Declaring my Bardic Chair - a very personal journey

I started my full Bardic training just over a month ago on May day, Beltane. I chose that day as it's a special day, to me it feels like re-birth, new beginnings and I though it a good day to remember as a year and a day from then I hope to be able to claim my Bardic chair which will be a symbol of my graduation for the first year of my study in druidry. That is only the beginning but it's a start and already I have learnt so much that I know it is the right path of study and indeed a way of life for me.

Last month I went to Glastonbury for a few days. It's an incredible place and though we were celebrating our wedding anniversary which was magical, I was also on a personal journey too as it felt that I had truly begun to tread the steps of my own path of where I want to go to in life.

I had been recommended a wonderful book by some members of the British Druid Order called The Bardic Handbook by Kevan Manwaring  and while I was browsing the abundance of magical shops in Glastonbury town, I found it, bought a copy and started reading it straight away

In the first chapter, one of the first exercises is to go out to a place that you feel is right, a hill, a stone circle etc and declare that you want to claim your bardic chair a year and a day after you start training. This was so wonderful to read as for once I had the excuse to go out and do what I believe in and not feel foolish.

Before climbing the great Glastonbury Tor we went to Wearyall Hill  where the Glastonbury thorn once grew.  Legend has it that Joseph of Arimathaea planted his staff and that is where the tree started to grow.  The tree had stood there for centuries until mindless vandals decide to cut it down so now all that remains is a stump but I was so moved by the sight of the battered tree adorned with ribbons fluttering in the breeze that I decided to make my declaration right there on the spot. 

Wearyall hill looking towards Glastonbury Tor

It was an incredible feeling as because I was actually saying it out loud, I felt that it was real and I would make it happen. With the sheep as my witnesses I made my declaration that a year from now I hope to graduate to the next stage of my bardic learning. My words felt like they were carried on the wind towards the Tor and later when I climbed the path towards St Michael's tower on the top, I truly felt that my incredible journey had begun. However long it may take, it will be time well spent

                                          Glastonbury Tor and the path to St Michael's tower



Druid Hedge School

                                                                                         The roundhouse



I have had the most incredible few days that have filled me with inspiration. Following on from the World Drum events, I went to Wildways on the Borle in Shropshire on Wednesday for a women's drum session.

Around twenty of us walked through the beautiful woodland before we reached the roundhouse, an exact replica of what our ancient ancestors would have lived in.


Once we closed the door it was as though we were shutting the 21st century out and following the footsteps of our ancestors. It was such a beautiful atmosphere with the fire crackling in the centre, giving the only light and it was all the light we needed as we sat in a circe and chatted before playing. I didn't have a drum but within minutes a lady gave me a huge Djembe drum to play all night. It was an incredible experience, I don't know where it came from but I lost all my inhibitions, I have never played anything like that on my own and not in front of other people who had been doing it for years but I found myself making my own rhythm which magically seemed to fit with everyone else's.







As I walked around the fire which was then glowing in the centre, I became a different person, it was an incredible experience. I can almost understand how the Shamans can go so deeply into a trance and take on other forms, I felt like I was on the cusp myself.




              Inside the Yurt at Wildways with the famous World Drum
Saturday I attended the Druid Hedge School event, also at Wildways. It was a wonderful day with fascinating talks and meditations. Greywolf, Chief of the British Druid Order did a meditation called The Three Cauldrons. It actually made me cry for some reason, not out of sadness, it was just such a powerful experience that left me feeling so inspired. It was though I was actually drawing up creativity through my body and into my head which was bursting with ideas to create something.

It has given me the final push for something I have been considering for a while. Next month I will be enrolling on the full Bardic training with the British Druid Order. I thirst to learn and feel that I have to do it, even though it's a big commitment of one years study, it feels right for me.