Celtic Druidry

A Livestream Class with Ellen Evert Hopman

Sunday, February 9 at 3:15 pm in The Veiled Sanctum

The Druids were the “nemed” (sacred) class of Celtic society for one thousand years. Hereditary priests and intellectuals, they were the equivalent of Brahmins in Indian culture, part of the Indo-European continuum. They were the judges, lawyers, healers, teachers, priests, priestesses, sacred singers, poets, historians, philosophers, and magicians of the tribes. It took twenty years to train a Druid, and some of their magical techniques are still known to us today.

This will be a talk on some of the ancient Druid magical techniques, such as wind augury, ornithomancy, divination by Ogham, the Sword of Light, the Vessel of Plenty, the Silver Branch, Illumination between the Hands, and the three kinds of harp music. How did the highest grade of Druid, the Fili, achieve Imbas or Awen, a type of divine prophetic inspiration? What are the techniques known as Recital from the Ends of the Fingers, Crane Magic, and the Bull Feast? What ancient Druidic tool can be used to attract the Good Neighbors, and how will we know when they appear?

Magical Poetic Satire will be discussed; under which tree did the poets stand to compose a powerfully effective satire? And what were the consequences for a king? Which is the only recorded Druid ritual that we have and can still perform today? Did the Druids really burn animals or people in a Wicker Man? What are the mystical meanings of the sacred five directions and the Three Worlds, and how do you set up a genuinely Celtic ritual space? What are the Celtic sacred animals associated with the directions, and what are their magical powers and attributes?