Rafe Nauen will be here again this year with the constellation workshops that enlighten us about the role of our ancestors in our daily lives.

This year Crisis is the theme, and this will be reflected in the workshops. We will look at how trauma from the past histories finds a place and more importantly, how we can manage to relinquish that burden, and become freer than before.

Come along to these deep, safe and inspirational workshops and gain a better insight into the baggage that we all carry from our past and especially that contribute to the crises in our lives.

GORDON MACLELLAN, Creeping Toad

Gordon has been a lively and often disturbing member of the pagan community for more years than most people care to remember. One of the founder members of Paganlink and Hoblink, the first LGBTQ pagan network, he is an animist shaman who works to celebrate the relationships between people, places and wildlife

With a background in zoology, education and activism, now he is a full-time artist and storyteller, working with groups, schools and the general public all over the country

In his session at Druid Camp, Gordon will talk about his work on the interface between animistic consciousness and the wider public, on exploring a sense of place and belonging and invite us all to consider what it is that we as people who work with nature-based faiths can bring to the current debates and actions around our changing relationship with the world around us

For more information, visit Gordon’s blog: creepingtoad.blogspot.com

Laudanum, Lunacy & The Druid Who Burnt Jesus.

In times of deep crisis our Druid forefathers stood up against adversity, oppression and refused to toe the line of conformity and political agendas. The ripples of their actions can be felt today, in this, our time of crisis. But, every generation faces its own unique set of challenges and crisis. Druidry is a tradition that inspires the future, and one that honours the past; so what can we learn from our radical Druid ancestors? Embark on a journey through Laudanum, lunacy, radicalism, activism and immolation, as we journey to meet, greet and learn from Druidry’s most colourful ancestors.
Additional 

Tarot Masterclass.

Learn to read the Tarot in 90 minutes. Join the designer, creator and author of the Celtic Tarot, Kristoffer Hughes, on a rapid journey into the dizzying world of Tarot. Learn to read the Tarot, effectively, in just an hour and a half. 

BIOG

Kristoffer Hughes is a native Welsh speaker, born to a Welsh family in the mountains of Snowdonia, he is the Head of the Anglesey Druid Order and the award winning author of several books on Celtic mythology and Druidry. He is a Druid in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and is its 13th Mount Haemus Scholar. He frequently facilitates workshops and courses throughout the UK, Australasia and the USA, in addition to co facilitating and managing the school of the Anglesey Druid Order. He works professionally for Her Majesty’s Coroner service as an Autopsy Technologist and Bereavement Officer, and is a Welsh language television and stage actor. He lives on the Isle of Anglesey, the last stronghold of the ancient British Druids.

Talis is a songwriter with a passion for words. Her songs tell tales of history and literature, knitting and baking, where we have been, and where we are going. Her diverse, quirky, compelling and occasionally downright silly songs chart Talis’s engagement with climate change and resource depletion, telling stories from both the global stage and the kitchen garden.

In recent years Talis has been moved to write songs about the land, sheep and farming (her family own some sheep in a no-kill flock), handling death, and interfaith issues (she spent this Midsummer singing in the church at Avebury – at the vicar’s invitation). Currently her music is an offering of kindness and peace in a world made cruel and uncertain.

Her patchwork pagan faith with a druidish core informs all she writes. She’s working on a follow-up to her mini-albums ‘Cloth of Gold – Songs of Sheep and Farming’ and ‘Eleanor Roosevelt’s Knitting – Songs of Spinning and Yarncraft’. It’s to be called ‘Kissing Roses – Songs of Solace and Radical Compassion’. Talis is an energetic performer who delights in taking her audience places and bringing them back, changed.

A storyteller to her bones, Talis’s songs will challenge you, entertain you, and take root in your heart.

BREWING WITH THE WHEEL OF THE YEAR

In the same way that cookery can, and has been, likened to spell-craft, we may want to consider the way that the making of different alcoholic brews at different times of the year can become part of our druidry.  

There is something inherently magical in the feeling that you get when you share a goblet of mead or other brew, that has been made with care and intent, with others as part of a ritual.  

This session will explore the different ingredients available at different times of the year and the significances that they carry.  There may be some tasting involved…

PEACE IN RITUAL – WHAT DO WE MEAN?

In this workshop we will explore our thoughts and feelings in response to the way that the word PEACE is used in ritual:

Is peace simply an absence of agression and conflict?Does Peace represent a state of being? If we can say that we are at Peace does that mean we are in state of grace with deity?

The word peace has been used for centuries in the religious observances of different cultures and we will be drawing on some of these to spark thought, conversation and debate, not to create division but to deepen our understanding of our own practice.

An exciting opportunity for deep exploration! The text below may change as the project is firmed up, but in general this is certainly something to consider investing time in.

Council of All Beings

Facilitated by Kate Dineen and her team https://www.katedineen.com/

A two day ritual with space for attending other workshops as well. An experiential journey to uncover how we feel about our earth, how to connect with her beings (all creatures, plants, stones, elements) and to bring back any wisdom to share with the humans.

Day 1 : Morning session (2 hours long depending on timetable)             

Time to pause, to gather in circle, to meet and express our grief at what is happening right now on mother earth. Invitation to let this sit with us while engaging with lunch/other activities/rest.

Day 1 : Late afternoon session (2 hours long )            

Gather and share what needs to be shared. Drum journey to meet the being who wants to speak through us. Invitation to ‘sleep on it’ and see what comes through.

Day 2 : Morning session (2 hours long)           

Gather and share how we all are in circle, identify the being who wants to speak through us. Drum. Find materials to make a mask to depict the being. Invitation to spend time with the being, allow information to come through while engaging with lunch/other activities/rest.

Day 2 : Late afternoon session – gather with whole camp?           

All beings put on masks and gather in circle and share wisdom, messages from the council to be shared with humankind.

Bow Drill Workshop With Kael

Kael invites you to join in with the ancient, ancestral skill that is
fire by friction. With wood, stone and a bow we shall journey with the
elements and make our own fires. This primordial method of making fire
runs deep within all of us and is part of our shared heritage.

With ever increasing technological meditation between us and our experiences, this workshop offers the chance to strip things back to basics and have a lot of fun. It’s truly empowering to turn to Mother Earth in order to meet our needs. Fire by friction is a skill that takes steps in that very direction, the direction of reconnecting and rewilding. 

Kael is a member of The Druid Network and teaches fire by friction and
other bushcraft related skills in Dorset and will be running bowdrill workshops over the festival. 

Contact him at Krispykale@riseup.net

Arthur ‘Z.Z.Birmingham” Billington.

Bluesman & Honorary Bard of OBOD, veteran of festivals & camps all over Europe, is well known to Druid Camp regulars for his versatility, warmth & willingness to provide music at the barest hint of an opportunity.

To an authentic guitar & harmonica style honed in a lifetime’s study of the blues he now adds a fund of seasonal & bardic songs drawn from thirty years’ practice of Druidry.

He is joined by the formidable talents of Milton Bluesman – alto & clarinet, Les Miles – djembe & Alan ‘the Bullfrog’ Hudson – djembe & cajon, whose contribution to last year’s Camp will be remembered.