Whispers From Dreamland: A Conversation About Being a Modern Druid [Episode 19]
Some of us might feel pretty darn intimate with the place where we live, but Fearn Lickfield, Director of the Green Mountain Druid School, is literally, ceremoniously, married to the land she calls home. In the latest episode of Woman Who Rubs the Mountain, Fearn shares with us the precious story of how she courted and married Dreamland (+Ivan!), what it means to be a practicing, modern Druid, and how to consciously merge the traditions of ancient Celtic gods, goddesses, and far away lands, with the old knowings and ancestors of our current landscape. She grounds us at the end of our conversation with the heart-softening Druid Prayer of Peace.
This is a generous, wisdom filled episode you do not want to miss. Here are the highlights:
- A process of tender courtship was how Fearn first began her relationship with Dreamland. She “orbited” the land, frequently visiting, and eventually contacting the owners. She just knew it was her “dreamland,” and that she had a role to play in helping the land live out its passion, play, and purpose.
- Along with her husband, Ivan McBeth (who is now an ancestor), Fearn ceremoniously married Dreamland. This was a three way marriage, with three rings, each made out of three woven gold strands. After the ceremony (in frisky Druidic style), Ivan tore off his Scottish regalia and delivered the land’s ring straight to the bottom of the local pond.
- Physical tools for earth repair work can be helpful but are really just extensions of our broad and available hearts. Even when all of her tools are left at home, Fearn uses body dowsing, chanting, prayer, breathing techniques, singing, and her vast, fierce heart as her most important tools.
- Homemade offerings tend to be best because they carry our own essence and effort. Fearn particularly loves to leave offerings of fermented food and beverages because they carry a spirit of aliveness.
- The elemental nature spirits are rarely found in pure, isolated states but instead live in relationship with each other. We can work with them externally, while also discovering and knowing how they live inside of us.
- Fearn describes the special energies and associated nature spirits of each elemental, and how over the years there has been a push to minimize their strength and influence on us (but that they easily live on in the minds and hearts of children).
Druid Prayer of Peace:
Deep in the still center of my being, may I find peace.
Quietly in the silence of the grove, may I share peace.
Gently in the greater circle of humankind, may I radiate peace.
More About Fearn Lickfield:
Resources:
The Bardic Book of Becoming: An Introduction to Modern Druidry by Ivan McBeth with Fearn Lickfield
The Druidry Handbook: Spiritual Practice Rooted in the Living Earth by John Michael Greer
The Faery Teachings by Orion Foxwood
The Tree of Enchantment by Orion Foxwood
From the Cauldron Born by Kristoffer Hughes
Druid Mysteries by Philip Carr-Gomm
When Women Rose Rooted by Sharon Blackie
Mirrors in the Earth: Reflections on Self-Healing from the Living World by Asia Suler
