Druidry - 2nd Edition by Philip Shallcrass (Paperback)

About the Book

Druidry is enjoying a resurgence as a green spirituality for the 21st century. It can and does change lives. Practical exercises encourage readers to directly experience the magic of the three interwoven paths of bard, ovate and Druid.

Book Synopsis

Druidry is enjoying a remarkable resurgence as a pagan, animistic, polytheistic, ancestor-honouring, green spirituality for the 21st century. In this age of imminent climate catastrophe, Druidry offers an inherently green spirituality. Ancient Druids honoured trees and plants as sacred. Following their lead, medieval Irish and Welsh law codes gave legal protection to many tree species. Druid revival groups have been running tree planting campaigns since the early 1900s. Druidry's ecological roots run deep.

In an increasingly fragmented world in which many feel isolated and alienated, Druidry offers a genuine sense of community, both in physical gatherings and online, and of a community dedicated to creating a better world for future generations. Druidry can and does change lives. Many equate their discovery of it with a sense of joyous homecoming.

This book guides readers from the present-day revival of Druidry, its core principles, ethics and practice, to its ancient roots as a spiritual tradition common across much of north-western Europe during the Iron Age, prevalent in the 'Celtic fringe' countries well into the medieval era, aspects of which survived in the bardic schools of Britain and Ireland until around 1800. Along the way, you will learn about the inspiration, creativity, lore and learning of bards; the divination, seership and healing techniques of ovates; the nature, philosophy and magic of Druids; rites of passage; seasonal celebrations; shape-shifting and walking between worlds. Practical exercises encourage you to directly experience the three inter-woven paths of bard, ovate and Druid.

Review Quotes

Emma Restall Orr (Bobcat), author of Druid Priestess (a.k.a. Spirits of the Sacred Grove), Living Druidry, &c., says:

"There are a good many books on Druidry, but few have such a valuable blend of academic and historical with authentic experiential as Greywolf offers here."

Flick M.:

"The Druid path sensitively and evocatively explained. What I liked so much about this author's writing is that there is absolutely no side to him, no sense of ego or of talking down to the reader. His beautiful prose takes you straight to the heart of Druidry, connects you to the spiritual aspects of the natural world and the turning wheel of the seasons. There are some very moving rituals in the book too. Whether you are a newcomer or a Druid of many years, there is much of value here. I've both read about and practiced Druidry for years, but this book put me right back in touch with the reasons why I've always identified with this spirituality. Everything is clearly explained, but with depth and insight. Highly recommended."

Ronald Hutton, author of Pagan Religions in the Ancient British Isles, The Triumph of the Moon, Shamans, The Druids, Blood & Mistletoe, Pagan Britain, The Witch, &c., said of the 1st edition:

"I enjoyed the book so much ... it stands in the tradition, otherwise occupied by ... Philip Carr-Gomm and Bobcat (Emma Restall Orr), of 'contemplative' Druidry, aiming at personal experience and empowerment and individual action. What sets it apart ... is the very high degree of genuinely visionary and transcendent operation recorded in it ... it is the book of an ecstatic, and for me the finest moment in it is your account of your eagle-flight, which is classic shamanism ... I think that you are probably a shaman at the core of your being, quite convincingly dressed as a Druid. This may, in fact, be the role which the ancient Druids actually performed, and your instinctual way of being at present is far closer to it than that of most modern Druids."