Druidcraft: The Magic of Wicca and Druidry

Brendan says, ‘It sounds as if to practise Druidcraft I will have to go around like a priest saying, “Bless you my child”.’

‘No, no,’ smiles Elidir. ‘Think of Witches when they say “Blessed Be” to each other. What does that mean? It’s simply an archaic way of saying, “Bless you” or “May you be blessed”. Think of it another way – think of a blessing as a kiss or a smile. In fact, in Wiccan ceremonies, participants often say “Blessed Be” to each other and then add a kiss. In that way, the term blessing means “love” and “positive energy”. The magic that I am talking about is simply the craft of sowing seeds consciously and with love. It is spiritual gardening, where we sow seeds that bring inspiration and joy to others, and where later we harvest the fruit of our sowing – bringing abundance to our lives.

‘The idea of blessings is that there is a very real energy or current of beneficent force in the Universe and we can consciously and deliberately acknowledge, honour and utilize this current for the benefit of ourselves and others. Like everything in life, if you ignore something it will tend to go away. If you give it attention, it will tend to come into your life. So it is with this magical current.’

‘Yes, but what is it?’ asks Brendan.

‘You could call it the love of the Goddess or God, or the fundamental building force of Creation, as opposed to the fundamental breaking-down force. Some might even see it as Good, as opposed to Evil. Soon we will explore its source. But whether or not we know what it is, we all know when our life seems blessed, and when it sometimes seems most definitely not blessed! Some clairvoyants say they can tell the difference between objects that have been blessed and those that have not. We believe it is a current that is most definitely real, and that it is also the source of healing.

‘Remember a time someone touched you and you could feel the love and warmth in their hands or their embrace? It felt like an energy was coming into you, didn’t it? Magic says it is an energy and that you can consciously direct it!

‘And in radiating this energy, somehow you don’t lose energy yourself. Instead, it comes to you in even greater quantities – the more you give the more you receive. This is the Law of the Returning Tide. It is so easy to prove with the phenomenon of the returning smile. Try smiling at someone for no reason. Most often they will smile back. This is just a small example. In a wider sense, the path of magic teaches us that we can radiate blessings effortlessly and joyfully and that, in return, blessings will flow into our life in increasing abundance.

‘The returning smile comes back to you fast, but blessings can take years or even lifetimes to reach you. It is vital that you radiate blessings without thought of their return, otherwise they don’t really radiate – they stay attached to your ego, to your own needs and desires, and don’t seem to travel out into space. The trick is simply to radiate goodwill and positive energy in the knowledge that the Law of the Returning Tide will mean that ultimately you will benefit from them, but that is not your purpose in generating them. You simply let go of any attachment to receiving anything, and enjoy the feeling of giving.

‘You see, the art of blessing is just the opposite to the art of cursing. In a nutshell, that’s the difference between good and evil magic.

‘A magician is someone who realizes that they can consciously direct this force for good or ill. Only foolish or mentally ill people use it to harm; if they were intelligent or sane they would know about the Law of the Returning Tide, and they would know that everything they did would be revisited on them at a later date, often magnified in intensity. That’s another law that you’ll soon discover – that just as a tidal wave picks up speed and height the further it travels, so the waves of this energy can sometimes increase hugely in intensity over distance and time.

‘Think back over your life and you might find that you once did some small thing – smiled, talked to someone, made a decision you thought was minor – and years later you can see that the consequences of this were vast, and have changed your life profoundly. This is how this law works, and that is why it is vital to grasp this at the beginning of your training, otherwise you can make some very silly – and unfortunate – mistakes. The story of the selkie was about this, amongst many other things. It was about the difference between a compassionate and generous approach to life – the one shown by the selkie and her son – and a selfish, grasping attitude – the one shown by Taggart.

‘It is a story about being human. We all face dilemmas and sadness in our lives, and somehow we must follow our hearts against all odds. And yet we must still give and bless – as did the Selkie by leaving fish every day on the rocks. In the end, maybe there is no difference in essence between giving and compassion, love and blessing.’

PRACTICE

At the beginning of this chapter we learnt that the path of Druidcraft teaches the art of being magically receptive as well as magically active. As a first step, you might like to open yourself to receiving blessings. As you study this book, you will find that the Goddess Brighid is often mentioned. This is because she is a Goddess of Fire and Water, the Flame and the Well – the two magical and alchemical elements of transformation and transmutation – and she is also a Goddess of Creativity, Poetry and Healing. For this reason she makes an ideal deity to call upon. She is invoked in the blessing of the healing waters and crystal at the start of this chapter, and she is invoked in the following ceremonies that you can perform. If you prefer, you may address the ceremony to another deity, God or Goddess, or simply to ‘Spirit’ or ‘Great Spirit’. The first ceremony helps you to become receptive to blessings; the second develops your ability to actively bless – to actively radiate positive energy out into the world.

SELF-BLESSING AND DEDICATION CEREMONY

Offered here is a self-initiation into the ways of Druidcraft. It is based on an ancient rite, and you can read of its origin in the History section below. You can perform it at home with a bowl of water in place of the sea. But, ideally, you would perform this rite beside the sea on the night of a waxing moon, with a small bonfire on the beach. If you are lucky enough to live near the sea, somewhere that is not freezing cold at night, you could perform the ‘Waves of Blessing’ part of the ceremony by wading into the sea a little and splashing yourself nine times with handfuls of water scooped from the waves. Read the ceremony through first and decide whether you will perform it clothed or skyclad – ‘skyclad’ is the beautiful term used in Wicca for being naked, a word derived from the Jain tradition. Your decision may depend on the size of the splashes you plan to give yourself!

If you are enacting the ceremony at home, place a bowl of water and a candle in the centre of your room – these represent fire and water. To create an evocative atmosphere you might want to have other candles lit as well as incense burning. As you enact the ceremony, remember it is the spirit in which you carry out a ritual that is important, not the detail. Give yourself plenty of time to open yourself to the blessings the ceremony is designed to evoke. Pause often and allow yourself to feel what is happening to you in your body and soul.

When all is prepared and you are ready, stand beside the fire or candle, facing the moon, whether you can see her or not, and say:

O Goddess Brighid, Keeper of the Sacred Flame, Guardian

of the Holy Well. Mother of Song and of Poetry, of the

Wise and the Gifted, I ask for your blessings on this my

ceremony. I ask for your blessings on this seeker of the

ways of magic and of Druidcraft. May I be blessed by the

power of the earth beneath me, the sea around me, and

the sky above me!

Stand with your legs spread apart a little now, and stretch out your arms to either side, forming a pentagram shape with your body, and say:

O Goddess of the Moon, Goddess of the night sky, of

brilliance and of darkness, please bless this seeker of the

ways!

Now walk sunwise three times around the bonfire or candle saying three times, with each circling (sunwise is clockwise in the northern hemisphere, and anticlockwise in the southern hemisphere):

O Goddess of the Flame, Goddess of the Holy Fire that

burns within my heart and soul and body, bless this seeker

of the ways!

Now sit, crouch or lie upon the ground and sense your life – and all of your lives – leading to this point. Then, if it feels right to continue, make your commitment to this path by making the following petition and dedication. Or better still, make these statements in your own heartfelt words. In the first paragraph you are speaking to yourself, in the second you are calling to the God and Goddess.

Oh that I could see to the Other Realm – that I could

learn the magic of the Ancients. Oh that the secrets of

the Wise Ones could be whispered in my ears that I

might know their beauty and their power – that I might

love again this land and hear the voices of the Goddess

and the God in the trees and in the rivers.

Oh Goddess of the Flame and Well. God of the Wind

and Sea, of Star and Stone, God and Goddess of all life, I

ask that I might know the ways of Druidcraft, to sow the

seeds of love and beauty in the world and in my life. I will

use the knowledge that I gain, the magic that I learn, to

help and heal, to grow and change. I will nurture the child,

tend the plants and animals around me, foster strength

and courage in the hearts of all.

Now feel your whole life and all your future lives spreading out before you, and feel a sense of freedom and joy in the infinite possibilities and adventure that this awareness brings. Then walk to the seashore or place your hands around the water bowl and say:

Newborn into the ways of magic and of Druidcraft, I ask