the raven

Having been inspired by Mark’s reading from Living Druidry the other week I went out and bought it. Read it in one sitting (sitting was the operative word. I sat up till 3am, but never mind). Have other people read it? What did they think? I was fascinated by it and had a lot of contradictory feelings. In some ways very envious because Emma Restall Orr seems to have not only a very sympathetic husband but also endless access to a forest, which would be my idea of absolute heaven. Also in some ways I was very depressed by it because it rather seemed to imply that you couldn’t really get close to the kind of intensity which constitutes real Druidry unless you could do all those kinds of things she did ie spend hours and hours and hours just being and communing and listening, alone and undisturbed by other people and their demands, and how on earth do 99 out of 100 of us manage that? At the same time, I felt very inspired, because I did kind of understand her approach and totally agreed with her ideas about Deity and her utter passion for the natural world. It made me cry. Did anyone else have strong feelings about this book?!

Hello all.

I thought I would just write a quick note about what my wife and I got up to last weekend, since I think it is vaguely related to Druidry (at least it is in my mind!). We’ve been thinking about where we live and how we live and decided to do some investigations into living in a community. We are a long way from committed to the idea yet, but we want to live outside London, in the countryside and in as close a communiuon with the land as possible. So… we spent a weekend here:

http://www.oldhall.org.uk/

…the community has been running for 30 years, is the closest to being self sustaining of any community in the UK. They grow all their own vegetables, keep chickens, pigs and cows for meat, milk, cheese and eggs. They have arable land for growing wheat to make their own bread. Everyone works on the land to provide food for 60 people. Meals are eaten communally.

For me, working on the farm – milking cows, tilling the fields and bringing in the harvest is a very attractive proposition. Having to work in close harmony with nature to provide food for the table, and knowing the provenance of everything is a very appealing prospect. The countryside around the house is amazing – it’s a 5 minute stroll to Flatford Mill – where Constable painted “The Hay Wain”.

I’m not really sure why I’m posting this here. I guess I was just enthused by our short stay and looking forward to the next visit. All the talk about struggling to find somewhere for our rituals is quite frustrating when you consider some people can just walk outside their front door and there they are! Hopefully we’ll be invited back and will be able to learn more about whether the life would be suitable for us.

Does anyone have any experience of community living? We are taking our first faltering steps and any advice or opinions would be gratefully received!

- Andrew.

The Equinox really started on the 19th for me. It was a beautiful warm day and Alex and I decided to go somewhere, just because staying at home would have been a waste of a fine day. We randomly selected “Whipsnade Tree Cathedral” out of the National Trust handbook, just because it sounded intriguing. When we got there, we found a park laid out in the shape of a cathedral with trees for pillars. The aisle is an avenue of hornbeam, and the apse is formed out of white birches on a background of yew. To the side are ‘chapels’ with various themes where you can sit and be quiet. The whole thing was planted in the 1930s, so it isn’t quite mature yet. In another 100 years or so it should be better than it is now. It has been planted with an overtly Christian intent, but the place does feel special and not unlike a sacred grove.
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