What do you want from a course in Druidry?
You might be looking for a course that reflects the teachings of the
ancient Druids, you might be searching for a way to develop a deeper and
more meaningful relationship with the Spirits of the Land and your ancestors.
How about a driving need to open up your inner creativity - to learn to
see the world through the eyes of a poet? Are you being pulled to learn
the Art of seership or divination?
Since the first lessons were sent out by the OBOD in 1988 thousands of
members have walked this path, creating a network of Druids with over
80 Groves and Seed groups around the world, and providing the basis of
a real Druidic community. So let me tell you more about the course. Although
it is made up of ‘grades’ they are more like ‘schools’,
each one teaching different skills, each one building on the other in
a journey of spiritual discovery. Each month members receive a pack of
lessons (or Gwersu) that might contain other supplementary booklets, audio
CDs, and our monthly journal Touchstone, so you are never more than a
month away from discovering what is happening within the Order.
To provide a Druidry course that works on both the surface, and at a
far deeper, inner level, without any kind of support would be irresponsible.
Therefore members can request a tutor from a network of 70 worldwide,
who they can correspond with about any issues or experiences they have
within the course. The tutor’s role is not to ‘teach’
but to ‘walk the path’ with the member as mentor, and friend.
The OBOD course takes its inspiration from the ancient Druids, but Druidry
must be more than simply re-enactment. The past cannot be a ball and chain
around our ankles. We must allow ourselves to look at how the ancient
teachings can help us grow and become more at one with the Natural World
in our modern age. Druidry is not a ‘revealed’ religion, and
therefore has no dogmatic ‘thou shalt nots’, instead it is
a living, breathing, thriving spirituality that the world needs now, more
than ever before.
The Bardic grade
The Bards were the Shaman poets of the Druidic caste, and much of the
knowledge we have about the ancient Druids comes from the old Bardic tales.
One of these tales is the story of Taliesin, the Primary Bard of Britain.
The new OBOD Bardic grade uses the skill of Bardic teaching through story
and poetry, so you may take the same journey as little Gwion Bach (Little
Innocent) and through the experiences of the story, you will gain insight
into Wisdom of the Bards. So often people see spirituality as a way of
escaping the ‘apparent’ world. But the OBOD Bardic course
helps us become rooted in the Natural World that surrounds us, opening
our eyes to the wonders that are there, just waiting to be discovered.
Within this grade, along with the regular Gwersu, you will receive the
8 seasonal ceremony booklets, a Book of Ritual, an audio CD, and the Bardic
Companion.
The Ovate Grade
If the Bardic grade teaches us of the wonders of the Natural World, then
the Ovate grade takes our hand, and leads us into the deep forest. The
Druids and trees are inextricably linked, and it is here, in the Ovate
grade, that the work with trees and herbs begins. The Ovates (or Vates)
were the Druidic Seers, so it is within the safety of the forest that
we begin to work with the skills of divination, healing, and the magic
of the Earth. Exploring our relationship with our ancestors of blood,
and of spirit, stepping into the dark Grove of Yews, to commune with them,
and learn the wisdom of the night, and of the Moon.
The Druid Grade
After the re-enchantment of the Bardic grade, and the deep discovery of
the Ovate grade, the Druid grade takes us out into the light once more,
to work with the stones, the Gods, and the Dragon. It will have taken
at least two years to reach this point, and you will have journeyed to
many places, both within and without. Your experiences will have taught
you much, and it is here, within the Druid grade, that you might be inspired
to step into some kind of service to the Druidic tradition. This could
take many forms, from starting open rituals, to facilitating a Druid Grove,
planting trees, or you might like to just pause and reflect on the journey,
and simply ‘be’.
Although the OBOD course constitutes a journey through the three grades,
there are many who find that they wish to remain Bards, and stop there,
or that the energy of the Ovate resonates with them, and they feel no
need to take the next step into the Druid grade. This is fine, and these
people can then become Bardic, or Ovate companions of the Order, still
as full members, and bringing much to the colour and community of the
OBOD camps and other events.
For details, contact the Order at :
The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids
PO Box 1333, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1DX, England
Tel/fax : 44-(0)1273 419129
email : office [at] druidry [dot] org
website : http://druidry.org
More information about OBOD
on this website.
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