Druids Down Under organize a national gathering for 2018

SYDNEY — Australian eclectic Druid group Druids Down Under is set to host its first national event in the Pennant Hills this weekend. The gathering will include workshops, musical performances, meditation, creative spaces and nature walks, with organisers expecting around 60 participants from a range of established traditions such as Ár nDraíocht Féin, the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, and the British Druid Order, as well as eclectic and solitary practitioners. Organiser and eclectic Druid Julie Brett hopes the gathering will be significant and uniquely Australian. “It focuses on what it means to follow the path of Druidry in the Australian landscape specifically,” Brett says. “This is the first time that we have met in large numbers from around the country in person.

Accusations of abuse surface against ADF founder Isaac Bonewits

TWH – In her newly-published book The Last Closet: the Dark Side of Avalon, author Marion Zimmer Bradley’s daughter, Moira Greyland, offers a tell-all account of her harrowing and abusive experience growing up, including how she eventually came forward and put her own father, Walter Breen, in jail. Included in those detailed and difficult accounts are accusations that ADF founder Isaac Bonewits, who died in 2010, participated in the sexual abuse. “When I was at Greyhaven I had some unfortunate run-ins with an individual from the Pagan community someone named Isaac Bonewits,” Greyland writes. “Some people called him the Pagan pope […] I hated Isaac, and refused to be in the same room with him, even if the only way I could articulate my objections to him was to say ‘he tickled me.'” (Chapter 13)  Greyland recalls being six years old. Greyland then goes on to recall in non-specific terms the sexual abuse.

Pagan Voices: beyond the veil edition 2017

Pagan Voices is a spotlight on recent quotations from figures within the Pagan community. As Samhain approaches, we turn instead to the voices of those who have gone before us, be they Pagan leaders themselves or influential in the intersecting Pagan, Heathen, and polytheist communities.  Look into the cauldron, and hear the words of those who came before us. Aleister Crowley
To practice black magic you have to violate every principle of science, decency, and intelligence. You must be obsessed with an insane idea of the importance of the petty object of your wretched and selfish desires. .

Ár nDraíocht Féin elects Rev. Jean Pagano (Drum) as new Archdruid

TWH – This month, the Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship membership voted on a new board of directors. Included in that process was the election of a new Archdruid. This position serves as the president of the ADF board and is considered to be both the organization’s administrative and spiritual leader. This year, members chose Rev. Jean Pagano, also known as Drum, to take the organizational reins from outgoing Archdruid Rev. Kirk Thomas. In a press release, Drum said, “I am touched and honored that people have chosen me to be their Archdruid – it is not a challenge that I take lightly and I promise to be Archdruid to all members.”