems to have first acquired its celebrity from his poetry which, excepting a very few pieces, he always wrote in. After him it came into so much esteem, that it was very seldom for nearly two centuries that any other metre was used. About the year 1500 a school which may be termed new appeared in Wales. Not peculiar to either N. or S.W., its foundation was laid in S.W. by the two Bardic sessions of Carmarthen: the 1st in 1457, the other in 1461. It extended itself all over Wales rapidly, but more conspicuously so in N.W. where it was greatly supported by the bardic congresses that were held at Caerwys. But in this school false refinements were carried to such an extravagant pitch as to overwhelm it, and under them it was crushed to death. About the same time the Bards of Glamorgan in S.W. patronized by the Nevils, Herbets &c, Lords of that district, attempted the revival of the Ancient School, or rather a new school which was to retain all the characteristics and fundamentals of the Ancient or Taliesinian with, in addition to it, the discoveries and improvements of the later schools of north & south Wales. Its principles were undoubtedly good and superior to any thing that had ever previously appeared. But the revolution in Welsh literature that took place in consequence of the Reformation from popery &c, has left this unfostered school in a state of pigmy dwarfishness that is lamentable, for its efforts were certainly very great and highly laudable; judicious, founded on the true reasons and nature of things. Its principles were philosophically just and truly scientific, faithful to the language and its mythologies. It exhibits so complete a system of versification, that the like has never yet been noticed in any other age or language what ever. If it has errors these are the retention of some of the overstrained refinements of the new school that immediately preceded it, of these things it retains a few, not indeed as principles indispensably necessary, but as what may be occasionally allowed the sportings of a fanciful genius, and particularly as exercises of adolescent genius in its state of pupilage & discipline, that superinduce a dexterity that cannot perhaps be otherwise as well and effectually acquired and for this purpose such things may be of some use. (90) About the 11th century a pretty familiar intercourse took place between the princes of north Wales and the kings of Norway, Denmark &c, especially the Danish Kings of Ireland, of the Isles &c, intermarriages &c. Hence the similarity of manners in north Wales (in some degree) to those of the Scandinavians, castrating &c, putting out of eyes &c. Hence the similarity of images & sentiments in the Northwalian and Scandinavian poetry (see Cynddelw, &c). The barbarous custom of putting out of eyes &c appears first in history (I believe) amongst the Scandinavians, and soon afterwards in north Wales & Powys. About the same time or soon after the Normans settled in Glamorgan, Pembroke, Cardigan &c, and into these countries they introduced their manners and usages. Amongst other things we observe a similarity of sentiment and imagery between the poetry of that period in Glamorgan and that of the southern parts of Europe, (the Troubadours &c). Gallantry, levity in general, &c and a taste [for] romance. About this time the Mabinogion, a Southwalian production, seems to have been written. This taste continued down to the time of Dafydd ab Gwilym and perhaps till so late as the time of Elizabeth. It also appears to have extended itself into Northwales in something more than a century after the subjugation of that part of Wales to the Crown of England, about the year 1400, or rather 1350. Iolo Goch in north Wales exhibited in his poetry the Scandinavian ferocity, and in south Wales we find in Dafydd ap Gwilym of the same period the gallantry & levity of the Troubadours. We find traces of these two very different characters still remaining. The Christmas carols & May songs of north Wales are solemn and religious, those of South Wales convivial. In short, till of late the poetry of north Wales was barbarously grand, that of south Wales gay and light. Devotional Christmas carols &c songs on religious subjects are to this day the very common amusements of pot-house companions. In south Wales the convivial songs are of the same character as those of England - light songwriting appears as a very ancient thing in south Wales, and a very recent things in north Wales. [Pursue this idea as far as possible, &c,]

[abwatt]

DRUIDS first appear in Latin writings of the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. They wrote nothing about themselves, and sources like Julius Caesar’s Gallic Wars and Livy’s History of Rome mention that they regard their teachings as too sacred to commit to written formats.  WE know that the island of Mona, today called Anglesey off the northwest corner of Wales, was their headquarters, and they defended it to the death against Roman invasion.  They might have *used* Stonehenge and other stone circles, but their arrival in Britain post-dated the construction of these places.  What we know of them is that they were divided into the Vatēs or Ovates, a priestly caste; the Bards or poets (who in some cases were also trained as Brehons or judge-lawyer types), and the Druids themselves, who were supposed to have studied for twenty years. Trained in memorization of lore from an early age, they were said to know geometry, the motion of the stars, the sciences of the immortal gods, and all of the plant lore known to mortals.   Oak trees, and the parasitic plant mistletoe which grows on oaks, were held to be particularly sacred to them — we know a tiny bit about one druidic ritual, where they’d begin a fast on the morning after the last sighting of the Moon, and keep it until the first appearance of the new crescent, and then harvest mistletoe from the oldest known oak.  The result would have been something like this: ☾•☽  <--  a waning moon on the left, getting its light from the rising Sun in the west; followed by a dark moon conjunct the Sun in the middle; followed by a new crescent in the west getting its light from the setting Sun on the right.  You’ll notice that this emblem is the opposite of the traditional Wicca emblem, which tends to be this...  ☽◯☾

Anyway, nothing of the ancient Druids survives. 

I take that back... Schools of Bardic training survived in Ireland and Scotland into the late 1600s and early 1700s.  The student would be given one of the traditional forms of poetry, a particular rhyme or meter, and a theme.  The student would then wrap themselves in a plaid (probably a great kilt, as we call them today), and not unwrap themselves until they’d composed a poem in the desired form on the desired theme, which they could then recite or perform from memory. Once a student had memorized a certain amount of the old poetry, and learned to compose a certain amount of new poetry in the formal styles, they graduated. We don’t know if these schools were directly connected to the Bards of old, but they were the major training for professional poets and performers in Gaelic regions in Britain.  

We also know that the Brehons survived in some form in Ireland until the English takeover of Ireland, and largely replaced Brehon Law with English common law. Smatterings of medieval Brehon law survive, such as the rule that the breton kept time in court by counting 18 breaths to the minute and giving both accuser and accused equal time through breath work; and giving a woman the right to divorce her husband on certain days each year.  

To my knowledge, nothing of ancient Druid herb-lore survives. There was a famous family of doctors in Wales called the “Physicians of Myddfai” and there book of balms, salves, and remedies survives; along with parts of their copy of Avicenna’s Canon of Medicine; however, they appear to have arisen in the 1100s AD and kept going until the early 1700s, by which time Paracelsian-style medicine was replacing Avicenna (that is, a German/Swiss pharmacology replacing a MiddleEastern/Persian one... but not a druid one).

In the early 1700s AD — in part in response to significant changes in the British landscape due to the Enclosure Acts and early efforts at industrialization plus coal-burning — a man named Iolo Morgannwg traveled around Wales and western England, collecting bits of folklore and spinning up the idea that these were survivals of ancient Druidic tradition.  In London in (I think) 1717 AD, he held what he claimed was the first authentic Druidic ceremony on Primrose Hill outside London: white robes, staffs, mistletoe, and other elements of what’s now called the Druidic Revival.  There were earlier and contemporaneous efforts to call up the spirit of the Druids, but this is the one that took off — Iolo Morgannwg’s folklore was received as the ancient Druid lore of the past, and the fact that most of it was a bunch of clever impersonations of traditional folk-lore forms, woven in with real folk-lore. Today, nobody really knows what Iolo invented, and what he found in the countryside, and what he ‘fixed’ to make it seem more authentic.  There was also The Modern Druid, by the Reverend William Stuckeley (I think?), which was a book on tree-care for gardeners, but had a frontispiece of a bearded man in a white robe in a forest that made quite an impression on the era.   Most Druidry today, for better or worse, owes its existence to the institutions founded by Iolo Morgannwg and his successors, like the Welsh National Eisteddfod or poetry competition, and a series of Druid orders like the Ancient Order of Druids, the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA), the Order of Ovates, Bards and Druids (OBOD) founded by Ross Nichols in the late 1950s or 1960s), the Reformed Druids of North America (RDNA) established at Carleton College in the 1960s in the USA to avoid the religious obligations as a graduation requirement, the Druidic Order of the Golden Dawn, and ... oh, yeah...  the American Druid Fellowship (ADF) (yeah, I know they have a name in Irish Gaelic and English that’s different, and I don’t care) founded by Isaac Bonewits. (ADF claims to be Reconstructionist Druidry rather than owing its origins to the Druid Revival, and I think, myself, that this is a deep misrepresentation of the facts on the ground, which is that we know virtually nothing about the ancient Druids, and we can guess, but it’s still largely made up.... but a great many ADF members have done some cool and interesting things, although they’ve got some heavy lifting to do, given what has been learned about Isaac Bonewits in the last decade or so).

There are, in other words, a lot of Druid organizations with some overlapping memberships and overlapping traditions, some that are completely separate from every other, and some of which are completely defunct.  In my thought, all of them owe some level of honor and duty to either Iolo Morgannwg or Ross Nichols or both, as well as to their direct founders.

I hope this helps

if anyone can hook me up with some info about druids I'd be very thankful <3

[abwatt]

I’ll add my experiences as a Druid here, in response to these questions:

1) What is the path like?

I’m a member of two different orders — the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA at http://www.aoda.org), and the Druidical Order of the Golden Dawn (DOGD at http://www.druidical-gd.org).  I’m a Druid-candidate in AODA, the lowest grade in the order; but a Druid in the DOGD, the highest public grade (are there grades above that? I dunno).  In AODA, the path is very slow and deliberate; it can take 7-12 years to rise to the highest grades of the order; at the end of that process you will live a very different life than you do now unless you’re strongly woven into the landscape around your home.  In the DOGD, the practices are much more ceremonial and magical; it can still take 3-5 years to rise to the highest grade in the order.  In both orders, you’ll learn meditation and ceremonial magic, divination, and working with the living Earth.  In the DOGD, you’ll also learn the basics of the vegetable alchemy, and the processes of categorical thinking; in AODA you’ll learn much more about art and poetry.  Both order have published handbooks to their learning process — AODA has the Druidry Handbook, by John Michael Greer; and DOGD has The Celtic Golden Dawn, also by John Michael Greer.  Just because the two books are by the same author does not mean that the work is compatible; I had to pretty much stop doing AODA work to become a DOGD druid. They don’t overlap well with one another.

2) What are some of the key learning points?

One key discovery (from the two orders) is that there are a LOT of magical and occult practices out in the world: ceremonial magic, various forms of ‘yoga’ (by which I mean here, physical exercises designed to improve health, strength, and flexibility), meditation, divination, magic, alchemy, and ‘weird science’ (by which I mean, discarded knowledge that mainstream science today doesn’t think of as useful), probability-altering systems (by which I mean spells), an more.  Here’s the discovery: just because it’s part of occultism, the broad scope of practices, doesn’t mean that two different practices are wholly compatible with one another.  One group of practices can be aimed at one goal, and another group of practices can be aimed at another goal.  It’s helpful to have an idea of where you want to go, before you take on a new practice.

Another key learning point is that in all the different paths of druidry, some level of connection with the living Earth is necessary, wholesome and good.  Both orders that I belong to, trace their spiritual lineage to 1712 and a guy by the name of Iolo Morgannwg (who made up medieval Welsh poetry and passed it off as ancient folklore from 2000 years prior, and survivals of ancient Druid lore).  He lived in the pre-dawn light of the Industrial Revolution, though, and saw the harm that can be done when you don’t think of the Earth as part of a living system.  When you’re connected to the living Earth, though, you think about a lot of things differently, from your computer to your garbage, from your food to your fuel.  

The third key to druidry is that of Becoming or maybe Unfolding.  It’s telling that it takes three years in one druidic order to become a Druid, and another expects you to let the process take more than seven years. You have to know a LOT to be a druid, and at least some of what a druid has to know is the patience and development of skill that only comes from doing the same things for a long, long, lonnnnng time.  I’ve begun to become a druid (I initiated into the druid grade at Summer Solstice 2017), but I don’t think I’m done becoming a druid.  I have all sorts of potentials and potencies in me, but it takes time for them all to blossom. 

 A few years ago, I wrote a poem in which I said, “you’re becoming a flower that fruits to a saint.”  And I think that’s part of what Druidry is for — every human being is a potential flower, but the flower is not the end cycle of the plant; it’s the point at which they become fertile and have the opportunity to become something even richer and more potent and powerful, which is the thing that nourishes the seed of what comes next.  

3) What sets it apart from other paths?

This is harder to answer, but I think of it this way. A Witch is someone who’s trying to use the natural and hidden forces of the world to get what they want despite any obstacles.; an Astrological Magus or a ceremonial magician uses time, place, ritual, and symbol to craft a reality that they prefer. A Druid recognizes and moves within the flow of natural and hidden forces in the world to find a path of least resistance and lowest opposition toward a desired goal.  The Druid way is slower, but it tends to produce fewer disruptions, and creates longer-lasting change.  

4) How did you get into it?

A book by John Michael Greer leapt out of a bookshelf in a used bookstore and attacked me.  I’m not kidding.  It thumped me on the head from behind while I was looking in the history book shelves opposite the occultism.  I turned around to figure out where it had come from, and there was only one obvious place: in the middle of a group of books about druidry.  I bought four that day, including the one that had leapt out at me.

5) How did it help you?

I became an Ovate (lowest grade in DOGD) at a time in my life when I needed to make peace with certain realities in the world: that modern industrial society absolutely sucks, that it’s damaging to our health and the health of all other species on the planet, and that I wanted to do something about it.  I became a Bard — the middle level of DOGD — at a point when I wanted to start teaching and learning crafts that are designed to reconnect people to what it means to love homemade things. I learned the alchemy and divination, and all the things that the DOGD required me to learn; but I also learned (and taught) basic carpentry, sewing, weaving, knitting, crochet, dyeing, and more in the space of my Bardic training.  

I became a Druid at the lowest time in my life, when I had to figure out a way from a job that was killing me in a career that wanted to kill me if I stayed in it, and wanted to ruin my fortunes and my hope.  It succeeded beyond my wildest imaginings.  Now I live on a mountain top in the middle of a forest in one of the oldest surviving mountain range in North America; I’m surrounded by magic and the wisdom of wild things; and I get paid to do it. 

6) How can someone else get into it?

Buy or borrow a book and follow the directions — the Druidry Handbook or the Celtic Golden Dawn, both by John Michael Greer, are places to begin.  Join the OBOD study course.  Join a druidic order, and follow their course of study for a year.  Start sitting for 10-15 minutes a day with your back against a tree.

7) One of the most important questions: is druidry a closed practice?

Yes, but not in the way that you mean.  Every order and every Druidic society has a set of practices and meditations and trainings. In some cases those practices are private: you have to buy them from the order in order to make use of them; in other cases, those practices are in books, and if you can read the book in the library or buy it from a bookstore, you can start performing the practices.  Either way, you can start doing things in a Druidic way. 

But every druidic society, every book, every druid order, assumes that you’re not going to be a druid next week.   You’re not even going to be an Ovate next month.

A way to think about this is to consider what it takes to be a poet.  How many poems do you have to write before you’re a poet? One. How many poems do you have to write to be a good poet?  How many poems do you have to write before other people acknowledge you as a great poet?  

Druidry is closed like that.  You can start any time, and you can begin anywhere within druidry — but the traditional titles of Druidry (Ovate, Bard, and Druid) are attained only by those who have put in sufficient time to be recognized by others as having done the work to get there.  

Druidry

Druid, member of the learned class among the ancient Celts. They acted as priests, teachers, and judges. According to Julius Caesar, who is the principal source of information about the Druids. The Druids of old were of the Celtic peoples – yet today one can be called a Druid without any Celtic ancestry.  Within Druidry, they honour the ancestors in a triad – ancestors of blood, of land and of tradition.  

The earliest known records of the Druids come from the 3rd century BCE. Their name may have come from a Celtic word meaning “knower of the oak tree.” Very little is known for certain about the Druids, who kept no records of their own. However, modern druids honour the land upon which they live, work to live in tune with the natural cycles of life, and live a life that is filled with honour, integrity and truth.  These latter three haven’t changed much over the course of millennia; they are still pretty much the same as they always were. 

Honour is living with great respect for yourself and for the world, for living a life filled with integrity and truth. Integrity is having the will to stand for what you believe in, even through the darkest nights of the soul.  It is standing strong though buffeted by high winds; it is living your soul truth.  Truth is living in accordance to the natural principle of life; it is finding your place in life and not working out of the bounds that our own bodies and souls are bound to in this life.  It is living in accordance with the natural world.

Today, Druids seek to sacrifice ignorance and to learn all that they can about their place in the world.  A Druid might be inspired to heal with herbs, and learn all that he can about that path. Another might be a park ranger, working to protect wildlife. Honestly the possibilities are endless. But what do they all have in common? Easy they all are constantly learning.

When I was looking up things to write this I didn't find much. I reached out to a few groups I am in and to no avail I was unable to find someone following the path. So if you, or someone you know, happens to be following this path for several years allow me to pick your brain on the topic. I am a rather curious soul.

Interview:

What is the path like?

~ It is, at least my experience in the OBOD, is a very myth based, self driven path that you walk at your own pace. You’re given a set of coursework to read, with stories and history and whatnot to draw from and then practical work today. Mostly meditations and journaling with themes from the reading.

What are some of the key learning points?

~ While I can’t divulge the actual coursework itself, it is all based in Celtic myth and legend, history, practical work as well as other mystical ideologies (the elements, the idea of deities, magic, learning from myths and legends)

What sets it apart from other paths?

~ for me, is that the base idea resonates with me. That we are constantly growing and changing and ever becoming. To call myself a Druid is true to a point. But I an always working toward becoming a Druid, a better Druid. The work at my own pace is also nice as I have a busy life, and the Themes and myths the OBOD work with also vibe very well with me.

How did you get into it?

~ I’ve always had a very eclectic practice. And one day a friend and I were talking about our practices and she said “that sounds a lot like druidry!” So I had no idea at the time but I looked it up, looked into it, and it was basically what I’d been doing all along.

How did it help you?

~ I’ve found a great deal of the introspection from the practical prompts to be extremely helpful. I’ve learned about the world. About myself. About other people. And all the connections between those things.

How can someone else get into it?

~ Well there are several druidry organizations out there. From the ADF to the OBOD to the Canadian order. It’s all about finding which one vibes well with you. Though a good starting point for anyone would be John Greer’s book “the druidry handbook”

One of the most important questions. Is druidry a closed practice?

~ Yes and no. The OBOD asks that we don’t share detailed info about the coursework with non members. But that isn’t a true closed practice. What druidry is today is extremely different from what it once was. As it was an oral tradition and most of not all of the true druids were killed off. So what we have is what is remembered through stories and Myths and other cultures memories of the druids. Anyone can be a Druid, though.

Thanks to @greywoodgrimoire for letting me throw a bunch of questions at him about Druidry.

Key:

OBOD, The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids or OBOD is a Neo-Druidic organisation based in England, but based in part on the Welsh Gorsedd of Bards. 

ADF, Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship, Inc. is a non-profit religious organization dedicated to the study and further development of modern Druidry. In Modern Irish, Ár nDraíocht Féin means "our own magic". "ADF" is also used to represent the phrase A Druid Fellowship.

Writen By: Reine Alicis, March 5, 2021