SHARING THREAD spiritual paths , sites, books and  events

That’s awesome. I’m gonna look up some of those names.

So my fields of interest:

•Druidry / Celtic spirituality / British witchcraft (practice & history)
•Folklore & myth / folk medicine
•Osteomancy / tarot / ogham
•Herbs & plants
•Clairaudience
•Crystals/fossils/natural minerals
•Sisterhood / feminism / sexuality / empowerment
•Meditation & mindfulness


Some favourite books of mine:

Wortcunning: A folk medicine herbal by Nigel G Pearson

A Druid’s Herbal by Ellen Every Hopman

Madame Pamita’s magical tarot by Madame Pamita

Folk witchcraft by Roger J Horne

DruidCraft by Phillip Carr Gomm

When a pagan prays by Nimue Brown

Any book by Raymond Buckland

Bones, shells, and curios by Michelle Jackson

I’m really glad to hear that you’re a collector of shells and stones. I’m a bit of a magpie when it comes to stuff like that. My altar space is filled with feathers and bones and river stones I’ve picked up when out in nature.

Wild swimming has become a big part of my practice, and my understanding of the world (and it keeps me sane!) so I have a huge connection to the water. I’m a Pisces too…

Following a natural path doesn’t have to cost any money at all. I think when we work with what is naturally around us, it makes our practice so much more personal.

Lovely stuff. 🙂

Northern_Soul said:I’m really glad to hear that you’re a collector of shells and stones. I’m a bit of a magpie when it comes to stuff like that. My altar space is filled with feathers and bones and river stones I’ve picked up when out in nature.

Wild swimming has become a big part of my practice, and my understanding of the world (and it keeps me sane!) so I have a huge connection to the water. I’m a Pisces too…

Following a natural path doesn’t have to cost any money at all. I think when we work with what is naturally around us, it makes our practice so much more personal.

Lovely stuff. 🙂


YES I have always collected things from nature, I have a collection of shells, fossil stones. Some of these look like bones too and might be bones as I found these while traveling. I keep these in a box, my treasure box so to speak. When I do magical work I like to create a small personal altar depending on what I work with.

I have on occasion also honored moments of grief. For healing or transformation.  Also to honor nature and for gratitude.

Or for letting go, I find it works very well if I make it into a tiny ritual, this can be very simple such as writing something on a piece of paper, burning the paper and bury the ashes outside in the ground.

There are enough things to find around my house since I have a garden.

there are very small things one can do to connect with an element
I heard a woman speak about being in nature on a podcast, I know that she meant being in nature that is not man made but I do believe that there are many simple ways to connect with nature. Besides

a tree is nature
the sky is nature
the wind is nature
the clouds are nature
the light is nature
the sun is nature
the night is nature
water is nature

etc etc


a small blessing with water can help, just bless the water by holding a hand over a cup of water and focus on an intention. Or a word.  Fe, peace, love, strength....Then take a sip of it and after share it with your house plants

or breathing your intent into water, speaking into the water
All the simple tiny personal rituals can help for strength, guidance , or healing purpose. Everyone has a connection to water because we get it from the tap, as we also can breathe in light, A while ago many suddenly spoke of light language but  this just means the voice of your intuition. Light is sound, frequency, color, etc, fe bird songs is light language too. Listen and you will learn.....listen and you will know

https://youtu.be/wZareZ8-uh4

this is a beautiful powerful guided healing meditation by one of my favorite my shamanic teachers Roel Crabbe
Roel is just such a pure hearted man, I often replay his meditations for guidance. His singing just is so heartfelt.
Its like a cleansing waterfall of light

Also adding this page which has a link to a short course about Norse Shamanism and Magic given by  Annette Høst.
Anette is a very skilled ,multi talented woman, highly experienced practitioner and  teacher and very wise woman.
You may learn a bit about the five sources of Norse magic,

SEID or SEIDR is used in other than Norse traditions , I myself regard  myself as seid kvinne.  But I am a mere practitioner. Enjoy the voyage if you take the dive !

https://www.shamanism.dk/seidr

Found this freakish theatrical video made by Rebecca Tiger, a Swedish activist, feminist and pagan priestess
She and another Swedish woman have a series of podcasts too though they are in Swedish so no use posting
I thought it was quite amusing, its fun, crazy, abstract

ps Im doing you guys a favor because there is a naked lady in the video dancing. JK
true though!  The end gets a bit too weird but the beginning is nice

https://youtu.be/Y2RGpfTRjtE

And a song by Eldin. She is the other woman from the podcast with Rebecca Tiger
Eldin is a Swedish  witch and priestess. Sweden is much more known for the witch culture than Norway.
And yes it is her herself in the clip

https://youtu.be/PucIngTmEBg?list=RDGMEMpBkrRsgmbnoWVzfUhAA61g

description of the song
This is my prayer to the keepers of the four elements on Gotland. This video was recorded in the nature reserve Södra Hällarna, on Gotland, where the four elements meet. Where hawthorn and ivy form dark halls of mystery and dream. Where ocean winds touch ancient limestone cliffs. Where the sun sets into the deep blue of the Baltic Sea.

The video was shot with an iPhone by my sister Ida Ivarsson-Bååth. We edited and graded it together as a creative team, calling ourselves Hwitastierna Productions, after the Gotlandic snake goddess.

ps, I would like a dress like that

BY the way, in the Netherlands there is a Dutch version of OBOD called OBOD lage landen.  The druids of the low lands. Where I was born the largest oak forest is still to be found. We had a fever tree.
Called Plataan, an old tree where people hung ribbons and notes in. parts of the Netherlands have celtic or germanic origin. The netherlands also have grave mounds and dolmens. Close to where I lived we also had a ring fortress which according to our dutch druid Jurre Yntema is as old as stone henge, he says these two places have the same sacred energies

I know its in Dutch but you can see the place, the ring fortress here, accor.
Ive been to this place many times!

https://youtu.be/1_TeujjEbcQ

I’m an OBOD’ie here in the U.K. so it pleases me greatly to see them in the Netherlands doing their thang. Nothing but love for OBOD 🥰

Northern_Soul said:I’m an OBOD’ie here in the U.K. so it pleases me greatly to see them in the Netherlands doing their thang. Nothing but love for OBOD 🥰

So how far have  you come with your studies if i may ask? I only know a little about it, I sometimes wrote for the Dutch ODOD magazine they had back then. but that was general stuff, about nature, trees etc. , I understand there are three levels, isnt it ovate, bard and druid or am I mixing it up? Would you care to tell  or share a bit about it_
And do you have OBOD camps with fellow members?

So yes, I’m an ovate currently. You’re right, it’s bard, ovate, and Druid. I’ve been at the ovate grade for about two years because I had to pause studies due to being put on furlough during covid lockdown and money was a bit tight.

But ovate suits me very well because it’s more practical - herbs, and divinatory studies. Goes more into myth too which is grand. I feel like I can really process the grade a bit more taking it slow rather than rushing through it.

I haven’t actually been to an OBOD camp, though I am part of a local grove which meets on the sabbats. My practice is mainly solitary. I’d definitely go to one of the camps, it’s just finding someone to go with locally that doesn’t think my whole foray into Paganism is bat shit crazy. 🤣

[quote-554611-Northern_Soul]So yes, I’m an ovate currently. You’re right, it’s bard, ovate, and Druid. I’ve been at the ovate grade for about two years because I had to pause studies due to being put on furlough during covid lockdown and money was a bit tight.

But ovate suits me very well because it’s more practical - herbs, and divinatory studies. Goes more into myth too which is grand. I feel like I can really process the grade a bit more taking it slow rather than rushing through it.

I haven’t actually been to an OBOD camp, though I am part of a local grove which meets on the sabbats. My practice is mainly solitary. I’d definitely go to one of the camps, it’s just finding someone to go with locally that doesn’t think my whole foray into Paganism is bat shit crazy. 🤣[/quote
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Thats very interesting to know, so the Ovate year is about herbs and more in depth divinitarory studies. Do you make assignments too or such thing?
Maybe assignments is not the right word since it is a path of studies that has much to do with your own personal path, its maybe more like a path of deepening the knowledge, practice and personal growth.

Well, my neigbors see me as pretty crazy too. But I dont mind that. They are a bit used to me at times carrying a drum with me . There is a place on the island where I live where they sometimes have gatherings for people who are on the shamanic path. But its a bit of a travel. They sometimes offer car pooling or pick you up but it still can be some travelling.

Have you ever thought of offering druidic teachings to people later? Or will you just remain a solitary practitioner, I am a solitary practitioner too but I have offered healings and worked with people in their private homes.

It is not so easy to find people who are open to this here where I live, besides usually the right people appear on my path at the right time.
I like to learn ne things.

The picture is the location on the island where they sometimes offer shamanic gatherings. , the building is not so great but the location is really nice as you can see

So, to summarise briefly, a general categorisation of the three different grades accords the arts to the bards, the skills of prophecy and divination to the Ovates and philosophical, teaching, counselling and judicial tasks to the Druid.

The Ovate grade really looks into divinatory practices in a more in depth level. The ovates were the healers, the seers, the midwives etc.

My neighbours… ahaha 😂 I think they think I’ve lost the plot. So I make my own cleansing smoke sticks from locally collected mugwort, and homegrown sage and rosemary that is dried out the year before. I’m always walking round the outside of the house with my little herb bundle cleansing the hearth or walking round the garden wafting smoke round my plants. I’m sure my neighbours must think I’m smoking something illegal 🤣

But yeah, I have hagstones and a witches ladder at the front door, and a massive wreath at Yule I make myself with a twig pentacle in the middle. I go into the woods and bring parts of different trees home to make my wreath every year to bring the green in (that’s the whole original practice of Xmas trees anyway) so I’m quite sure my neighbours know. I’m always playing my drum under a full moon in the back garden or some shit. 🤣

Offering to other people… this is where I get conflicted about things.

So, I’m a trained reiki master. I’m also a tarot  / bone reader. I also forage my own herbs for salves and spell blends. But I’ve always offered those things for free because my heart is with people — I just enjoy helping people… does that make sense?

I guess the same would apply to Druidic teaching. At this stage, I’d probably say on a personal level, I’d like to offer that teaching. But I have no plan to make it a business if that makes sense?

In a way, I guess poetry is definitely one of the ways I express my bardic skills for sure. And that has spilled out into real life with the running of writing workshops I do for women, and other parts of my creative life for sure. So maybe in a way, I already do.

Maybe I’ll feel differently at the Druid grade which explores how to be of service to your community.

I’ve been thinking about celebrancy for a little while too… so maybe that will help collate my thoughts on that.

… Sorry, I’ve talked about way more than I expected to there. 😂

Picture is also stunning 👍🏻

You may talk as much as you wish here, this is a sharing thread and i am very glad to see your posts here! You paint a great picture of how you live your life and live true to your craft. I do the same thing. Except for the fact that I currently live more surrounded by people than I would like to but for other reasons its good to live more central at the moment as well.

Great to see you are a Reiki Master.
This means you could even give attunements. I understand and respect your personal connection and humble way of dealing with your crafts. I feel the same way and would never charge anything , its only if people WISH  to donate  something , that they may do so but usually I offer it free of charge or it is some kind of exchange, I do something for them, and they do something for me but its not per definition an exchange. I see it as learning how I can even better help others.

I am a certified holistic healer, got stopped up for a while when my son was born but later picked up doing courses again. Healing, all kinds is a great field of interest. I did paranormal healing too, hands on treatment , intuitive massage, and pendulum.
I also worked for world tarot readers a site that offered free tarot readings. Learned a lot there as there were many exchanges, it was very interesting to do the readings as you had personal contact with the people who asked for a reading by email, sometimes there was a long correspondence even. the site later changed into another type of site

Thats great celebrancy seems a very noble way of working with your crafts as well! This could very well be something that will be more widely accepted in the near future I think as people are slowly awakening to new perspectives or should I say to old traditions and perspectives.....
If I would live rural Id organize gatherings. Or have a small womens circle where all the participants could use their own forms of skills and crafts from healings to drumming, chanting and dancing. Who knows one day I might be able to do this or get the chance.
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CARD OF THE WEEK

I would like to do a card of the week section here.

Its been a super full moon in Capricorn which is a time to evaluate things. In the synodic astrology the Venus cycle
is still going on and this will last for 19 months. This moon is also known as full buck moon referring to the time when the antlers of the male deer are fully grown.

You can say it is a symbolic time for a full blooming connection but in this period it can mean you will evaluate questions concerning career, long term future plans, your soul aspiration will mirror and you may be trying to brighten or adjust the images, ideas, plans but also the areas of relationships because Pluto is also in Capricorn.

It might be a time of being in the half light or in the half dark about things, people, you might even also be faced with rejection though rejection is also the equivalent of opportunities knocking on your door. You might struggle with a certain balance. But all these things are simply mirroring shards and even if you are in the half dark, know that the half light is still there because together they make a circle.

The influence of Pluto can mean some deeper soul evaluations, some voyages into the dark soul waters. The spiritual nether worlds that hold space for a symbolic space of rebirth. Hel shows you that the shackles to which you have clung on to are merely past voids and that there will be new opportunities. Hel is both an other worldly location and a female Norse Goddess who shows us that there are lessons in the depths of life and especially of endings and two faced sides of a story or sometimes of people. Know that these times are just a way for new balanced periods to come. Trust and what is most important trust your own inner voices, they will know!

the card is from the Goddesses , Gods and Guardians Oracle card deck by Sophie Bashford and Hilary Wilson who made the art for the cards