Meaning of the Corieltauvi Grove symbol

Symbolism of the Seal

As part of the reinvigoration of the grove in 2006, it was decided that we would re-imagine the grove logo or banner, up to this point we had a “seedgroup” banner although it was little used and not hugely relevant to the grove. After brainstorming ideas the then grove membership came up with a rough design plan which was later interpreted and created by the Herald into this basic official banner/ logo:

De-constructing the logo, we can look at it as several parts.

First is the intertwined circle and square that forms the outer part of the logo. The intertwined circle/square is the OBOD order symbol of the Bardic grade.

The square represents the material universe, the nature and solidity of the four elements, delineates the four cardinal points, echoes the equilateral four armed cross which is the symbol of Earth, Malkuth on the tree of life, practicality, solidity and foundation.

The circle represents the spiritual, ethereal aspects of the universe, Kether on the tree, oneness, wholeness, that which cannot be confined to the mundane, Magick, spirit, divinity, the subtle energies.

The two shapes circle and square are intertwined to represent spirituality and practicality working together, supporting and inseparable to each other. Kether in Malkuth, Malkuth in Kether, The reality that is the spiritual nature of the practical world and our aspiration to be constantly aware of their co-dependence and inseparability.

The next part of the logo is the inner “knot-work” panel. The panel is adapted from a Pictish design found on a stone in Rosemarkie in Ross-shire. The intertwined knot-work quarters of the design represents the complex, yet supporting, nature of the elements, their aspect, movement and nature; their co-operation, interplay and balancing aspects of each other. If any part of the design is removed the symmetry is altered and fails. The creative forces working in harmony. The knot-work can also be seen to represent the members of the grove, their energies and relationships balancing, supporting and complimenting each other in an exquisite design.

In the central section of the logo are the Ogham sigils/characters of Oak and Ash. In the ancient forests that covered this region of the country, Oak and Ash were the dominant species. Although farming, building, urban and industrial development have radically altered our forest landscape the Oak and Ash still endure as the most dominant species. They are tied into the very fabric of the landscape around us, joined into the very energy and character of our tribal land.

The Oak Fidha “Duir” means “Endurance” and has associations of steadfastness, durability and strength. The Oak was considered one, if not the, most important trees in Celtic myth, shrouded with ideas of magic and sovereignty, often seen as a “door way” to the gods and the otherworlds (the word door originates from the Gaelic and Sanskrit word Duir”). Because of their long life, Oak trees were often the centre pieces of village gatherings and celebration as a symbol of continuity and tradition.

The Ash Fidha “Nuinn” means “rebirth and peace”. It is seen as a tree of transformation, a bridge between the worlds, spanning the micro/macrocosm, the realms of existence, this world and the other otherworld etc. the Ash is both masculine and feminine in energy giving feelings of balance, but also fluidity, a tree of assimilation, change and understanding.

Both the Oak and the Ash were sacred to the Celts and were considered trees of the summer. In Druidic tree lore the oak can be considered as the entrance of the sacred grove, Ash as the exit.

The “three part” aspect of the grove symbol also resonates the three circle of Abred (circles of existence). In the circles of existence (manifestation) the soul travels from the centre (Annwn) into the circle of Abred, outwards to Gwynfdd, then onto the limitless realm of Ceugant. If we look at the grove symbol we can say that the centre is the land, tradition and transformation (the Ogham); we travel out wards through the elements and with the support of the grove members (the knot-work); into a state of spiritual awareness and consciousness (circle and square) then out wards into the unknown….

Notes on Magick in the Druid ceremony

The following article was written in 2009, and was first published in the 2009 December issue of ‘TOUCHSTONE’, the monthly news journal of the Order of Bards, Ovate and Druids.

Notes on Magick in the Druid ceremony

Introduction

Over the past year, when it has been my turn to host our monthly grove meetings, I have been presenting a series of talks, discussions and workshops on the subject of Magick. The following is extracted from August’s meeting. It is my intension to expand it into a much larger and in depth article to appear on our website soon.

The basic premise of the talk was the magickal aspect of the ‘Standard’ parts of OBOD ceremonies. If you look at the Orders 8 main seasonal festivals they can be split into 3 stages, an opening, a mid section and a closing. The opening and closing sections are fairly standard to all of the rituals, and as such can become ‘routine’ and be seen as something you just do to get to the mid-section or main part of the ceremony. But the opening and closing sections are full of extremely important magickal acts and techniques that are essential to the main ceremony.

In this shortened article I will skip over discussions of concepts and definitions of magick; Freemasonry; Hermetic’s and the Golden Dawn; etc.

Throughout the articles I use the term ‘Initiate’. This is gender neutral and signifies someone who has been initiated into the Druid mysteries; please feel free to read the word as Druid, Practitioner, Magician, Adept, Shaman, or other term you feel comfortable with.

The Opening Ceremony

The opening section of the ceremony is extremely important with two main functions; the magickal, psychic, and astral preparation of both the initiate and the working area, using a number of magickal, consciousness altering techniques.

At the Corieltauvi Grove, a standard ceremony would see us meeting at the ‘Hearth Grove’ site, catching-up etc, sort out who is doing what in the ceremony, then we robe-up, and prepare the circle with lanterns, incense, water etc. When the space is ready we gather outside the circle to the West, each standing a little way apart. Then one by one we approach the circle from the West, pause, walk sun wise (clockwise) to the East, salute, then find a place on the circumference of the circle, and give Peace to the Quarters. Next, the circle is cast, and depending on who is leading the ceremony, the intention is given at this point. The circle is then consecrated, and the Quarters are called. At this point we all move to the centre, join hands for the Druids prayer and chant ‘Awen’, move back to our places and into the main part of the ceremony.

This is all fairly standard and should be familiar to most of you, but now I wish to look at what is going on in greater detail. For the sake of brevity, I will also skip over sections on Robes and dressing the circle, and we’ll rejoin the action at the West of the circle, and look at what’s going on and what its magickal meaning…

Vigil in the West

The initiates wait out side of the circle, if possible to the west of the ritual area, here they separate and spend a few minutes by themselves mentally preparing for the ceremony.
This is the where the initiate consciously starts their psychic transformation, at this point the initiate should be calming their emotions and be beginning the consciousness shift from the mundane world to the magickal operation, preparing their light body/subtle energy body for the work ahead.

The Gateway and the Symbolic Sacred Journey

One at a time the initiates enter the ritual area/circle. They enter from the West pausing to acknowledge that they are entering a sacred space; they then walk clockwise around the circumference of the circle until they come to the East.
The western ‘gateway’ has many symbolic associations that will be working consciously and unconsciously on the initiate. The West is the direction of the element of water and the feminine and is often referred to as the ‘gateway to the soul’. Approaching from the West represents coming from untamed emotions and the land of feeling and reacting with out understanding, the West also represents the decline of the light, the period of fading understanding, the beginning of the end of an old cycle.
When the initiate pauses and acknowledges that they are entering a sacred space – it helps the process of altering the initiate’s state of consciousness from the mundane outside the circle to the spiritual inside the circle. They also acknowledge that they are starting a symbolic sacred journey around the circle and through states of consciousness.
The initiate walks clockwise/ sun wise to the East, symbolically they are passing from the mundane emotional, declining world (West), through the North, the land of death and rebirth, the embryonic stage of spiritual renewal, completing the subtle energy shift of consciousness.
The initiate stands before the East, pauses and salutes.
This marks the completion of the symbolic sacred journey. The initiate has passed through the land of rebirth and now stands in a ‘Golden Dawn’ of understanding and enlightenment. He/she pauses and salutes to acknowledge the ‘life giver’, the ’divine’. The initiate stands before the ‘all seeing light’; darkness is being dispelled, and clarity of understanding is beginning. The initiate has quit the declining path to be reborn into the Dawning light of understanding and an acknowledgement of the higher self and the higher principles.

“…Only in the presence of that degree of self-awareness and power of understanding which enables a man also to think what he experiences instead of just living it blindly. In the latter case he actually lives the myth and the symbol without knowing it.”
C.G.Jung

The journey West to East also helps to balance out the ‘Masculine’ (East) and ‘Feminine’ (West) energies both within the initiates and the sacred space.

Give peace at the Quarters

Peace is given and declared at the cardinal points (Quarters) in a set pattern: North, South, West and East.
This is an act of pure magickal evocation. The initiate is drawing up from an inner peace and projecting it outward (an inner peace made more complete and accessible by the symbolic sacred journey) this is done to dispel and calm astral turmoil around and inside the scared space. It is an aspect of psychically “cleaning” the space in preparation for the work to come.

Calling for peace/ calling the Quarters

Calling ‘Peace’ and calling the ‘Quarters’ is performed in a set pattern. Peace is called: North, South, West, and East; whilst the Quarters are called East, South, West, and North. This is done to represent two shapes, the cross and the circle, or the square and the circle. When I brought this up in our workshop meeting several reasons were put forwards including representations of the Celtic cross and echo’s of the Shamanic circle. I feel that that this order reinforces the symbolism of the Bardic grade symbol of the intertwined square and circle, with the circle representing spirit and the square representing the material world, intertwined because one cannot be complete with out the other. The circle and the cross is also the symbol of Malkuth, the 10th sephiroth (the kingdom) on the tree of life.

Cast the circle

The initiate in the East (in charge of the ceremony) psychically/ magically and physically/symbolically walks and draws the circle around the sacred space and the other initiates.
When the initiate casts or draws the circle they are delineating a sacred space on both the physical and astral/psychic planes. They are magically creating a place of focus and containment, a microcosm that they can control and affect; an area where they can still the swirling energies and create harmony and balance. It is a place of safety. Through their magickal will the initiates are psychically creating a working space that permeates all planes of existence, lighting up the astral planes.

The intention

The initiate in the East gives a brief welcome to the participants and dedicates the intention of the ceremony.
This is a simple act of bringing together the group will and focus.

Circle consecration

The initiates carry representations of Water and Fire around the circle often Laving or fuming the other participants as an act of blessing
Once the sacred space/circle has been established and the subtle energies and swirling forces have begun to be subdued and stilled the circle is consecrated with the representations of fire and water, an act that resonates on all of the planes. When consecrating with the elements the initiate starts by invoking the essence of the element into the symbolic representation of that element, transforming it from just a physical expression of that element to a magickal expression of that element in it’s purest form. The element is then used to ‘clean’ or bless the circle and the other participants. This act helps to balance the masculine and feminine energies with in the circle, cleans up any remaining unwanted energies and helps to purify the area and participants. Fire and water are both sacred to the goddess Brigit, the goddess of the Druids and Bards (amongst other things). In ancient times fire and water would have been the main ways of cleaning (washing in water, and fumigating fleas and lice etc).The elements combined also resonate with the concept of hearth, home and safety; they also link into the concept of the ritual/magickal sweat lodge that the Druids may have traditionally used.. Fire and water also represent the active aspects of feminine (water) and masculine (fire).

Calling the Quarters

The initiate moves to each cardinal point and ‘calls a Quarter’. The quarters are called East, South, West and North.
This is an act of magickal Invocation. Using authority derived from, by alignment with and reverence of the archetypal animal spirit that represent the character and essence of that Quarter. In the name of this ‘archetypal higher power’ the initiate summons or invokes the essence or subtle energies associated with and active through the chosen direction and elemental plane of existence. As the initiate invokes these forces he/she calls and awakens them, not only into the circle but also into themselves. By assuming a ¼ the initiate becomes an active and willing conduit to these subtle energies.

“And may the harmony of our lands be complete”

As each of the Quarters is invoked into the circle, the initiates and participants of the rite focus them into balance and harmony. The 4 subtle energies, or essences, are conjoined to create the 5th energy, that of spirit and the sacred. This 5th force is created both within the sacred space and the initiates/participants.

Druid prayer

All participants in the ceremony move forward and hold hands, forming a smaller inner circle. Then together recite the ‘Druid’s prayer’
This is a group devotional prayer act, which psychically draws the group focus together. It is also an act of invocation/evocation, and a part of the initiate’s mental / astral preparation. The Druid’s prayer is an appeal to the higher forces to share and expand greater mental states within the initiate once the inner scared has been cleansed and balanced

Call Awen

The participants, still holding hands to form a circle, chant or call the ‘Awen’.
This is an act of magickal invocation using an energy vibration technique. The initiates are invoking the concept of ‘Awen’ into themselves and into the circle – filling their cleared and balanced sacred inner and outer spaces with flowing spirit and inspiration.

Conclusion

So there you have it, the routine and standard ceremonial opening awash with magickal technique and symbolism; full of transformation, invocation, evocation, energy harmonizing and calming, individual and group focus, petitions to higher ideals and entities and a symbolic spiritual journey through the inner realms……. And all that before you start the main part of the ceremony!

The opening ceremony is an extremely complex and important part of the overall Druid ritual ceremony designed to magically clean, balance and prepare both the sacred space and the practitioner; and as with everything, the greater the conscious understanding and focus you have of it, the more effective it will become.

To vote, or not to vote? That is the question…

The following ruminations on voting are taken from a Facebook conversation I started about UKIP wanting to repeal The Human Rights act 1998.

The post quickly moved onto an exchange between myself and Leithin Cluan, a friend, grove sister and fellow blogger. After agreeing that both UKIP and the Tories suck, Leithin said she would be voting for the Green Party in the general election. I, rather glibly, quoted Canadian author and social activist Naomi Klein,

“Real change will not be delivered within the machinery of the current system….[it’s against their interests]”

Leithin retorted with,

“There is that, but there is also the ‘keeping people alive while we wait for the revolution’ thing…”

Which made me consider and clarify my thoughts on the effectiveness of voting for the Green Party. On the whole I like the ‘Greens’, and if push comes to shove they are the party I’m most likely to vote for. However, I don’t actually believe that they will ever be popular/big enough to get into power (or into the top three possibilities). Which means they will remain a ‘protest’ or ‘pressure’ vote. The trouble with that, is that for it to be effective the people you are protesting to, or trying to pressurise, need to actually care for your opinions…. I answered Leithin with:

“Unfortunately voting green will have no actual effect on that. At best voting green will send a message about how important environmental issues are to some of us. The trouble is, the main parties already know this and will either pay passing lip service to green issues (and then just carry on business as usual) or, more likely, just ignore it altogether as it will inconvenience their corporate paymasters and vested interests.”

Leithin reluctantly agreed, but still insisted that voting is important. But I’m not sure anymore, especially if you take into account Naomi Klein’s argument quoted earlier. So I tried to clarify my position, or lack thereof, with,

“The voting/not voting question, for me personally, is a catch 22 situation.

If I vote green (as I want to) my vote will have no effect on the overall out come of the election or future policies of the main parties (see the post above). If I vote for one of the main parties I may (maybe) have a vague effect on the outcome, however, as there is, to my mind, no real recognisable difference in the main parties (blue conservative, red conservative or the yellow party that’ll hitch it’s wagon to which ever will offer them a sniff of power and be conservative) there is no real point in me trying to influence who gets into power (if you’re offered three turds and you have to pick one you’re still going to end up with a turd). None of them represents my wishes nor do they have any desire to. If I vote I’ll have no actual effect, or at least important effect, on the political outcome and certainly no effect that would actually represent my views or best interests. Also, by voting I validate and perpetuate the delusion that we are operating in a democracy, which we are not. Instead we are placated by being allowed to partake in a pallid imitation of true democracy whilst at the same time being kept away from any true power or control over the systems of power.

However, if I don’t vote I, again, have no actual effect over the political outcome, pallid imitation of democracy or not. I am, in effect still voiceless and powerless within the confines of the overarching political system. And whilst I would like to believe (but can’t) that a “no voting” stance would be regarded as a protest against the prevailing political parties and political climate, I actually recognise that it will be viewed as total voter apathy which will signal to the parties, the career politicians and the establishment, not that they need to change, but that they can get away with more because the public aren’t really interested in monitoring them or calling them to account.

Voting or not voting are both essentially ineffectual . You are effectively powerless and unrepresented either way. Both lead to disillusionment and ultimately disenfranchisement from power and democratic representation within the current system.”

Unfortunately, by this point in the conversation I think Leithin had got bored, given up, wandered off and left me to it…..

Prince Charles and Dracula..

Obscure non Druidic fact of the day:

Prince Charles, who own a large estate in Transylvania, claims to be related to Prince Wallachia Vlad III. famously known as “Vlad the Impaler” or “Vlad Tepes”.

Vlad III was a member of the Draculesti family, His father, Vlad II (Vlad Dracul) was a prominent member of “The Order of the Dragon” a chivalric order founded by Holy Emperor Sigismund in 1408 to bring cohesion to Romanian Christianity and defend it from foreign threats; the Order also played a role in various holy crusades. Members of the Order were known as “Dragonists”.

Vlad Tepes, as we all know, was one of the main influences of the character “Count Dracula” in the novel “Dracula” by (friend/member of the Golden Dawn) Abraham “Bram” Stoker.

Also related, by marriage, to the Draculesti family are the influential nobel Bathory family of Hungary. The most famous of the family was ecsedi Báthory Erzsébet (Countess Elizabeth Bathory of Ecsed. The most prolific female serial killer of all time (so far). The blood countess killed, tortured, mutilated an estimated 80 – 650 girls in the early 1600’s. Due to her royal connections she was spared public execution after her trial and was bricked into a suite of rooms in Cachtice Castle until she died 4 years later.

Prince Charles claims the link to “Vlad Tepes ” is his great-grandmother, Mary of Teck, who was grandmother to Queen Elizabeth II, and was queen during the reign of King George V. A Wurttemberg princess, Mary – the woman for whom the liner Queen Mary was named – was believed descended from one of Vlad’s sons.

Druidry is the path of the individual

“Druidry is the path of the individual – that may sound at odds to what you
expected…. Druidry is about your own personal, unique and individual path.
It is about how you relate to the worlds around you; your relationship with yourself, others and the divine; about the way you see and experience the world…. It’s only through the lessons and experiences gained about yourself that you can be truly effective in the world and so help those around you.”

Awen + Ovate symbol negative dotwork

Awen + Bardic symbol negative dotwork

A curious tale of clairvoyants

“So it seems the clairvoyant was half right..”

I was talking to our farrier today. He’s a mid-level officer in two of the Freemasonic lodges in this area, and we often talk “shop” about various esoteric matters. Today he told me a curious tale…

When you turn at the crossroads onto the road that leads up to the hearth grove you may notice some horses in the field a little way up on the left. Our farrier was there plying his black smithery trade, chatting away to the owner. She, as she talked, was looking around distractedly. “Have you lost something?” He enquired.

“I can’t find the broom” said she, then followed with the statement, “I blame the Druids!”.

This, of course, piqued his interest. “Huh?” he eloquently encouraged her to elucidate.

“Just over a year ago, when visiting my sister, I went to see a clairvoyant” she said, “who told me to move my horses because Druids meet in the woods nearby and they are not to be trusted!”

He gagged a little but said nothing, despite knowing that we meet around that area.

“Apparently they don’t like women and are generally unpleasant” she continued, “I blame them for everything, a bit like blaming the gremlins!”

After a little more subtle questioning my Masonic friend discovered that the lady in question had no idea about Druids (past or present) and just thought the clairvoyant was “going all ‘Lord of the Rings’ on her.”

He, thankfully, chose silence on the subject.

So what do we make of this tale?

Are we making a beacon on the astral plane that the clairvoyant picked up on (even if her interpretation was wrong)?

Was it just an inspired guess?

One thing I do know is that I too have a gremlin-like bogey-man I blame everything on, someone not to be trusted, who hated women and was generally unpleasant. If in doubt I blame everything on Thatcher! Perhaps the clairvoyant was picking up on that as well..

“My children of darkness, bring me all manner of unattended sweeping implements…”

A fragment of a parole hearing..

Recently, both PCG and myself were asked to submit a statement about the OBOD course to be used in a parole application hearing of one of our US prisoner students. The following is part of my statement in which I’m trying to encapsulate and describes some of the aims of the course for a “mainstream” audience.
“One of the main focuses of the OBOD distance learning/correspondence course is to encourage students to examine, understand and ultimately harmonise aspects of their own personality and character; in doing so they are also encouraged to examine, understand and harmonise their relationship with their family, local community and society in general. Through self understanding and knowledge the student aims to become a more balanced and centred individual who can fully engage and be effective in the wider community. The course aims to achieve this by presenting the student with various practical, creative, philosophical and historical studies, combined with meditation and visualisation techniques, based on archetypal themes, concepts and symbolism overlaid on a framework of mythological, folklore and storytelling traditions.”

A Druid in the Aeon of the Child – fragment concerning emotions

Part of a discussion about emotions…

“Many people, associate emotions with sadness, stress and tears. I’m not sure why this is? As a society we tend to treat our ‘everyday or base state’ (hopefully mild happiness or contentment) as neutral/emotionless and extreme states of emotion as ‘being emotional’. I guess that sorrow/sadness (seen as undesirable, negative and dysfunctional and therefore to be feared) is the most dramatic change from the base emotional state so is the most noticeable, whereas a greater happiness is accepted as just an increase in ‘base state happiness and contentment’. We (society) view emotions in a very linear fashion with sadness one end and happiness the other, it’s programmed into us that sorrow/sadness is negative and happiness is positive, and that we must constantly strive to move away from sadness towards happiness, and that any retrograde step is to be feared, avoided and worked against. We also live in a ‘rational society’ that like to think that emotions can be controlled and subjugated by reason and rationality. Failure to ‘keep your emotions under control’ or ‘letting your emotions get the better of you’ are seen as signs of extreme weakness of character and mental capacity, society tells us that in our modern age such behaviour is undesirable, and dangerous. We must beat primal emotions down with the might of our reason. The truth, of course, is a lot more complicated. ‘Emotions’ covers many ‘states’ not just happiness and sorrow; some are desirable, some undesirable, but all of them are vital and equally important. We are creatures of emotion. Our every moment of life is an expression of emotion. We flicker between States of emotion all of the time without registering it in our conscious minds. Emotions are the expression of our subconscious, they are part of what drives our every action, intuition, decision making and survival skills. Emotions, in their varied forms, are a major and vital part of who we are. On the qabalistic tree of life emotions are part of the seventh sephiroth (Netzach) which places them ‘higher’ than rationality and logic (Hod) and closer to Tiphareth, the point of harmony in the middle pillar, and ultimately closer to Kether.”