lisaffire's Full Review: Thorsons Principles of Druidry Books
A friend of mine got me curious about Druidry years ago. At a time when I had a few extra bucks burning a hole in my pocket, I made sure to get a copy of Emma Restall Orr's Principles of Druidry . At the bottom of the cover the words "The only introduction you'll ever need" boasts a heady claim at the bottom. One, however, I ended up agreeing with.
The book itself is not very intimidating, considering the material it covers. It's small, thinnish (146 pages in length) with printing that wasn't so teeny tiny you couldn't read it. It's written by a woman.... "wait" you may be saying "a woman? But I thought Druids were old bearded dudes from Ireland or something like that - you know they sacrificed virgins and stuff"... oh, now, believe it or not women are and have been Druids. Aren't you glad you asked? Ms Orr is Joint Chief of the British Druid Order. To my knowledge she's the only female Druid out there writing books which could be why so many folks feel Druids are and continue to be men only. But trust me folks, there's plenty of room under the big oak tree of life.
Just as you page through, you'll notice this book is different from others. If nothing else, not many books out there have little symbols adorning each page (grey in color so as not to detract from the text). The contents is broken into 9 chapters (a fitting number, I should think).
Chapter 1 What is Druidry?
Chapter 2 Where does it come from?
Chapter 3 The Spectrum of Druidry
Chapter 4 The Sacred Circle
Chapter 5 The Magical Cycle
Chapter 6 The Celebration
Chapter 7 Three Facets
Chapter 8 Guides, Guardians and Gods
Chapter 9 The Journey on...
An Index rounds out the book
Ms Orr does an exquisite job of introducing Druidry not only in words and written text but she suggests getting outside to start. To really get to know what Druidry is about we're encouraged to go out into nature, listen, feel, be. Investigating ourselves and our connection to nature. She blows the cover off the myths of Druids. They're not all long bearded and long robed sages - while for some that may be an intriguing fuel to find out more, it's far from the realities. Basics are explained in nice, easy to understand concepts. Also explained is how asking the question of What is a Druid is often much easier than answering it.
She goes into a little of the history, who were Druids, who were the Celts, how tales and stories survived and didn't. She also explains who some Druids have maintained being Christian, how some identify as being Pagan and how some others meld and mix and find their Druid path is more about mystic wisdom rather than a religion (wherein they can hold any other religious belief they wish and still be Druid). She explains how these some what paradoxical melds can be so while also explaining how the Wicca movement also influenced for many a way into Druidry and a way for Druidry to come out into the mainstream, so to speak.
Sacred space, groves, connectedness from within and without is all explained, not in great detail but enough to whet the appetite for more. The ogham is also explained. "The og what?" you may wonder. Ogham (pronounced o-yahm) is a form of alphabet used among many Druids. It has to do with trees, with symbols and other things you'll just have to read about.
Cycles of time and of life is explained. These cycles vary from the rising and setting of the sun and moon, to the seasons and right into birth and death. Spirits of all things is discussed. This subject may bother some who feel that things like trees can't have a spirit but for those open minded and free in their thinking to embrace such a concept may find Ms Orr's words on the subject quite inspiring. She also goes a bit into animal guides. No we're not talking seeing eye dogs here, but animals we open our selves up to, that we can learn from.
The Druid calendar offers us a look into the 8 celebrations a Druid could partake in throughout the year. She breaks them out into 4 festivals of the sun: midwinter (or Winter Solstice), Spring Equinox, Midsummer (or Summer Solstice) and Autumn Equinox and 4 festivals of the seasons: Samhain (aka Halloween), Imbolc (aka Candlemas), Beltane (aka May Day) & Lughnasadh (aka August 1). She explains their names, their reasons for celebrating, and how one could celebrate if they so chose. Just as the year and the seasons spin like a wheel, so does life itself. Rites of passage is brushed upon, as rites of life from birth through death.
You may wonder (or perhaps not) what's up with the number 3. It pops up a lot in Druidry. That is explained by Ms Orr. Symbols of three pretaining to the Druid are not only explained but illustrated. The Triskal, Spiral and Awen are all shown and explained quite nicely. Another place where Druids use the power of 3 is within their tiers (as they could be called) within Druidry, most notably those of Bard, Ovate and Druid. "What?" you may be wondering.. "I thought a Druid was a Druid". Well, Ms Orr does a masterful job of explaining the 3 levels (aka grades, Groves, crafts) within Druidry. How they were important among ancient Druids and how each level can pertain to the seeker and student.
Many of us are familiar with the label: Bard. We recognize that as someone who writes, Ms Orr explains further in how it pertains to Druidry. Ovates most haven't heard of, again she explains what an Ovate is, what they learn, how they grow and what they gain by being an Ovate. Finally Druids are explained... "What? I thought this whole book explained Druids"... well, it's just not that easy. Druidry is a path as well as a person, it's a level as well as a path. Ms Orr explains what it takes to be a Druid and how and why each level connects to the others.
Gods are explained. Yes, gods... the importance of deities, how they can help a human and so forth. Again, she doesn't get bogged down with too much information yet covers such a nice variety of ideas, facts and stories that it really does have a person perhaps wanting more, but there even she offers in her last chapter places to go to find out more about Druidry. Not an author to leave us alone with this new world of information and no place to turn she offers information on contacting other Druids, other books one can read for further information on everything from Druidry to myths and history.
If you're looking for a book to explain Druidry in a way that's not confusing or bogged down in deep daunting text, this is the book. If you're already a Druid and need a short, quick read for others to learn more about what Druidry is all about, this book again, should fit the bill. For those who are curious about modern Druids, this is the book for you. It's not a book designed to recruit or convert folks but to teach, enlighten and perhaps help someone find what they've been all along.
Note: The rest is my original, untouched review on this book. I hope I've improved upon it. I guess I've learned a bit since then. ;) Thanks to sleeper54 and his rewrite write off! Check out his participants list for other great rewrites: http://www.angelfire.com/jazz/sleeper54/rewrite/writers.html
***************************
Looking for a quick read and a good introduction to the modern Druid movement? This is it. It's not bogged down into too much fact or history but gives you a good overview with more references at the end to further explore. If you're not sure if you'd like to look deeper into Druidery, read this book and find out if it's for you.
There's a lot of books out there on Druidry, this one, however, gives you a great amount of information, though not widely detailed. It's a wetting of the appetite that, if being a Druid is your cup of tea, will serve to provide a great appetizer and a good "menu" (through the bibliography) for more entrees, so to speak.
Covers a bit of history, a Druids relation to the earth and trees, the Ogham and more. I highly recommend reading this book, if you're even the slight bit interested in Druidism.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.