CELEBRATE!
Exploring the Arts of Celebrancy 17 – 21 SEPTEMBER 2014 at EARTHSPIRIT IN SOMERSET
Celebrate! A five day immersion in the arts of celebrancy for OBOD members and friends who want to explore working with rites of passage – either in a professional role or simply for themselves and close friends and relatives. In this year of celebration of the Golden Anniversary of the Order, it seems fitting that we should turn our attention to celebration as a natural and spiritual response to the fundamental turning-points in life. During five days in the magical setting of Earthspirit in Compton Dundon near Glastonbury, we will work with ways in which we can create and hold rites of naming, weddings, handfastings, rites of passage and funerals.
Lying between the two hills of Dundon Beacon and Lollover in Somerset, Earthspirit is just on the edge of the small village of Compton Dundon, a few miles south of Glastonbury. The Earthspirit Centre is warm and comfortable, and in addition to extensive gardens that include an Ogham copse, there is a large indoor cedarwood hot-tub and sauna.
This time together is designed for both experienced celebrants and for those who are just beginning to consider celebrancy as an avenue of service. We will receive advice from, and listen to the experience of trained ‘mainstream’ celebrants in established traditions, from professional ‘alternative’ celebrants, and from members of the Order who offer their services as celebrants to their local community. We’ll share our own stories and learn ways in which we can craft rites that respond to the needs of people who may be ‘spiritual’ but who hold no special religious affiliation, as well as for those who want a specifically Druid ritual. Contributors will include Caitlin Matthews, Peter Owen-Jones, Mark Townsend and Philip Carr-Gomm. The event will be recorded so we can share what we learn with others.
The cost of the workshop is £363 inclusive of all meals (vegetarian & delicious). Accommodation is sharing – see www.earthspirit-centre.co.uk. £60 Single Room Supplement. A limited number of campervan/tent spaces exist but there is no reduction in cost. To make a reservation, send £100 deposit via paypal to office@druidry.org (write “Celebrate deposit” and your postal address in message field) or send a cheque for £100 deposit made out to OBOD together with a note of your name, address, telephone number and email to: Celebrate, OBOD, PO Box 1333, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1DX or for info email: events@druidry.org
Images by Will Worthington from The Druid Animal Oracle & The Druid Plant Oracle. The deposit is non-refundable. Balance due 1 August. No refunds after 1 August.