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" One touch of nature

makes all the world kin "

William Shakespeare

Samhain in Birmingham

November 1st, 2010

I’ve celebrated Samhain three times this year. Last week in Brittany, last night with friends at home, and over the weekend with friends old and new at the Hindu Balaji temple in Birmingham. Fifty followers of the Druid and Dharmic traditions gathered under the auspices of the International Centre for Cultural Studies and the Order of Bards Ovates & Druids to explore the connections between their traditions. There will be a report up on the OBOD website soon, and a participant has already blogged about the event here describing what we got up to. So here I’ll just give you some pictures. It was an inspiring, heart-warming day!

The Modron blesses Ram Vaidya with an Awen of water from the Well of Eternal Youth on Iona. Each participant was blessed on arrival with an Awen and a Hindu tilak on the forehead

Chanting in the grounds of the Balaji temple at the One Tree Gathering

The One Tree Gathering brought together Hindus, Buddhists and Druids

Saturday Evening Eisteddfod at the One Tree Gathering

Damh the Bard and Kate & Corwen at the One Tree Eisteddfod

Our evening concluded with beautiful and inspiring dance

9 Responses to “Samhain in Birmingham”

  2. What an absolutely wonderful event! Lots of seeds have been planted and I certainly look forward to hearing from the lovely people I met there x

  4. Lovely photos Philip! The temple complex looks amazing! So glad it went well. Devotional dance is really beautiful isn’t it? Incredibly expressive. Such a shame that spiritual dance, or movement as a form of worship and story telling is not more central in western traditions.

  5. So beautiful! The photos made me teary-eyed. As a former Krishna devotee and a newbie to druidry (just started the OBOD Bardic grade), it blends two traditions that I love. I wish I could have been there.

  7. Amazing weekend, not likely to be forgotten!
    Inspiring people, wonderful music and of course the growing realization that the existence – as I experience while discovering the Path of Druidry – of so many parallels between Hinduism and Druidry seems to have a scientific support.
    One source, One tree, Humanity One!
    And One sound. Aum. Awen.
    It was good to meet you once again, Philip!

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