Druid Blog

Here is the full report of the Failte Celtic Festival!

For those who don't know what this festival was about... Failte was the name of a Celtic festival organized by a school in Belgium. Torc had pointed it out to me, whereafter I contacted them to ask if we could have an info table at their festival too, to promote the NOD (a Celtic event without any Druids wouldn't be complete now would it ) and also perform a ceremony for the public.

An agreement was made, and on Sunday we could use a tent to have our info table at, even use a TV+DVD to show a documentary of the Celts, and in return we would perform a ceremony at three different times during the day. So I chose to do a Beltane ceremony, as it was the day before Beltane Day and felt it would be the most appropriate thing to do.

We arrived there around 10am, were told where we could find our tent (which was a nice and large one too! and started to set everything up. Now I don't have pictures of the tent and of what all we had on display yet (those will probably still follow later), but this is what we had on display:

- Brochures that people could take
- Booklets with general information about NOD
- Booklets with general Celtic/Druid information, such as the Ogham, tree calendar, Celtic symbols, ...
- Two dragon candles
- An incense set that we received as a wedding gift last year from nighthawk
- A piece of wood on which I had drawn the Ogham circles
- A piece of wood on which I had written "NEW ORDER OF DRUIDS"
- A piece of wood with two candles in it
- Our Celtic antique artefacts in display cases (a La Tene Celtic warrior knife and axe, Celtic coins from Gaul and Britain, rings and other small objects)
- Our mead horn
- A Celtic card set (that Ambiorix Bradan had brought with him)
- Our Bodhran
- A large Celtic Cross (which I actually bought there at the festival!
- My newest book "The Celtic Chronicles" (which is about to be released - more info coming soon)

I think that is more or less everything.

We went there with 10 people: me, Willow Mist, ROMA, Messalina, her two children, Ambiorix (an NOD member of the Nervii Nemeton mother grove here in Belgium), my father (who filmed the entire event), ROMA's mother and another friend.

Soon after we arrived, we met with Dububrannos for the first time, also an NOD member who lives on the other side of Belgium, and was there to tell Bardic stories to the people. It was great to meet him in person, and I look forward to work together with him again in the future! We gladly shared our info tent with him as he didn't really have a place or tent of his own.

Reportedly over 2000 people visited the festival that day, and alot of things were going on: Irish dance, music, Celtic sports (hurling, Highland games, ...), re-enactors, lessons on how to wear the Highland kilt, and so much more!

And that brings me to our part in the activities: the Beltane Ceremony!

So we were asked to perform a ceremony, and as I explained earlier, I chose to do a Beltane ceremony. It was the first time I would lead a ceremony on my own, and I wanted to do it right.

A few weeks in advance, I had written out the entire ceremony from scratch. On Saturday afternoon, we gathered in a nearby park to rehearse the ceremony, which is a very important step in the finalising of a ceremony. There are always these practical parts that turn out not to work very well and some changes need to be made then. Having rehearsed the ceremony twice that day, we were ready for Sunday!

[b]Willow Mist (left) and Messalina (right) at the info tent.[/b]


[b]ROMA (left), Messalina and Phoenix, just prior to the ceremony.[/b]

We had taken 16 stones with us (four large one, one for each direction, and 12 small ones to fill up the gaps) and we laid them out in a circle on the grass. We then put the torches in the ground, got a table for the altar and set it up.

I had received a Welsh translation of a gods and goddesses blessing from Eagle Owl, who obtained it for me from someone she knows who speaks Welsh, just prior to us leaving for the festival. There was no time to rehearse the pronunciation any more, but I still wanted to put it to some use. So I used it to bless the altar with it.

Then I activated the circle. This is not to be confused with the opening of the circle at the beginning of a ceremony. I chose to activate the circle, because the stones would remain in place all afternoon, and the Beltane Ceremony would be performed in it three times.
Now we still needed one thing on our side: the weather. Weather forecasts had predicted an entire day of rain on Sunday, which would have been unfortunate. I had checked weather.com since Friday evening, and each time it said that it was dry now, but that it would rain in the next hour. But it never did. I checked saturday morning, noon, early evening and late evening... it kept saying the same, and no rain came. Sunday morning was the same.

But on our way to the festival in the morning, it was raining. When we arrived there, it had stopped raining again, but it was still very cloudy and anything could still happen. And that's when the strange thing happened.

Only minutes before the ceremony was about to begin, the blue sky began to clear open, and the sun came out to warm us up. And it stayed that way, for the entire ceremony. After the first ceremony, it suddenly began to rain again and there was a stronger wind, but by the time we were about to begin the second ceremony, the sun had returned... It didn't rain again that day, although the sun didn't shine all the time, but at the third ceremony the sky was nice and clear once again! It would seem the Gods were with us.

I will now share some more pictures of the ceremony, as they will speak more than a thousand words.

[b]ROMA, Messalina and Phoenix when the ceremony is about to begin.[/b]


[b]Gregory (Messalina's son) blowed the horn to announce the ceremony.[/b]


[b]The Beltane Ceremony is about to start.[/b]


[b]Phoenix opens the ceremony.[/b]


[b]Willow Mist during the Beltane Ceremony[/b]


[b]Phoenix greets the Four Directions.[/b]


[b]The Confrontation between the Winter King (ROMA) and the May Queen (Messalina)[/b]


[b]The Winter King offers the Chalice to the May Queen[/b]

The ceremony was filled with symbols of Beltane. I was the ceremony leader, opening and closing the circle. Messalina was the Herald, welcoming and thanking the people for attending. Willow Mist was the very much needed helping hand, holding the ceremony book or booklets when necessary.

ROMA performed the role of Winter King, and later on as May King, while Messalina performed the role of May Queen or Flower Queen, for which her green dress was more than fitting! The items used were the sword and the chalice, and those among you familiar with the fertility symbols of Beltane will no doubt understand what they mean but it was very much a celebration of the rebirth of the land.

And that is why another important part of the ceremony was the crowning of the May King and May Queen, with a crown of green leaves.

[b]Phoenix crowns ROMA to May King.[/b]


[b]Phoenix crowns Messalina to May Queen.[/b]


[b]Also our friend Dububrannos attended the ceremony.[/b]

Another important aspect of the Beltane ceremony, or any Celtic Fire Festival (such as Samhain), were the two bonfires. Now we couldn't go about creating two bonfires there due to fire hazard, but we brought two torches with us that we put in the ground. Important was the part where people who wished, could walk between the two fires (the two torches) for protection and purification, whereafter I gave each a blessing and put the Awen symbol with oil on their foreheads. Some people also brought their dog and asked to put a blessing on the animal, for which I was very glad because it shows that mankind and animal are equal.

[b]Phoenix puts a blessing on ROMA.[/b]


[b]Phoenix puts a blessing on Dububrannos.[/b]


[b]Phoenix puts a blessing on a visitor.[/b]


[b]Phoenix puts a blessing on Yeti (ROMA's mother)[/b]


[b]Phoenix puts a blessing on Lucky, another friend who had come with us[/b]


[b]Phoenix puts a blessing on Laura (Messalina's daughter)[/b]
And of course, the ceremony couldn't be complete without the Awen Chant...


[b]Chanting the Awen[/b]

The ceremonies were a success, certainly for us for whom this was a great practice, although there weren't always many onlookers, but that was probably because it wasn't announced very well (a woman came to me asking where it was, just after the last one was finished, and she said she had looked all over for it but couldn't find it) and because somewhere halfway during the second ceremony a performance of Irish dancers suddenly began, instantly attracting the attention of most onlookers unfortunately, although that didn't bother me. The intention is what counts, after all.

The altar remained in place until we finished performing the last ceremony of the day, and at one point a young boy had even gone over to the altar, on which lay my ceremony book, and stood there for quite some time, carefully reading the entire ceremony in it! Some young girls had also come to our info tent to write some of the meanings of certain Celtic symbols that interested them, that was written in one of our booklets. We had several nice encounters with people there, and who knows how many brochures were taken along!

It was a day as succesfull as it was tiring (we had no chairs so we could not sit down for the entire day!) and by the evening, we drove back to Antwerp where we ate at the "Celtic Ireland" restaurant, and in the end were all so tired we just wanted to sleep. But I couldn't yet, because at 11pm I had yet an online Beltane ceremony to perform in the chatroom! Four ceremonies in a day is quite a bit!

First of all, the Elf Fantasy Fair is a major annual event taking place in The Netherlands. For me and Willow Mist, it was the first time we would attend it, but for Torc it wasn't the first time.

Torc was so kind to invite us to stay over at his place, so we could go together to the EFF (short for Elf Fantasy Fair) as it would be a bit far to travel back and forth on one day both Saturday and Sunday. When we arrived on Friday evening, Torc announced a surprise to me: I would not only perform a role in the Opening and Closing Ritual of EFF on Sunday, but also on Saturday because they were one person short!

At first I was wondering if that was such a good idea. If I performed the Sunday one, I would be able to see how the Saturday one went first. But participating in the ritual on both Saturday and Sunday went perfectly well, and looking back at it afterwards, I'm glad I had the opportunity to participate in both!

On Saturday, I was still a bit nervous, trying to do everything right and not forget anything, but on Sunday I felt far more confident in my role, and what's more, it felt very natural to do it too.

The opening rite took place in the morning, around 11, and the evening one around 6. I was the Druid of the West, and sprinkled water from a bowl on the ground and circle, while walking around the circle, followed by doing the same in front of everyone, and allow them to touch the water and put it on their forehead if they wished so. Then I sprinkled more on the ground, making a spiral to the center of the circle.

It was the first time for me also, that I chanted the Awen with other people. While at first it felt a bit unusual because I was unfamiliar with it, it soon felt natural as well. According to Willow Mist, my voice was the lowest of everyone, and was quite steady. I may have some primitive singing talents after all

Basically, the second time I performed the ceremony (on Sunday that is) it felt entirely natural for me. I was not the least bit nervous, and I did it as if I would have done it a dozen times before. Maybe that's also because now I knew perfectly without a doubt what I was supposed to do, but what was also important to me that the people that I performed the ceremony together with, were not complete strangers any more. On saturday, the only two people I knew in the ceremony were Torc and Ivy (Torc's wife), and the others were at that time strangers to me, as I had not seen them ever before.

These people belong to Torc's Druid group known as the "Order of the Aspen". Most of those people stayed for the entire day, and some of them also returned on Sunday. Having spoken with them a bit, made it easier to perform a ceremony together with them. They were all kind people, I must add, and I'm glad to have had a chance to meet them.

One of the most interesting people I met there, though, was called John, a man who follows the Asatru tradition (the Germanic/Nordic tradition with gods such as Odin and Thor). I really enjoyed talking with him, and I feel he has many interesting things to say to people. One thing that probably connects us (although I don't remember telling him that) is that one of the main gods I pray to is also Odin. Yes, it may sound strange for a follower of the Druid path, and it is a leftover from my first teacher Myrrdin who would turn to Odin as well. At that time, I was an atheist, and slowly found my way to the Gods, and Odin was the first one who answered me, which is probably why. John was also a member of the "Pagan Council" I took part in.

But before I go into detail about the Pagan Council, let me draw a more detailed description of the Fair itself!

In the morning, we took the metro to the train station, and then the train. In the train the first traces of the Fair were already becoming visible, and when we stepped out of the train, it seemed that the Fair already had begun there and then. We went outside the station, where busses were waiting to transport people to the EFF.

We saw people dressed up in all kind of characters or creatures. What we saw in the bus was only a beginning. The Fair was full of them... knights, kings, queen, princesses, faeries, elves, angels, devils, dragons, monks, witches, wizards, sorcerers, Vikings, as well as figures such as from Lord of the Rings, their typical elves, Men of the South, even a knight from Gondor in full armour, and of course... there was us, Druids It was not uncommon there to get compliments by strangers on your clothing, or random people wanting to take a picture of you, and I also got compliments on my new staff.

The Fair took place on the domain of a castle. It was a large and beautiful castle, with a large tract of land around it, with much nature. The Fair was spread over the domain, and it took about an hour or so, or even longer, to walk through it all. Activities went on all over the place, music performances of several bands, re-enactments, and so on. There were tons of shops selling all kinds of great stuff, alot of fantasy material and clothing of course, but alot more than that... They had great clothing of all kinds (Torc bought a beautiful green cape, and I wanted to buy one on Sunday too but they were sold out on that), swords, bows & arrows, drinking horns and stands, mead (!!!, bags, stone figures, books, and everything else you can remotely think of!

On Saturday, the weather was cold however. We estimate it was about 12?C which is pretty cold to stand there in Druid robes rather than in a warm jacket. Sunday, on the other hand, the sun finally appeared warming us all up to a nice temperature, only in the evening it started to rain a little bit.

The cold weather on Saturday did not work in our favour for the Pagan Council. We were with about 7 people if I remember correctly, and we were all shakingly freezing up there. It took place in a tent, but people that sat there listening to us were no less cold, which caused several people to leave halfway because it was getting too cold to sit down that long without moving.

At the Pagan Council, Torc was the discussion leader. I represented Druidry and NOD / Grove of Dana College, Ivy represented Druidry and The Druid Network / Order of the Aspen, John represented Asatru, a guy named Merlin represented Wicca, and two women represented Reclaiming (if you don't know what that is, look it up, it's still a new concept but you'll find info about it on the net). Due to the cold and the lack of input of the people that were listening, there wasn't much of a debate getting started. It went well nevertheless, but we all hoped to get a bit more out of it.

On Sunday, on the other hand, the weather was perfect: not too cold, and at around 4 (when the council started) it began to rain, which was another reason for people to flee into a tent like ours! This time, the tent was PACKED full, so that there weren't even enough chairs! Surely there must have been over a 100 people in there!

Debate was easy enough (especially between the Reclaiming women and everyone else of the team lol), and on Sunday there was also a woman representing solitary Witchcraft. I introduced myself as being from Belgium ("small country, so only one representative" ) and mentioned that NOD offers courses in our college for free (many people don't know that there are also "free" courses out there, and not just the expensive OBOD ones). The theme on both days was "Paganism and freedom" and among the subjects we discussed around that, was the freedom to celebrate your tradition's holidays on the days you want, rather than be forced to stay home from work on the Christian holidays, the responsibility that comes with freedom of choice, the freedom to adapt your tradition to your own needs. I pointed out here that even if we don't get a day off on a feast day of our tradition, we can still weave its celebration in our lives. I compared this with the people of like 2000 years ago, where they had to continue their daily tasks too, such as tending the field, hunting for food, and still managed to include their festivals into their daily life. I also pointed out that there are as many paths in a tradition as there are people who follow it. There are, of course, common things that everyone within one tradition shares (if you follow Druidry, you're not going to dump your trash in nature or set a forest on fire) but it is also a personal relation ship you have with your tradition, and you have your own path that you set upon within this tradition. A balance between globalisation and individualism is important. Then I also pointed out, when the subject went to education and training, that it is important not to just accept blindly everything that is being told to you. With an example of what we saw happening before (some among us will know what I refer to, but that's not what this is about, and I did not mention names), I explained that it can happen that someone wants to use his or her power to impose his or her views upon their student, rather than letting the student develop him/herself. Questioning everything you are being taught is important, otherwise you will learn but not understand. There were many other things being said, but I don't remember it all right now.

After the council was finished, I was approached by a few people from the audience and talked with them. They were nice people, and took a pamphlet of NOD with them. I hope that maybe I can welcome them in NOD one day too! We also put several pamphlets at the general info tables too, and it seems many of them were taken by people. This doesn't mean there will be an immediate wave of response, these things take time, but slowly the word about NOD gets out there, and maybe in one or two years from now, the results will become extremely clear. I've been doing that before with other organisations, and seen its inescapable effect. One just needs to be patient.

There were also several pictures made, both during the rituals and during both pagan councils, and as soon as they're developped I'll be posting them in this topic!

Sunday evening after the pagan council (which we performed in the rain) we went back to Torc's home, and talked for awhile, until we realized it was getting late, and it turned out we had missed our last train to Belgium. There was no other option than staying another night there (it would seem Torc and Ivy did not want us to leave ) and the next morning we left early (we had to get up at 5.30am) to get home sometime after 10am. At 12, I already had to be at work again so we couldn't leave any later than that. Next time I think I'll just take the entire day off after the Fair, and luckily I had taken off the morning at least because I'd never have been able to get there on time at 9am otherwise!

So what leaves me to do now, is to tell you what we all took home. First of all (and very important) a LARGE drinking horn i intend to use for rites in the future. John (of Asatru) did a small Germanic rite with us on Saturday evening after the closing ritual, in where he filled his horn with mead, we stood in a circle, he spoke a few words to the Gods, and we passed the horn clockwise, drinking from it and saying a blessing. At one point I toasted to Odin, Frigga and Ceridwen, after which I drank from the horn and the mead splashed for a moment. Torc said laughingly "beware who you mention" but I don't think it was coincidence (that doesn't exist anyway ) and it may have been a response from these Gods, that they are still here with me. And I know they are. We continued to do this circling of the horns (at one point with two different horns! until the horns were almost empty, after which John poured the last bit of Mead on the ground, to give thanks and a return to the Earth.

I also got a holder for the horn, so we can put it on the table or the ground or anywhere at all, which is easy for use during rituals, and also a brown leather pouch with Celtic design on it which I can hang on my rope around the waist when wearing my druid robes, making it easy for me to carry things with me as there are no pockets in my robes. We also got a hand-made "Celtic Green Man" figure in stone, two small candle holders that you can put into something (such as a piece of wood, which is exactly what I intend to use it for), and... mead! Oh how great it was to taste mead again as it had been a long time for me! Truly the nectar of the Gods! I actually didn't buy the bottle at the EFF, but straight from Torc who still had a stock of those bottles at home (go figure ) and he added a second bottle of another kind of Mead to it as a gift!

We had little sleep for the entire weekend (maybe 15 hours or so in three nights) and we were dead tired when we arrived home at last, and I really didn't feel like going to work that afternoon although I had to, but it was all very much worth it!

So if you can make it to the Elf Fantasy Fair of next year, I'd say: don't miss out on it! Just do it!

[b]The saturday opening ceremony[/b]




[b]The Pagan Council[/b]