The Sacred Actions Wheel of the Year Journal and Earth-Based Spiritual Journaling — The Druids Garden

I’m really excited to announce the release of my new book: The Sacred Actions Journal: A Wheel of the Year Journal for Sustainable and Spiritual Practices. The Sacred Actions Journal is a follow-up to my 2021 book Sacred Actions: Living the Wheel and includes additional information on sacred actions, new insights on spiritual journaling, new…
The Sacred Actions Wheel of the Year Journal and Earth-Based Spiritual Journaling — The Druids Garden

Beyond the Anthropocene: Druidry into the Future

The Druid's Garden

Druidry into the future

Druidry today has both ancient and modern roots, and there have been several distinct “phases” of druid practice historically. While it’s not critical that the practitioner of the modern druid traditions know what I share, it is helpful to have a sense of where the tradition comes from and the forces that shaped it–particularly so that we can think about where we are going. I want to talk today about both the past of druidry in order that we might talk about its future. How do we shape our tradition today so that we become the honored ancestors of tomorrow? What is the work that we might consider doing now, as druids, to create a tradition that endures?

Modern druidry is inspired by the Ancient Druids, a group of wise sages who kept history, traditions, and guided the spiritual life of their people. The Ancient Druids…

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Ancient Order of Druids in America

The Druid's Garden

Dear readers, I’m taking a pause from my regular article-style blog posts this week to share some big news and do a bit of reflection. Last week, as of the Fall Equinox, I became the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America (AODA). I’ve been in leadership and service with the AODA since 2013, serving first as Trilithon journal editor for four years, then as Grand Pendragon, then as the Archdruid of Water for the last four years. And now, I’ve stepped up to lead the AODA, following Gordon Cooper, and before him, my friend and mentor, John Michael Greer. Because of this, I wanted to take a week to share my story of AODA and reflect on this path. I do this for a few reasons–first, I wanted to share the news. But also, I realize that a lot of people may find this reflection useful…

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Embracing Ancestral Fires and Fire-starting at Beltane

The Druid's Garden

An awen-shaped sacred fire, created from my flint and steel

The tiny sparks from my flint and steel shower down on my char cloth. This flint and steel set was a gift from a fellow druid from almost a decade ago, a gift that has long offered me a connection with my ancestors. It takes me a few moments to remember the technique he taught me, striking the steel against the flint in a particular way with a particulary angle to my body. Starting a fire in an ancestral way isn’t just a mental act; its an emboded one. I breathe deeply and remember, and the tiny sparks fly from my tools to the char cloth. After a few more attempts, a single spark lands on the cloth and starts to glow orange. I carefully pick up the char cloth and blow on it to increase the ember size, then…

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Spring Equinox Rituals: Rituals of Looking Back and Looking Forward

The Druid's Garden

Sometimes, when we are hiking on a trail, we are in a hurry to get somewhere–that far off vantage point, that mile marker on the map, or just seeing what is over the next horizon. I remember hiking with some friends who regularly backpacked; they were so intent on speeding through the woods to their goal and putting the miles behind them that they left me behind at multiple points as I got off the trail to explore something. This “speeding towards a goal” is, perhaps, part of who we are as humans, and certainly, a product of Western Civilization, which is so growth and progress oriented. Even with our spiritual practice, we can be so intent on focusing on a goal (that next grade or degree, for example) that we forget about the journey itself. On this trail, the day I took this photo, my intuition told me to…

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Druidry for the 21st Century: Pandora’s Box and Tools for the Future

The Druid's Garden

The story of Pandora’s box has always been a favorite of mine, ever since I was little. Pandora was so curious. She just had to open the box. She just had to. And when she did, she let out all the bad things in the world: suffering, pain, war, famine, pestilence, betrayal….but she also let out one good thing: she let out hope.

I think when we start talking about the present and the future of the world-its kind of like being inside Pandora’s Box. It seems that more and more reports come out, more and more news comes out, and the longer that things go on, we keep being surrounded by all the bad things. Ten or fifteen years ago, perhaps these things could be ignored. But today, I don’t think there is any more time for that. The reports, like the recent National Climate Assessment, don’t often…

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Druidry for the 21st Century: Psychopomping the Anthropocene

The Druid's Garden

As an animist druid, I recognize the spirit of all beings. I honor and interact with the spirits in the land, in the trees, in the animals and birds, in the insects, in the rivers, in the mountains. Animals die, plants die, insects die. Their spirits live on. In the Anthropocene, even mountains die, they are removed for mining activities all along the Appalachians and in many other places. Rivers die, and have been dying cor centuries as we fill them with refuse. In the Anthropocene, many things die. What happens to that mountain’s spirit when the mountain is gone? What is happening now to the millions of non-human lives that are dying because of human activity? That’s the question we focus on today–as part of my druidry for the 21st century series. Earlier posts in this series include Druidry for the 21st Century and Druidry in the age of…

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Druidry for the 21st Century: Druidry in the Anthropocene

The Druid's Garden

Druidry is rooted in relationship and connection with the living earth: the physical landscape and all her plants and creatures, the spirits of nature, the allies of hoof and claw, fin and feather. The land and her spirits are our primary allies and energies with which we work as druids. The question I keep coming back to is this: how do I practice a nature-centered path in a time when nature–those of the hooves, fins, feathers, and claws–are going extinct and dying all around me? How do I practice druidry when everything that I hold sacred and love is under severe threat, and when it is likely that in my lifetime, I will witness severe ecological collapse in multiple ecosystems. How do I practice druidry with my “eyes open” to all of this, and honor nature in this great extinction event, and still say sane? How do I do this…

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Sacred Tree Profile: Juniper’s Medicine, Magic, Mythology and Meanings

The Druid's Garden

Here on the East Coast of the USA, we are still in deep winter. Soon, the maples will be flowing. Soon, the winter snows will melt. Soon, spring will return. But until that time, the conifers, particularly offer strength and wisdom. One of my favorite conifers is Juniper, also known as Eastern Red Cedar. It is delightful to come across a wild juniper in the winter months, with her sweet and pine-scented berries and her delightful sprigs that offer friendship and hope through the darkest times. So come with me today as we explore the sacred Juniper tree.

Juniper here on the land

This post is part of my Sacred Trees in the Americas series, where I explore sacred trees within a specifically American context, drawing upon folklore, herbalism, magic, and more! I think it’s particularly important that US druids and those following other nature-based paths in North America understand…

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Recipe: Wildcrafted Herbal Blessing Oil

The Druid's Garden

A herbal blessing oil is a simple magical tool that you can make that directly comes from the living earth. The herbal blessing oil can be used to bless tools, seed balls, trees, yourself, other people, or anything else you like. You can include it as part of your Druid’s Crane Bag. Your own unique blend of herbs and wildcrafted ingredients will make it an amazing and potent tool for your practice. While druidry doesn’t use oils extensively, other traditions, like the American folk magic and Hoodoo, use oils a lot to dress candles and do other kinds of energetic work.