Druid Camp

Graham Butcher – Creatures of Norse Mythology

Giant wolves, world encircling wyrms, resurected goats, ravens of the mind and other strange creatures…

Discover the wyrd and wonderful creatures of Norse Mythology

Graham Butcher will take you on an exploration of the animals who accompany, feed, serve, carry, battle with, and occasionally eat, the Aesir and Vanir.

We will also see if we can find your Fylgia, the animal guide which connects you with the nine worlds of Odin and Frigg, Frey and Freya, and giants and elves.

There will also be the usual Stav sessions each morning of the camp. Over the course of the four days we will do the runic stances in each session and manifest the animals associated with each rune through animal exercise training.

If you want to know more in the meantime please see Graham’s page at http://www.iceandfire.org

JJ Middleway and Adrian Rooke

JJ and Adrian will be offering two workshops during Camp.

Which Power Animal will choose me?

A brief examination of Power Animals and their relevance. How do Power Animals come to us? Using the Druid Animal Oracle as a tool, we will ritually discover which animal spirit is currently looking to communicate its wisdom to each of us. Having spent some time with our power animal, we will then look to share any knowledge and insight between us.

Druid Animals of the Four Directions.

An exploration into the qualities and meaning of each animal of the four directions as found in the western Druid tradition: The Hawk, the Stag, the Salmon and the Bear. Together we will embody and represent the spirit of each animal in order to gain fresh insight and a deeper understanding. We will share song, guided visualisation and ‘spontaneous recall’ to help us in this.

JJ will also be offering Sacred Singing in the style of Enchanting the Void as at previous camps along with a session of Sacred Sauna. This form of Western Devotional music has been offered fortnightly in Stroud for some years and has more recently been travelling in Europe to such countries as Holland, Belgium, Germany and Italy. It might equally be regarded as Druid Devotional music – very much rooted in and honouring and celebrating this beautiful land on which we stand together. It offers a deeply healing and joyous way of celebrating together. For more info see: www.enchantingthevoid.co.uk

Totem animals and natural magic in The Blues & English Folk – a continuing tradition

Two explorations illustrated with live music & song with Arthur Billington (aka Z Z Birmingham)

Who was the Tail Dragger? The Hoochie Coochie Man? The Dirty Groundhog? How would I get my ‘Mojo Working’? Apply ‘Hotfoot Powder’? And bargain at the Crossroads for immortal fame?

Arising as it does from pagan West Africa, the Blues is steeped in magical practices & beliefs. In this illustrated talk we shall unwrap the extraordinarily vivid symbolism of this seminal musical form and reveal its more arcane significance.

And who are the shapeshifters nearer to home in the British Isles, and why do they do it? As Druids connect shamanically with the natural world as part of our practice, how are we continuing this tradition through our songs and stories?

Informative, entertaining and the chance for a dam’ good sing!

Biog: Arthur Billington is an Honorary Bard in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, playing at their major events. As bluesman ZZBIRMINGHAM, he plays clubs & festivals nationwide, & presents the weekly ‘Blues Cruise’ for Glastonbury FM radio.

THE KEYS TO THE TEMPLE – PENNY BILLINGTON

Trees are inextricably twined into Druid natural magic; a primary source of connection to the world of nature. But can a knowledge of the Qabalah, an esoteric Hebraic teaching which spread across Europe in the Middle Ages, have any place in our studies? Whilst we study tree myth and lore, is a system from such different root stock relevant to us as Druids?

During the camp, Penny also hopes to explore the intuitive interpretation of The Animal Oracle cards, and talk about the supportive nature of animal totems in the Mabinogion

Biog: Penny Billington has had a significant role in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids for many years, and has edited Touchstone magazine for 15. She is an author and speaker, and regularly leads ceremonies and workshops. Published work includes The Path of Druidry; Walking The Ancient Green Way a best selling Druid study course and guide, The wisdom of birch, oak and yew’ and The Keys to the Temple, Unlocking Dion Fortune’s Mystical Qabalah Through Her Occult novels in collaboration with Ian Rees. (all pub. Llewellyn Worldwide) as well as a series of Druid detective novels. www.pennybillington.co.uk

Z Z Birmingham to start Saturday night!

ZZ BIRMINGHAM BAND

Sharing the bill with INKUBUS SUKKUBUS for the Saturday night party is the ZZ BIRMINGHAM BAND.

ZZ (Arthur Billington) has been bringing his music to Druidcamp for some years. Expect goodtime blues, wailing fiddle straight from the Balkans and a rock solid rhythm section, giving you the lift off to get down and boogy.

ZZ Birmingham Band are:

ZZB vocals, guitar and harmonica
Elmos Grandez, Bass
Miss Gonzoola Davis, Fiddle (Ushti Baba)
Hudson Bullfrog, Drums (Pete Wagstaff Band)

http://zzbirmingham.com/

Robin Larkham’s Windmill

Robin Larkham will be bringing his mobile windmill to Druid Camp again this year. A delightful mechanism and a huge yell for renewable energy, one day perhaps the Camp will be run from something like it. You can come see it working, and speak with Robin and his accomplices about it throughout Camp. Please bear in mind that, although supervised and safe at even a close distance, it’s not entirely friendly to anyone, big or small, who gets carelessly close!

Graham Butcher’s Stav

Graham Butcher will be holding Stav training sessions each morning, as in previous years. Stav means ‘knowledge of the rune staves’. If you don’t know of Stav, it is a martial art based upon the Runes and uses a staff and runic stances as a part of a physical and mental workout. Further workshops with Graham (TBC) may include examination of the runes and how to use them, meanings and associations of the runes and their relationship to norse mythology.

Gordon “the Toad” MacLellan

Gordon MacLennan, “the Toad”, will be speaking on Friday evening. His subject, in keeping with this year’s theme of ‘animal spirit’ is called “Fur, Feather and Places: meeting the animal people of historic landscapes”.

Drawing on recent work with Buxton Museum and ongoing inspirations from Orkney, Gordon will take us on a poetic and story adventure into ways of connecting with landscapes and the animals that now – or once – lived here. A mixture of performance and workshop.

Gordon is a shaman, poet and storyteller: find out more about his work at: http://creepingtoad.blogspot.co.uk/

Photo c/o Laurence Crossman-Emms and the Woodland Trust”

Philip Shallcrass (Greywolf of the BDO)

The Re-Wilding of Druidry

In 1990, most people’s idea of Druids was of groups of people (mostly men) standing around in stone circles wearing pristine white robes and performing staid and scripted ceremonies. They were seen as patriarchal, monotheistic sun-worshippers and deemed incomplete if they didn’t have a beard.

Since then, the idea of Druids as the native ‘shamans’ of Britain and much of pre-Roman Europe has taken hold and spread, replacing white robes with animal hides, scripts with rattles and drums. More women than men are now actively involved in Druidry, and many of us are polytheistic, pagan animists who follow the cycles of sun and moon. Solemn reverence is gradually giving way to wild shape-shifting.

How did this come about, who has been driving the changes, how do they link us with the Druidries of the past and, more importantly, what do they mean for those of us working in the tradition today, and what prospects do they hold for our future?

Jay’s Mead Workshop

Last year we introduced a mead workshop to the programme and unsurprisingly it was very popular! Starting with a tasting session where many different varieties, flavours and recipes were compared and sampled. Recipes were exchanged, more mead was drunk to the pleasure of a welcoming audience. There was a demonstration on how to make mead with the opportunity for anyone to take part (and take home). We looked at simple methods of producing the liquid gold together, using basic equipment available in most households.

This year Jay and Rick (as seen on the BBC!) are looking at the ritual year and have prepared some meads to seasonally represent the druid celebrations. Once again there will be the opportunity to drink, talk, share and make mead together with like minded people, with an enjoyable atmosphere.

Merry ye be and may you never thirst.

Jay Anderson