Aontacht V6I4 - Druidic Dawn

Aontacht ISSN 2044-1339
Volume 6, Issue 4
Creating Unity Through Community
Secrets Memories,
Lives & Dreams
Volume 6 Issue 4 Spring/Autumn 2014
Brought to you
by the community
of Druidic Dawn
Aontacht • 1
(www.druidicdawn.org)
Volume 6, Issue 4
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aontacht
creating unity in community
27
Dr Gwilym Morus
Feature Interview
Eight Common Uses of Scotch Pine Essential
Oil
REVIEWS
12
Modern Druid Nature Mysticism
Dr Karen Parham
35
Europe Before Rome: A Site-By-Site Tour
of the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages
23
Chance, Magick and the Will of Eris
Renard
36
The Story of Light
36
Essays in Contemporary Paganism
25
29
32
15
21
Knowledge of the Oak
Andrew "Bish" Peers
DEPARTMENTS
Taliesin's Grave, the Black Road
and Gwion's Hill.
Dr. G
Three Plants for Insomnia
David C. Corrin
If You Want To See Visions
Alison Leigh Lilly
3
Contributors Page
6
From The Desk
7
News from the Druidic Dawn
Management Team
19
Community Shopping
37
Community Calendar
39
What is in the next Issue?
TravelDream
Lisa Du Fresne
Cover photo:
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Clettwr RiverValley
Photo Druidic Dawn 2014
Volume 6, Issue 4
aontacht
Contributors
creating unity in community
Secrets Memories,
Lives & Dreams
Editor
Vacant
Co-Editor
Lucie Marie-Mai DuFresne
Production Manager
Druidic Dawn Rep.
Nigel Dailey
Feature Editor - Wild Earth
Alison Leigh Lilly
Feature Editor - Formulary
Faye Boyd
Feature Editor - Poetry
Sarah Ward
Acquisition Editor, Australia
H.J. Shreeve
Acquisition Editor, Canada
Lisa Du Fresne
Publisher
Druidic Dawn, CIC
Original Layout Design
Aestas Designs
General Inquiries
All questions, comments and etcetera can be sent to the following
address:
aontacht@druidicdawn.org
Aontacht is published four times
a year by Druidic Dawn, CIC.
Aontacht, Volume 6 Issue 4 ©
2014 Druidic Dawn, all rights reserved. All contained content is
copyright to its respective owners, including art and photos. The
contents of this publication may
not be reproduced in whole or in
part without the consent of the
copyright owner.
Opinions and views expressed
are not necessarily those of
the editors, publisher or staff.
Dr Gwilym Morus: based in Mid wales at Machynlleth. Gwilym specialises in Medieval Welsh
poetry and the Welsh Bardic tradition, Together
with presenting an online course delving into the
Symbolic Keys of Welsh Mythology. Dr Gwilym
Morus is also an accompanied musician in the
modern sense, but also has explored the court
bardic poet medieval performance and delivery.
Dr Karen Parham: Currently lectures in Philosophy and Religious Studies in Birmingham and is
a designer of academic courses on mysticism and
Western esotericism for the Phoenix Rising Academy. She is writing a book on ‘Mysticism and
Western Esotericism’ that is the product of her
dedication to the study of mysticism which started when researching for her PhD thesis. Her
article offers some insights gained while writing
a chapter on Druidry for this book. She is an
OBOD member in the process of becoming an
ovate.
O
Renard/Richard Fox is Fire Druid, the former
Editor of Aontacht Magazine and a warrior poet
who lived mostly outdoors in the forests of the
U.S. for more than 18 years. During that time he
planted more than 700,000 trees while he lived
and developed his Nature Magick in the deep
forests.
Today, he manages conservation projects in seven countries and develops small scale/big impact
renewable energy projects with 23 Native
American tribes across the western United
States and has a home among the Lakota on the
Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Contributors
Andrew "Bish" Peers: is a Celtic Buddhist
priest. He was twenty years a Trappist monk,
leaving to found the Order of the Longing Look,
a path that combines the druidic way of seeing
with Celtic warriorship, structured on the basic
of silent meditation. www.longinglook.org
magazine is only
available online as a free
.pdf download; thereby saving trees, water, solid waste
and greenhouse gases. It is
designed on an Energy Star
rated computer.
Editorial Notes
You do not have to be a
member of the Druidic
Dawn community to submit
to the magazine.
Alison Leigh Lilly: is the producer and co-host
of Faith, Fern & Compass. Nurturing the naturecentered, mist-and-mystic spiritual heritage of
her Celtic ancestors, she explores themes of
peace, poesis and wilderness through essays, articles, poetry and podcasting. Her work has appeared in numerous publications both in print
and online. You can learn more about her work
on her website: alisonleighlilly.com
Please submit contributions directly to the editorial staff via email to:
aontacht@druidicdawn.org
Refer to the last page of
this issue for writer’s guidelines and more information, before you submit
inquiries or contributions.
Below are the theme for
the forthcoming issues
David C. (TheDruid-3X3) Corrin: is a student of
Druiditic Arts studying the Philosophies of our
Ancient Celtic Ancestors. His Patron Deity is the
sacred Hiroshima Survivor Kuroganemochi Tree
which is in the courtyard of the Hiroshima's Rai
Sanyo Shizeki. He likes studying and writing
about Herbalism, Tarot Card Divinations and Paganistic Philosophy. He works in Landscape Gardening and is a devotee of Emma (Bobcat)
Restall-Orr. He is a member of The Druid Network and the Druids of Albion as well as a member of Druidic Dawn. Articles on Herbology and
copies of his 3X3 Triads of Wisdoms has been
published in Aontacht.
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What is the Veil and what is
beyond, Using personas,
Looking at the inner planes
Volume 6, Issue 4
Contributors
Vacancy:
Aontacht Editor
The Aontacht team is
looking for a new editor,
to collect and edit material
for the magazine, help
with issue production and
help lead the dynamic
team that brings Aontacht
to the internet Druid and
Pagan community.
If you feel that you can
spare some time to help
us, or if you would like
more information, please
email
admin@druidicdawn.org.
Maya St. Clair (Cuardai) resides in Kuwait, is an
Irish Polytheist, and a mechanical engineer with
a love of history, mythology and culture. She is
editor of the Oran Mor, the official newsletter of
the New Order of Druids. She also serves on
their Council. Maya is an Irish Gaelic student
and regularly writes a wide variety of articles
and book reviews on Celtic and religious topics.
Faye Boyd (Fae) has been interested in Nature
and all things Celtic for many a year. She is a
member of OBOD, Druidic Dawn, Ord Brighideach International, Celtic Reiki Master, Hot Stone
Therapist, Guided Meditations and is a spoken
word artist. Fae resides in Canada.
Lisa Du Fresne: is a French Canadian Urban
Métis multi-disciplinary ARTist, who has been
an Ontario Arts Council & Canada Council grant
recipient, recently reviewed in fibre QUARTERLY Canada on-line Textile and Fibre Arts and
Crafts magazine. She creates masques, shield,
sacred banners and giant puppets from natural
and recycled material. Her solo and in situ exhibitions /installations are seen in national and
international venues.
O
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Volume 6, Issue 4
News from the Aontacht
Production Team
Six and a half years ago this magazine was a
dream of its creator, and as a member of the
community at Druidic Dawn who approached us
with a proposal. The proposal related to providing the facility to become the home of a community newsletter which would be open, to all the
druid internet community. In the newsletter a
large variety of Celtic and Druidic papers could be
published celebrating the uniqueness and its diversity.
This magazine became known in the Irish Gaelic
language as Aontacht, published quarterly at the
solstices and equinox. During its last twenty four
issues it has grown from a graphically illustrated
thirteen page newsletter to up to a maximum of
fifty nine pages. Additional credibility arrived
when Aontacht became internationally recognised
when it was awarded its own international ISBN
number.
Over the years each volunteer editor brought to
the magazine their own style being true to the
original idea and motivation to create a wonderful
magazine. From the introduction of the Featured
Interview, to the Wild Earth section has expanded
its size and scope of coverage. To such a point, a
special Aontacht Handbook has been produced by
the production team under the leadership of its
Aontacht
volunteer editor to maintain its high standards
and ensure the magazine is delivered on time. In
turn a volunteer editor oversaw their respective
section and always insured there was content
available if none was submitted.
Each issue of the magazine was centred on a
theme. These cover a wide area and range from
the gaelic isles, to the Gods, and the wild earth to
name a few. Dependant on the theme, it would
draw in the readership figures. The most successful theme has been Magick of Druidism, published
at the Autumn-Spring of 2011 which has received
over 72,084 views; followed secondly by Celtic
Cosmos published winter-summer solstice of 2010
receiving 33,242 views and thirdly by Storytelling,
published in winter summer of 2011. While other
themes, such as “the Gods” and “Gaia” proved not
so favourably with the readership.
Aontacht is probably the most successful thing
which came out of the Druidic Dawn Community.
It too is sad to say as Druidic Dawn moves ever
closer to voluntary insolvency, another home is
required for Aontacht is to survive. Hopefully it
may not be lost altogether.
Nigel
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Aontacht and Druidic Dawn are very closely
interlinked both have received a tremendous
amount of volunteer time and work poured into
them, by its founders and active community
members. Aontacht has also only become possible through the volunteer staff on the production
team. Everything has a life span albeit a living
organism or an inert object such as a stone; some
are indeed longer than others.
disappear with this issue of Aontacht, probably
being one of the last item to go.
The management team would like to express their
thanks to the Aontacht Production Team for developing and producing a wonderful magazine
over the past years.
Additionally the management team would like to
thank the active members of the community who
Within the commercial world of the internet, have assisted with both website content, contribwhen the quarterly outgoings continually far ex- uting towards the forums, donations, and purceed the income. One has to place the emotions to chases.
one side and deal with the hard facts. Indeed just
to keep its presence on the internet can become a
struggle.
Nigel
It has come to the time, when Druidic Dawn has
to consider closing its doors, reducing its visibility and probably head towards voluntary dissolution. Its presence on the internet may slowly
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Feature Interview
A Conversation with Dr Gwilym Morus,
Nigel and the Druidic Dawn Community.
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Dr Gwilym Morus: based in Mid wales at Machynlleth. Gwilym specialises in Medieval Welsh poetry
and the Welsh Bardic tradition, Together with presenting an online course delving into the Symbolic
Keys of Welsh Mythology. Dr Gwilym Morus is also an accompanied musician in the modern sense,
but also has explored the court bardic poet medieval performance and delivery.
DD: Thank you very much Gwilym for accepting GM: By the late Cynfeirdd and early Gogynfeirdd
to undertake the featured interview from the period bardic performance was certainly a theatDruidic Dawn community.
rical performance, which leads me to believe the
same dramatic element was already present way
What inspired your interest in Welsh Medieval before Old Welsh developed. It probably stems
Literature and how does that inspiration continue from the Indo-European root culture Welsh grew
today?
from. And like all good art it worked on many
levels. The public ritual of bardic performance
GM: I think I’ve always been inspired by my was potent with symbolic meaning, when perculture, I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t. formed successfully it could open up deeper layI’ve never asked myself particularly why I find it ers of significance. It was considered a
so, it just seems to be a part of who I am. I sup- super-natural act, and rightly so as it attempted
pose there were events in my youth and early to mediate between this mundane , surface world
adult-hood that marked my discovery of differ- and the deeper, imagined foundations of reality,
ent texts and what others had said about them sometimes known as Annwfn. This otherworld
but generally I considered things like the Mabino- contains the accumulated wisdom and knowlgion to be part of everyday life.
edge of the Welsh. The dramatic persona of the
Welsh bard was effectively the living embodiDD: What is known about the Welsh bards poetic ment of the ancestral bridge that spanned the two
styles?
realms. Living bards spoke with the authoritative
voice of their dead forefathers, such Taliesin,
Countless books, papers and articles have been Myrddin and Aneirin.
written about Welsh poetic style, particularly as
there is an unbroken tradition of poetic form that DD: Are there similarities between the Oral Perstill flourishes today. We are very aware of all formance practices of African and American tribkinds of styles from almost 1500 yrs of written al cultures to that of the medieval Welsh bards?
poetry. We understand very well in terms of form
and content, metre and meaning how the tradi- GM: Yes, many African cultures have very simition has evolved. As a living art it is studied and lar customs. The Bantu speaking nations have
practiced thoroughly by every new generation of tribal bards (imbongi) that praise their chieftains
Welsh poets. The standards remain very high, as in epic and dramatic verse (izibongo). The poetry
testified by the recent poems submitted for the is sometimes more freestyle than Welsh medieval
chair and crown at the National Eisteddfod.
court poetry but pretty much does the same
thing, that is depict the bard and the chieftain
DD: Can you elaborate the presentation styles both as mythical figures. The Heyoka and clown
and techniques of bards was it a performance or societies in many native American tribes play
something quite different?
similar roles to the medieval Welsh bards in
terms of caring for the collective dream of the
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people, often through dramatic performance. I
think that many, many cultures large and small
have been served by performers who’s function
is to gauge and harness the energy of communal
myth for the general well-being of the people.
further meaning means that the interpretation of
myth is a journey more than a destination. There
is never just one meaning or explanation.
DD: Do you think there are still hidden secrets of
Celtic Welsh history still to be discovered?
DD: Have you studied any of the Bardic links
between Wales and Scotland, and would you like GM: Absolutely. I keep coming across them.
to share your conclusions.
Welsh academia hardly has time to digest all of
the perspectives it throws up, and as a largely
GM: Beyond the more obvious comparisons be- rationalist discipline its slightly paranoid about
tween medieval Welsh, Irish and Scottish poetry anything too esoteric in its literary criticism (its
(form and content), what I keep coming back to all saved up for the poetry, which is fair enough).
are the similar practices apparently employed by That’s not to say I wouldn’t have it any other
all three medieval traditions to initiate bards and way. The healthy scepticism of academia does try
prime their creative abilities. There is evidence and keep the research clean and unbiased, al(put forward most succinctly by Patrick Ford in though its only successful some of the time; the
his paper ‘The Death of Aneirin’ BBCS 34, pp.41- influence of science on the humanities in general
50), that suggests darkened seclusion and the has brought with it a whole cart load of assumpritualised associations of death may very well tions that many scholars remain blind to.
have played a role in the medieval bardic schools
of the Celtic nations. My own work on the Talies- More than that, I find there is a lack of good
in myth points to how sophisticated the symbolo- English writing for the layman on Welsh myth
gy of these practices were.
and bardic culture. Even though the texts that
contain the ‘secrets’ have been well known in
DD: Having specialised in the 14th Century English for several centuries, they have been so
Bardic tradition how does this impact your un- badly misunderstood that the ‘secrets’ remain
derstanding and view of the Mabinogi, would it hidden. There have been some quite terrible mishave been received differently during that period? interpretations that we’re still trying to clean up
after (Graves’ The White Goddes for example).
GM: Its my firm conviction that we can’t fully When we see things for what they are and not
understand the Four Branches without first of all what we’ve assumed them to be, it feels like a
understanding some of the core symbols and discovery, but in fact all we’ve done is take a
themes used by the bardic culture that was re- fresh perspective. Its all there in texts that have
sponsible for their maintenance. In my courses been available for quite some time now. This is
I’m always stressing the importance of the bardic what prompted me to start putting on my courses.
context of these tales. We can’t detach them to
much from the mythic figure of the storyteller. DD: You are a director of Eos – The Broadcasting
Beyond that I think its very difficult to guess how Rights Agency for Wales, can you tell us more of
a medieval audience would have received the its aims and work.
tales, primarily as the audience would have been
so varied: from children to chieftains, noble wom- GM: As a Welsh language musician, I became
en and young soldiers, they would have all had involved in the campaign for better royalties for
their own personal understanding. There are so Welsh language music in 2008. In 2007 the Welsh
many different view points, positions and mean- language music industry as a whole lost around
ings that can be gleaned from these myths. Their two thirds of its regular income (about £1.5 milsymbolic potency and potential to always suggest lion) largely due to a policy change by the Per
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formance Rights Society who are the UK wide
society for collecting and distributing music royalties. With Welsh language culture under continual
threat of being swamped by English language
media, the decline of the Welsh language music
industry could have had serious knock on effects,
so many of us were determined to try and remedy
the situation. The resulting campaign eventually
gave birth to Eos (Welsh for ‘nightingale’), which
is the first UK body outside of PRS to collect and
distribute music royalties. The Welsh language
music industry now effectively manages its own
creative rights as opposed to having them managed by a London based body that had very little
understanding of Welsh music culture. The Eos
agency is now up and running and paying better
royalties for Welsh music. I stood down as chairman in March 2014 to concentrate more on my
music; I’m a better singer than an administrator.
Mythologies, Roland Barthes
DD: How can our readers who are interested in the
many faces of the Welsh Bardic tradition keep in
touch with you? Do you have a website or Facebook page etc., where they can stay in touch?
GM: The best place to find me would be the website, welshmythology.com
DD: Any parting words you would like to leave
with our readers and the global Druid community?
GM: If there are any grandmothers out there who
can already suck eggs, please discount yourselves
from the following remarks. Any new-comers to
egg sucking, read on:
Respect the source texts and respect your own
inspiration. The best way to do that is to discern
DD: Of all the books you have read, can you rec- where the former ends and the latter begins. Beware of allowing your own personal inspiration to
ommend five to our readers?
congeal into blind assumptions; they will invariaOnly five? But there are so many! If they can read bly turn into ‘facts’. ‘Maybe’, ‘perhaps’ and ‘assuming’ are very important words in the art of
Welsh:
interpretation. Keep your inspiration fluid and
flexible, don’t pin it down so readily to factual
Y Mabinogion, Rhiannon and Dafydd Ifans
terms. It can inform intellect, but withers when it
becomes a slave to it.
Any decent edition of Dafydd ap Gwilym
The real artistry of the Welsh bards was to create
great potential for meaning; this means that their
works can be inexhaustible sources of inspiration
Detholion,Euros Bowen
(as is anything seen right). But those texts can only
serve that function while they retain their own
Dail Pren,Waldo Williams
integrity. That integrity has so far been preserved
for a very long time; it would be a shame for this
If they can’t read Welsh:
generation to start rewriting and misrepresenting
Welsh texts to the point where they become meanThe Mabinogion, Sioned Davies’ translation
ingless. We need to honour the gifts we have been
The Legendary Poems from the Book of Taliesin, given.
ed. Marged Haycock
DD: Thank you Gwilym for taking the time to be
part of this featured interview Its greatly appreciTrioedd Ynys Prydein, ed. Rachel Bromwich
ated. Diolch yn fawr
The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Joseph Campbell
Caniadau, T. Gwynn Jones
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Dr Karen Parham
This short article, based on a wider study of Druid Nwyfre
mysticism within Western esotericism, examines
the factors involved in modern Druid Nature The percipients’ beliefs are tantamount to the interpretation of the mystical experience. It is the
mysticism.
beliefs, the conceptual schema, that help make
Mysticism, in the popular imagination, conjures sense of this mystical event. F.C. Happold distinup something vaguely magical or mysterious. Not guishes between God, soul and nature mysticism
to suggest that mysticism is not mysterious or characterising nature mysticism as “a sense of the
magical but in academia it does have a specific immanence of the One or God or soul in
meaning. It refers to the experiencing of and re- Nature”(3). Although Druids may combine their
porting on an ineffable, transient, noetic and pas- Druidry with beliefs from another spirituality or
sive event.(1) This introvertive, altered state of religion, the core to Druidry is the veneration of
consciousness that perceives the numinous, deliv- Nature.(4) In other words, Nature will feature
ers salvational gnosis, knowledge that cannot be prominently in the mystical experience and the
obtained through normal rational or empirical Druid Nature mystic recognises the divine in Nameans.(2) The most common description of this ture rather than outside in some transcendental
experience is that of a union. The mystical event reality inaccessible to most. Stephen Prickett recoffers personal proof for the existence of an alter- ognises nine usages of the word ‘nature’, others
native reality to that of the everyday reality. For have identified even more.(5) Essentially, the DruChristians this reality is that of God, for Hindus it id mystics’ understanding of ‘nature’ is that of the
is evidence for the existence of Brahman. It is a life-force, Nwyfre, pervading the entire cosmos, or
shift of consciousness from the reality of the mun- the sum total of everything. The natural world
dane to an occult dimension or transcendent real- around us is the most immediate access to this
ity. Due to its very nature, mysticism is Spirit. The Earth is, therefore, a living organism
complicated and its analysis does not lend itself full of vitality but with no purpose or intent. The
very well to the logic of everyday thinking. There Druid Nature mystic connects to Nwyfre and conare representatives of mysticism in most religious sequently merges with Nature as all boundaries
and spiritual traditions. Sufism, for example, is between the self, the perceiver, and the other, the
the mystical branch within Islam. There is also perceived, disappear.
mysticism within modern Druidry.
1.William James, Varieties of Religious Experience (New York: Signet Classic, 2003), chapter 11. James’ four core characteristic of a
mystical experience have become standard in describing the nature of such an experience.
2. The term numinous was coined by Rudolph Otto in his attempt to describe what is experienced in the mystical experience. See
Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1923, repr. 1973), p. 22.
3. F.C. Happold,
(London: Penguin Books, 1963; repr. 1990), p. 44.
4.The upper case N in Nature is written intentionally to denote the importance of Nature.
5. Stephen Prickett, ‘Romantic Literature, in The Romantics ed. by Stephen Prickett (London: Methuen & Co Ltd, 1981), pp. 210-11.
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This geocentric position is quite distinct from other forms of Western mysticism. In their emphasis
“I am the wind on the sea;
of a dualism between this world and a superior
I am the wave of the sea;
otherworld, they are distinctly Platonic. David
I am the bull of seven battles;
Abram, in rejecting both dualism and scientific
I am the eagle on the rock;
determinism, stresses how these received apI am the flash from the sun;
proaches to reality alienate us from the treasures
I am the mist beautiful of plants;
of the ‘living world’ and the unavoidable relationI am a strong wild boar;
ship we, as perceivers, have with it.(6) Druid NaI am a salmon in the water;
ture mysticism is monistic: it requires
I am a lake in the plain;
participation, not separation, full coalescence beI am the word of knowledge;
tween the perceiver and the perceived. The underI am the head of the spear in battle;
lying belief here is that of animism, where,
I am the god that puts fire in the head…”.(9)
according to Emma Restall Orr, mind and matter
are different states of nature’s essence.(7) Animism The Senses
is a metaphysical monism emphasising the essenThe senses are essential in this process. Other
tial spirit that animates all things.
religious traditions describe their mysticism as a
Ritual as a Trigger
disengagement of the senses as, by definition, the
senses are orientated towards the physical rather
There are various ways to trigger the initial life- than the transcendental. Druid Nature mysticism
changing mystical experience, although it is also requires the senses but without the discerning,
possible for it to happen spontaneously. Rituals logical mind that differentiates and separates. It is
incorporating drumming, dancing and chanting, through the sensations of the physical alone that
for example, are the druidic tools to incite an alter- such a connection between spirits, the spirit of the
ing of consciousness.(8) The rhythmic nature of self and the other, is possible. This is evident in the
these practices, together with an attitude of wake- following mergence with a hazel tree described by
fulness, allows the percipient to shift from a con- Restall Orr:
sciousness directed towards the self in isolation,
towards the other as an extension of the self. This
“The currents of energy are steady and I
is what the Druid experiences when shapeshifting
rise up through the trunk. Finding myself
and is a prominent theme in the ‘Tale of Taliesin’,
in twigs, in the wrinkles of bark, out into
for example. In this tale Gwion shapeshifts into
the sunlit leaves, flushed with deep green
hare, salmon, wren and grain of corn. All this
and gold, yet at the same time I am fully
would not be possible without Awen, the dynamic
aware of the cool darkness of mud all
wisdom Gwion gained accidentally from Ceridaround me, damp and holding. For an inwen’s cauldron. Awen is the salvational gnosis of
stant the sense of being conscious of so
the druidic mystical experience. It is a life-changmany different impressions at the same
ing event leading to a permanent holistic perceptime cuts a pain of tension clean through
tion of reality where the mundane and the
me; I let go of any need to understand, and
supramundane are one and the same. It is precisedrift again into feeling…”.(10)
ly this that is captured in Amergin’s Song:
6. David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous (New York: Vintage Books, 1996), p. 69.
7. Emma Restall Orr, The Wakeful World: Animism, Mind and elf in Nature (Alresford, Moon Books, 2012), p. 269.
8. Emma Restall Orr, Living Druidry: Magical Spirituality for the Wild Soul (London: Piatkus, 2004, repr. 2012), p. 154.
9. Brendan Cathbad Myers, The Mysteries of Druidry (Franklin Lakes: Career Press, 2006), pp. 88-89, quoted from Lady Gregory,
Gods and Men Fighting, p. 74.
10. Emma Restall Orr, Living Druidry: Magical Spirituality for the Wild Soul (London: Piatkus, 2004, repr. 2012), p. 181.
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Tir Na n-Og
Bibliography
The Otherworld, referred to as Tir Na n-Og by
some, is this world seen from an altered state of
consciousness. It is where faery folk and other
mythical creatures reside. It is the world of imagination accessed by bards, the world of archetypes,
personified forces and of impermanence. This
world of spirit inspires the bard and enlightens the
Druid mystic. It is where William R. Mistele encounters undines, “masters of the magic of water
and magnetism”, who “embody and guard treasures of empathy, sensuality, and love that the
human race has yet to discover”.(11)
David Abram, The Spell of the Sensuous (New
York: Vintage Books, 1996)
The ‘Mist of Manannan’, described in Irish literature of the cycle of the Invasion Races, is a representation of the barrier between the world of
everyday reality and Tir Na n-Og. The mystical
experience provides a glimpse of what lies beyond
the mist. Once this mist clears, the Otherworld is
revealed, the animistic world of participation, of
the hidden order that sustains the world and the
perceiver’s place in that world.
F.C. Happold, Mysticism: A Study and an Anthology (London: Penguin Books, 1963; repr. 1990)
William James, Varieties of Religious Experience
(New York: Signet Classic, 2003)
Brendan Cathbad Myers, The Mysteries of Druidry
(Franklin Lakes: Career Press, 2006)
William R. Mistele, Undines: Lessons from the
Realm of the Water Spirits (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2010)
Rudolf Otto, The Idea of the Holy (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1923, repr. 1973)
Stephen Prickett, ‘Romantic Literature, in The Romantics ed. by Stephen Prickett (London: Methuen & Co Ltd, 1981)
Concluding Remarks
Emma Restall Orr, Living Druidry: Magical Spirituality for the Wild Soul (London: Piatkus, 2004, repr.
Modern Druid Nature mysticism interprets the 2012
mystical experience geocentrically, positing the
philosophical position that what is experienced Emma Restall Orr, The Wakeful World: Animism,
and connected to is the spirit that animates all of Mind and elf in Nature (Alresford, Moon Books,
Nature. Ritual is considered a useful means of 2012)
shfting the mist that creates a barrier between the
world of everyday existence and that of the Otherworld. The senses play an important role in lifting
this mist, symbolic of the obstructions of the rational mind, and facilitating the union between all
that is. The senses alone project the percipient into
Tir Na n-Og where the mystic’s spirit coalesces
with the spirit of the other.
11. William R. Mistele, Undines: Lessons from the Realm of the Water Spirits (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 2010), p. xiii.
Aontacht
•
14
Volume 6, Issue 4
The Wild Earth
Stories of our World
If You Want To See Visions
Alison Leigh Lilly
It’s Sunday evening, almost eleven o’clock, twelve
years ago. I'm sitting cross-legged on my bed in
my college dorm room, feeling cynical, counting
down: twenty… go deeper, deeper… nineteen…
this is stupid, why am I doing this… eighteen… a
double sensation, rising, falling… seventeen…
there are bats outside, squeaking like rusty hinges… sixteen… try to concentrate, dope… fifteen…
remember the creek in the park… fourteen…
breathe in… thirteen… it felt like you were losing
your body… twelve… breathe out… eleven… sink
darker, darker… ten… how could I be at ten already… nine… a pained contraction in my forehead… eight… the park, the park, all the green
light… seven… and the water, the trees reaching
upwards… six… upwards... five… will I end up in
the park again… four… and who will be there…
three… deeper, darker… two… upwards, upwards… one… one… one…
instead of seeking a way out of my tired brain,
seeking a kind of god I could touch... So I got stuck
in that brain of mine. Which is actually the opposite of stress-reducing, if you’re me and happen to
have my spastic brain. The sensation grew harder
and harder to find; the alpha waves didn’t come so
easily; soon it was difficult to stay awake, to wake
up. So I stopped.
I’m starting up again, though. The other day I'd
read an article about finding your Inner Guide, a
companion to invite you into the deeper, inner
reaches of your creative potential. Sure, I thought,
why not.
I’m supposed to be in a comfortable, natural
woods or someplace — but at first, there is only
darkness. As if I haven’t sunk deep enough into
my mind. I give up the last impulse to quit because
this whole meditation shit is dorky and if anyone
It’s the first time I’ve meditated in months. At first, knew I was doing it they’d — ...I give it all up. The
I exercised daily, once in the morning and once critical voice in my head falls silent.
before bed. Because it felt wonderful — like being
torn marvelously in two and then sewn back up I’m in a woods. I try to make it familiar — to make
again, in and out loops the soul-thread through the it into any number of parks I’ve been in. I fail. It’s
fleshy fabric of my body. Then, I began craving a new place, a strange place. I wait for my "spirit
that up-and-out-the-back-of-your-head feeling animal" — I cringe at the superstition, the sentithat accompanies relaxed alpha brain waves (yes, mental new-age silliness. What am I, a witch? I
I know about the alpha waves, this isn’t a spiritual cringe again — I know some witches, Wiccans,
thing, not really). I began seeking that sensation and they wouldn’t like my disdain. I’m still a
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Christian, though, and Christians don’t meditate,
they pray. They don’t look for archetypal Guides
to appear to them while in altered states of consciousness — they sit quietly, humbly, and wait
for God to give them instructions.
Sounded like excellent advice when I first read it.
Not so sure, now. I’ve been trying to cultivate my
writing, not just make it good but have it mean
something, to have it give something away to the
reader. Most of it turns out mindlessly saturated
with wrinkled splotches of watercolor, overBut that hasn’t been working for me. I wait for whelmed pages with too many subjects — or
God, and I get silence — or I get my own tongue showing a bit of leg, on rare occasions, like a desand lips in restless, perpetual babbling. That’s perate hitchhiker hoping for a lift to the nearest
much worse than silence.
Someone Who Gives a Fuck. No luck.
Underbrush on the side of the path shifts, and
suddenly a creature is there in front of me on the
path. It’s a rabbit. I can’t believe it’s a rabbit. I
cannot believe that my spirit animal is a small,
fuzzy, nose-twitching, dumb rabbit. This is stupid.
I should stop. My creative potential is fine. I don't
need this crazy nonsense.
My annoyance is too loud — the rabbit runs away.
Shit. I needed that dumb thing. I can’t follow it to
my Guide if it's sprinting off as fast as its little
bunny legs will carry it. I sit down cross-legged in
the middle of the dirt path and wait. Finally, the
rabbit creeps back out. I promise it silently that I
won’t yell at it. I invite it into my lap. I tell it that it
is a good rabbit, a very pretty rabbit. I stroke it
between its long, flattened ears. Its nose twitches
fervently, as if its miniature heartbeat depends on
it.
I stand up slowly, setting the creature down on the
path. It hops a step or two forward. This is when
I’m supposed to follow, right? I guess it knows its
job.
More than I can say. I’ve been trying for the past
six months to figure out what I’m supposed to be
doing here at school. I think I want to write — but
what does that entail? (Besides the obvious, I
mean.) My dad emailed me a quote, now its on my
computer desktop:
The rabbit is a patient leader, but I make an impatient follower. There’s the cave up ahead. The
rabbit stretches out in a patch of sunlight just
outside its dark mouth. I’m supposed to go in.
Who will be there? I’ve had dreams, you could call
them visions if you wanted to be dramatic about it.
A girl named Raven who snuck around the outskirts of a forest village like the secret mage in a
smutty fantasy-romance novel. A child who rolled
in the dirt and came up dripping with river-tumbled droplets of turquoise with black veins. A
young man who glowed even at night and kissed
me frequently on the forehead, a way of saying,
The bombs will stop soon, the fires will go out, and the
angry people will leave. I love you. Spirit loves you. It
will be ok. Was that Jesus? Makes me feel comfortably Christian to think it was. At the same time, it
suggests I may be just slightly insane, spending
too much time cooped up with my books by saints
and martyrs. So maybe it wasn’t. I don’t know. I
wonder if he will be there, in the cave. In the tomb
with the stone rolled away, like in all the hotelroom storybooks. Except he wasn’t there, that was
the point — an empty tomb, don’t look for the
Living among the dead, that sort of thing. Still. If
he were there, just this once. That would be wonderful. Then I could ask him. Then he could continue to love me.
"A Catholic poet should be an apostle by being
first of all a poet, not try to be a poet by being first
of all an apostle."
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Volume 6, Issue 4
I’m nervous, though, so I pick up the rabbit from
its sunning and carry it in with me, resting it safely
in the crook of my elbow, its warm little body
breathing in and out against my ribs. I step past
the line of sunlight into the cavern, and the bunny
begins to squirm. It wriggles away from me and is
gone.
Shit. I was beginning to like that stupid animal.
I wouldn’t be here if I weren’t so desperate. I
doubt this will even work. No one will be here. I
can barely keep myself meditating. (Someone next
door turns a television up, laughs.) The cave in my
brain is quiet and dark, though. The walls are
moist, cool. Some kids have been here, spraypainting the walls with the names and dates of the
times and people they’ve screwed happily, lustfully. Even in my mind, I can’t seem to get away from
lewdness.
Farther back in the cave everything is dark. The
graffiti fades away. The sound of bats, like rusty
hinges (outside my window, or) in the back of the
cave (I can’t tell). Weird. A ragged curtain, faded
red, almost pink, but dirty. I’m afraid to go forward, but so what? I feel like Toto pulling back the
curtain, revealing something entirely unmagical,
almost embarrassingly expected. That’s exactly
how I feel, like a little black dog.
Don’t be disrespectful, dope. She’s elderly, be
kind. Ask her if there’s anything you can do to help.
She leans forward, claws for a worn, wooden staff
(Can this be any more stereotypical? No wonder I
can’t write.) — she swings it around to brace herself, prop herself up from her rock. Doing so, she
almost smashes the staff into my cheekbone. I
flinch. (And feel the mattress of my bed creaks
slightly. Wow, ok. That was a bit too real.)
"Who are you?" I ask. She doesn’t answer. "Is there
anything I can do for you?" I can’t look at her. She
motions with her staff at the greasy, iron cauldron
(o god, is she a witch?) over the fire. Wash her feet.
My stomach turns. All right, all right, just do it.
I hoist the cauldron from the fire and dip my bare
hands into the boiling water. She sits on a rock,
and I cup the burning liquid and trickle it over
her feet. The water runs in rivulets over her wrinkled, disgusting skin. I hate her toenails, yellowish and jagged with bits of dead grass pinned
between them. But I can’t look at her face. So I
stare down, watching the water steam away from
my palms. She lowers her feet into the half-full
cauldron. Submerged in water, they are the feet
of a young woman. I can smooth them like soft
clay, mold them into beautiful, clean feet.
"Who are you?" I ask again. "Why are you here?"
Instead of my God. Instead of Jesus, or even Mary
or Joseph or Magdalene or Peter or any of them…
For Christ’s sake, I’m Catholic, give me the whole
goddamn communion of stupid saints!
I slide back the curtain, the scrape of rusty metal
rings like the sound of bats hunting. In front of a
low fire — hunched, bundled, almost all chin and
craggy nose, the visual parallel to a death stench
— an old woman sits. I am unreasonably, wildly
afraid of her.
"You followed the Fear Caller, didn’t you?" she
says as if gasping, clearing her throat. What, the
This is all wrong. Who is she? Where’s my beauti- rabbit? I don’t understand — that dumb thing? Let
ful, glowing man? Where is my Answer Guy here me guess: symbol of fertility, of prolificacy. How
to tell me the bombs will stop? I swallow the appropriate. "You’re old," she says. I feel small and
questions so that, like the rabbit, I won’t frighten very young. I want to object. She looks down at me
her away. Don’t judge — I decided when I started where I sit on the cold stone floor of the cave. Her
that whoever was here would be wise and willing face is an old woman with a large chin and wrinto help, would be my Guide to deeper places. But kled, squinting eyes — then, she is a young womgod is she old! And ugly.
an wearing a feather hat, staring off into the
distance. I recognize the detachment. I want her
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Volume 6, Issue 4
looking back at me. "You are old and tired. You are with its beak. A flame grows from the center of the water
to consume the soul. When the soul is gone, the blackgoing to die soon. You need to be ready for it."
bird takes flight — but its feathers crumble away like
I look at my hands — old-soul hands, I always ash, the wind dissipates its body. The ocean dragon
used to say. I’ve been reincarnated many times, I disappears entirely. I watch from the outside — I watch
used to say. Now in the boiling water they are soft her face shine with perspiration from the fever that
clay, but instead of being smooth, their creases are consumes her. Then I watch as it’s extinguished, and
the garden is empty, peaceful, and she has no self left.
deeper, broader.
She is joyful when she dies.
"When?" I ask. "How soon? Will I have time to —"
She yanks her feet out of the cauldron, splashing
me with boiling water so that I pull back with a
cry. She shivers despite the heat and wraps her
shawl more closely around her shoulders, tucks in
her chin.
She snores, dropping out of dreaming and into the
lightness of empty sleep. I shiver in the damp cave
air. Was that for me? Was that my death? It makes
a strange kind of sense, I suppose. The death of the
ego, the reinvention of the self into something
ephemeral, non-tangible — the total self-giving
that I am seeking with my work, the kind of happy
"Will it hurt?" I press. "Will I be ok?"
annihilation that catches, that spreads, like the
The old woman has fallen asleep. She snores quiet- beautiful colors of a sunset creeping across the
undersides of the necessary clouds. Is this a sign of
ly, almost infantile and endearing.
hope, then? An attempt at comfort?
"No — will everything be ok?" I ask, touching her
shoulder, pushing her awake. She smiles, looks at I’ll come back. I’ll come back when the sun is
shining. I’ll ask her more questions and, once she
me. She almost speaks, but falls asleep again.
is rested, maybe she will be able to answer them.
Some wise woman I have here. Wonderful. Only I She will teach me to pick blueberries from the
would have a senile Guide. For Christ’s sake! She bushes in the forest past the cave. The old woman
will tell me wise stories in the sunlight. It will be
is dreaming.
ok. I’ll come back in the morning.
A skinless ocean dragon crawls out of the cauldron
waves and onto a dark shore of stones. She is a young
girl who is sleeping, face turned away. With a single,
thin talon it unzips the flesh of her chest and enters her.
Inside the girl is a garden where her soul lies hidden.
There are three oak trees, and bushes all budding and
blooming. There’s a white marble fountain that’s always filled with the freshest rainwater, but there are no
birds and no rain. Only quiet breezes like meditative
breathing. The ocean dragon dwells in the garden in the
body of the girl for several days, prowling back and
forth, searching to extinguish her soul. I watch from the
outside — I watch her body twitch and move hurtfully
from one place to another, I watch knowing something
is wrong. In the garden, her soul is a pale yellow butterfly no bigger than a child's palm. It alights on the edge
of the white marble fountain and sips. The ocean dragon
turns at the sound of thirst. It transforms itself into a
blackbird. It dives, and tears the butterfly's wings apart
Aontacht
I kiss her old, bundled head. She sleeps. I count
up… one… two… three… until twenty.
I open my eyes. I have nothing to write. I am still
afraid. But I sit down at the computer anyway. It’s
Sunday evening, just past eleven o’clock…
Alison Leigh Lilly
•
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Community Shopping
Assisting community members in their respective business,
craft, and hobbies through this communities outlet.
CD’s Music and the Spoken Word
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cedar wood flute, ocean harp, as well as fiddle and guitar.
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Aontacht
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Druid Teddy Bear
The Druid Teddy Bear complete with an oak staff continues the journey of a Druid. Complete with its own scroll of authenticity and
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A travelling Druid Bear moves about the ritual landscape
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Aontacht
•
20
Volume 6, Issue 4
Bardic Whispers
Expressions from the Soul
TravelDREAM
by Lisa Du Fresne
only the outline
of her petite body
and fine boned cat face
remains.
(Isabelle LaChatte / Tele-cat-nesis)
Did I see this?
What?
As I look at the screen
on the old TV
that is, when TV viewing was
possible without the cable boxes,
I see my Mother's cat, Isabelle,
looking at me.
I do not look away.
I do not blink.
I do not breathe.
Eyes frozen, I stare.
Her blue-grey fur of long soft hair
forms a shape I know well,
now posing squarely
between the TV and me.
Could this be?
I smile at her, indulgently.
A beat. Then an other.
Then, yes, a breath.
Shallow intake.
Then, in a silent poof
she altogether disappears.
Anytime now, she will move along
and let me view the continuation
of this favorite re-run.
I forget to exhale.
But, whoa!
She doesn't walk or jump or fly away.
She very deliberately fades away.
Glued to the couch, I scan around
in an arc, a rainbow of nothing.
Nada.
Little by little
taking her time
she fades to translucency
then transparency
and lo, minutes later,
I run upstairs to my sunny bedroom
and there she is,
on my blue bed spread,
lounging, most calm.
Aontacht
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Volume 6, Issue 4
She looks at me.
For what, I distress?
I touch her with both hands
to see if she is real.
For later, ma chère.
And with this she closes her eyes
and smiles.
I ask her:
How?
I ask her:
Why?
What was this? Out of body?
A few months later
she dies softly in my arms.
She answers:
Yet moments before, she purred:
Remember, I can travel...
I am practicing...
(I wait.)
Traveling.
Aontacht
•
22
Volume 6, Issue 4
Chance, Magick and
the Will of Eris
Renard
Let us reflect a moment upon ERIS, the Greek embrace the flame... and it too has a terrible degoddess of chaos and chance. Few know much structive side... but is also wonderful... and
about her... but this goddess rocks...
warm... and exhilarating... without being overly
fearful. MANY forces of nature - even something
elemental
as
electricity
.
has
a
Many are turned away from this goddess by their as
fear of chaos... and its seeming destructiveness destructive/positive dichotomy . WE get to
and DIS-order. This coming from people with so choose BY OUR ACTIONS how electricity... or our
poi and staff fire... or Eris presents itself in our
many DIS-eases. ..:>)
cubby of reality... By our actions it can be a safe
Who then is this goddess ERIS revealed? What and positive experience.. or we can choose to rile
archetype of the universe does she presents as... up its destructive side...or be careless and let them
lose by accident..
and represent?
When she was not invited to a party of the Greek But ERIS is also the gentler caring goddess of
pantheon... she showed up anyway... rolling out CHANCE for those who EMBRACE her and welthe golden apple with the engraving "For the Fair- come her into their lives.
est". The resulting bickering amidst the other goddesses results in the Trojan War. Go figure.
You can try to avoid and ban chaos in YOUR life
too... but she WILL come to the party.
Better to invite her and embrace her than to find
her present anyway... and offended.
Much better.
She is a goddess that still directly impacts every
human all the time in the material world.
She does have a dark side... that of CHAOS in the She is how synocracy manifests in reality. She
form of destruction and explosion. But that too is manifests karma through "chance" encounters...
a needed part of evolution. It is the volcanoes that unusual activities...
form the land which all else is built on. Many of us
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Her touch is always gently upon us... and as we
question reality and look at the mechanisms of the
universe... as we stare off in contemplation... you
may well come to realize you are staring into the
eyes of this goddess.
SHE doesn't have a lot of minions and followers.
The path to finding her is steep but short... because
she lives in the shadows at about 90 degrees from
the reality we normally perceive.... and many people fear those shadows and that short journey.
The track of EVERY life is greatly and dispropor- Where order is TOO tight and rigid... she provides
tionally impacted by the sudden unexpected cha- chaos and disruption. Where there is TOO MUCH
otic events of our lives...
chaos... she uses "chance" to add elements of order.
It is similarly deeply influenced and shaped by an
incredible array of chance encounters and chance
sequence of events.
Eris lies hidden in the shadow... a goddess possessing an internal yin/yang... capable of great
acts of light or acts of chaos and disruption.
Indeed this
Hail Eris... Goddess of Chaos and Chance. Daughter of Darkness and Light...
From the Mechanisms of the Universe.
Renard the Druid
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important platform for wide ranging discussions and articles that are important to us all.
Aontacht is published on the Solstices and Equinoxes and features an in-depth interview every
issue with some of the most creative and powerful metaphysicians in the world.
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•
24
Volume 6, Issue 4
The Longing Look: Buddhism and Celtic spirituality.
Seated at a heavy wooden table in front of the old
presbytery window, I look out and away from the
village and onto green fields and stately mature
oak trees. This village in Gelderland lies in an area
particularly associated with oak trees. It is a good
setting in which to put pen to paper and try to
formulate a question on the place of meditation in
modern druidry.
There are many wonderful and positive aspects of
druidry as celebrated today, but I can't help wondering if anybody these days really knows what is
meant by 'knowledge of the oak'? In Celtic times,
druids were called 'knowers of the oak'
(‘druid' has been translated ‘knower of the oak’).
But what did this really mean then, and what does
it mean now? Druidic wisdom was central to Celtic life, so this must surely be an all-important
question to answer. It is said that apprenticeship to
a druid could take as long as 20 years. So the
question that surfaces in my mind on this sunny
autumn morning, as I look out at these impressive
oaks, is: what exactly took so long?
But perhaps I am only positing this question in the
first place, and venturing to write about it, because
I feel I have already found an answer. In the course
of conversations with two or three druids on this
subject, beyond all talk of rituals and herbs, healing and other powers, even shamanistic talents,
Aontacht
each spoke in their own way of what they perceived as a lack of spiritual depth in modern druidism. Tending towards either a poetic or
literary/intellectual understanding, or focusing on
very broad symbolic ritual, often with a prolific
use of words, or concentrating on healing powers
and journeying, modern druidry was experienced
by them as rather lacking in spiritual content. Druidism has even been stereotyped and pigeonholed by some, dismissed as the hobby-like fantasy of eccentrics. But is this spiritual lineage with
our cultural ancestors really forever out of reach,
or have we just strayed a little from the core of the
matter, distracted by secondary factors, fearful of
silence? The real living connection to the wisdom
of the ancestors has been broken, or so it seems.
I would like to contend that what was passed on
orally from teacher to student at the time of the
druids, the essential core knowledge of it, is a still
living spiritual reality. The druids were guardians
of an 'open secret' accessible today, but which
always requires, just as it did then, a certain intimacy between teacher and student to find it. Kensho (the Japanese word for sudden insight into
non-duality) may come quickly but its integration
is the fruit of a long journey - hence the 20 year
apprenticeship. It is to be described or grasped
with words: hence the oral tradition. What is transmitted, is something which the student must come
to discover in him or herself. The teacher actually
passes nothing on, and can only facilitate or guide
the process. A worthy guide is able to share his or
•
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Volume 6, Issue 4
folk who simply wish to remain true to the longing
look of their heart, and what this has to tell them.
The Longing Look seeks to bring together those
aware of this deep longing within, a longing that
transcends religious differences and seeks to find
that which unites us, not separates. The Longing
Look is about the rediscovery of the innate richness in each person, irrespective of whether one is
officially ‘religious’ or materially well-off. Like the
homing instinct of the salmon, it can bring us
home, no matter what we may have done in life,
and how far we may seem to be lost.
mobile times, in which the descendants of the
Celts have spread far and wide across the globe,
the root of the oak tree remains firm and unchanging, reaching down into the soft fertile soil of our
memory, our collective non-dualistic mind. The
‘knowledge of the oak’ doesn't just belong to the
past. It also has an important role to play in the
future.
*Celtic Buddhism is the name chosen for a growing movement born out of the longing of the late
ChogyamTrungpa, a Tibetan Buddhist teacher of
meditation. He was deeply saddened by the selfalienation he perceived in western society, and
wished to bring the hunger and questioning of
modern Europeans into conversation with their
own root culture again. Celtic Buddhism applies
basic Buddhism to Celtic spirituality, both Christian and pre-Christian. This could be described as
a new way of looking at the world and relating to
it, something that the Order of the Longing Look,
a branch of Celtic Buddhism, particularly seeks to
focus on.
To look in a new way is also to think about the
world in a new way, and about the human being's
place in it. But this new way of seeing, I would
argue, is in fact an old forgotten way of seeing that
was core to the spirituality of Celtic peoples, and
to the wisdom held by the druids. Whilst they
sought to share this with all, to know it for yourself
requires the discipline of practice, which in my
experience, does indeed take a long time. But each
small step in the right direction is good. Our innate
longing has the capacity to orientate and direct our
life, and give it content, even if this cannot be Andrew "Bish" Peers
precisely formulated in words or concrete goals. Celtic Buddhist priest
By patiently learning silence and looking deeply at
what is really going on, the 'Great Matter' need not peers.esq@gmail.com www.longinglook.org
hold us any longer in its grip. In these modern
Is an open resource which offers various supplementary courses which are related to contemporary Druidic practices and studies
online. The various authors of the courses
presented here are all Celtic and Druid related
teachers working in their respective fields.
Do you have a course, would you like to
contribute and share it with Open Druidic
Community Learning (ODCL), for the benefit of Druidry?
For courses presently available,
and further details: http://www.druidicdawn.org/odcl
Aontacht
•
26
Volume 6, Issue 4
The
Formulary
Recipes from the Community
Faye Boyd
d. eczema
Fàilte (Welcome)!
e. skin diseases
Pine essential oil is the oil obtained from the tree
commonly known as pine which is believed to
f. fleas
have originated from Austria and Russia and then
2. It is also used in removing lice from hair. Pine
spread in different parts of the world. If you are
essential oil is widely used as massage oil
yet to know which tree we are talking about, you
Hence it is used in soap making.
must have seen it being used as Christmas tree.
Normally pine essential oil is obtained using
steam distillation. Fresh twigs and needles are 3. Pine essential oil also increases metabolism
used for extracting the oil. Cones of pine tree are
and thus boosts your activity levels.
also used by many manufacturers for obtaining
a. it is also helpful in purifying the
the oil. Since pine is abundant in nature, the oil is
body due to its ability to treat invery cheap and easily available.
testinal problems
The health benefits of pine essential oil are attribb. it is diuretic and helps in removuted to its antibacterial, analgesic, diuretic, enering water from your body
gizing, antiseptic, and aromatic properties.
c. it is also used in case of food poiHealth benefits of pine essential oil:
soning.
1. The most important health benefit of pine
essential oil is in treating various skin problems. Dermatologists often prescribe the oil in
treating:
a. psoriasis
b. itching
4. Pine essential oil is analgesic and hence it is
a good remedy for people suffering from
joint pain, arthritis, and rheumatism. It is
frequently used in wellness centres that have
a sauna.
c. pimples
Aontacht
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Volume 6, Issue 4
5. The health benefits of pine oil also include
some emotional benefits.
a. it gives an energizing feeling and
hence it is effective in removing
mental stress
b. it is also used as a medicine for
removing adrenal fatigue and refreshes your spirits as it is an excellent mood elevator
c. regular massage with pine essential oil gives you mental clarity
d. it removes anxiety and nervous
tension, and is useful for people
suffering from loss of concentration and loss of memory.
6. Pine oil is a natural remedy for numerous
infections due to its antibacterial properties.
Aontacht
7. Pine oil is very helpful in curing respiratory
problems, it is regularly used in making
cough and cold preparations. Again great for
use in saunas.
8. Pine oil is also added in many household
products due to its aroma. These include
room sprays, volatile liquids and room
fresheners.
Internal consumption of pine essential oil can be
dangerous as there is a possibility of kidney damage. Further, pine essential oil can cause irritations
on highly sensitive skin. Hence it must be used in
diluted form.
Slán go fóill (goodbye for now),
Faye
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Taliesin's Grave,
the Black Road and Gwion's Hill.
my eye. For as long as I had known about the
Grave, I had known about the name of the
farm beside it, Pen-y-Sarn-Ddu, which is Welsh
The Dovey estuary is one of the most beautiful
places I know, with its long shores, wetlands and for ‘End-of-the-Black-Road’, and refers to the
woods. The hills and mountains surrounding the track that runs past Taliesin's Grave and ends
river estuary contain many paths and tracks that close to the farm. That day I decided to walk
along the old Black Road up the Clettwr Valley
connect the passes, hill tops and small river valleys, making it a walker’s dream. One of the river toward Moel-y-Llyn mountain. As I traced the
valleys overlooking the Dovey is the Clettwr Val- course of the road on the map, I saw that it ran in
ley that runs inland towards the Nanty-Moch pla- almost a straight line past other cairns. Being one
teau. Situated in the valley mouth, with the most who’s always on the look out for an old straight
track I followed the line through the pass of
spectacular views of the Dovey estuary, is Bedd
Moel-y-Llyn, the lowest point between the CletTaliesin, or 'Taliesin’s Grave'. There’s no way of
twr and Einion valleys.
knowing if the actual 6th century chief bard is
buried here in this most inspiring of landscapes,
To my surprise, the line I had drawn from Taliesbut his legendary figure is certainly associated
with the place. His medieval hanes also links him in’s Grave along the remnants of the Black Road
with the nearby Borth and Ynyslas beaches where and through the Moel-y-Llyn pass ended in a
place called Bronwion, which in Welsh literally
as an infant he was symbolically born from the
sea on the 1st of May, caught in Gwyddno Gara- mean’s ‘Gwion’s Brest’, as in the breast of a
hill. Being a long-time student of medieval Welsh
nhir’s fish weir. It is surely no accident that the
shoreline of his 'birth' can be seen from the site of literature and bardic culture, I immediately felt
that I had stumbled across something. A Black
his final resting place in the Clettwr valley. This
chimes with one of the core themes the legendary Road running in a straight line from Gwion’s Hill
Taliesin embodies, that being the cyclic nature of and ending at Taliesin’s Grave? This I must see.
life and death. But these are not the only places
around the Dovey that can be associated with the As I arrived at Taliesin’s Grave I could see the
Black Road disappearing up the Clettwr Valley,
Tale of Taliesin. Clues in the landscape have led
overlooked from the north by Garn Wen ('White' or
me to think that the Clettwr Valley contains far
'Blessed Cairn'), situated on a spur of Foel Goch
more than a legendary place name.
mountain. As I followed the Black Road higher
into the valley I saw on either side many piles of
As a keen walker I’m always looking at maps.
Last autumn, while planning a walk to Taliesin’s stones littering nearby fields. Taking a closer look
I could see many of these stone piles contained
Grave, I saw something on the map that caught
Bardic discoveries in the Clettwr Valley.
Aontacht
•
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Volume 6, Issue 4
quartz stones, just like the quartz capped cairn on marked on the map between the Clettwr River and
top of Moel-y-Llyn mountain that overlooks the the Black Road, but there are at least similar stone
valley from the east. Were these piles the remnants piles within a few hundred yards of each other.
of bronze age burial mounds? Only two cairns are
A little further along the track I came across many
fallen standing stones which at one time would
have marked the course of the Black Road. Was
this the site of an old bronze age burial site, with a
processional Black Road running through it? The
farm and lands here are known as Cae’r Arglwyddes, ‘Lady’s Field’. There is no church here so it
couldn’t be a reference to St Mary. It may have
been named after a local noble woman, but such
places usually have a personal name attached. All
this got me thinking.
In the tale, Gwion is transformed into Taliesin by
Ceridwen – she stands between them as the gatekeeper of death and re-birth. Was this Lady’s
Field, situated between Gwion's Hill and Taliesin's Grave, where Ceridwen chased the magically
endowed Gwion Bach, where she caught him and
consumed him? Whoever the lady in Lady’s Field
is, she would have had a clear association with
death, what with a large group of burial mounds
and a 'way of the dead' running through her
lands.
What I had found was an old processional way
called the Black Road that ran in a straight line
from Gwion’s Hill, through a bronze age burial
site called Lady’s Field and ended at Taliesin’s
Grave. Two of these names have clear links to the
Tale of Taliesin. Were the other two names also
linked? Did the Black Road in some way correspond to the mythical bard’s life-journey, beginning with Gwion and ending with Taliesin? So
what of this Lady?
Such surviving fragments of lore often leave more
questions than answers, but in this case I believe
they also suggest some intriguing possibilities.
The cairns of Lady’s Field and Taliesin’s Grave
are from the bronze age, yet they have associations with a Welsh bardic culture that blossomed
several thousand years later. Were these sights
re-used as burial places at some point during the
early medieval period?
Aontacht
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Or did the early bardic schools use the ancient and the sea? What is clear is that folk memory
monuments as places to carry out initiation and has preserved not only the association of the
rights of passage for apprentice bards?
place with Taliesin, but with his past-life counterpart, Gwion, and a processional way of the dead
As the Clettwr River flows down the valley, only (and living?) connecting the two. This confirms
a few hundred yards from Cae'r Arglwyddes at much of what we can already glean from the meGwar-y-cwm it cascades down many small gullies dieval Welsh Bardic Tradition, particularly from
and ravines, many of which are vulva-like clefts poems such as Angar Kufyndawt, that is that myleading up into the 'womb' of the valley. These thologised and symbolic concepts of living, dying
falls probably pre-date the bronze age cairns, and and rebirth were at one time important elements
it would be easy to imagine how the place could in the medieval bardic culture of Wales.
have become associated with a mother goddess.
Were these falls one of the stages in Gwion's re- More information on this discovery is available
from Gwilym's blog, including other interesting bits
birth as Taliesin?
and bobs from his courses: welshmythology.com
After Gwion's death in the Lady's Field, was he
then re-born from the womb of the valley at
Gwar-y-cwm falls, to be carried out to the Dovey
Dr Gwilym Morus
Gwar y Cwn Falls, Clettwr Valley Photo Druidic Dawn 2014
Aontacht
•
31
Volume 6, Issue 4
Since this edition of Aontacht involves Dreams as
well as Secret Memories and Lives, then in order
to get to having one's Dreams, one needs to be able
to go to a Nice Peaceful Sleep and that is difficult
if one has Insomnia. So I have submitted Three
Herbs that are known for helping to Cure Insomnia. The first one is Lavender, then Lemon Balm,
and finally Hops.
The Lavender (Lavandula Vera):
der is often combined in Light Potpourris for
keeping a Home in Balance.
Lavender is believed to be of benefit for a multitude of Problems, including Stress, Anxiety, Exhaustion, Irritability, Headaches, Migraines,
Insomnia, Nervousness, Depression, Colds, Liver
and Gallbladder Problems. Application of Lavender Water to the Temples also helps with Relieve
Headaches that are caused by Fatigue and Exhaustion. A Distilled Water made from Lavender has
been used as a Gargle and for Hoarseness and Loss
of Voice.
Inhaling Lavender Essential Oil in some cases has
been reported to work as well as Narcotics for
Inducing Relaxation and Sleep. Lavender Essential
Oil makes a good Restorative and Tonic against
Faintness, Palpitations of a Nervous Sort, Weak
Giddiness, Spasms and Colic. A few drops of Lavender Essential Oil in a Hot Footbath has a marked
Influence in Relieving Fatigue. Outwardly applied, it relieves Toothache, Sprains, and Rheumatism.
Lavender is a Shrubby Plant indigenous to the
Mountainous Regions of the Countries Bordering
the Western Half of the Mediterranean, and Cultivated Extensively for its Aromatic Flowers in various parts of France, in Italy and in England and
even as far north as Norway. It is also now being
grown as a Perfume Plant in Australia. The Fragrant Oil to which the Odour of Lavender Flowers
is due is a valuable article of commerce, much
used in Perfumery, and to a lesser extent in Medicine. Lavender is best known for its Properties of
Contentment, Balance, Love and Good Health.
Use it when any of these aspects is required. Because of the Amazing Scent to the Flowers, LavenAontacht
Lavender is good for the Digestive System as it is
good for maintaining Digestion, Flatulence, Upset
Stomach, a Good Loss of Appetite. Lavender also
makes a Good Breath Freshener and Mouthwash.
Of Lavender, Nicholas Culpeper wrote:
"Lavender is of a special good use for all the griefs and
pains of the head and brain that proceed of a cold cause,
as the apoplexy, falling-sickness, the dropsy, or sluggish
malady, cramps, convulsions, palsies, and often faintings. It strengthens the stomach, and frees the liver and
spleen from obstructions, provokes women's courses,
and expels the dead child and after-birth. The flowers of
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Volume 6, Issue 4
Lavender steeped in wine, helps them to make water
that are stopped, or are troubled with the wind or cholic,
if the place be bathed therewith. A decoction made with
the flowers of Lavender, Hore-hound, Fennel and Asparagus root, and a little Cinnamon, is very profitably
used to help the falling-sickness, and the giddiness or
turning of the brain: to gargle the mouth with the
decoction thereof is good against the tooth-ache. Two
spoonfuls of the distilled water of the flowers taken,
helps them that have lost their voice, as also the tremblings and passions of the heart, and faintings and
swooning, not only being drank, but applied to the
temples, or nostrils to be smelled unto; but it is not safe
to use it where the body is replete with blood and
humours, because of the hot and subtile spirits wherewith it is possessed. The chymical oil drawn from Lavender, usually called Oil of Spike, is of so fierce and
piercing a quality, that it is cautiously to be used, some
few drops being sufficient, to be given with other things,
either for inward or outward griefs."
Lavender Essential Oil does have a Contraindication as taking Too Large Doses cause a Narcotic
Reaction that can causes Death by Convulsions.
The Lemon Balm (Melissa Officinalis):
Grows up to 2 Feet in Height, sometimes Higher if
not maintained. In the Spring and Summer, Clusters of small, Light Yellow Flowers Grow where
the Leaves Meet the Stem.
A Tincture of Lemon Balm was made by Steeping
it in Wine to lift the Spirits, and Helps Heal
Wounds, and Treat Venomous Insect Bites and
Stings. Today, Lemon Balm is often combined
with other Calming, Soothing Herbs, such as Valerian, Chamomile, and Hops in order for its Calming Sedative Effects to Cure Insomnia and
Anxiety. The Remedies made from the Lemon
Balm are also excellent for the Treatment of Headaches, as well as problems such as Migraine, problems like Vertigo and Buzzing sensations that
occur in the Ears.
The Lemon Balm Remedy can also Relaxes Spasms
that cause Period Pain in the Reproductive System
of Women, these Remedies can also bring relief
from Excessive Irritability and Depression related
to PMS and other conditions. The Remedies made
from the Lemon Balm are also very useful as an
Aid in Regulating Menstrual Periods and have
found Traditional use in Relaxing and Strengthening Women during the process of Childbirth and
in bringing on the Afterbirth.
It has been found that that Topical Ointments
containing Lemon Balm may help Heal Lip Sores
Associated with Herpes Simplex Virus. The Remedies made from the Lemon Balm are also excellent
in Treating Allergies and the Potent Antiviral Action of the Herb makes it Very Excellent for the
Treatment of Cold Sores.
The Lemon balm is a Member of the Mint Family,
is considered a "Calming" Herb. It was used in the
Middle Ages to Reduce Stress and Anxiety, promote Sleep, Improve Appetite, and ease Pain and
Discomfort associated with Digestion. Lemon
balm, although Native to Europe, is Grown all
over the World. It is grown not only in Herb Gardens but also in Crops for Medicine, Cosmetics,
and Furniture Polish Manufacturing. The Plant
Aontacht
The Lemon Balm when taken in the form of a Hot
Infusion can induce sweating in the Body, this
helps in Reducing Fevers and makes it a Very
Good Remedy for many Childhood Infections,
such as Colds and Flu, as well as various Coughs
and Catarrh which tends to Affect Children.
Lemon Balm can calm and soothe problems such
as Nausea, Vomiting, and other conditions like a
Poor Appetite, cases of Colic, as well as Diseases
such as Dysentery, and Colitis as well as all kinds
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Volume 6, Issue 4
such as Dysentery, and Colitis as well as all kinds Poultice to Ulcers, Painful Swellings it is said to
of Digestive Problems due to Stress.
Remedy Painful Tumours. Hops is also used for
Treating Headaches.
Essential oils made from Lemon Balm Leaves contain Plant Chemicals called Terpenes, which play Alcoholic Extracts of Hops in various dosage
at least some role in the Herb's Relaxing and Anti- forms have been used clinically in treating numerviral Effects.
ous forms of Leprosy, Pulmonary Tuberculosis,
and Acute Bacterial Dysentery, with varying deThe Hops (Humulus Lupulus):
grees of success in China. The Treatment of certain
types of Asthmatic Conditions and even Painful
Menstrual Symptoms can be carried out using
Hops as its Anti-Spasmodic action is very effective
in such cases.
Hop’s Strong Bitter Flavour largely accounts for
their ability to Strengthen and Stimulate the Digestion, increasing Gastric and other Secretions. The
Hairs on the Fruits contain Lupulin, a Sedative
and Hypnotic Drug. When given to Nursing
Mothers, Lupulin increases the Flow of Breast
Milk.
The Hop is Native to the British Isles. We find the
Hop first mentioned by Pliny, who speaks of it as
a Garden Plant among the Romans, who ate the
Young Shoots in Spring, in the same way as we do
Asparagus, and as Country People frequently do
in England at the Present Day. Nettles belong.
Hops have a Long and Proven History of Herbal
Use.
Hops have been used mainly for their Soothing,
Sedative, Tonic and Calming Effect on the Body
and the Mind. The Female Flowering Heads are
Harvested in the Autumn and can be used Fresh
or Dried. A Decoction of the Hops Flower is said
to Remedy Swellings and Hardness of the Uterus.
Of Hops, Nicholas Culpeper wrote:
"This, in physical operations, is to open obstructions of
the liver and spleen, to cleanse the blood, to loosen the
belly, to cleanse the reins from gravel, and provoke
urine. The decoction of the tops of Hops, as well of the
tame as the wild, works the same effects. In cleansing
the blood they help to cure the French diseases, and all
manner of scabs, itch, and other breakings-out of the
body; as also all tetters, ringworms, and spreading
sores, the morphew and all discolouring of the skin. The
decoction of the flowers and hops, do help to expel
poison that any one hath drank. Half a dram of the seed
in powder taken in drink, kills worms in the body,
brings down women's courses, and expels urine. A
syrup made of the juice and sugar, cures the yellow
jaundice, eases the head-ache that comes of heat, and
tempers the heat of the liver and stomach, and is profitably given in long and hot agues that rise in choler and
blood. Both the wild and the manured are of one property, and alike effectual in all the aforesaid diseases. By all
these testimonies beer appears to be better than ale."
The Female Fruiting Body is an Anodyne, Antiseptic, and Antispasmodic. Hops is also a Diuretic,
Hypnotic, and a Nervine. Hops are widely used as
a Folk Remedy to Treat a wide range of complaints, including Boils, Bruises, Calculus, Cancer,
Cramps, Coughs, Cystitis, Debility, Delirium, Diarrhea, Dyspepsia, Fever, Hysteria, Inflammation, Hops does have some Contraindications as Skin
Insomnia, Jaundice, Rheumatism, and Parasitic Contact with it as it causes Allergic Dermatitis in
Worms. The Fruit is also Applied Externally as a Sensitive People. Hops Dermatitis which is caused
Aontacht
•
34
Volume 6, Issue 4
by Hop Picking. Although only 1 in 3,000 Farm
Workers is estimated to be Treated, one in 30 are
believed to suffer Dermatitis. Dislodged Hairs
from Hops can Irritate the Eyes. Herbal Blends
containing Hops must not be used if Depression is
a Symptom.
So if these Herbs are taken as an Herbal Tea or
Aromatherapy, they should help you relax help to
bring on a Good Deep Sleep that will allow you to
enjoy your Life's Dreams.
David C. Corrin
aka: TheDruid-3X3
Reviewed by Maya
This was an interesting and delightful book to
read. Basically, the author took me with him on
archeological site hopping tours. At the beginning
of each tour he gave me an explanation where,
what, and who we were going to visit.
In this book you may choose to read the
explanatory chapters then choose whichever sites
may interest you, or you may read the book cover
to cover. I read it both ways and see myself going
back to read specific entries at a later date.
Europe Before Rome:
A Site-By-Site Tour of the Stone,
Bronze and Iron Ages
Don’t expect too much deep history as this is primarily an archeological survey book but there are
some tidbits that are worth further research like
the fact that an analysis of the Bell Beaker peoples’
teeth showed that they were from Northern Spain
and the Czech Republic and that the author very
much equates them with the Indo-Europeans…
T. Douglas Price
ISBM 978-0199914708
Aontacht
•
35
Volume 6, Issue 4
Essays in Contemporary Paganism
Editor Trevor Greenfield
The Story of Light
Hannah Spencer
ISBN 9781782792789
ISBN 9781782792079
Reviewed by Maya
Reviewed by Druidic Dawn
I don’t usually read books on general Paganism
anymore, but two of my friends had essays in this
anthology and to support them I decided to go
ahead and get it. I’m very glad I did.
The story of Light is due to be published in April
2014, and will be available as a traditional book
and its electronic version of an ebook. Overall its
a delightful read which transfer the reader into
the Iron Age. Back into the mists of time where
questions were asked and answers were discovered concerning Magic and the mysteries of life
and how such knowledge can become a powerful tool of understanding.
The essays are not long, the whole book took me
1.5 hours to read but the snapshots I got about
paganism in Canada, and London were very interesting. The essay about raising a potentially
Pagan child was very well written and thought
out, the one on polytheist psychology is something to chew on, and ending the book with After
Paganism was a great idea. Of course I had my
favourites among the essays, like the essays on
Reconstructionist Druidism and Polytheist psychology but that was because the subjects were
near to my special interest.
Indeed each generation of humanity, rediscovers
for themselves something similar as they themselves may choose to undertake such a journey.
Fictional or truth, the reader will need to decided
the answer to this question.
I can’t say that I agree with every word in these
essays, and there were moments when I rolled my
eyes lol, but those were few and far between.
Aontacht
•
36
Volume 6, Issue 4
Community Events Calendar
Listing your event is free and you can submit up to five entries at a time. Note: We reserve the right to edit
or omit entries. To submit, please send an e-mail to admin@druidicdawn.org with ‘DD Event Listing’ in the
subject line. Include the date, title of event, location (including country), a short description and any contact
details.
Note: Inclusion of events here does not imply endorsement from Druidic Dawn,
editors.
magazine or its
ere og vende tilbage til cirklen. Her vil hver enkelt
deltager have mulighed for at fortælle om sine oplevelser, hvis nødvendigt, vil jeg gå ind og hjælpe med
Anam Cara - Weekly Meditation Group
mine clairvoyante evner. Dernæst holder vi en pause,
'A Weekly Meditation Group to be held in Oswestry, hvor vi får noget te og noget godt at spise. Så fortsæt(UK) to explore everything from the Breath technique; ter vi med endnu en meditation.
mantra/ chanting’ to hopefully movement and sha- http://www.sosha.dk/kurser.html
manic journeying.' To participate and for further
Pathways
details, see
http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1070
A named Pathways, in Ellesmere, Shropshire, on the
NEW MOON MEDITATIONS every new moon, Den- Welsh borders. The time together will be used to
discuss anything that anyone wants to about spiritumark; ring 004575757131 for next meditation:
al pathways. All are invited, from those who have a
We’ll make a circle and connect with the powers of clear idea about where they are going, to those who
Earth and Sky, I will then play channelled harp are just curious, and all explorers in between. Come
music from a time past, and the participants will be to raise questions, talk about books you are reading,
guided into some deep mediation to the Holy Grail workshops you have attended, stuff that is coming
within our hearts. Go beyond time and space to up, etc. Self-advertising is allowed/encouraged, if
previous incidents/ present problems/ diseases. See relevant to the spiritual pathways subject. Meetings
them, solve them, let go. Afterwards we’ll discuss are held on the third Thursday of each month in the
what happened, and I will aid with my clairvoyance. Function room of the Ellesmere Hotel. Parking is
plentiful very nearby. Meet in the bar from 7.30pm;
To participate and for further details, see
go to the room from 8pm. If you are late, come in
http://www.sosha.dk/kurserUK.html
anyway! There is no charge, and the drinks are cheap.
NYMÅNEMEDITATIONER I BRYRUP: Ring for
Ellesmere is part of what is locally known as the
tilmelding og nærmere tidspunkt
Vi vil danne en cirkel, forbinde os med Himlens og Shropshire Lake District. The energy of the town is
Jordens kræfter og jeg vil spille kanaliseret musik fra given by the fabulous Mere in the edge of
en svunden tid på min harpe, under det første num- town. Future meetings might include a walk down to
mer vil mine hjælpere fortælle mig om den første the Mere and through the public gardens. This is the
meditation, derefter vil jeg videregive den til cirklen beginning of something new, and the direction will
som en guidet meditation, med den forskel, at medi- evolve with time.
tationen først påbegyndes når jeg atter begynder at
spille på min harpe og undervejs vil mine hjælpere If you need any more details, you can contact John
følge alle deltagerne og støtte dem. Jeg vil spille mens and Rachel on jrpathways@hotmail.co.uk
deltagerne rejser til deres destination i den anden Or see http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/1698
virkelighed, derefter vil jeg bede deltagerne vende
tilbage samme vej som de kom fra, takke deres hjælp-
General on going events for 2013
Aontacht
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37
Volume 6, Issue 4
tails see http://druidicdawn.org/node/172 or
http://www.druidry.org/events-projects/events
March
22nd -23rd March: Alban Eilir (Spring Equinox)
June
with the Red Oak Grove New Jersey, USA. For
further details see
http://druidicdawn.org/node/185 or
29 May - 1 June - Roots & Branches: an internahttp://www.redoakgrove.org/upcoming/index. tional camp for OBOD members and friends in
html
the Netherlands. For further details see
http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/172 or
24 March - Celebrate Autumn Equinox / Alban
http://www.druidry.org/events-projects/events
Elfed / Mabon Seed Time & Harvest / Poututerangi / Te Ngahuru – The Woolshed, Puke21st June Summer Solstice Rite with the Sassafras
rua Bay, New Zealand for further details see
Grove, Pittsburgh, PA, USA. For further details
http://www.thewoolshedretreats.co.nz/the-sea- see http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/187 or
sonal-festivals/
http://www.sassafrasgrove.org/?page_id=285
April
17th-20th Apr 2014: Trillium Gathering VA, USA,
for further details see
http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/186 or
http://www.threecranes.org/calendars/
25 April -2 May - White Horse Beltane Camp. Another camp at Wildways, Shropshire UK. For further details see
http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/172 or
http://www.druidry.org/events-projects/events
July
4th-6th July: Barmoor Druid Retreat Weekend,
North Yorkshire, UK. for further details see
http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/3211 or
contact debbi.lewis@gmail.com for details.
May
5th July: Druid Remembrance Ritual at the National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire, UK.
For further details see
http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/3210 or
http://druidremembrance.weebly.com/ or email
Geoff Boswell druidsofalbion@btinternet.com
May 2nd-4th Calan Mai (Beltain) with the Red Oak
Grove New Jersey, USA. For further details see
http://druidicdawn.org/node/185 or
http://www.redoakgrove.org/upcoming/index.
html
July 31st -Aug 3rd: Ritual Magic for the 21st century, an international retreat at Hawkweed College,
Stroud UK, with RJ Stweart For additional details
see http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/197 or
http://www.rjstewart.org/calendar.html
4 May: Druids of Caledon Open Rituals - Beltane
Glasgow, Scotland. For further details see
http://www.druidicdawn.org/node/172 or
http://www.druidry.org/events-projects/events
or http://www.druidsofcaledon.co.uk/
16 - 23 May - Spring Cleaning: A Magical Retreat
at Cae Mabon in Snowdonia, Wales led by Philip
Carr-Gomm and Penny Billington. For further de-
Aontacht
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Volume 6, Issue 4
DRUIDIC DAWN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Aontacht – Spring-Autumn 2013
We hope you will participate in the Druidic Dawn by being part of the next issue of our
magazine. Send us your News, Events, Reviews, Editorials, Articles, Essays, Recipes, Devotional Pieces, Photos and other materials to us at: aontacht@druidicdawn.org.
You do not have to be a member of
the Druidic Dawn community to
submit to the newsletter.
Please submit contributions directly
to the editorial staff via email to:
aontacht@druidicdawn.org
Be Part of Our Next Feature Interview
We specifically would like everyone to have the possibility to take part in the forthcoming Questions and
Answers Interview within Aontacht. The next person is a mystery guest who is prominent within their
area of expertise. Don’t miss out on participating; look out for the publication of the call for questions in
February 2014, when the mystery will be unfolded
We love to hear everyone's perspective, and we value all questions received from our members. Take a
moment out and become an important part of Druidic Dawn!
Refer to the writer’s guidelines, before
you submit contributions or inquiries.
Below are our upcoming issues in case
you'd like to get ahead on submissions.
Be sure to specify which issue you are
submitting to.
So send in your questions that you would like to ask. Don’t be shy! We love to hear every perspective,
and we value all questions received from our members. Take a moment out and become an important
part of Druidic Dawn!
Basic Guidelines:
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, please do
not submit epic verse.
ii You may submit multiple pieces. Only electronic submissions are accepted and should be
either compressed (.zip/.rar) and attached (preferred for photos & artwork), or pasted into
the 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.
Subject Areas:
· Pre-Christian: Discussion of history, anthropology, archeology and more, but also of the
current Reconstructionist or Traditional movements happening today.
· Modern Druidry: Discussion of Druidism within the last 300 years; includes Revivalist and
Neo-Druid.
· Modern Celtic: Talk on surviving beliefs, folklore and superstitions still alive today on the
Celtic 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.
The deadline for ALL submissions will be 15 February 2014, as we are looking to have
distribution by 21 March 2014. Submissions can be sent to aontacht@druidicdawn.org
Note: International copyright law will protect all materials published. However, submitting
your work will not guarantee its publication. Also note that as Aontacht is a free publication,
which generates no profit, you will not be paid for your contributions.
Aontacht
•
39
What is the Veil and what is
beyond,
Using
personas,
Looking at the inner planes