To Stephanie, my muse and my love, who has offered the inspiration for so many of the ideas given here and in my other books
Contents
Acknowledgements
Foreword
A Hidden Valley – The Worlds of the Witch & Druid
The Secret of the Returning Tide – The Ways of Blessing
The Cave of Dreams – The Ways of Love
The Grove of the Summer Stars – The Ways of the Earth and Her Seasons
The Garden of Herbs and Healing – The Ways of Health and Rejuvenation
The Circle of Stones – The Ways of Magic and Spellcraft
The Waters of the Well – Druidry, Wicca and Druidcraft as Ways of Freedom
Resources
Bibliography
Index
For years I have wanted to write this book – the subject of the relationship between Wicca and Druidry has intrigued me from the moment I began to study Druidry over 30 years ago with my teacher, Ross Nichols. I would like to thank Ross for all the encouragement he gave his young student – I had no idea at the time how important his encouragement would be, and how much it would mean to me today.
My wife Stephanie’s constant encouragement and her perceptive insights throughout the writing of this book have also proved invaluable and are deeply appreciated.
I would also like to thank Susan Henssler, who commented in detail on the draft manuscript, and whose inspired wording I have used for much of the ritual passages. My deep gratitude also goes to Ronald Hutton who, with great attention and characteristic enthusiasm, commented in depth on the manuscript. His eye for detail and his considerable knowledge of the history of Witchcraft and Wicca gave me the confidence to tread in this barely charted territory. My thanks go to Ellen Evert Hopman who inspired me with her account of a candle-boat ceremony, and who helped me track down elusive information, and also to Carole Nielsen for her herbal wisom, and to Erynn Laurie for her elucidation of the Irish versions of the term ‘Druidcraft’. My thanks also go to Cairisthea Worthington for inspiring me with her vision of the four faces of the Goddess, and to Vivianne Crowley for her contribution to this book and for the inspiration I have gained from her writing. And a big thank you to Matthew Cory, editor of this book, for his sensitivity and persistence in dealing with such a stubborn author.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge the inspiration I have gained from the camps held by The Order of Bards Ovates and Druids in the vale of the White Horse over the last eight years. There we have explored the practice of a new kind of ‘Wild Druidry’ – a ‘Druidcraft’ that is earthy and spirited in a way that allows us to go beyond the labels of ‘Druid’, ‘Wiccan’or ‘Pagan’, bringing us closer to the Way which is Nameless, the Old Way which is ever new and ever-changing.
Philip’s beautiful and eloquent book is a new but ancient vision that will be a source of inspiration to Druids, Wiccans and all those drawn to nature spirituality and magic. In Druidcraft we see Druidry restoring its persecuted and suppressed tradition of magic and seership and moving closer to Wicca. The gap is increasingly small, as both traditions seek to reawaken contemporary culture to what we might call ‘natural religion’, our instinctive reaching out to venerate the planet that is our home, to celebrate the Divine within one another and within all creation, and to honour the ever-changing seasons and cycles of nature and human life.
Druidry and Wicca share a love and veneration for the natural world and have an important role to play in restoring aspects of spiritual tradition too long neglected, to our own cost. This includes the vision of the Divine as immanent and present all around us in the glorious wonder of the natural world of our own planet and that of the cosmos. It includes too the vision of the Divine not as God, but as Goddess and God. These images of the Divine interconnect in mutual harmony to create an interchange of energies that gives birth to new life; for the sum of the whole is truly greater than that of the parts. Druidcraft reflects this synthesis, integrating in a refreshingly new and unique way nature spirituality and magical vision, veneration for the Divine as Goddess and God, and the integration of body and spirit – engagement with and joy in this world, as well as the journey to unification with Ultimate Reality that is at the heart of human existence.
My own path is Wicca, but Druidry also had a strong attraction. I visited Ross Nichols, Philip’s predecessor as Chosen Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, thirty years ago. A wise and kindly man, he took time in his busy schedule to explain Druidry to a teenage spiritual seeker trying to find the right path. Druidry offered much, but the Goddess orientation, greater female leadership, and the focus on the development of those powers of the human psyche that we call magic in Wicca proved the stronger pull. Since then, much has changed. Druidry has developed greater interest in the traditional magical skills and gifts of its Druid ancestors, and the role of women in Druidry now equals that of men. Wicca has grown closer to Druidry in its provision for family participation and openness as a path for the many rather than the few. Both traditions have evolved to see themselves as part of a growing contemporary spirituality that is concerned with social engagement, planetary