Dave Smith, or Damh the Bard, is well known throughout the
community as a talented Pagan musician, songwriter, poet, and storyteller.
He is founder of Wildlore School of Wilderness Awareness, Bushcraft and Native
Ways, where he teaches the valuable skills of crafting relationship with nature
through observation, awareness and ancient technology. He works closely with
the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and also co-facilitates the Anderida
Gorsedd at the Long Man of Wilmington. You can also find out more about Damh,
his work, spirituality and music on the Druid Network profile pages, here.
The Interview
What are your earliest memories of paganism?
As a child I was always in the woods, and my parents encouraged my already
over-active imagination. I spent a lot of time searching out Faerie homes,
looking for holes beneath trees, mushroom rings, faces in bark, listening
for them. I'm sure I heard them on several occasions, I followed the sounds
too, but they were always just out of reach. I think it's easier for children
to do this - to this day, play is such an important part of Paganism to me.
Did you ever have any sort of moment of realisation?
Yes. For me it came in the form of a Hammer Horror film called 'The Devil
rides Out'. It's funny how these things happen. I must have been about 11
years old, and I'd been sent off to bed, but I heard this commotion coming
from the TV downstairs. I crept out of bed, and inched down the stairs, We
had open bannisters, so I could sit on the stairs and look into the living
room to see the TV. On it, there was a so-called Black Mass going on, Christopher
Lee was watching from the sidelines, and people were dancing and drumming.
Then, the camera panned over and there on screen was a figure, half human,
half goat - the 'Goat of Mendes', according to Christopher Lee. It looked
so serene, so powerful, an image that both scared me, and moved something
deeper, and even at that age I knew that something that beautiful, could not
be evil - they'd all got it wrong! Years later I opened a book and there was
Pan, some some years further on I watched that old Richard Carpenter program
'Robin of Sherwood' and there was Herne. They had got it wrong, and what had
moved me on that night all those years ago was the image of the old Pagan
Horned God, not the Christian Devil at all! That really set my path, and Old
Horny has been with me ever since.
How difficult was it as a younger pagan?
When I was younger, the word Pagan wasn't in such widespread use. This was
about 1978 - 1981, and I don't think even the Pagan Federation was around
at that time, or if it was, it wasn't the organisation it is today. No, in
those days I was interested in Magick, so I looked at myself more as a Magician,
or a young Occultist. I read books by Aleister Crowley, played with the Tarot
(I got detentions many times for reading my friends' Tarot for them in lessons!),
and loved the paranormal. If I was young today, I most most certainly would
have been a teenage Pagan. However, I must say that, although there is a far
greater choice of learning materials around for the young Pagan today, I do
think that the quality of that choice has fallen. Publishers have seen the
opportunity for sales, and now the shelves are awash with Teen Witch books
from so-called modern experts. Far too much width, and very little depth for
the young Witch/Druid/Magician who is looking for serious knowledge. So in
a way it was easier for me when the choice was more limited. At least I knew
that the books I was reading had been written not just for the pound, but
to share that knowledge - most of the authors I was reading were already dead!
Also, there wasn't as many 'Elders' out there putting me down, and discarding
my path because of my age. I think it's a shame that happens. Of course, some
young Pagans will drift away, but others have found their Path at a very young
age, and will stick with it, the way I did, and that is wonderful for them!
How did you find Druidry, what made you pursue it?
Myth, music and story. I started to learn the guitar at 8 years old, and have
always loved music, myths and fairy tales. Imagine my delight when I discovered
a spiritual path that honoured those things as sacred, that had, within it,
the Path of the Bard, a sacred keeper of Lore in the form of poetry, story
and song! That is what drew me into the Druid path, and it's where I've been
ever since.
As a young pagan, did frustration or difficulty
ever make you want to give up?
I have to say no. I really never had any deep frustrations or difficulties
that were strong enough to sway me from my path. It was all too exciting you
see! Such Magic and creativity. So many things to explore! Sure, there were
others who were against what I was doing, but that was their problem in the
end, not mine, I just stuck with it.
Looking back now, what would you say about your
young pagan days, how have your experiences shaped your own vision now?
Inside, I'm still that child who is looking for Faerie houses, I still follow
strange paths in the forest, I still use my imagination to travel in the Otherworlds.
I think that way of being has always shaped my Druidry, the songs I write,
and my creativity. Now I have my own woods, and the Wildlore Wilderness School
teaching Holistic Bushcraft and Wilderness skills, I'm still spending a huge
amount of time outside (I really need to get in more :)). I work with the
Order of Bards Ovates and Druids. All of these things have happened as a result
of my childhood interest in Paganism, and the Unseen Worlds.
What would you say to any young pagan/Druid who came
to you asking for advice on 'where to go' and 'what to do'?
Be obsessively inquisitive, make your own opinions about what is truth, follow
your heart and explore the places it leads you, remember that any author or
elder in the community are only human and can make mistakes, look after yourself
and if something doesn't feel right, don't be afraid to walk away. Go to conferences
and talk to people, read a lot but avoid teen books, and always remember to
get out into Nature and play, hold onto your childlike qualities, and avoid
cynicism. Enjoy it!
