The Rude Man of Cerne

I’ve just noticed that the Cerne Abbas Giant, better named the Rude Man of Cerne, is looking a little worse for wear and his powers are apparently fading. This is a very serious matter. Couples have been making love on him and women wanting a baby have slept on his very obvious parts for eons. [...]

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Bell Tent Report 2

My new bell tent has just been out for the third outing, and considering the vast range of weathers it had to cope with, I thought it was time for another report!
Bell tenting has really captured the imagination of the Druid camping community and there is now a large array of them, and very beautiful [...]

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Eco holidays, and to fly, or not to fly..?

Having a passionate regard for the environment and the precarious state of the planet, I am always mindful of the impact of travel. This is a thorny one because I love to see the world and to imbibe of diverse cultures, see wonderful things like eclipses, wild animals, unique landscapes, beautiful buildings, art works etc [...]

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Creative Block… at Lughnasadh?

I know enough artists and writers to understand the suffering of creative block. In the madness of the current age, when we feel compelled to be continually and consistently productive, there is a disconnect from the natural flow of things.
It is entirely natural to experience the fallow time, and to need to rest, re-stock and [...]

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Rivers of Life

I have often wondered what it is that gives London its soul – something Peter Ackroyd describes so well as the heartbeat of a great and ancient city, teeming with life and echoing with many centuries of history. Then I remember where I sense the heartbeat of London the most, and it is of course [...]

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Both being and becoming

One of the highlights of my year is the Midsummer Gathering of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Gatherings are held twice a year in Glastonbury, around the solstices, but the summer assembly is the one with the big ‘draws’: meditations, fellowship, a glittering and colourful public ceremony on Glastonbury Tor, a great feast [...]

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Telling the bees

For a while now in our little house we have been talking about bees. Bees are wondrous things. They are symbolic of community and industry, pollinate crops and make delicious, sweet and unctuous honey which takes on the flavour of the flowers which they have fed on – in our garden here I think it [...]

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Bell Tent Report

I have just spent a week in my new bell tent and think it warrants a review! It was all much easier and straightforward than I expected!
I arrived at the camp field to an array of yurts and benders already constructed, along with a few other bell tents, some nylon jobbies and a sprinkling of [...]

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Maypoles

May is at last with us and my apple blossom is out, pink blushed, scented and beautiful. Newly returned from Beltane Camp, the May is very much with me, after the deeply magical celebration I have just been very much inside of.
A very powerful and physical ritual act was the making and raising of [...]

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Love and Joy at Beltane!

Well, now Beltane really is almost upon us and the blog will enter a temporary lull as I go off to celebrate at Camp. When I looked out of my office window yesterday at the sweeping vista of the Kennet valley I was struck by the sudden acceleration in the greening – even over the [...]

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