Tag: Modern Druidry

Who is Gwas? All is revealed!

Posted on By Chris 3 Comments on Who is Gwas? All is revealed!
Who is Gwas? All is revealed!
Courses, Crystals, Dowsing, Energy cleansing, Healing, Hedge Druidry, House Energies book, Reconstellation, Spirit rescue, Tarot

Ladies and Gentlemen – the time has come. If you have been following this blog for any amount of time then you will be familiar with a character called Gwas. Over the years you will have witnessed his journey from a fledgling dowser and druid. Where has Gwas ended up at this point, though? Gwas … Read More “Who is Gwas? All is revealed!” »

The Crutch of Orthodoxy

Posted on By Gwas 3 Comments on The Crutch of Orthodoxy
Hedge philosophy

You know a post is serious when there are no pictures! In this post I offer an explanation of how to construct your own theology no less! If you are interested in the foundations of paganism, then read on.

We frequently get requests from people who know we write a blog. They say things like, “..but how did you know to do this, that or the other?“.  These people are looking for guidance, and we are more than happy to offer our experiences up for them to consider. Yet some people want to go further. They say things like: “How do you do this, that or the other?“. These are requests for orthodox teachings. Here are my opinions on the relative merits of oxthodoxy on a seeker’s path.

Following The Rules

Orthodoxy essentially means following the rules, or taking a path that has already been trodden before. Someone whom one considers to have been a person of more spiritual value than yourself has been out into the spiritual world(s) and has come back with a description of the way in which that world operates. They have perhaps described the way it works, the way they perceived it, told you their tales and maybe even offered you the benefit of their experience. They might have come back with warnings – don’t say this to that, don’t do this in there, etc. The value of orthodoxy is generally supposed to be that the new seeker learns from the mistakes and the wrong paths of those who have gone before. Progress should be faster, easier, further, deeper. The devout and orthodox religios seeker should be the most enlightened. How does that fir with your experience of such people?

If this were the case, that strict orthodoxy reaps the best rewards, then after several thousand years of the prevailing orthodox religion wouldn’t we all be enlightened by now? Of course, we have free will, and we are entitled to ignore the prevailing wisdom and teachings. Thus, we are bound to continue to make mistakes, continue to throw impediments on to the path to our spiritual freedom. So claim the guardians of such teachings and the preservers of religious structures.

I have a different opinion to offer.

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Ionian Equinox 1 – The Colour of Union

Posted on By Gwas 9 Comments on Ionian Equinox 1 – The Colour of Union
Energy work, Hedge Druidry, Wheel of the Year

The following series of posts recounts the tales of our adventures on the island of Iona in the Hebrides in the west of Scotland. We went there for the Autumn Equinox. Of course, my tales will be primarily from my perspective as Kal has his own stories to tell, and amazing they are too. Of course, we journeyed together so our stories intertwine to some extent. Where Kal acted as a foil or sidekick I will include his aspects, otherwise you’ll get predominantly mine.

Scotland sticks in my mind for many reasons – I used to live there as a small boy, I love the mountains (they are my Air/Sky image for elemental meditations) and I hate the weather (muggy and midge-ridden in summer, unbearable wind and rain in winter). However, despite my reservations I had two necessary goals that Iona seemed to be the perfect place to satisfy. These were:

  1. To discover the quest or task that would keep my busy for the next eighth of the wheel of the year, and
  2. To learn more about an unidentified energy form that I had found at Karnak Temple in Egypt, and which I had subsequently map-dowsed as also being present in Iona.

One ferry, two ferries, three ferries, more

The first ferry is from Oban to the island of Mull. Oban is a lovely little town that deserved more time, and as we pulled away on the ferry I saw a rounded hill behind a castle on the shoreline and I made a mental note that I needed to come back this way again. There was something about that hill….The tourism tagline at the moment is “It’s closer than you think“. It’s not. They lie. I thought it was about a five and a half hour drive and I wasn’t far wrong. And we live in the North of England. From anywhere else it’s even farther. The tagline should be “It’s further away than you’d like, and then a wee bit more – but it’s worth it (if it’s not raining, which it usually is)”. Truth in advertising? Not likely. Not catchy enough.

Where the heck is Iona?

 

The sun shone and we were able to stand on deck watching the waves churn into spume below the boat’s keel and the seabirds wheel and whirl in our wake. The rising mountains of Mull were a formidable but fascinating prospect for the drive across the island to Fionnphort where we would catch our second ferry – this time to the tiny island of Iona. The drive across Mull was idyllic. Rarely have I seen such beauty. Firstly over the mountain passes, then the road by the lakeside became picture postcard perfect. All too soon we were at the tiny ferry terminal and ready to board the ferry to Iona. So I left my staff behind in the tea room on Mull.

Of course I had to go back for it on the ferry. I can now say I’ve been to Iona twice. Settled and with staff, we were ready to begin our island adventure. We started at the first feature to make an appearance – the Nunnery next to St.Ronan’s Church.

The Nunnery and St Ronans Church on Iona

I would say that what happened next was a perfect introduction to the uniqueness of this island, and it set the tone for the whole set of adventures that followed.

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2011 – Summary of the Year by Gwas

Posted on By Gwas No Comments on 2011 – Summary of the Year by Gwas
2011 – Summary of the Year by Gwas
Hedge Druidry

Well, I see that Kal got his summary out first. Still, “if you can’t beat them…” Generally, what type of year it has been? Dis-jointed, slower than last year’s breakneck speed, measured, with lots of deep synchronicities. When I come to review the year I realise that I still made lots of progress on the various tasks … Read More “2011 – Summary of the Year by Gwas” »

Missing a beat 2011

Posted on By Gwas 3 Comments on Missing a beat 2011
Missing a beat 2011
Celestial, Magick, Modern Druidry, Theory, Wheel of the Year

You may have noticed the lack of podcasts this year on Hedge Druid? There’s a reason for that. In the first half of the year the reason could be put down to a mounting pressure of “work”. Mostly this was spiritual work, and with all the good weather we have had in England this year then the Great Outdoors claimed a large part of my time, and this was reflected in the amount of time-consuming podcast work that I could do. Right, that’s my pathetic excuse out of the way. Now, what about the recent months? I did intend to re-establish the podcast once the weather got worse. It has worsened, but still I don’t feel inclined to get back into the studio to record and edit an hour’s worth of audio. Why not? I think there’s a deeper and wider reason.

I have been noticing that other pagan blogs have also begun to falter in their regularity and their commitment. Could it be that we all expanded too quickly, and pushed ourselves too hard to produce content? Possibly, but I think the real reason is due to a difficulty in maintaining momentum when this year has been out of synchronisation with itself. Let me explain.

The Moon, The Sun and The Earth sources

Last year our blogs flourished. Mostly these are blogs that are talking about magickal work, mystical happenings and spiritual progress. What general effect has happened that could account for the difference between last year’s ease and this year’s difficulty? Simple. It is the synchronisation of the phase of the Moon with the Celtic Festival dates. Last year the high points in the solar cycle were matched by high points in the lunar cycle. In other words, at the major lunar festival dates the Moon was also usually in its Full Moon phase.

Celtic Wheel of the Year

The Celtic Wheel of the Year is a cycle that records the high points of the year’s energies. It tells the pagan watcher when the Earth itself is producing the most energy in its co-operative cycle with The Sun. In my experience, and I speak only for myself here, I do not use The Sun as my primary magickal power source. For me it is The Moon. Last year was therefore a “bumper year” in terms of the number of coincidences between the Solar and Lunar high points. Magick was abundant and easy. Motivation was plentiful, and so a great deal of work flowed, and many posts got produced. Blogs flourished that dealt with these subjects.

This year the story has been completely reversed, and how dispiriting must that have been to many of our pagan friends whose magickal sources are Moon-dependent? This year the Full Moon phases NEVER coincide with any of the Solar Festival dates in the Celtic Year. Only Spring Equinox came close. The result of this, goes my tenuous hypothesis, is that motivation has taken a battering. Magickal people must have found themselves either doing Sun OR Moon work, but never being able to being the two together.

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Census: Some ideas for how to describe your odd beliefs

Posted on By Gwas 5 Comments on Census: Some ideas for how to describe your odd beliefs
Modern Druidry, Quickie

I have been thinking about The Census that is being taken at the moment. It seems that we are not free to express our beliefs openly, and instead we will have to confirm to an existing label in order to have our beliefs recognised. I rebel against that idea. Instead, where the form asks for … Read More “Census: Some ideas for how to describe your odd beliefs” »

My Eight-Fold Year 2010 – the final four folds

Posted on By Gwas 2 Comments on My Eight-Fold Year 2010 – the final four folds
My Eight-Fold Year 2010 – the final four folds
Wheel of the Year

This post is the second half of a post I did after the Summer Solstice. My purpose was to record the eight points in the year because at each of these artificial stages which were roughly aligned to the Celtic or Neo-Pagan calendar I would be seeking a task by communing with Nature. The task would … Read More “My Eight-Fold Year 2010 – the final four folds” »