A prayer to the horned God

Grant, O horned God,
Thy protection and thy strength,
Thy knowledge and thy wisdom,
Thy spirit and thy freedom.
Grant, O horned God,
thy understanding of the wildwood, the forest and the ways.
Of the birds and animals so we may honour and protect them.
Grant, O horned God,
thy balance, thy inspiration and thy blessing.
/|\

The circled “A” word

When our Grove was young I described it as an “Anarcho-collective”. It was an off the cuff, spur of the moment remark . It seemed to fit my personal vision of our grove so I used it a couple of times and it sort of stuck. As the grove grew however, I came to realise it was a mistake. I forgot that what seemed an amusing but self-explanatory remark to me just caused confusion in others. Some were concerned that it had political implications, some hoped it had political implications, one person thought it was something Monty Python made up, others just didn’t get it so ignored it…

When confronted with a term, phrase or description that I don’t understand, my natural reaction is to look it up or ask questions. I forget sometimes that others don’t do this. Instead they prefer to gloss over things, ignore things, or just make inaccurate assumptions.

Until the end days of the Grove however, no one bothered to tell me that my off the cuff description was causing angst. The following was a Grove Facebook post I put together to explain what I meant. (Ultimately to no avail!)

“THE (CIRCLED) ‘A’ WORD.

It appears that my use of the term “Anarcho-collective” has caused no small amount of confusion which I’d like to try and clear up.

In the context of the Grove the term ‘AC’ doesn’t signify any larger political (governmental) stance, theory or party politics. Instead it is a way of describing how I always envisioned, and pushed for, the Grove to operate on a daily basis.

I’ve always maintained that everyone in the Grove should have an equal voice in the running of the Grove and it’s decisions. What I’ve always hoped the Grove would be is a group of motivated individuals working with their own responsibility and initiative towards the survival and greater good of the Grove as a whole. The most apt term for this kind of organisation, as far as I can see, is an ‘Anarchist (Anarcho-) collective.

“The word anarchy comes from the ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarchia), which combines ἀ (a), “not, without” and ἀρχή (arkhi), “ruler, leader, authority.” Thus, the term refers to a person or society “without rulers” or “without leaders”.
Wikipedia.

“the political theory that a community is best organized by the voluntary cooperation of individuals, rather than by a government, which is regarded as being coercive by nature.”
Wiktionary

“A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an economic benefit or saving, but can be that as well.”
Wikipedia”.

“In the name of …..” a fragment

From my notes I found this fragment of a conversation from our old grove Facebook page. The discussion was about ritual and ceremony. I was looking at the use of “names of power” and borrowed authority as a ritual form. In particular I was concentrating on calling the quarters by the archetypal elemental symbols of the Hawk of Dawn, Salmon of Wisdom, Great Bear, and Fiery Stag…

“In the Golden Dawn ceremonial, which OBOD rituals are based on, they use the technique of calling/summoning subtle powers by invoking the name of the presiding archetypal symbol/God/angelic force that rules (typifies) that power. “In the name of Raphael I call upon …” etc, to give weight and authority to their own power.

It’s the same as happens in secular life when someone is using a higher authority to impose their own authority “in the name of the law”, “in the name of the powers invested in me..”, “in the name of Her Majesty..” etc.

This is the technique we are using in the OBOD ritual, but are drawing on established archetypes that symbolise the elements. By consistent use as the archetypal symbol by a lot of practitioners the symbol gains Weight, power and authority.

By consistently using the same ritual structures we create quicker symbolic links to stored associations and altered awareness within our own minds.

All in all, it makes the ritual more powerful in a magical sense and creates a quicker gateway to the altered state of consciousness we are seeking for the symbolic ritual to be more effective.”

Three strands & graded organisation – a fragment

The following is a fragment of conversation found in my note archives. I can’t remember when it’s from or who the conversation was with, but we were obviously discussing the Order’s grade structure.

“It is fairly common that some students feel drawn to one grade or area of study more than another, and to a degree the progression through the Bard, Ovate and Druid grades is an administrative/organisational structure. The themes of the three grades aren’t exclusive or clearly separated as such; and although OBOD is an Order with a clearly graded progressions, it isn’t particularly hierarchical.
If you take an overview of the grade structure there are, roughly speaking, 3 “strands” that are braided together to form the course. There is the ‘practical strand’ of techniques and practices – casting the circle, visualisation, sacred grove etc. There is the ‘personal development strand’ – in the Bardic grade this is the alchemical work of the elements. And there is the ‘theme strand’ – exploring the typical themes associated with the grade – for Bards this is creativity, storytelling, for Ovates it’s herbalism, divination etc. Both the practical and personal development strands are progressive and need to be done in order. They are designed to be accessible to a complete beginner and to guide them to more in-depth and advanced concepts and techniques. The grade themes are relatively self contained. You could have the first grade as Ovate and study herbalism and divination etc, and the second grade as Bardic. However, as you will discover, the ‘theme’ study area of the Ovate grade is very open and expansive compared to that of the Bardic grade which is much more guided. If the themes of the Ovate or indeed Druid grades were presented as the first grade the work and pace of the course would quickly become unfocused and progression would be sidelined and limited. The key themes of the Bardic grade are more universally accessible and provide an underlying concept to frame the students future studies and work. There will also be an enhanced depth and understanding of the theme work of the Ovate grade after the student has assimilated the insights, lessons and techniques acquired in the Bardic grade practical and personal development strands.”

The problem with Sexual identity?

The following is a fragment of conversation, from a few years ago, with a friend and fellow OBOD Mentor. As part of an on-going conversation, the subject of sexual identity and self identification came up. This was my comment…

“I have to be honest and say that I’m a little wary about these current discussions of sexual identity. I personally think that it’s a very sharp, double edged sword, especially linked in with everyone’s openness on social media. I think it great that different sexual identities, information and preferences are being openly talked about and are more readily accessible and accepted by the larger society. It’€™s a wonderful and liberating movement and one that I hope continues until different sexualities are just unquestionably accepted by society. The down side, as I see it, is that I think it can put too much pressure on adolescents to identify with a particular label or worse be pigeonholed into a label or expected set of behaviours and preferences. I think it’s too much for society to ask of someone. Preferences and sexuality can change over time and through life experiences and circumstances. For some people their sexuality will never be truly fixed as one thing or another, but be in a state of constant flux. For inexperienced adolescents the world is already a confusing and strange place. I think it’€™s unfair to make someone make absolute decisions like that that can affect the rest of their lives (which is where the problem of social media and it’s incredibly long and unforgiving memory comes in). I think back to something as innocuous as some of the bands and films I liked as a teenager and cringe. I’m glad that there is no social media record other than old photos and friends memories! Preferences can change over time.
I dislike the term ‘gender fluid’€ (because it sounds like something you need to wipe up whilst hoping it doesn’t stain) but I do think it probably applies to many people. I Personally believe that however consenting adults wish to explore and exercise their sexuality and complex relationships in private (ie not actually shagging in the streets) is their business and their business alone”.

Earth Warriors: Call to battle.

Rise!
Rise, Earth Warrior.
Rise up, and sing your song.

Rise!
Rise, Earth Warrior.
Rise up, and bring your peace.

Rise!
Rise, Earth Warrior.
Rise up, and sing your truth.

Rise!
Rise, Earth Warrior.
Bring shield, rattle, drum.

Rise!
Rise up Earth Warrior,
There is battle to be done.

Advice on visualisation

I personally think that one of the main barriers to success in visualisation meditation is the name ‘visualisation meditation’. It immediately sets up false expectations for the required result. The term ‘visualisation’ sounds like you should ‘see’ or have a ‘constant clear image’ (in this case of your entire body glowing with light) during the exercise. However, very few people actually experience that level of visual clarity. What most people experience is a ‘sense’ of the image, a ‘feeling’, maybe some fleeting images or sounds. Think of it as building an ‘awareness’ instead of a picture. 
The key pieces of advice (that may or not be relevant to you) I’d give to help with visualisation are:

1- rethink the concept of visualisation, aim for building an awareness or feeling instead of a picture.

2- relaxation. Be relaxed in both mind and body, being tense or stressed will inhibit results. Spend a bit of time just breathing and getting comfortable before starting.

3- don’t get fixated on ‘doing’ or ‘achieving’ the result/goal of the meditation as this will actually inhibit you from doing or achieving that goal.

4- allow plenty of time. Don’t try to force or over pace the meditation, let the sense of awareness build in its own pace.

5- experiment with different postures and movement. Sitting in a straight back chaired (‘god’ position), or in a crossed legged lotus position just doesn’t work for everyone! Try standing, reclining or lying down. Add movement in the physical world to emphasise movement in the ‘inner’ visualisation world. I always get my best results by standing and using gestures or movement.

6- manage location & environment. Find somewhere quiet, away from distracting noises and smells; somewhere where you won’t be disturbed or interrupted. I find it best to avoid harsh or bright light, candlelight or subdued lights work well. Burning some incense may help put you in the right frame of mind. Wearing robes, a special garment, or a talisman signifying that you are “doing” a magical work will also get you into the mind frame quicker.

7- allow yourself to fail! This is incredibly important. Often (particularly when you’re learning) things just won’t go to plan and you just can’t get into the meditation. Don’t stress about it! It happens to everyone. Briefly try to analyse why it didn’t happen (too tired, too tense, too hungry, TV on in the other room etc) so you can eliminate external factors and be aware of internal ones. Don’t build a failure up into a massive barrier, acknowledge it and move on.

8- practice, practice and practice some more. The more you practice the more you experience and learn; the easier, faster and stronger you’ll become. You’ll learn something about meditating every time you try, even (especially) the times you fail! 

9- make a brief but detaiked, record of every attempt in your magick diary or Bardic journal. This will help you track your progress and will help you to spot developing patterns.

The more experienced a practitioner gets, the less relevant some of these points will become. 

Ego warrior! Spirituality, ego & Magick

The following is part of an ongoing conversation with an Ovate student about ego, spirituality and occult groups:

“I whole heartedly agree with you that there is a lot of egotism in esoteric and occult writing and groups. I would like to say especially in the past, but it’s a fine tradition that’s still being practiced today! The modern GD orders only slow their in-fighting to attack and condemn the OTO and anything Crowley. The US OTO, from what I understand, are currently tearing themselves apart with “named“ members leaving in droves. The wider Pagan communities is always rife with disagreements, arguments and rivalries. It’s a truly sad state of affairs. While I can’t comment on the OTO etc specifically because they have their own hierarchy and organisational issues, but I think that s large part of the problem is that to step away from the mainstream and follow a magical/esoteric path that encourages self responsibility you already have to be a fairly strong and independent character. It doesn’t take much for that strong character to tip into ego, especially when confronted with an equally strong character with a slightly different approach or point of view. It’s a sad fact that few working occult groups last very long. Organisations like OBOD and (to a degree) OTO survive and continue either because of their size and formal hierarchical structure in case of the OTO, or because of their open decentralised approach as in OBOD. But their smaller membership bodies are still prone to infighting, and there are always a number of disgruntled ex-members and detractors nearby. I first ran into this first hand at the start of my OBOD journey. Our fledgling seed group was taken under the wing of the Derby Grove. Within a few short months of first meeting them, the Derby Grove was no more, having torn themselves apart through infighting. Even my own Grove was not immune. We thrived and survived for 22, mainly enjoyable and harmonious years, before the unchecked ego of one member, taking advantage of death of one of our founding brothers, recruited a couple of accomplices, formed a schism and launched an array of personal attacks that caused the old Grove dissolve. The bulk of us quickly reformed into a continuation Grove. the worse part of it was that up until a year or so ago we counted these members a close friends and oath sworn spiritual family.

Unfortunately ego is a powerful, often destructive, force that we are all susceptible to, especially when we’re passionate about something. In many ways ego is a central theme in spiritual and occult thought and practice. Qabalistic systems are often based on the “ego journey“, with “ego-death“as an achievement of the lower grades and an initiation requirement of Tiphareth. Tiphareth is but a reflection of Kether, where the journey culminates in ego annihilation or absorption. At Cefalu, Crowley grandiosely claimed the grade of Ipsissimus proclaiming that he’d achieved ego annihilation of Kether, to my mind paradoxically demonstrating that he hadn’t! The inherent problem is that you must have a powerful self belief and ego to believe that you can even get to the stage of transcending or absorbing your own ego. The ego must sustain and drive itself to its own destruction to achieve its own goal. There is a side conversation we could have here about cultural differences and effects on ego between East and West spiritual approaches, but I fear that, despite what I said earlier, I’ve waffled onto long on this subject already. So instead I’ll paraphrase Lon Milo Duquette who pithily summed up the paradox with “man, I’m gonna look SO cool when I loose my ego“.

Druidry, Thelema & The Golden Dawn: Another look at my Magickal path.

A response to a student question:

“Your last email made me smile. In a few short paragraphs about a revelation of Druidry as a magical path, you perfectly summed up a spiritual journey that I pursed and struggled with for 20years!

You asked about my experiences with the GD, Thelema and the AODA (I was also briefly involved in one of Michael Greers other orders The Druids of the Golden Dawn or DOGD). So I’ll take an indulgent moment to talk about my background and journey.

It really all started when I was around 15. I’d dabbled in tarot cards a bit, and I was aware of Paganism as a nebulous concept. Then I picked up a copy of Aleister Crowley’s ‘Book 4: Magick in Theory and Practice‘. I read it from cover to cover and hardly understood a single word! But it spoke to me, called my soul. I knew on an intuitive level that it was something deeply and profoundly important that I needed to understand. That drive to unpick Book 4 lead me to explore magick and the occult.

Obviously one of the first places I looked was the Llewelyn ‘Complete Golden Dawn‘ and various books and authors around the GD/Crowley theme. I liked the Gd stuff as seemed clearer than Book 4, but less practical because of all the paraphernalia and the amount of people needed (I was still only around 17yrs old at this time and the internet was many years away). Realising that full ceremonial practice was unrealistic at that time, I (as suggested in Book 4) started reading about other religions, traditions and paths. I looked into Wicca/witchcraft, Shamanism, Asatru BotA, Amorc as well as more mainstream religions. One day in 1990 I saw a tiny advert for the fairly newly relaunched, ‘Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids‘ sent off for the introductory pack, thinking of it as just more research. I started reading the Gwers and something just clicked.

One phrase I hear often as a mentor from new Bards is that it feels like “coming home. And that’s how it felt to me. Like I’d come home, that it was right. Fast forward 15 years of work, study and experience and I completed the Druid grade and my formal studies with the order came to an end. After 15 years this suddenly left a void (although I’d been invited to become a mentor at this point and was going through training) I had read Michael Greer’s “Druidry handbook“ and “Druid magick“, and I knew that the AODA did a credit transfer from OBOD. I joined thinking I’d skip the foundation grades and start somewhere in the middle. Instead they transferred me straight over as a “Druid companion“ which meant all I had to do was submit a lengthy project to complete their grades and graduate as a full Druid! I never did submit a project and I’m still technically a Druid Companion of the AODA. Over the years the AODA has grown and had some changes, and to be honest I’m not sure I like (or understand) their order hierarchy or structure, too many Arch-Druids for my taste!

Over the 15 years I spent working on the Gwers I also kept up my interest in all things GD, Crowley and the like. After the AODA was a wash out I looked at joining one of the GD orders to run along side my Druidry. After spending some time online researching the various groups, their courses and their claims I got heartily discouraged by the amount of hostility, backbiting and politics involved. I didn’t want, or need, to step into that kind of environment. I did however, have a small library of GD material and the Cicero’s “Self Initiation in the Golden Dawn Tradition“. So that’s what I did. Using the large Cicero book I worked through the preliminary exercises and on into the grades, gathering the equipment needed as I went along.

Over a couple of years I worked my way through the first 4 grades into the threshold of the Philosophus grade 4=7. By that point however, I felt I was just going through the motions. I was raised as an atheist so most of the biblical symbolism completely passed me by and left me “cold“. I also felt I was just treading water because I’d covered most of the grade work already (and in a more accessible way) in the Gwers. The reason I found it all so similar is that OBOD is largely based on the GD structure. So much so that Ross Nichols (Nuinn) wrote to Israel Regardie seeking a formal charter. As far as I’m aware the GD influence became part of the Order through CC George “MacGregor“ Reid. Reid can be seen as one of the most important figures in modern Druidry and was the founder of the Order that eventually birthed OBOD. He was also very close friends with S.L. MacGregor Mathers and other important members of the original GD. Anyway, eventually my GD studies dwindled off and are currently on indefinite hold.

My relationship with Thelema is way more complicated and full of contractions that I won’t go into it now. I will say that I think Crowley is in equal measures an occult genius and an absolute arse. He went so far, then over reached and fell foul of his own ego. I identify strongly with much of Thelema but find no value or credence in other facets. I am, and I am not, a Thelemite….

I did say it was complicated! To answer another of your questions I started my blog “A Druid in the Aeon of the Child“ in part to explore my relationship with Thelema and the Gd from a Druid perspective or Druidry from a Thelema/GD perspective, but it hasn’t quite worked out that way yet… The other order I mentioned that I briefly belonged to was J Michael Greer’s Druids of the Golden Dawn (DOGD) based on his “Celtic Golden Dawn“ Book. When I saw that this book was scheduled for release I had great expectations for it. Unfortunately, to my mind, it utterly failed to live up to those expectations. It wasn’t Golden Dawn enough to be Golden Dawn, and it wasn’t Druidic enough to be Druidry. Instead it was a sad bland blend in the middle. Working in a small chat room with JMG and his atrocious wife was also a challenge to say the least. Perhaps it was just my interpretation and perceptions, but it certainly wasn’t for me!

As you described, the interweaving of these approaches, despite how both similar and dissimilar they are, for a long time left my with the nagging feeling that the ceremonial systems were somehow more “real“ or “powerful“. It took my winding journey and various experiences with various techniques to fully appreciate the quiet, subtle strength of Druid Magick. The ‘ceremonial‘ approaches were very formulaic and structured which gives them a feeling of gravitas and certainty, a weight of tradition and effectiveness. But it’s these same qualities that can also make them feel unwieldy, restrictive and hollow.

Druidry on the other hand is more free flowing, instinctive and creative, but that lack of formality can also be a down side as it doesn’t offer any “formal structure“ or prescribed practice to fall back on. Ceremonial Magick can offer a good, immediate feeling of “I am doing Magick“ whereas Druidry is a lot subtler, but no less effective. Ceremonial Magick can be a dramatic (but often short term) shift in consciousness whereas (I’ve found) Druid magic is a deep running current of consciousness shift. Druid magic may not seem very mystical or flashy, but it taps into the forces that turns the acorn into the oak tree, or means that a river can carve a canyon. Of course it is possible to work Ceremonial (and other magical practices) and Druidic Magick together, it just takes practice and experimentation.”

Of Gods, Goddesses and Divine Willi

The following is part of a conversation between myself and an Ovate Og student on the nature of Deity:

Student:

“One Gwers mentions that “pure deity” is formless, nameless, and genderless, which is how it has always seemed to me. I lack the usual human tendency to anthropomorphize Spirit and experience or see it as a tall woman with long red hair who helps your cows give more milk, or even a less specific entity that grants blessings and healing. For me, Spirit manifest in the elements – the fire of fire, water of water, air of air, earth of earth – and is experienced through the five senses. It infuses everything with a particular elemental quality that can be supplicated and invoked, felt, joined with. However, hearing others articulate their experience and viewpoint is often eyeopening and I’d love to hear what your experience is. The Gwersi often refer (in a generic sort of way) to The Goddess. There are also references to The Devine Will. Would you share with me what those mean to you?“

Response:

“Thank you for asking your question. One of the aspects of mentoring that I really enjoy is the opportunity to try to coalesce various nebulous thoughts into some form of (semi) coherent order! So here goes…

Firstly I would say that I totally agree that “pure deity” is formless, nameless, and genderless, and I also struggle to anthropomorphise “pure deity“. I personally feel that part of the problem stems from the predominance of Christian thought in the development of Western culture. Although I was never raised as a Christian, have never been christened, and have only attended church services for funerals, the Christian concept of an all powerful watchful God has still been, to a degree, indoctrinated into me. It is the prevailing “god concept“ of Western civilisation. Compared to this omniscient, omnipotent creator the more “human“ Pagan Gods with their dysfunctional relationships, foibles and conceits can seem somewhat “petty “and less powerful. They fall short of the grand concept of God that we have come to know. Therefore some people find it harder to relate to in that way. I’ve found that the key to building a better relationship with the Pagan Gods is to try to abandon the Abrahamic God concept and approach the Gods as they are. The Pagan Gods are relatable archetypes, aspects of the divine, that help us to understand what it is to be human and how to relate to our immediate environment. Many of the Pagan Gods characterise important aspects of the human experience. They signify their importance whilst confronting us with the need to acknowledge and work with them, even if they are uncomfortable characteristic that we would prefer to avoid or suppress. By learning to recognise and honour these aspects we can learn to build a more balanced life experience. We can also learn how to navigate relationships with ourselves, other people, and the environment. To me the anthropomorphised deities are complex but relatable avatars of the pure deity.

When we refer to the, somewhat nebulous, “The Goddess“ I feel that we are focusing or emphasising the more traditional archetypal “feminine“ aspects of Deity, such as nurturing, creativity, fertility, protection, instinct, empathy etc. We are not talking about a specific anthropomorphised individual, but are referring to general universal principles of life giving, growing, sustaining and compassionate energies. The Goddess balances and compliments the traditional archetypal “masculine“ energies of “The God“ (sometimes referred to as the Horned God to denote a more earthy “natural“ nature, and to clearly separate from the Abrahamic sky/desert God). The God is the equal of the Goddess. They are Ying and Yang. One cannot exist without the other. They compliment, define and contain one another. On the Qabalistic Tree of Life the archetypal masculine and feminine energies are, respectively, Chokhmah (wisdom) and Binah (understanding). They are the 2nd and 3rd emanations of Ain Soph or the pure/infinite divine.

The first emanation on Tree of Life is Kether (The Crown) which can be seen as the Divine Consciousness or Divine Will. For me the Divine Will is the energy or essence that is the manifest universe. It is the force that “drives“ creation.

So, to draw that all together in some form of coherent structure, there is the Pure Divine that manifests and enables everything in its Divine consciousness or Will. We can perceive the Divine Will as having masculine and feminine principles which we refer to as “God“ and “Goddess“. The God and Goddess energies can also be experienced on a more approachable “Human“ level through anthropomorphised Gods and Goddesses and the myths we tell of them. By honouring the Gods and Goddesses, or The God and The Goddess, we can access those divine principles (the divine spark) within ourselves and each other. And we can recognise that we are part of the manifestation of the pure divine.“