Kitabı oku: «Druidcraft: The Magic of Wicca and Druidry»

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Foreword

CHAPTER ONE

A Hidden Valley – The Worlds of the Witch & Druid

CHAPTER TWO

The Secret of the Returning Tide – The Ways of Blessing

CHAPTER THREE

The Cave of Dreams – The Ways of Love

CHAPTER FOUR

The Grove of the Summer Stars – The Ways of the Earth and Her Seasons

CHAPTER FIVE

The Garden of Herbs and Healing – The Ways of Health and Rejuvenation

CHAPTER SIX

The Circle of Stones – The Ways of Magic and Spellcraft

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Waters of the Well – Druidry, Wicca and Druidcraft as Ways of Freedom

Resources

Bibliography

Index

Copyright

About the Publisher

Acknowledgements

For years I have wanted to write this book – the subject of the relationship between Wicca and Druidry has intrigued me from the moment I began to study Druidry over 30 years ago with my teacher, Ross Nichols. I would like to thank Ross for all the encouragement he gave his young student – I had no idea at the time how important his encouragement would be, and how much it would mean to me today.

My wife Stephanie’s constant encouragement and her perceptive insights throughout the writing of this book have also proved invaluable and are deeply appreciated.

I would also like to thank Susan Henssler, who commented in detail on the draft manuscript, and whose inspired wording I have used for much of the ritual passages. My deep gratitude also goes to Ronald Hutton who, with great attention and characteristic enthusiasm, commented in depth on the manuscript. His eye for detail and his considerable knowledge of the history of Witchcraft and Wicca gave me the confidence to tread in this barely charted territory. My thanks go to Ellen Evert Hopman who inspired me with her account of a candle-boat ceremony, and who helped me track down elusive information, and also to Carole Nielsen for her herbal wisom, and to Erynn Laurie for her elucidation of the Irish versions of the term ‘Druidcraft’. My thanks also go to Cairisthea Worthington for inspiring me with her vision of the four faces of the Goddess, and to Vivianne Crowley for her contribution to this book and for the inspiration I have gained from her writing. And a big thank you to Matthew Cory, editor of this book, for his sensitivity and persistence in dealing with such a stubborn author.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the inspiration I have gained from the camps held by The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids in the vale of the White Horse over the last eight years. There we have explored the practice of a new kind of ‘Wild Druidry’ – a ‘Druidcraft’ that is earthy and spirited in a way that allows us to go beyond the labels of ‘Druid’, ‘Wiccan’or ‘Pagan’, bringing us closer to the Way which is Nameless, the Old Way which is ever new and ever-changing.

Foreword

Philip’s beautiful and eloquent book is a new but ancient vision that will be a source of inspiration to Druids, Wiccans and all those drawn to nature spirituality and magic. In Druidcraft we see Druidry restoring its persecuted and suppressed tradition of magic and seership and moving closer to Wicca. The gap is increasingly small, as both traditions seek to reawaken contemporary culture to what we might call ‘natural religion’, our instinctive reaching out to venerate the planet that is our home, to celebrate the Divine within one another and within all creation, and to honour the ever-changing seasons and cycles of nature and human life.

Druidry and Wicca share a love and veneration for the natural world and have an important role to play in restoring aspects of spiritual tradition too long neglected, to our own cost. This includes the vision of the Divine as immanent and present all around us in the glorious wonder of the natural world of our own planet and that of the cosmos. It includes too the vision of the Divine not as God, but as Goddess and God. These images of the Divine interconnect in mutual harmony to create an interchange of energies that gives birth to new life; for the sum of the whole is truly greater than that of the parts. Druidcraft reflects this synthesis, integrating in a refreshingly new and unique way nature spirituality and magical vision, veneration for the Divine as Goddess and God, and the integration of body and spirit – engagement with and joy in this world, as well as the journey to unification with Ultimate Reality that is at the heart of human existence.

My own path is Wicca, but Druidry also had a strong attraction. I visited Ross Nichols, Philip’s predecessor as Chosen Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, thirty years ago. A wise and kindly man, he took time in his busy schedule to explain Druidry to a teenage spiritual seeker trying to find the right path. Druidry offered much, but the Goddess orientation, greater female leadership, and the focus on the development of those powers of the human psyche that we call magic in Wicca proved the stronger pull. Since then, much has changed. Druidry has developed greater interest in the traditional magical skills and gifts of its Druid ancestors, and the role of women in Druidry now equals that of men. Wicca has grown closer to Druidry in its provision for family participation and openness as a path for the many rather than the few. Both traditions have evolved to see themselves as part of a growing contemporary spirituality that is concerned with social engagement, planetary responsibility, and providing meaningful philosophy and ethics by which people may live in our increasingly complex multi-cultural world.

Druidcraft reflects a growing trend in contemporary Paganism, a strengthening of each of the Pagan traditions as they learn from one another, and the cross-fertilization that is the fruit of those who have explored both traditions to draw them together in their own unique synthesis.

Vivianne Crowley

Chapter One
A Hidden Valley
The Worlds of the Witch & Druid

Earth and Her stones, shining stars of the night sky,

tumbling rivers, cauldrons, magic, ancient wisdom, strange

hidden beauty, inner knowing, seeing beyond the veil of

Time, knowing that I will return again to Earth after death,

loving my fellow humans, my body and all animals, flying

like a bird to the sun, like a bat to the moon, kissing the

standing stone, drinking from the grail.

Oh that I could see to the Other Realm -

that I could learn the magic of the Ancients.

Oh that the secrets of the Druids and the Witches

could be whispered in my ears

that I might know their beauty and their power -

that I might love again this land

and hear the voices of the Goddess and the God

in the trees and in the rivers.

If you ever travel to Avalon in the south-west of England, you will find, tucked between the crouching beast that is Glastonbury Tor and the rounded breast that is Chalice Hill, a magical garden surrounding a well steeped in legend. Here, between the two hills – one so strongly ‘masculine’ and the other so clearly ‘feminine’ – the well and its garden exude an extraordinary sense of peace and deep resonant power. If you were to enter that garden now you would pass lawns and flower beds, low hedgerows and gnarled yew trees until, following the path that slopes gently upward, you would arrive at the wellhead. And there you would find the well itself, protected by a finely wrought iron cover depicting an ancient symbol – the vesica piscis.

In this symbol, two circles overlap and in doing so create an image which for some depicts Christ, for others the philosopher’s stone, and for yet others the Holy Grail or the sacred vulva of the Goddess. The symbol depicts the union of two principles, two beings, two powers. Each circle remains intact, complete and whole, but where they meet something different and unique is created from their union.

This book takes two worlds which are complete and whole in themselves, and brings them together. It is at the point where they meet that we can, if we wish, find a path of great depth and power.

The worlds that are brought together in this book are those of Witchcraft and Druidry, and I have called the path that they create together Druidcraft, from the Irish word Druidecht, and from the inspiration of the Irish poet W.B. Yeats who uses this term in his poetry.

Many people now practise either Druidry (also known as Druidism) or Wicca (as Witchcraft is often called today) and find within their paths all that they need. Each tradition is complete in itself, and I am not suggesting that either way is incomplete or inadequate. However, over the years I have noticed that many Wiccans have become interested in Druidry, just as many Druids have become interested in Wicca. The fact is that the two circles of Druidry and Wicca now overlap, as many people start to combine their knowledge and experience of each path to fashion their own ‘craft’ – their own spiritual way. For these people the synthesis explored in this book is already happening.

Some time ago there was a real difference between the concerns of Wiccans and Druids. Wiccans were interested in magic and spells, while Druids were more interested in history, the old Celtic myths and a ‘spiritual’ rather than ‘magical’ approach to life. But in the last few years this has changed. Many Wiccans have become interested in the history of the Druids, in Celtic myths, and in Druid animal and tree lore. At the same time, many Druids have become interested in the more intuitive and magical approaches to life that are found in Wicca. If you talk to people who are interested in Wicca or Druidry you will find that most of them are drawn to these spiritual paths for the same reasons.

In the past, subjects and disciplines were kept within defined boundaries. Today, we understand the value of synthesis, synergy and interdisciplinary studies. This is the spirit in which this book is written – to contribute to the field, not to detract from the uniqueness of each approach. I respect both paths deeply and I believe that each is complete in itself, but this does not mean that their relationship and connections cannot be explored, and we may even discover that Wicca and Druidry have gifts to offer that we can combine in creative and beneficial ways.

Most people think that Druidry and Wicca, as they are practised today, represent two streams of pagan tradition that have evolved separately over centuries, or even millennia. In reality, the modern versions of these traditions were originally developed by two friends, Ross Nichols and Gerald Gardner, only 50 years ago. Because of their exchange of ideas and knowledge, the two paths share many similarities and points of connection and, to a great extent, the differences between them are related to the differences between their characters, even though over the last half-century both paths have evolved considerably, creating many different varieties and styles of both Wiccan and Druidic practice.

Druidry and Wicca are now strong and vibrant spiritualities, and if either of them provides you with all that you need, no further exploration is necessary. But if, like me, you can’t resist the urge to explore a hidden valley where two lands meet, then however great the risks, you might well choose to put on your hiking boots, throw a pack on your back and set off!