A Druid's Pilgrimage

[Music] [Music] Druidry is about your own personal unique and individual path it is about how you relate to the world around you how you relate to yourself others and the divine is how you experience the world it's only through learning these lessons and gaining these experiences can you be truly effective in this world and help others grand Oh God who goddess Gaea protection and in thy protection strength and in strength understanding and in understanding knowledge and in knowledge the knowledge of justice and in the knowledge of justice the love of it and in the love of it the love of all existences and in the love of all existences the love God goddess no goodness [Music] they are when surround me they are when flow through me they are when radiates from the name the God and the goddess peace and love [Music] trees of life of peace and a wisdom strong in your growth your leaves shelter us we thank you for the fruits you bear and ask that you share your knowledge with us dragon tree rune which was a series of lines which made it look like a dragon's head or a tree depending on which way you looked at it and I was walking to my allotment at the time and when I was passing through the Arboretum in Nottingham there is a dragon's painted all over the floor in some kind of chalk or something like that and then when I got to the actual Arboretum itself and I could built my fire I just kind of gave it a little edge of connecting with fire connecting with myself and since I did that that's when I got the flame back for going back into acting again so I reconnected with a flame that I already had it's just they were so low I didn't recognize it on the time and back then I was deeply unhappy but once it did that and the affirmation of the dragon it fled back up again while you hide I don't bite by talking to the trees I'm a druid you know enjoy it is know we haven't been told to similar situation yet the word druid comes from how we survive comes from a derivative of the word deer which is the Celtic word for oak so druid means man evoke and Druidry is a spiritual tradition that encourages people to expand their repertoire of inner skills in the old days in the ancient days it's alleged that druids would train for 20 years to actually be recognized as a druid you know there's lots of different drill orders that have different philosophies and backgrounds nature and the cycle of the year is a living living being and we as druids spend our time in the search of expanding our knowledge and our wisdom seeking wisdom and to continue to learn on how best in a way that we can serve the planet I call upon the spirits and not how the planet should be serving us in simplistic terms the druid would consider themselves to be aligning themselves to a philosophy or a or a spiritual tradition for some people even a religion have you ever read the famous cartoon Asterix yes it's French cartoon getafix he was the famous druid the calling is to get as close to nature as you possibly can and the planetary systems and to make a whole working philosophy that can enable us to to live in this hurly-burly of the 21st century but also to to still stay rooted in in the earth because you know for me everything draws us away from that now and were drawn into materialism and we forget that so much of what we are were made from the earth we are a part of the earth were not separate from the other creatures on the earth so Druidry encourages us to to follow a cycle throughout the year of being really fully present in each seasonal cycle each opportunity spring summer autumn winter but to be mindful of you know being being alive and being connected with with the greater picture really the great mystery of life come on inside you - it's getting cold out here you don't have a long bit Jewett's come in all shapes and forms men women even children can becoming druids now a Jew it doesn't have to wear anything to identify to others that are adroit Drewry is a personal journey now drew it is there to do good in the world so that the universe regains his serenity is that why I became a teacher yeah and one should never tire of caring all learning and learning never stops how did I become a dread when I was 11 my father introduced me to the old chief druid Ross Nichols also called neuen that's his druid name and and he became of it friend of the family and so I saw him through my childhood and then when I was 16 I became fascinated in the fact that he was a chief druid and that there was this sort of network of sacred sites all over Britain and these stone circles and this whole magical history if you like that existed so I asked if I could study with him and I started studying from the age of 16 and then I asked to join the order and he said no you can't until you were 18 so and you know what a 16 17 year old is like how impatient they are so to wait till my 18th birthday and then at Beltane I was initiated on Glastonbury Tor into the order everybody sees Druidry differently druid more or less has the same kind of life as everybody else so they had regular jobs and some can work with the earth so they can become closer to nature because of joy it seeks to understand the universe as well as the others who inhabited the druid seeks fullness and harmony and moreover he always seeks to help others that wants to be an example to follow do you kill goats and virgins who fills your head with this nonsense homophones I've watched well Druidry isn't like it is in the films when we accept it into our lives it becomes a store for healing and creativity we even have our own ceremonies and rituals why we're health to celebrate the passing of the seasons all the phases of human life all the attainment of our personal growth we've got eight ceremonies in a year you know the solstices and the equinoxes but they're the main ones that we celebrate is among Beltane loser and sowing and so if you start at spring the themes that we explore in springtime is new beginnings you know things are fresh that kind of stuff swings round - beltane and that's where everything is fully alive and so we have like the making and the made Queen and maple dances and that kind of thing and then it swings around - Lunas a time and that's your harvest and then when it gets round to sow Ain which was why why we've got Halloween now sowing is all to do with honoring your ancestors and so the themes in a year is new beginnings you act upon it then you reap the rewards of it and then you let go and then something like winter solstice for example basically what's happening there is the first lights that comes across in in the first moment of that so dawn of winter solstice is when that energy of the year is coming back and so we honor that moment as well not only the highest light which is summer solstice but we honor that time when that first rays of light come across and that's like the energy of the the crystals light returning in the year where did the ancient druids come from mm-hmm now according to some books Druidry was born around 1500 BC it's coming was the direct result between the meeting of practices and the religions of the indo-european populations no one really knows for sure but what we do know is that juries were advisors to Kings and they could even stop the fighting and battles by walking onto the battlefield they had noise that no one else did and some say that they even mediated between men and the gods so for these reasons the druid was highly respected within the local community even by the king so joyed wasn't just a kind of priest Bert's a scholar as well like you yes no druid seeks to balance the qualities of spirituality wisdom and nature and following that teaching tells us that we need to balance these qualities within ourselves because they unite us with the earth seasons and the Stars I think the the easiest way it's connection its balance it's a framework for for life is how I view life sour filter life it's been part of me for 30 years now nearly 30 years and it's all about connection with people connection with nature connection with myself and a reverence for life and the sacredness of the planet [Music] I like to walk barefoot on the grass wanting to be close to the land inspires us to walk barefoot in the grass to swim in the river to lie under the Sun to feel the wind upon our skin and to become closer to spirit in Druidry there are many levels there are the barns the other sacred choristers the storytellers and the musicians know that of Eight's who are the soothsayers the heels and the clairvoyants and then finally there are the druids profess ethics and moral philosophy it's past your bedtime young lady I hope your uncle hasn't been filling your head with teachings Oh auntie I'm not ready to go to bed yet I want to know more about druids Gemma if you go to bed now and tomorrow work on a pilgrimage to visit some sacred sites she promised a promise remember ethology his aren't just bedtime stories she's ready I've had a lot of health issues during my life which culminated in open-heart surgery and nearly dying when I was 21 and I had a bizarre near-death experience there and and that propelled me into a whole pilgrimage afterwards to try and make sense of what had happened to me which led me to go into various different spiritual traditions to to try and find if I felt at home there and I tried spiritualism and Buddhism and Native American shamanism along the way and I met some beautiful people and the beautiful traditions and but just didn't feel quite right wasn't really me and then you know through a whole series of synchronicities because I don't believe in coincidences anymore I was led to through a little booklet I found an advert which said are you interested in native British spirituality in a revival of druidic practice if so contact this address which I did and I knew there was an internal now in straight away that I'd found something special and lo and behold when the first set of lessons came through the post and I sat there and read them and and there was a cover in article it said you know as in peace you come to this place if so ever you choose to leave you go in peace and with our love and I thought yeah I've come home [Music] I didn't sleep a wink last night it looks like you had along your mind yeah I think it's time to move out from the darkness and there's the light the James within all of us we just have to find what's right for us [Music] I can assure you that when you've camped in a field in all weathers when you've participated in ritual and been part of ceremonies and deeply ceremonial happenings like walking over the land at night to encounter different deities for example it creates a very strong bond which is not easily broken so it's really enriched my life hugely in that way [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] yoke is considered hugely powerful amongst ancient and modern druids yoke is a living legend representing everything that is true wholesome stable and nope the world is a difficult place to live in and and however protected a kind of life we've had or however lucky we've been we will still encounter difficulties and suffering and and challenges and so on and what treachery does in in my experience is it makes me feel at home in my body because it's not it's an embodied spirituality it's not a body denying spirituality so it makes me feel at home in my body at home in the land that I live in really tuning into the sort of the heritage the history the beauty of the land I live in and then it puts me in kind of rhythm with the seasons Gemma the next time that you need strengthen your life envision the oak in your mind's eye so the next time you've been bullied at school have been different set pick yourself with the oak and draw him from his endless energy via a tree give me its powers you just need to believe what's it like to be a druid it's very easy to lead a separated life where you know you wake up in a box and then you drive to work in a box and you spend the day looking at a box and then to relax you flop on a sofa and watch a box and what Druidry does is he gets you out of those boxes and Tunes you Internet to nature and the natural cycles Druidry is a kind of intertwines all the time so things that you do even now recycling and looking after the environment and teaching my daughter about it that's all part of sort of a reverence for life and the land and looking after it which I think a fundamental elements of Druidry itself and it's just funny because when you start doing it you actually realized that you just incorporate it every single day with everything that you do even if it's just five minute meditation or walking on the land or anything [Music] the trees are talking to us now the speakers of the forest listen not with your ear but with your inner senses and hear what they have to say [Music] [Music] but sure there is that there's no unbroken line between the Druids are bold and the modern-day druid stuff today so do it today is someone who combines their spirituality with storytelling and also creativity as well as helping their friends out whether it's just in giving advice or even doing things like a divination or using an Oracle deck or working with the earth in some way such as using herbs recognizing plants caring for things the minions believes that druid was a cool water make all the time Jemma stop plants have feelings too allow yourself to follow the plans teachings close your eyes nature will allow you to listen this is why I became a druid to understand the universe and decipher all forms of life my temple is nature and the forest [Music] I think one thing that sticks in my mind was one Beltane camp which is the May Festival when we are honoring the fertility of the earth and it's quite a wild time and this particular camp was a full moon so a group of friends and we were camping in Oxford near the Ethington White Horse and a group of friends women friends and I went up onto a hill where called Dragon Hill and in a wild moment we all took off our clothes and danced naked under the moon which was not something I would ever imagine doing in my non druid past that as a druid it's the sort of thing that just feels completely right and natural I hasten to add there were no members of the public around but so there's that we've had wonderful experiences that can very magical times [Music] but the solstices broke up the year to have the longest day in summer solstice and you know there's a motor consensus that says that probably for our ancestors we have the we have the whole thing these days with lots and lots of people who wouldn't consider themselves to be druids or pagans come out for summer solstice you know I've run or helped run with a bunch of guys a ceremony it's Downton drew and and we do all of the the two equinoxes the two fire festival and and source this summer and winter we get an array of different people from multiple backgrounds they just have have an inner longing to come out and do something on the longest day and the shortest day I've heard of the summer solstice but what is it summer solstice mark the point of greatest light the promise of the harvest and the Grove at the warmest months as night follows day darkness follows light and winter must follow summit let's take a look around listen to the sounds of nature [Music] I think Georgie has changed my outlook on life it's made me less materialistic much happier in my cell in where I live and also it's really helped me to develop my creative side I was very much a science person but I've discovered I like drawing and painting and so it's changed my life quite a lot actually [Music] Druidry has actually given me a sense of identity in terms of my spirituality because before I became a druid I was just pagan which is nature based religion not really sure or not really building belonging to any one particular path for me I've always been interested in Celtic mythology and so for me that really resonated with me which was one of the original religions of its land before the Romans came so I was already attracted to them so as far as I'm concerned it's changed me in that way that I've stayed true to the spirituality of this particular land and the Britain itself but more accurately if it wasn't for jewelry I wouldn't have gone back into writing again and now here I am making a film about druids [Music] [Music] [Music] well many people who believe that the stone circles were built by druids but in fact it was a Neolithic man and built many of them and so throughout time the standing circles have been thought to be either trading posts or even druidic temples any other day nobody knows what does being a Trude mean to me it means following a spirituality that helps me get in tune with the land that recognizes the beauty and the spiritual nature of trees the fact that there are they are our brothers and sisters our spiritual guides even and teach those trees can be teachers for us I think and druids are famously known as tree huggers and to hold a tree and to connect with the spirit of the tree is one of the most wonderful things I think Druidry helps me to get in touch with the seasons in touch with my body my intuition my instincts and it's a path of spirituality that recognizes the beauty of life there's a lot of reasons or ideals around why do tree but the oak was very much the tree of these lands going back in Celtic times Oaks predominantly oak forest spread mostly across the land it was a wood that was very giving it was very good for you know the building of the houses and the work that they had to do so they honored the out for that but also the oak the Acorn the mystery the tiny acorn out of the tiny acorn grows the massive oak and you know the oak tree in in its own little world has over 300 species of fauna insect and plant life they grow nowhere else they live predominantly around the oak so the oak I think it's symbolic of being a giving tree it's about strength solidity Oakwood as you know for hundreds and thousands of years so you know it's about being solid and it's about giving because by the time you become a druid the ideology and the spirituality behind it is that you know we become teachers and we go out to the world and we give of ourselves in service to to the greater good of of the natural world but also made mankind so so you might call that space and then the other element of being a druid is time we talk about ancestors we talk about history with all of our stories so there's a connection to the past there's a real striving to be fully in the present and also to be aware of the future or potential futures and that also informs our identities as individuals so who are you who are your ancestors what is your story but also connects us to a wider community our ancestors that we share with each other and kind of all of all of mankind Jayhawk of dawn wings its way home thank you for filling us with your inspiration and clarity of purpose behold the Gateway to the east Jemma I've got a present for you this is elder it was carved by a druid it represents transition and a change in one's life [Music] it's made it generally richer deeper more spiritual I think it possibly saved me from more mainstream consumerist life is giving me frame and a purpose to work with it's become part of my identity which I don't ought to be like I can't imagine it without that I don't know where I would have ended up so that kind of again it comes down to connection with myself and those around me with nature it just gave me a rich appreciation of how wonderful life is and how wonderful creation isn't and how lucky we are to be part of it and how we should hold that as a sacred really [Music] it doesn't mean that you have to change what you already believe you know I'm still technically a Christian so really what it does is it adds stuff to your life and it creates more avenues to connect with with spirit and so I don't go with this kind of God that's outside of me I have a feeling of like a personal connection with with life itself and by doing that and honoring the seasons it's a way of tuning in with the land and moments in time and so you can get a real sense of being part of life itself you know you don't have to be a pagan to be a druid so you can just be honoring the seasons and then the elements there's no one way of being a druid what it does for me it makes me look at aspects of who I am and how I relate to people and so it's like a self-discovery [Music] [Music] [Music] one of the lovely things about about Gerry in the order for me has been the the contacts the relationships the community that is arisen through Obata Myanmar and through Gerry and so I've met the most extraordinary people and wonderful people all over the world but I wouldn't have met beforehand and I know you know people have married and come together and just created all sorts of interesting initiatives as a result into Audrina and I find myself in all sorts of extraordinary settings with all sorts of interesting people as a result of that and and that's that's been a unexpected benefit I suppose or gift that Gerry has has has brought it's been lovely [Music] [Music] I found that it really complimented some of the beliefs that I already had it had a lot of scope for exploration and defining things for myself I combined it with my home religion and I found that it's really given me a sense of fulfillment and sort of completed a circuit so to speak [Music] in general it encourages me to be more conscious of the way I engage with people and the way I move in the world in particular living in a city as a part of a nature spirituality it can be quite challenging and I really like to try and see the city as a manifestation of nature in some way humans are animals and the things we build are not that different from you know termite mounds or nests in a way and so I just like to try and move in the world with an awareness of even if I'm surrounded by petrol and exhaust fumes and concrete it's still the earth and it's still sacred [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Roland 'Roly' Keates aka Lost Histories

Views: 27,271

Keywords: Druids, Druid, Documentary, The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids (OBOD), OBOD, Roland Keates, Derbyshire, Stone Henge, Druid Order

Id: YHD1_ce4lBE

Length: 37min 8sec (2228 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 11 2020