Druidcraft

by Gary Colcombe

  On hearing your approach she turns towards you and invites you to sit beside her on the grass outside the circle.

  'Let us talk about magic,' she begins. 'People tend to think that magic is one thing, when in reality it is a number of things. As followers of this way, our aim is to lead magical lives – to experience life as magical. You have seen we do many things to encourage this. We perform ceremonies eight times a year to attune ourselves to the magic of the seasons, we take magical journeys in consciousness to explore the Otherworld, we enact Rites of Passage to mark important moments in our lives, and we connect to the magical current of Nwyfre to bring energy and vitality to our lives.

  'You see, life is fundamentally magical, and to experience its magic we simply have to get in tune with it and then the magic just flows through us. And when this happens, when you get in tune with the flow of life, synchronicity occurs more often. You meet the right person at the right time, you open a book at just the right place to receive the guidance you need, you get offered the job just when you need it.

  'That is one way of looking at magic - seeing it all around you in Nature, and opening yourself to it with this way of living. But there are also other kinds of magic. The most obvious kind that everyone knows about is Stage Magic.

  'Good stage magicians keep surprising you. They show you that you can't rely on your senses. They play with your sense of reality until you don't knew what is real and what is illusion. Their goal is to entertain and amuse you, by showing illusion after illusion, and this delights you because they reveal the limitations of your senses and your mind.

  'But that is as far as it goes. There is a connection with what we do on this way in as much as we are trying to go beyond the illusions generated by the mind, but that's about it. So, leaving aside Stage Magic, there are only two types of magic we are interested in - Practical and Alchemical.

  Alchemical Magic involves working on yourself. It is called alchemical because in alchemy the idea is to change "base metal'' into gold, the ordinary into the extraordinary. Our goal is to do this with our own lives, our own selves. That is much of the purpose of following a path such as Druidcraft. At each stage we are developing ourselves, our capacities, our abilities, our powers, so that gradually we are growing, evolving and transforming as human beings. You could use a less evocative term, such as "the magic of personal or spiritual development'', but alchemy conveys the power that this way of working has to provoke profound changes and gradual transformations.

  'The idea in alchemy is that you start off with the “base metal'' that is equivalent to all the raw material that you possess as a personality and a soul. Then, by following a spiritual path, you gradually transform this into a quality of being which literally radiates. That is why people who are on this path often have a quality of youthfulness and life which is almost tangible. And, in accordance with the Law of the Returning Tide, if you start to radiate positive energy out into the world, it will start to flow back into your life in all sorts of ways.

  'People who are clairvoyant or who have a sixth sense can see or feel this in people. Some people's auras are grey and the energy they radiate is minimal, other people's auras literally shine and the energy they radiate is strong and positive, so they naturally attract people and circumstances around them that respond to this energy.

  'All the techniques and ideas described in our discussions can be used for the purposes of Alchemical Magic - the visualizations, the ceremonies, the mud baths and sweathouse ceremonies, they are all designed to help us become radiant, to help us grow spiritually, and to help us stay physically and psychologically healthy.

  'In addition to this way of working, there is another kind of magic - Practical Magic. But before you start studying this, it is important to know why you are interested in magic, and what you would do with any magical skills or knowledge you might obtain.' Elidir motions Brendan to step forward. He seats himself beside her, and they begin their colloquy.

  'Why are you interested in magic?' asks Elidir.

  'Because l know there is so much more to life than meets the eye,' replies Brendan. 'Behind the world of appearances, I know there are all sorts of influences operating, and I would love to know what they are and how I can work with them to enhance my life and other people's.'

  'Yes, but what would you specifically like to do if you became a magician?' asks Elidir, gazing at him intently.

  Brendan replies, 'I'd like to be able to travel into the Otherworld to meet otherworldly beings people who have died or who are not yet born, and animal spirits, and those beings they call Fairies and Devas. I'm not even sure if these all exist, so I'd like to find that out too.'

  'But why would you want to do that - apart from curiosity?' asks Elidir, raising her eyebrows in a questioning look.

  'I'd like to hear their wisdom,' answers Brendan. 'I'd like to ask them for guidance for my life, and for how we can help solve the world's problems. And, of course, I'd be fascinated to explore their worlds and to learn about how they live.'

  'Are there any other things you would like to do?' asks Elidir.

  Brendan replies, 'Well, I'd like to be able to do magic to help people and to influence positively certain things, but I'm a bit wary of this kind of magic because when people talk about it, it often seems like meddling to me.'

  'I agree, but let's look at this in more detail,' says Elidir who takes her staff and uses it to draw a symbol on the earth. It is a Celtic triple knot. She then turns to Brendan and says, 'In Druidcraft we divide Practical Magic into three kinds: Questing, Changing and Making. They each have very different purposes, but there is some overlap hence the symbol that we use.'

  'Broadly, there are three reasons for doing magic. One is for research - getting information, finding answers to questions. We use Questing Magic for this. Another is for effecting transformation – encouraging certain outcomes, changing things for the better. We use Changing Magic for this. And the third reason we do magic is for manifestation, which involves bringing something to birth in the world. We use the Magic of Making for this.'

  THE MAGIC OF QUESTING

  'Let us begin with research. That was the first reason you gave for wanting to do magic - you wanted to learn about the Otherworld. This is what attracts many people to the subject of magic. They have heard about astral travel, or maybe past-life regression, and they want to explore their previous lives on Earth, or they want to meet their totem animals or talk to beings from other planets or to angels and fairies. This is a very important area for study, one that science is only just beginning to explore. But the magical traditions have been using their own techniques to explore this field for years, using divination, journeying, shape shifting, past-life recall and future-life exploration, to get data, ideas, inspiration and insight.

  'ln divination we take a tool such as tarot cards or astrology to try to peer beyond the veil of appearances, to look deeper into the causes of things. We can also use the tree language of Ogham or totem animals as an oracle, or we can take a journey into the Otherworld. For this we use a magical ceremony to create the appropriate atmosphere and attract the right energies for the enterprise, and then we use the power of music and the human voice to carry our consciousness into other realms. In reality, this way of working is shamanism, because a shaman is someone who journeys, who goes into a trance or altered states to obtain information for healing or guidance.

  'So, when someone wants to use magic for their research, when they want to undertake a Quest into the Otherworld, they decide which tool they will use to do this - divination or journeying then they use one or more aids, such as ritual, music, dance or another person's voice, to help them on their quest. With these aids they can then steer themselves towards the exploration of either the past or future, or towards meeting spirit animals or beings in the Otherworld.

  'There are also more esoteric methods, such as rolling you up in a bull's hide and sending you to sleep by a waterfall. That was a way the Irish Dr
uids sometimes determined the next king in ancient times. They used that magic to send their Druid-shaman into the Otherworld to get the information they needed.'

  'Why wrapping in a hide, and why the waterfall?' asks Brendan.

  'You could explain it by saying that the strange physical sensation of being tightly rolled up, and of your brain being bombarded by the roar of the waterfall, created a powerful state of altered consciousness,' replies Elidir. 'But that is just part of the reason - an explanation of the fuel used to project the Druid into the Otherworld. The real skill lay in the Druid-shaman knowing where to go in that Otherworld, and who to ask for advice once he was there.'

  Elidir falls silent for a while, looking out to sea and then at the stone circle. After a moment she invites you all to enter the circle of stones. As you follow her, you notice that she pauses at the entrance to the circle in the West, touching the gateway stones each side of her lightly, before stepping through.

  As you step forward into the circle, straight away you feel a change in the atmosphere. There is a deep, strong feeling here, as if you are in the presence of Greater Powers. Elidir motions you all to the northern side of the circle, then sits down in front of a stone, and continues:

  THE MAGIC OF MAKING

  'The Druids of old discovered a very special kind of magic - how to make objects appear out of thin air!' she announces dramatically.

  'And this is the sort of thing they produced.' She opens her hand to produce an old Celtic buckle, made out of silver with delicate knots work curling around every part of it. You look at her puzzled. Is she suggesting that they literally conjured such things out of nothing?

  'First they captured the idea, they received the inspiration to make such a thing. They might even have done some Questing Magic to do this and been given the design by a guardian spirit in the Otherworld,' says Elidir. 'Then they nurtured and developed it in the cauldron of their minds and hearts. Then, at exactly the right time and in exactly the right way, they gave birth to it in the forge.'

  'So they didn't just make it appear literally out of thin air,' says Brendan.

  'They did,' insists Elidir. 'It wasn't an instant process, that is all. When you have an idea for making or doing something, it starts in “thin air'' - as an intangible thought. But a day, a month or a year later, there is the meal, the building, the painting. The magic of making is the magic of creation itself.'

  'But what is so special about that? People are creating things all the time,' Brendan responds.

  'You are right. But there is more to it than that,' replies Elidir. 'Certainly, the three activities of Questing, Making and Changing occur all the time. People are researching, creating things and influencing events every day. Magic is no different in that sense. But what is different about it is that with magic we are working in the inner world. We are not just working in the outside world of effects, but going to a deeper, more causal level, where ultimately we can have more effect.

  'Once you understand the concept of the web - of the way everything is connected – it means you can literally “work the web'' to magical effect. It is as if there is an invisible pattern of connections between all things. Most people don't know about these, and they try to make or influence things on the surface, while the magician goes quietly into a magic circle, contacts the web, and then sends impulses or messages down the right filaments to produce the required effect.

  'The first magic to learn in Druidcraft is the Magic of Making. It is the magic of the Bard, the magic of creativity - of singing, music making, storytelling, painting, writing, acting, sculpting and dancing. Of course, you can do all these things without knowing anything about magic, but if you do know about it, you can be even more creative.

  'You can take the whole creative process and apply magic to each of its stages. The first stage in making something, manifesting something in the world, is getting the idea, the inspiration. What is it that you want to create? Often we get plenty of ideas, but the art is in getting the right idea - right ethically and right in the sense of it being a good idea that needs to be born into the world.

  'To help us do this, our magic is so broad that you cannot confine it to one technique. It involves developing our consciousness, our selves as vessels, as receptors that can capture the best ideas. Think of those great radio telescope dishes that can capture radio signals from distant stars. Gradually, through our development as spiritual and human beings, we can become like those great dishes, picking up distant signals.'

  'Where do they come from?' asks Brendan.

  'Who do they come from, is a better question,' replies Elidir. 'Perhaps we can capture signals - ideas and inspiration - from advanced beings on other planets, from angels, from wise souls who now live in other dimensions or in physical bodies on the other side of the world. Perhaps they originate deep in our own subconscious, perhaps they float like clouds in the collective unconscious of humanity, perhaps they are beamed to us by unimaginably advanced intelligences far away. Wherever they come from, we believe that the more we meditate and live our lives in tune with Nature and with Spirit, the more likely we are to receive these messages and ideas.

  'The way we live prepares us magically for inspiration, which is called Awen in Druidry. Awen is Welsh for “gift of the gods'', “blessings of the gods'' or, simply, "inspiration''. It was Awen that the goddess Ceridwen brewed in her cauldron. We can chant for Awen in our ceremonies, and we can also use a technique that was used by bards in Scotland right up until the seventeenth century. They used to cultivate inspiration by going into dark bothies - cottages - closing all the windows, and lying on a bed with a scarf tied round their eyes. They did this so there was no light disturbing them and, of course, it was completely silent up there in the wilds of the Highlands. Sometimes they put a stone on their chests too. They were doing this to create a type of sensory deprivation. Present~day researchers have found that people can have all sorts of extrasensory experiences under these conditions. So, you can see that the Bard-shamans were using these techniques to travel into the Otherworld to get their inspiration, their information. That is the overlap between the different types of magic that I mentioned when I showed you the triple knot. They are using Questing Magic for the initial stages of Making Magic.'

  'I can see how you are seeking inspiration in all these different ways, but once you've got it, what do you do next?' asks Brendan.

  'You are trying to make a dream come true,' says Elidir. “Once you receive the inspiration you have to nurse the baby that is growing inside. Making Magic is no different to bringing a child into the world, or planting a seed and tending the seedling that grows from that seed. Your dream, your desire or goal is the seed. Do nothing with it and it will die.

  'You need to nurse the dream, so don't try to give birth to it too fast. Dreams need nurturing with rumination, with daydreaming around them. They even need ignoring for a while, so they can grow and incubate in darkness. Don't keep digging the seed up to see how it's doing. Focus on something else while feeling happy and confident that the seed is germinating - drink in art and music, poetry and song. Walk in the woods, talk with friends, enjoy being alive.

  'When the time comes to nourish the seed with thought, go at it side-ways. Make a collage of photos, drawings and poems about it. Make an altar or sacred place in your house or garden with objects and images that relate to it. Read books about it. Be open to new ideas and feelings about it. Get friends to play devil's advocate. Argue passionately for it and passionately against it. Be prepared to lose the dream and find another. Not every child gets to be born. Don't think you are always right or that you always know what is best for you or for the world. But, after all this, if your passion is still there and you want to make it happen, take the next step.

  'You see, the art of this kind of magic Making Magic - is completely natural,' continues Elidir. 'It is a Magic that follows the same sequence or stages that making a baby follows - first you conceive, then you gestate, then yo
u give birth, then you take care of the newborn baby before you let it go out into the world. And all the disasters that can befall a physical pregnancy can also happen to this kind of spiritual or creative pregnancy - you can miscarry at any time, or have a stillbirth.

  'Often people get ideas which they give birth to prematurely, and so the project withers and dies because it is not strong enough to survive in the outside world. They should have kept it inside, in their heart and imagination for a little longer - thought it through more, allowed it to develop more.