Paganism in Contemporary Scottish Context

Pagan Paths: Druidry and Shamanism in Modern Scotland

http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/2013/12/celebrating-winter-solstice-at-stonehenge/#1

Dissertation submitted for the degree of M.Litt in Ethnology and Folklore, Elphinstone Institute, School of Education, University of Aberdeen, September 2014.

By Athanasios Barmpalexis, B.A.

September 2014

DECLARATION

I .................................. ............................................, confirm that this work submitted for assessment is my own and is expressed in my own words. Any uses made within, of the works of other authors in any form are properly acknowledged at the point of their use. A full list of the references employed has been included. All interviews referenced in this dissertation have been recorded, transcribed, and used with the permission of the contributors. All photos reproduced herein are credited in their captions.

Signed: ................................................

Date: ...................................................

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my professors, Dr Thomas A. McKean, Dr Frances Wilkins, and Professor Ian Russell for their teachings, support, advice and guidance throughout this year, but more importantly, for giving me the chance to study something entirely different from what I did in my undergraduate studies and in my professional career afterwards, but also fancy it so much that I would like to continue studying it in the near future. I would also like to thank everybody involved in the Elphinstone Institute, from Alison Sharman to my course mates, and especially my new friend and bagpipes teacher, Ian Kinnear, for their friendliness, advice and many memorable moments.

I would definitely like to thank Nicolas Le Bigre, for all the help and advice especially during the summer while writing this paper. Nick, I appreciate everything and I promise a monthly vacation in Greece.

I would also like to thank my family, and especially my mother, brother and aunt Vicky, for their encouragement and support for my decision to continue with my studies and life abroad. Without their support, nothing could have been accomplished. (Mother, stop skyping me every day!)

Finally, I would like to thank all the people who contributed to this research with their opinions, ideas and participations in the ceremonies and rituals. Their help and friendliness was overwhelming. I would definitely like to thank Terry Mace in particular, for being the first who accepted to contribute, for introducing me to his ‘family’ and for eventually becoming a dear friend of mine. Thanks Terry, but you will not convert me into shamanism!

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ABSTRACT

Modern paganism is a spiritual movement and set of beliefs based on the pre-Christian European traditions, existing beside and outside Christian religion. It first appeared in the nineteenth century and gradually became popular, especially in the second half of the twentieth century, after the emergence of Wicca. Nowadays, one can find Wiccans, druids, shamans, witches, heathens and other people following one of the various pagan paths. Even though they have different belief systems, they do tend to have many things in common. They celebrate life and nature, they feel alienated from Christian religion, and other modern concepts, such as globalization and urbanization, they are in a quest for a spiritual community, and they want to reconnect and rediscover their past. Paganism with its various forms provides all the above mentioned things. This paper is an ethnographic research focusing mainly on the contemporary form of two of these paths, druidry and shamanism — with some references to witchcraft and the witch-hunts of the early modern times — in Scotland. In particular, it is the first ethnographic research on modern druidry in Scottish context, at least that I am aware of. Modern druidry is a recent re-invention based on the traditions of the Iron Age Celtic druids, even though their actual beliefs and practices are still matters of debate, while shamanism is a practice involving a person who reaches other realms by entering into a trance-state. It will focus on the belief system and identity of these people, but it will also examine the historical roots and structure of both earlier druidry and shamanism according to scholars and the opinions of my pagan contributors. It will also investigate some special features that connect druidry with Scotland, while it will also try to answer why paganism in general is not as popular in Scotland as in the other countries.

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This study is based on ten recorded interviews from six different contributors, even though the actual fieldwork contains many recorded rituals and conversations, which might be used in a future further research on paganism. Ethnological matters of identity, reflexivity, authenticity, religion, belief, natural world, material culture, calendar customs, arts, reciprocity, folk revival, social structure, tradition, song, music and cycle of life appear throughout the paper, while the academic background comes from a wide variety of scholars, such as Jung, Dorson, Hutton, Harvey, Strmiska, Carr-Gomm, Turner, van Gennep, Eliade, Harner, Yoder, Goodare, Magliocco, Larner, Bowman and Chadwick.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction 1.1

Introduction - Research Questions

p. 1

1.2

Methodology – Reflexivity

p. 4

1.3

Literature Review

p. 13

2. Druidry: From Iron Age to the Twenty-first Century

p. 20

2.1

Ancient Druidry: Part Truth, Part Fiction

p. 21

2.2

The Identity and Belief System of Modern Druids

p. 27

3. Paganism and Druidry Within Scotland

p. 41

3.1

Druidic traditions in Scottish Context

p. 42

3.2

Why is Paganism unpopular in Scotland?

p. 52

4. Rainbow Zen Shamanism: Shamanic Teachings and Practices in Northeast Scotland

p. 67

5. Conclusion

p. 93

Bibliography

p. 96

Appendix 1. Contributors’ Biographies

p.100

2. Samples from the Transcriptions

p.102

3. DVD with Rituals

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

[SB]

Sakis Barmpalexis

[DB] Dougie Bogie [MG] Maggie Garbutt [CG] Crystal Green [TM] Terry Mace [SP]

Simon Parry

[MT] Maria Termaat

Word Count: 22024

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1. Introduction

1.1. Introduction – Research Questions

Modern paganism is an animistic and/or polytheistic spiritual path that celebrates life, nature, and pre-Christian European traditions and belief systems. It is ever evolving, it has no strict forms or norms and it strongly relies on energy, positive morality and ethics. Its popularity has rapidly grown in the last two centuries. These different pagan spiritual movements allow people to reconnect with nature, to worship and recreate the old belief systems of their ancestors, and to adjust the folk beliefs, practices and traditions of the pre-Christian faiths to modern context. These efforts to revitalize these spiritual traditions are to be found not only in Europe, where they first emerged, but also all over the world. The social conditions and the less rigid religious structures of contemporary society have made people worry less about being isolated or stigmatised because of their beliefs and practices. It was not long ago, and particularly during the Reformation years, that the preChristian customs were condemned and persecuted. Actually, Scotland was among the countries, where these persecutions, historically known as ‘witch-hunts’, were particularly fierce. Remains of these stereotypes are still apparent in modern society as part of folklore, but things have eventually and gradually changed; people feeling disillusioned by mainstream religion, materialism and non-ecological conscience seem more eager to follow the pagan pathways. They tend to gather and create their own communities, where they can interact and participate in ceremonies. Their goal is to revive the earlier spiritual systems and reconnect with them, frequently by mixing them with practices, customs and beliefs that are more contemporary.

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The term pagan derives from the Latin word paganus, meaning a civilian coming from pagus, which in Latin meant ‘county district.’ 1 Therefore, a ‘paganus’ was simply the 0F

inhabitant of the rural districts in ancient Rome, essentially the peasantry. 2 The association of 1F

the term pagan with heathenry and non-Christian spiritual traditions came during the Christianization of the Romans and especially during the fourth century AD, 3 when 2F

Christianity first emerged in the urban communities among the wealthy and educated, while the ancient traditions were kept alive in the rural areas. The practitioners of the older traditions were seen as deniers of the Christian religion, whose spiritual beliefs and practices needed to be replaced by the newly established Christian ones. 4 In Strmiska’s opinion, this 3F

early association of the paganus people with non-Christianity is one of the reasons the term has become so popular among modern pagans, with the promotion and positive depiction of pre-Christian mythologies, customs and beliefs by the Romantics in the nineteenth-century and in the works of certain scholars of anthropology, ethnology and history in the late nineteenth-century, early twentieth-century, being the other. 5 4F

The most popular pagan spiritual movement of modern times is Wicca, an adaptation of traditional witchcraft in contemporary context. Wicca was introduced in the mid-twentieth century by Gerald Gardner and evolved further by one of its followers, Alex Sanders. Even though Gardner’s Wicca movement was a combination of British folklore and elements from other traditions, 6 it is indisputable that he and his ideas made these spiritual paths 5F

significantly popular during the second part of the twentieth century. 7 Among the other 6F

modern pagan paths emerging all over the world, one can find heathenry, Asatru and Norse mythology, the Romuva in Lithuania, occult, the Ukrainian ‘Ritnovira’ and many others. This project will concentrate on two contemporary paths that are being followed currently in Scotland, druidry and shamanism, and it will focus on matters of the identity and belief system of its followers and practitioners. I think it is a significant research, as contemporary

Scottish

pagan

movements

have

been

rarely

documented,

either

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ethnographically or academically. As far as I am aware there is a PhD dissertation on shamanism by Mary Catherine Burgess and a constellation of writings on the Scottish witchhunts during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The reality is that these movements, though they are not as glamorous and popular as in the United States, England or Ireland, are as vivid and diverse as in the other aforementioned countries. The paper will be divided into three chapters. Ancient and contemporary druidry will be examined in the first chapter. It will discuss the traditions of the Iron Age druids according to the works of Classical authors, modern historians and the opinions of modern druids themselves, while it will also examine the belief system and identity of its contemporary followers. The second chapter, subdivided into two parts, takes a closer look at the particular relationship of druidry within Scotland, discussing the stone circles, the bardic traditions and some of the druid groups that exist in Scotland nowadays. The second section of this chapter will attempt to explain the unpopularity of paganism in Scotland, touching upon druidry and witchcraft, as opposed to the popularity of these movements in the other regions of the British Isles. Finally, the third chapter will examine the roots and some general aptitudes of shamanism, focusing on the ideas and teachings of Terry Mace and his own contemporary shamanic School, named Rainbow Zen Shamanism, in Northeast Scotland. This research intends to cover ethnographically druidry and shamanism, two of the current pagan spiritual movements that emerged and are being followed and practiced beside the official Christian religion in modern Scotland. It will examine the roots of these traditions and it will focus on the identity, beliefs and images of their contemporary followers. It will also try to analyze and cross-reference them academically, as thoroughly as possible. As it is an ethnographic work, it will also rely significantly on the contributions of the people themselves. It will try to illustrate and describe the views and understandings of the people recorded. It will attempt to make a case in relation to the social settings and will seek to contextualize the subject in wider contexts. The motivation and the goal of this whole project

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is to give a voice to these people and the traditions and belief systems that they follow, in both respectful and scholarly ways.

1.2. Methodology – Reflexivity – Ethics

This paper is an ethnographic research on paganism. Polish anthropologist and ethnographer Bronislaw Malinowski, whose ethnography was on the Melanesian tribes on the Trobriand Islands, stated that the purpose of an ethnographer is ‘to grasp the native's point of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world.’ 8 David Walsh said about ethnography: 7F

[Ethnography is] a particular method or set of methods which in its most characteristic form, [...] involves the ethnographer participating overtly or covertly in people’s daily lives for an extended period of time, watching what happens, listening to what is said, asking questions – in fact, collecting whatever data are available to throw light on the issues that are the focus of research. 9 8F

As any ethnographic fieldwork, this research depended on field notes, recorded interviews and participatory observation. The material was recorded on the recording machines provided by the Elphinstone Institute, while the interviews used for this dissertation were transcribed, itemized, indexed and archived according to the Institute’s guideline. In particular, information and advice on transcription were drawn from Willow Roberts Powers’ book Transcription Techniques for the Spoken Word. 10 The truth is that I encountered many 9F

problems while transcribing the interviews. Coming from a non-English speaking country, it was difficult for me in many cases to understand my contributors, and especially the ones with a thick Scottish accent. I asked for help from native speakers and many of them were

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kind enough to aid me. Nevertheless, the majority of the transcriptions are results of my own effort and I tried to formulate them the best way possible. Sometimes it was an exhausting procedure usually taking me more than ten hours per hour of recording, but as Powers notes ‘the work of transcribing broadens our experience of speech, gives the analytical mind much more to play with than the text will ever will, and strengthens our memory for the work that lies ahead.’ 11 10F

The interviews were mostly free-flowing conversations, based on semi-structured and exploratory questions. There was no research questionnaire. As I had a broad knowledge of the subjects, I treated my contributors as the experts on the field and I let them take the lead in our conversations. The questions emerged as the interview progressed. There was some preparation beforehand, but in many occasions, the conversations went to a different direction from the one intended, with Terry Mace and Dougie Bogie’s discussion on stone circles being one of them. 12 The contributors were also given the consent form of the Elphinstone 11 F

Institute and the options and instructions of the form were clearly specified beforehand, in order to avoid any misunderstanding. I was able to record twelve people since the beginning of the research in late March, some of them more than once. For example, I had four one-to-one conversations with Terry Mace, apart from the numerous ones he co-joined. In this paper, I utilized extracts from the discussions I had with Terry Mace, a shaman in Cullen, in April, May and July; from Crystal Green, a solitary witch from Buckie, in Terry’s home in late April; from Wicca High Priestess, Maria Termaat and druid Simon Parry in Bonchester Bridge, in mid May; from the conjoint discussion of Terry and Red Path follower Dougie Bogie, in late May; and finally, from my conversation with Maggie Garbutt, a member of the Dunedin Druid Grove, in early June in her place in Alloa. The rest of the interviews might be accessed and used in a future research. John Brewer states that ‘openness, emotional engagement and the development of potentially long-term relationships based on trust and emotional reciprocity’ are shaped

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through the interviews, 13 a statement that I consider true, as I have developed a close 1 2F

friendship with many of my contributors, and particularly Terry and Maggie. Though this specific paper concentrates on interviews, as it examines the identity, ideas and belief system of pagan people, the majority of the recorded material — mostly in the format of photos and videos, but also as .wav files — was from rituals and ceremonies, based on participatory observation, a term first used by Malinowski. Participatory observation is a key element in ethnographic research and a combination of methodology, reciprocity, ethics and reflexivity. It is a data collecting method within the qualitative research 14 frame of reference, where the researcher develops an emic comprehension of 13 F

human behaviour, by participating in their activities. 15 Brewer says: 14F

A proper balance in the participant observer’s dual role as part insider and part outsider gives them the opportunity to be inside and outside the setting, to be simultaneously member and non-member, and to participate while also reflecting critically on what is observed and gathered while doing so. 16 15 F

The research followed all four phases of participatory observation suggested by Joseph Howell: establishing rapport with the group under research, getting involved in the field, recording data and observations, and analyzing this information. 17 In addition, James 16F

Spradley created a Participant Observation Type Chart, from non-participatory observation to complete participation. 18 If I had to apply my fieldwork participation to Spradley’s chart, I 17F

would say it was somewhere between moderate and active participation. During my research I immersed myself into three local groups, Terry Mace’s circle, the Dunedin Druid Grove and the Druids of Caledon, and participated in more than ten rituals or ceremonies, including the ceremonies for the Summer Solstice, Lughnasadh, and two rituals dedicated to full moons. I tried to balance my emic and etic viewpoints in some of the events, while in others, I fully

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embraced the ceremonial role I was given. For example, for the Lughnasadh ceremony I adopted the role of Gwion before being eaten by Ceridwen, as in the Taliesin legend. 19 1 8F

Figure 1: Pipe ceremony after the Ride the Lightning ritual in a cave by the Cullen beach. The pipe belongs to the Lakota people and it is kept by Dougie Bogie [photo taken 12 July 2014]

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Figure 2: With Maggie Garbutt during the Summer Solstice ceremony of the Druids of Caledon at June 2014] Glen Rouken Park, Glasgow [photo taken 22 June 2014]

As for my contributors, gender, culture, geography and education had little impact on my choice criteria, as I have had both male and female contributors coming from different cultural, social and educational backgrounds, from all over Scotland. However, I did intend to interview people of a certain age. The reason is that I consider these older people more experienced, committed and settled in their faith and beliefs. This decision of mine was an outcome of the fact that in the last decades, there has been a commercialization of some pagan paths, especially witchcraft, in literature, television and films, having as a result the creation of the contemporary ‘Teen Witches’ trend. Emma Restall-Orr identifies this trend as one of the four current threads of modern paganism before concluding that ‘this is paganism in colourful thick felt-tip pens’. 20 The 19F

principal market of this fashion is teenagers, predominantly girls, dressed in black as witches,

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who are influenced by TV shows, internet sites, forums and popular books, 21 looking for 20F

magical spells and charms in order to find a way to deal with their problems, such as their relations with their boyfriends or parents. Graham Harvey suggests that ‘it will be interesting to see what changes will occur under the influence of these new “Teen Witches”’. 22 I 21 F

certainly do not doubt the fact that there must be younger individuals out there equally settled and committed with the older ones on matters of their belief system and spirituality. One such case is Maria’s daughter, Irene, who as a child of a pagan mother is more ‘likely to derive some appreciation of pagan concerns and activities’. 23 22F

During my first discussion with Terry Mace in late April, I asked him why he chose to have three relatively young apprentices. When he answered that he thinks that they are the future, my first question was if he was too optimistic and whether he was concerned about discipline and commitment issues, as they might be experimenting before settling down later in their lives. Since then, the two of them have been released from their apprenticeship and the situation with the third one is vague. Terry, during my visit in late August, confessed that he no longer seeks for apprentices, as he realized after all those years that ‘you are only born a shaman’, but also it is difficult to transfer his knowledge and teachings, claiming repeatedly that my question was influential in his decision. Therefore, although I have had some interesting interviews with younger pagans, my intention from the beginning was to record individuals of a certain age. In this paper, the term ‘religion’ will rarely be attributed to the branches of modern paganism. I am aware that the majority of folklorists and religious studies scholars apply the term religion to these movements. 24 However, my intentional decision to avoid this specific 23F

word is a result of my own personal notion and image of what religion means and how this term brings to my mind some negative visualizations, feelings and ideas. Instead, more neutral terms such as spirituality, faith, tradition and belief system will be used. I am also

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aware of the fact that I have to be absolutely clear on this notion of mine, as religious and spiritual issues are still matters of debate and controversy. First and foremost, I consider the pagan paths of shamanism and traditional witchcraft especially, individual esoteric abilities and practices and not ‘established’ religions, and that is the reason why I refer to them with a lower case, as opposed to capitalizing Christianity. Secondly, during my research, all of my contributors, when asked what modern paganism is, responded that ‘if you ask a hundred pagans, you will get a hundred different answers on what they believe in’. Some of them believe in nature, others in Gods and Goddesses, some others in patterns of energy and spirits, or in a combination of all these ideas. Therefore, this tendency manifests that there is no organized structure and rulebook for their belief system, as in Christian religion. Finally, these pre-Christian influenced spiritualities have been demonized, persecuted and treated as the antithesis to Christianity — especially during early modern times — that Christian religion has managed to establish its rules and dogma, as part of the Church’s perpetuated tendency to discover scapegoats in order to disorientate the flock from its hunger for power. 25 24 F

In this decision of mine to avoid the term religion for modern paganism, my own background played an essential part. I was raised in a country where the presence of the Greek Orthodox Church is dominant in all levels, acting as a profitable corporation and being involved in various scandals of different natures. Therefore, in my mind, religion is a term linked with many negative aspects of the dominant Christian religion, which are power, corruption, dogmatic behaviour, super-structure and establishment. My long-time affinity to occultism, its controversial representatives such as Anton LaVey, Aleister Crowley and Eliphas Levi, and occult-influenced rock music, started as provocation and reaction to these traits of the established religion. I do not mean I am against the individual Christian practitioners; on the contrary, I respect them and their beliefs deeply. Actually, my mother is a devoted Christian practitioner

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and I frequently receive the Communion that she brings home, out of respect to her beliefs. Nevertheless, even among Christians themselves, there is a distinction between ‘believing in God’ and ‘being religious’, in an attempt to distance themselves from the organized religion and the way it is run. I also regard individual Christian practices and beliefs, often blended with elements that survived from older traditions, 26 as vernacular — in the same way 25F

Leonard Primiano uses the term 27 — spiritual expressions within the frame of reference of 26 F

Christianity, unrelated to the power relations of the official institutions. However, I do acknowledge the presence of certain religious characteristics and structures in many modern pagan paths, such as Gerald Gardner’s guide-line books for Wicca, the existence of hierarchy in both druidry and Wicca, which often leads to power struggles, and the fact that druidry was given a charitable status with tax advantages, after been recognized as a religion in Britain in 2010. 28 I can also accept the fact that in pre27F

Christian societies, some paths such as druidry may have been functioning as an established religion, but this cannot be absolutely verified, as little is actually known about these traditions. 29 In many ways, my notion can be compared with the decision of scholars, to use 28F

the neutral and exotic term shaman instead of the conflicting and prejudice evoking terms witch-doctor, wizard or seer, as Harner suggests. 30 Therefore, as stated above, I will use 29F

some more neutral terms for these modern pagan paths that stand outside mainstream religion, and also lack many ‘religious’ traits such as establishment, organization, power, dogma and estate properties. This specific project focuses on the faith and belief system of a certain group of people, a matter that needs to be handled with caution and integrity. Therefore, it is the obligation of the research to ensure that there are ethical boundaries drawn that should not be crossed by either side. Brewer says about the ethical codes of the ethnographer.

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Ethnographers are perhaps unique among social researchers in sharing the lives of the people they study. This means that they cannot [...] work as if in a vacuum –— they pry into people’s innermost secrets, witness their failures and participate in their lives —, which means they must operate a code of ethics that respects their informants. 31 30F

All the contributors were treated with respect and sincerity and were aware of the nature of the research, its goals and its motivations, but also the spiritual background of the researcher. I thought it was my duty to share it with them, as it was an indication of sincerity towards them and a step to gain their trust. The truth is that all of them were open and friendly from the beginning. In my opinion, the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the leading druidic organization in Britain, contributed greatly to that, as they agreed to post my appeal for help on their Facebook page. From that point on, I received many offers from members of the Order in order to contribute to the research. Therefore, I think that the endorsement by OBOD was critical in my quest for contributors. However, I need to address that a handful of ethical matters occurred during the research, even though I do not think they crossed ethical behaviour lines. As DeWalt and De Walt note, this might occur when the research is within a community, group or population where illegal activities might happen. 32 Even though the activities narrated in the interviews 31 F

cannot be described as illegal, they may raise some controversy and public reaction, as they are considered issues capable to cross the thin line of morality and established ethics. One such issue was the consumption of psychedelic substances. There were many discussions on their role and function in some practices and rituals. The notion is that as long as they are collected from nature, they are part of it and therefore legal and free for use. On the other hand, there were also some conversations describing child abuse incidents, but they happened more than forty years ago and some of the people involved are deceased. All these issues were discussed with my supervisors quite a few times, and I was

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advised to inform the contributors that our conversations involved some sensitive matters that may raise some debate. I received the same response from all of them, that they appreciated my honesty, but they do not want anything edited off from the conversations and they stand by their opinions. However, I have decided mutually with my supervisors that it would be better if I did not to include any of these segments from the interviews in the main body of this paper, out of respect to these people and their dignity towards me during the research.

1.3. Literature Review – Paganism and Folkloristics

Paganism was and still is central in the discipline of modern Ethnology with many scholars attempting to interpret academically the beliefs, rituals and customs associated with the pagan traditions. The engagement with the study of paganism began from the late eighteenth-early nineteenth century, during the emergence of the Popular Antiquities discipline. The antiquarians had studied the practices and custom of the rural communities of their times, but they treated them as irrational remnants of a distant and primitive past. 33 Among the first 32F

authors who wrote about ‘savage nature-based traditions’, was Swiss philosopher JeanJacques Rousseau. He wrote: ‘in the earliest times, [...] the stars, the winds, the mountains, the rivers, the trees, the villages, the dwellings themselves, each had its soul, its god, its life. [...] All the works of nature.’ 34 Rousseau idealized the way of living of the communities who 33 F

kept these traditions — in contrast with the injustice of urbanized life — identifying Swiss peasantry as one of them. 35 3 4F

Mid-nineteenth century Anthropology and Ethnology also turned their attention to the study of ritual motivated by ‘nostalgia for lost authenticity that was presumably present in the rituals of Classical pagans and “savages”’. 36 They believed that the contemporary peasant 35 F

communities carried ancient traditions in their practices and beliefs, attempting to study these

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earlier traditions based on this alleged historical and cultural continuity. Comparative philologist Max Mueller’s Solar Mythology theory interpreted the existence of identical gods and heroes in European mythologies. He claimed that they derived from a single origin, 37 the 36 F

Sanskrit texts from India, and they were diffused over time. He also associated myths with nature and the heavens and particularly the sun, which he claimed, was people’s daily concern, as agriculture depended on its movement. 38 37F

British anthropologists, particularly Andrew Lang, criticized Mueller’s theory. Moreover, he and E.B. Tylor applied Darwin’s evolutionary theory to the evolution of human cultures. 39 They suggested that all mankind went through three identical phases — savagery, 38 F

barbarism and civilization — and during this process, remnants of primitive traditions survived among rural communities and contemporary illiterate tribes. They believed that these ‘survivals could assist in reconstructing the earliest stages of human life and culture, much as the fossil bones of a prehistoric creature could conjure up all species’. 40 Tylor also 39 F

expressed some ideas associated with paganism. He indicated that primitive communities used to worship animals as their protectors, attributed spirits to natural elements, animals and plants, and believed in the shamanic ability of transmutation through ecstasy. 41 40 F

American folklorist Charles Leland not only supported the survivalist theory, but also wrote one of the first books on contemporary paganism, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. Leland’s book was an early form of ethnography on Italian witchcraft, claiming that all the information was given to him by a ‘witch informant’ he met in Florence, named Maddalena. 42 He was also the pioneer of the term ‘the Old Religion’ meaning ‘the survivals 4 1F

of beliefs and behaviour inherited from earlier stages of the culture’s development’. 43 42F

Margaret Murray was also a survivalism advocate. Even though her academic background was Egyptology, she turned into the study of witchcraft. She claimed that the witch-hunts of the early modern times were a premeditated attempt of the organized Christian Religion to eliminate all European non-Christian pagan traditions. 44 She was also among the first 43F

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scholars who suggested that witchcraft was actually a Celtic tradition, which survived in Celtic speaking regions such as Scotland. 45 44 F

If there are two scholars that influenced with their ideas modern paganism, these are Scot anthropologist, Sir James George Frazer and psychiatrist, Carl Gustav Jung. Their notions came up frequently in many of the conversations I had with my contributors, and especially the Jungian archetypes. In his seminal book, The Golden Bough, Frazer who was a survivalism enthusiast, applied magic, religion and science to Tylor’s evolutionary theory. He claimed that magic was an early concept of science, a seemingly logical way to explain the world and the natural phenomena. Magical practices and beliefs evolved to religion and eventually became modern science. 46 Moreover, he argued that all rituals were celebrations 45F

of the annual sacrifice of a sacred king, who had to be killed and be reborn, to ensure the fertility of the crops. 47 46 F

On the other hand, Jung in his book Man and His Symbols introduced the concept of universally existing symbols in the minds of all mankind, which he named ‘archetypes’. He wrote: ‘The archetype is a tendency to form such representations of a motif — representations that can vary a great deal in detail without losing their basic pattern. [...]They are indeed an instinctive trend.’ 48 He suggested that all civilizations developed almost 4 7F

identical motifs in their subconsciousness, and that is the sole reason of the similarities that are apparent in their beliefs, rituals, myths and folktales. He also thought that all cultures externalized these archetypes subconsciously through rituals and mythologies. 49 48F

Significant for this research in particular, have been the ethnographies of Malinowski’s disciple, E.E. Evans-Pritchard, on the magical beliefs of the Azande and Nuer tribes in Sudan, of Sabina Magliocco on modern witchcraft and Jenny Butler’s on Irish druidry, along with Mircea Eliade’s and Michael Harner’s works on shamanism. Eliade was actually a big admirer of the Jungian archetypes referring to them up to a certain point in his works, but he ceased, out of fear of misinterpretation. He also introduced the idea that

16

shamanism was based on ‘archaic techniques of ecstasy – at once mysticism, magic, and “religion” in the broadest sense of the term.’ 50 This dissertation relied also on the works by 49 F

Folklore, Anthropology, History and Religious studies scholars, such as Richard Dorson, Graham Harvey, Nora Chadwick, Marion Bowman, Christina Larner, Julian Goddare, John Matthews, on the ideas of Arnold van Gennep on the rites of passage and Victor Tuner’s liminality study. Moreover, writings by pagan authors themselves were frequently utilized as well, such as the books by the two chiefs of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, Ross Nicholls and Phil Carr-Gomm, as modern folklore studies allow people to speak for themselves and use their own aesthetics and classificatory systems for an emic point of view. 51 However, I 50 F

need to mention one specific scholar, whose contribution was essential to this research. The books Blood and Mistletoe and The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles by British historian, Ronald Hutton provided a huge amount of historical and archaeological background not only on druidry, but also on all the other pre-Christian traditions on the British Isles, and it was cross-referenced constantly in order to justify academically my contributors’ opinions. Finally, Don Yoder’s notion of folk religion, Leonard Primiano’s ideas on vernacular religion and Michael Strmiska’s take on ethnic religion were also constantly looked upon.

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1

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English, ed. by H.W. Fowler and F.G. Fowler, 7th edition

by J.B. Sykes (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1982) p. 735. 2

Pierre Chuvin, A Chronicle of the Last Pagans (Rhode Island: Harvard University Press, 1990), pp.

7-13. 3

Michael F.Strimska (ed.), Modern Paganism in World Cultures: Comparative Perspectives (Santa

Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005) p. 6. 4

Richard Platinga (ed.), Christianity and Plurality: Classic and Contemporary Readings (Oxford:

Blackwell, 1999). 5

Strimska, p. 7.

6

Aidan Kelly, Crafting the Art of Magic (St. Paul: Llewellyn, 1991).

7

Strimska, p. 21.

8

Bronislaw Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and

Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea (New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1961), p. 25. 9

David Walsh, ‘Doing Ethnography’, In Researching Society and Culture, ed. by Clive Seale, Clive

(2nd ed. London: Sage, 2004), p. 226. 10

Willow Roberts Powers, Transcription Techniques for the Spoken Word (USA: Altamira Press,

2005) 11

Roberts, p. 10.

12

See EI 2014.048.

13

John Brewer, ‘Ethnography’, in Understanding Social Research Series, ed. by Alan Bryman

(Philadelphia: Open University Press, 2000), p. 69. 14

For the qualitative research method in culture, see Pertti Alasuutari, Researching Culture:

Qualitative Method and Cultural Studies (London: Sage, 1995). 15

Brewer, p. 59.

16

Brewer, p. 60.

17

Joseph T. Howell, Hard Living on Clay Street: Portraits of Blue Collar Families (Illinois:

Waveland Press, 1972). pp. 392–403. 18

The five types of participatory observation include non-participatory, passive, moderate, active and

complete participation; James P. Spradley, Participant Observation (Orlando: Harcourt College Publishers. 1980), pp. 58 -62. 19

For the Taliesin story, see Ifor Williams, Canu Taliesin, trans. into English by J. E. Caerwyn

Williams as The Poems of Taliesin (Dublin: Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies, 1968). 20

Emma Restall Orr, Living With Honours: A Pagan Ethics (Winchester, UK; Washington, USA: O

Books, 2007), p. 16.

18

21

For example, see Silver Ravenwolf, To Ride a Silver Broomstick: New Generation Witchcraft (St.

Paul: Llewellyn, 2000). 22

Graham Harvey, Listening People Speaking Earth: Contemporary Paganism (London: Hurst and

Company, 1997), p. 19. 23

Harvey, p. 225.

24

See Graham Harvey, Listening People Speaking Earth and Michael Modern Paganism in World

Cultures 25

Other minority groups who suffered a similar ‘witch-hunting’ by organized Christian religion were

gypsies, Jews, indigenous people, homosexual people. 26

Don Yoder, ‘Toward a Definition of Folk Religion’, Western Folklore, 33 (1974), 2-15, (pp. 12-13).

27

Primiano’s use of the word ‘vernacular’ is either ‘personal, private’ or ‘of arts, or features of these:

native or peculiar to a particular country or locality’; Leonard Primiano, ‘Vernacular Religion and the Search for Method in Religious Folklife’ in Western Folklore, 54 (Jan 1995), 37-56 (p. 42). 28

< http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/8036952/Druidry-recognised-as-religion-in-Britain-for-

first-time.html > (accessed, 11 September 2014). 29

For an analytical discussion of the matter, see the first chapter of this paper.

30

Harner, The Way of Shaman (New York: Harper One, 1990), p. 20.

31

Brewer, p. 89.

32 K. M. DeWalt, B. R. DeWalt, B. R. and C. B. Wayland, ‘Participant observation’, in Handbook of

Methods in Cultural Anthropology, ed. by H. R. Bernard (Walnut Creek, California: AltaMira Press, 1998), pp. 259-99. 33

Richard Dorson, Peasant Customs and Savage Myths: Selections from the British Folklorists, 2 vols

(London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1968), Vol. I, pp. 217-30. 34

Giuseppe Cocchiara, The History of Folklore in Europe, trans. by John N. McDaniel (Philadelphia:

Institute for the Study of Human Issues, 1981), p. 122. 35

Sabina Magliocco, Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America (Philadelphia:

University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), p. 38. 36

Catherine Bell, Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997),

p. 11. 37

Max Mueller’s diffusion notion was strongly intertwined with the monogenesis theory, that every

ritual, story, custom originated from one place and it was ‘transmitted over time, either intergenerationally or interactionally’; see Robert A. Georges and Michael Owen Jones, Folkloristics: An Introduction (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1995), p. 54. 38

Richard Dorson, ‘The Eclipse of Solar Mythology’, in The Study of Folklore, ed. by Alan Dundes

(Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1965), pp. 57-83.

19

39

Magliocco, p. 41; Dorson, ‘The Eclipse of Solar Mythology’, 57-83; see also Edward Tylor,

Edward, Primitive Culture (New York: J. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1920). 40

Dorson, ‘The Eclipse of Solar Mythology’, p. 66.

41

Georges and Jones, pp. 43-52.

42

Charles Leland, Aradia, or the Gospel of the Witches. (David Nutt, 1899).

43

Don Yoder, p. 12.

44

Margaret Murray, The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1921).

45

Magliocco, p. 48.

46

Georges and Jones, pp. 47-52.

47

Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (London: Papermac,

1922). 48

Carl Gustav Jung, ‘Approaching the Unconscious’ in Man and his Symbols, ed. by Carl Gustav

Jung (London: Arkana, 1990), p. 58. 49

Carl Gustav Jung, The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious (London: Routledge, 1968).

50

Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, trans. by Willard R. Trask (Arkana:

Penguin, 1989), pp. xvii–xxvii. 51

Marvin Harris, ‘History and Significance of the Emic/Etic Distinction’, Annual Review of

Anthropology, 5 (1976), 329-350.

20

2. Druidry: From Iron Age to the Twenty-first Century

She whispers to you of the magic and mystery of the turning stars and seasons. [...] She tells you stories of Gods and Goddesses, the Otherworld and fairies, dragons and giants. She promises secret lore – of sacred trees and animals, of herbs and plants. She points deep into the past, and ahead towards a future, which is lived in harmony with the natural world. But when you are convinced you will marry her [...], she turns around and there she is, with rotten teeth and hideous face, cackling and shrieking at your naivety. 52 51 F

The ‘She’, Phil Carr-Gomm — the current Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids — is referring to, is druidry. In his rather poetic definition, Carr-Gomm is attempting to denote

the two different natures of the druidic spiritual path. However, if the positive aspects of druidry are quite clear, one wonders which is the ‘rotten teeth and hideous face’ side of it; how is it possible druidry celebrating so passionately spirits, energy, nature and the cycle of the year to have a dark side? That is mainly the result of the ambiguity which surrounds the existence, activities and beliefs of the Iron Age druids, who were accused of ‘barbaric rites’ and ‘sinister customs’, 53 as demonstrated in Classical writings woven together with recent 52F

historical and archaeological research. In this chapter, I will examine the appearance and the emergence of druidry as a spiritual and cultural path in the ancient and modern societies of the British Isles. I am using the phrase ‘the British Isles’ and not just Scotland, as during my research I noticed that the majority — if not entirety — of the scholarly works do not distinguish the faith system and practices of the inhabitants of these regions. This chapter will be divided into two subchapters and will deal with the general aspects of ancient and modern druidry. The first section will attempt to investigate the historical roots of the ancient druidic traditions, until the conversion

21

of these people to Christianity, focusing mainly on the written accounts of their coeval, ancient Roman and Greek authors. On the other hand, the second subchapter focuses on contemporary druidry and examines the spiritual identity and belief system of the modern druids.

2.1. Ancient Druidry: part truth, part fiction.

In his work Blood and Mistletoe: The History of Druids in Britain, English historian, Ronald Hutton, notes that it is difficult to come into any indisputable conclusions, either through archaeological artefacts or historical texts and sources, about the activities and the way of thinking of the ancient druids. ‘[The druids were] an order set apart from the rest of their own society and from other religious functionaries of their own time and of others.’ 54 Scholarly 53 F

and general fascination with them would be totally different nowadays, if the ancient Roman and Greek writers had not established the notion that these orders had been quite distinctive in various ways, in comparison to similar orders of priests or wise men in other cultures. Even the origins of the name ‘druid’ was an issue of debate among scholars, as it was widely suggested until lately that the word might have derived from the Greek language, meaning ‘the connoisseur of oak-trees’, a notion that was eventually abandoned. 55 The recent 54F

perception is that it comes from the Celtic word ‘druis’, which meant ‘wise man’ or ‘one who knows much’. 56 55 F

The most common idea among modern druids and scholars was that their Iron Age Celtic ancestors were spiritual leaders, legates of worshipped deities and magical healers, in the same vein as the Native American and First Nation medicine men and women. However, the druids left us with no written references of their practices and belief systems, because of their strict regulation to permit only the oral transmission of their wisdom to the next

22

generations and to forbid the written one, 57 something that Julius Caesar confirmed in his 56F

writings. 58 Our imagination of them rely mainly upon the textual sources by classical Roman 57 F

and Greek authors, and later on, by newly converted to Christianity, medieval Irish writers. However, these testimonies are considered to be products of either hearsay or imagination. Hutton summarizes it aptly: ‘The entire history of attitudes to druidry has been one of selection and creative reinvention.’ 59 58F

The majority of the historical accounts referring to the Iron Age druids came during the Roman occupation of Celtic Gaul in the first century BC, and not from the Roman expeditions to Britain. Even though the first reference of druids had been by Sotion of Alexandria — he mentioned the druidas of the Keltois (Celts) and Galatais (Gauls) in his writings 60 — the first author, who had described thoroughly their practices and beliefs, was 59 F

Julius Caesar. Caesar was also the first who mentioned Britain, noting that it was the heartland of druidic traditions and that the Gaul druids went there in order to study it more profoundly, 61 even though many scholars, among them Daphne Nash, thought that Caesar 60F

probably exaggerated. 62 Along with other Roman writers such as Strabo and Pliny, Caesar 61 F

had depicted the druids of Gaul, and therefore of Britain, as the ‘high order’ of their people; on the one hand, they were philosophers, arbitrators, judges and tutors, and on the other hand, diviners, prophets and connoisseurs of the natural world, who had their assemblies near groves of trees or in shrines. All of the aforementioned writers also indicated that integral part of the druidic culture was human sacrifice, a custom closely associated with their beliefs in reincarnation and afterlife. 63 62F

Two major issues have arisen from the examination of these writings. The first was that the majority of them did not depend on personal experience, but on hearsay. 64 Gaius 63 F

Asinis Pollio, a Roman historian, accused Caesar of being ‘too quick to believe others’. 65 64F

Furthermore, since the 1950’s, there has been a growing belief that these references to the druids were all based on one single source predating them: a Greek from Syria called

23

Posidonius, who once visited Gaul and was a great admirer of the Roman Empire. He depicted the druids as ‘sophisticated thinkers and scientists, with firm belief in the immortality of the soul, and practitioners of large-scale human sacrifice by a variety of cruel means’. 66 65 F

Figure 3. Druid monument outside Chicago < http://occultview.com/2010/08/15/forest-homecemetery-uaod-druid-monument/ > [accessed 15 September 2014]

Therefore, both Roman and Greek authors presented a culture that was ‘worthy of both respect and condemnation’, 67 but they insisted on highlighting the primitive tendencies 66F

24

of the Celts, forgetting that both Greece and Rome used to be cultures ‘with mystery cults and traditions of ecstatic knowledge and divination’ 68 as well. During one of the many 67F

conversations I had with Terry Mace, who used to be in a druid grove, I asked him about his opinion on the claims of barbaric rites held by druids.

[TM] [...] I think it was probably very brutal. I think, if we could know truly its brutality, I think we’d be horrified. I’m sure that its brutality...

[SB]

So, are you one of the people that believe that druids used to sacrifice people?

[TM] Oh, I’m certain. I’m absolutely certain of it. I have absolutely no doubt of it. I’m absolutely clear on it. [...] But there’s enough substance in that, to know that ritualistic, sacrificial offering of a child, a baby, an old person, a dying person, a maiden, a mother, a father, a pregnant mother, two... a couple, laid on top of each other, while stakes impound into them. It’s in history, it’s recorded. 69 68 F

While later on, he attempted to justify this custom by arguing that the mistreatment of humans by other humans was a perpetuated phenomenon that continued to exist until recently, naming human slavery as an example.

We only actually have to look, barely a hundred fifty... a hundred seventy five, just barely two hundred years, okay? It’s not even two hundred years. We were actively engaged as a global citizenship in worldwide global slavery. It’s absolutely recorded, historically, ancestrally and within many, many texts. They were not considered humans, they were not considered. They were considered animals. 70 69 F

25

While the earlier Classical writings tended to condemn the Celtic primitivism, in order to manifest the cultural supremacy of the Greco-Roman civilizations and the need for Roman rule, 71 two centuries later, Alexandrian authors, among them Clement, Hippolytus, 70F

and Marcellinus, presented a more sophisticated Celtic culture, where the druids were the philosophers and wise men of their communities. 72 On the other hand, early medieval Irish 71F

texts, though being greater in numbers than the Classical ones, were considered less reliable by scholars, 73 as they had been written centuries after the disappearance of druidry, and in a 72 F

period long after the conversion of these communities to Christianity. The druids were depicted as wise men with multiple roles, as both councillors of the local lords and sorcerers, transforming people into animals, raising storms and generally casting any kind of magical spells, with the latter visualisation mainly found in the Irish epics, such as the Fenian Tales. 74 73 F

A focal question in my interviews from the beginning was how modern druids perceive their Celtic ancestors. Simon Parry and Maggie Garbutt’s viewpoint is close to the aforementioned sources. For them, they were ‘sages and lawyers and wise men of the tribe’. 75 Moreover, in Simon’s opinion, their wisdom was a combination of both healing 74 F

skills and a vast range of general knowledge, very similar to a modern encyclopaedia, which was transmitted orally to their pupils, as ‘the Celts didn’t have a tradition of writing’. 76 He 75F

told me:

[...] They would be the people able to learn and recite important information that had to be kept within the community. They could be to do with boundaries between lands, when certain things were settled, certain agreements were made, what was agreed. Also, lineage, you know, things like that... Dates of important events... 77 76 F

If Simon and Maggie’s depiction was according to the writings, Terry’s visualisation of the ancient druids was quite unique. In my last conversation with him, he was arguing that

26

Celtic shamanism and druidry ran parallel in Iron Age Britain as two different spiritual paths, before shamanism converting predominantly into hereditary, traditional witchcraft. Druidry, he told me, was the ‘odd one out, in the sense that it stood alone’. 78 Naturally, the first 77F

question that came to mind was the following:

[SB]

So... if shamans and witches or wizards were medicine men, [...] what were

druids?

[TM]

[...] I think they were the Police.

[SB]

[laughter] Seriously?

[TM] Seriously... I think they helped, I think they helped officiate order. I think they were the earliest form of municipal council and... summary or mobile government, that...

[SB]

The city council?

[TM] The city council... Totally... [...] I think they were exactly that. And they had power.

[SB]

So, they were the educated men with power that everybody was scared of.

[TM] Mmmm. I’m certain... 79 78 F

27

Ross Nichols, the founder of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids — known as OBOD —, a druidic community based in England with worldwide appeal and numerous members, agrees with the scholars who share the notion that a research on ancient druidry should be focused on their concepts and worldviews rather than on the historical sequence of their existence:

To give an account of the development of druidry is therefore impossible in the documentary historical sense. Whilst one may be fairly sure of the general outline, the gaps are larger than the areas by what is known. It is easier to give a concept of ideas and whence they derive. 80 79 F

2.2. The Identity and Belief System of Modern Druids

If the beliefs and practices of the ancient druids is still a topic of debate and controversy, an examination of the modern druidic movements is more accomplishable and it would lead into more ‘sustainable conclusions’, as ‘the way in which [modern] druids have been regarded in later ages, rests on solid data’. 81 Even though it is considered that Ireland, Scotland, England, 80 F

Wales and France were among the countries that these ancient druids existed, modern druidry has emerged in other countries as well, such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand or Australia. During our interview, I asked Simon, if choosing the druidic spiritual path is a matter of ethnic identity and a closer connection with the people that used to inhabit the British Isles.

28

Figure 4. < http://darkroom.baltimoresun.com/2013/12/celebrating-winter-solstice-atstonehenge/#6 > [accessed 15 September 2014]

[SP]

Yes. Yes, I think so. I think that’s the appeal to a lot of people. They feel that

it’s taking them back to some Celtic roots and it’s so... linking with their ancestors. And also, for us in Britain, not just Scotland, but the whole of Britain, linking with the land, you know. I think it must be so much more difficult to be a druid, if you’re living in California, for example [laughing]. Because you know, we’re just surrounded by Celtic landscape. [...] I mean, if you read any of the old Celtic stories, you know? They’re about places in the countryside around us here that you can go and visit. Now!

[SB]

[...] Like Giant’s Causeway.

29

[SP] Yeah, yeah! Lots of places, all around us, all around Ireland, Scotland, Wales, England. You know, you could actually go to the places where these stories took place. 82 81 F

Denis Dornoy, is a founder member of the World Congress of Ethnic Religion (WCER). In the first newsletter of the WCER, he notes that the word ‘ethnic’ should be stripped off from all the negative connotations of pure race or nationalistic ideologies and that it should be used with its original meaning instead, which is ‘anything related to a particular people’, including ethnic religion. 83 He argues that ethnic religion is a combination of 82F

worship, traditions, beliefs and it may also involve ancestral heritage. 84 Michael Strmiska 83 F

also suggests that ethnicity is a ‘more straightforward and appealing concept’ for European pagans because of their longer and more linear ancestry, compared to newly established countries, such as Canada, the States or Australia, which do not hold such a long cultural heritage. 85 84 F

In Marion Bowman’s opinion, a historically documented spiritual and/or cultural heritage is not a necessity in order to connect to ancient traditions, while she notes that this renewed interest and fascination with Celtic spirituality is a combined result of romanticism, post-modernism and globalisation. 86 Furthermore, she has coined these people, whose Celtic 85F

spiritual identity is defined by inner choice and not linear ancestry, with the term Cardiac Celts. ‘They feel in their hearts that they are Celts. For Cardiac Celts, spiritual nationality is a matter of elective affinity.’ 87 In Terry’s mind, druidry contains a trait that the other spiritual 8 6F

paths cannot provide and this is the need for community:

How I hear it is, it’s the validation of the desperate bereavement, grief and loss of our communities. I think we’re desperate for community. And I think druidry clearly provides that. I have seen massive gatherings... 88 87 F

30

Figure 5. The altar for the Summer Solstice ceremony [photo taken in 22 June 2014]

Phil Carr-Gomm believes that there are also other factors that draw people from all over the world to druidry, apart from the inner necessity for community belonging and the quest for re-connection with the older spiritual paths. On the one hand, there is the gradual alienation from the officially established religions, as a reaction to their authoritarianism or just because of plain disassociation from Christianity. Isaac Bonewits, a North-American druid ‘priest’ for over 25 years, describes in his contribution in Carr-Gomm’s Druid Renaissance, how one of the first American druid groups, the Reformed Druids of North America, was founded in 1963 at Carleton College, out of protest and frustration against the authority of the Christian religion. 89 88 F

On the other hand, the continuing environmental concerns and the need for reconnection with nature tend to be significant in the pagan spiritual paths. Mara Freeman indicates that ancient druids were certain that the natural world had soul and energy — a belief that is largely popular among modern druids as well. Each plant or tree possessed different attributes; the bright berries were used for protection from evil, while the elders

31

used to gather around oak groves. Moreover, animals were viewed as spirits, powerful enough to help humans get in touch with ‘the unseen realms’. 90 Simon told me about 89 F

paganism and its relationship with ecology:

[...] Most modern pagans are quite keen environmentalists. And they feel more the environmental problems that we have these days, have to do with exploitation of the environment. And you know, the pagan approach to it is that we are part of it. You know, we cannot separate ourselves from it. You know, it is all one and we are part of that environment. And so, we are hurting our own selves by hurting and exploiting the environment. So, when we step outside, we don’t see this as being something there for us to exploit. You know, it’s a part of us, it’s an extension of us... or rather, we are part of it. 91 90F

Maggie’s spirituality is also connected with nature, and especially with trees.

[...] The primary thing was the connection with the trees... I mean, I’ve been writing poems for trees, since I was fourteen. It’s the natural cycles of things. It’s about... There’s also something about being in the service of the land. So, you know, a druid doesn’t have a wood, a wood has a druid. It’s the other way around. We’re there to help and support nature and not to dominate it. [...] The other thing about druidry is it is very experiential. So, you’re not... You can read books, but when it makes sense is when you experience it. When you experience the energy, when you’re with a tree and you feel its energy and communicate on some levels, that’s beyond words. 92 91F

Ross Nichols suggests that modern druidry includes another important element as well, the need for artistic expression, 93 together with people’s spiritual quest and affection 92F

with the natural environment. Simon narrated how his artistic side has blossomed alongside

32

his spirituality. He not only plays many and diverse musical instruments, from guitar to bagpipes, but he also constructs them. He has recently also discovered his talents in leatherand woodworking, which, in his mind, have definite connections with his involvement with druidry.

And then, of course, you know, you’ve seen my leather work. But, you know, you haven’t seen many other things like... I make knives, you know, I make the bows... [...] With my woodturning I just make quite functional things. There are things you could use, like bowls, plates, you know, things like that. You know... that people will use rather than just hang on the wall. Yeah... so, yeah, I enjoy. The other dimension of that I think, is that I like working in the natural materials. So, wood... you know, and there is always this connection with druidry and wood. So, I love working in wood. And the leather as well. You know, as a natural material. 94 93 F

During my research, it was difficult to come across with an adequate definition of what modern druidry is, as its followers deny placing their belief system into a dogmatic, narrow and ‘restricted’ categorisation, while scholars attempt to describe it rather than define it. OBOD in its official website says about modern druidry:

The Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids works with druidry as a spiritual way and practice that speaks to three of our greatest yearnings: to be fully creative in our lives, to commune deeply with the world of Nature, and to gain access to a source of profound wisdom. In druidry, bardic teachings help to nurture the singer, the artist or storyteller within us: the creative self; Ovate teachings help to foster the shaman, the lover of Nature, the healer within us; while the druid teachings help to develop our inner wisdom: the sage who dwells within each of us. 95 94F

33

This tradition of the three grades (bards – ovates – druids) within druidry, which is the core concept of the teachings and practices of OBOD, was firstly mentioned in the Classical writings. Diodorus wrote that the Gallic communities honoured two particular groups: the bardoi (bards), who were the poets, singers and artists, and the druidai (druids), who were philosophers and wise men. 96 Whereas, a few years later, Strabo added that in between these 95F

two grades, there was a third one, the o’vateis (vates), who were the prophets and the natureexperts. 97 These three stages have been adopted by OBOD and are equivalent to the roles of 96F

the Singer, the Shaman and the Sage respectively. Both Simon and Maggie have been members of OBOD for a long time. Maggie told me about the three levels:

You’re a Bard first, which is studying songs and poetry and making things, and just all the earthy things, and creative things. And then you go through the Ovate, which is the healing side and psychic abilities and all that kind of mental and spiritual exploration and then the Druid grade is more about grounding it all and being able to live it... being it... and passing it on as well. 98 97 F

In my conversation with Simon about the three grades, he drew a very interesting comparison between the ancient druidic grade system and modern higher education.

[...] So, I believe that... two aspects to druidry. One was there were druid schools and — that’s, you know, historically well established — which was seats of learning. [...] If someone’s been picked with modern druidry, is this idea of three, three grades — which I am not sure if there were really three grades, as in levels, like within the Wiccan levels of initiation. I don’t think they were. But... So, I see a nice parallel there with modern universities. You know, seats of learning. And it’s obvious that it’s

34

going to appeal to me, because I’m an academic. And if you think about it, we have three levels of academic qualification: we have the Bachelor’s Degree, the Master’s Degree and then the Doctorate, yeah? And then, there are these three levels within druidry... And so, I see a lovely parallel there, it being about... So, druidry being associated with [...] centres of learning, you know, with enquiring and learning about the world around you... But on another level then, you know there’s documentary evidence that druids, you know, maybe after they graduated or whatever, went out to live out in the community. So, you know, there would be a druid attached to settlements, towns... 99 98F

Thus, what is druidry for the people that contributed to my research? For Simon, modern druidry is a combination of many modern concepts, such as psychology and ecology.

It’s an attempt to reconstruct ideas, beliefs, practices from the past, but superimposed on top of that, of course, are modern ways looking at the world. There’s a lot of modern psychology, psychotherapy types that have been incorporated to it as well. Particularly if you’re at OBOD, there’s people like Philip Carr-Gomm, because you know, he’s trained in psychology, but also a lot of other people. So, for instance, Carl Jung did a lot of work that is really been picked up and incorporated into a lot of modern pagan practices, as well. 100 99F

During one of my many interviews with Terry, we had a long discussion over the differences between the evolution of druidry, shamanism and witchcraft through the ages. He told me about druidry:

35

[...] I think it has developed into the spiritual path and the path of Enlightenment, the path of wisdom, the path of knowledge, the path of clarity, tranquillity, and peace and joy. I think those are very New Age and very idealistic, very powerful, philosophical constructs. And I think druidry delivers that very well. 101 100F

While Maggie answered when I asked her, what modern druids do: ‘They honour the sacred. They honour the seasons, they honour animals, stones, rocks, nature, trees, obviously the whole... the natural cycles.’ 102 101F

On the other hand, the general perception of druidry, from people outside this spiritual frame of reference, is quite different and at the same time surrounded by certain stereotypes. Both Philip Shallcrass and Graham Harvey suggest that the impression that the modern druids are harmless, bearded, educated men – rarely women - in white robes, who gather in sacred places, such as Stonehenge, or around oak trees, is actually not that far from reality. 103 102F

Simon shares a similar idea.

[SP]

[...] I started off in witchcraft and moved to druidry... and that was kind of the

one that appeals for me, in terms of my public face, if you like. You know, I found it very difficult... [...] I found it very difficult to say to people ‘I’m a witch’. You know... Whereas, if you said to somebody you’re a druid, generally they see you just as being some kind of eccentric who dresses up in a white cloak and stands around at Stonehenge midsummer...

[SB]

With the scythe...

[SP]

Yeah, yeah! [laughter] That’s right. You know, if you say to somebody ‘a

druid’, they think of the druid in the Asterix the Gaul cartoons and things like that. 104 103F

36

In conclusion, one of the major matters that arise in modern paganism is the extent of effect that the information from the raw material and other resources has had on the spiritual character, practices and beliefs of these people. Michael Strmiska argues that this information has been primarily affected by the distortion, invention or even deletion, the pagan spiritualities suffered from Christian writers, and secondly, by the intermingling, borrowing and inspiration from other paths. 105 He suggests that all modern pagan movements tend to 104F

blend elements of their traditions with beliefs and practices taken from other spiritualities. Moreover, he separates them into two categories: the Reconstructionists and the Eclectics. The former aim to re-construct the ancient traditions or linguistic influences of their geographical territory to the ‘highest degree possible’, whereas the latter tend to re-invent completely their spirituality, by ‘handpicking’ elements from other spiritual sources and integrating them into the system that was inherited from their earlier cultural and spiritual ancestry. Simon believes that modern druidry definitely belongs to the second category.

[...] It’s eclectic... So, I think there’s a lot of, kind of... almost kind of just peeping into the neighbour’s garden, if you like, to see what they’re doing. And in terms of those Native Americans, and also, other shamanic traditions as well. So you got like... Siberian shamanic traditions, Mongolian shamanic traditions, you know. These have all got ideas, particularly in terms of, you know, the journeying, you know, shamanic journeying... These are all ideas that have been incorporated into the Celtic world. 106 105F

While later on, in the discussion, he added.

There isn’t enough evidence for us to be able to totally reconstruct what it is that druids really were and what they did. And even from the evidence that we’ve got, as I

37

have already said, some of it, I think is unacceptable to modern society. So, for instance, there is clear evidence of human sacrifice. Well, I don’t think there’s anybody interested in doing that these days, you know... 107 106F

‘Modern druidry is a modern invention, without question’, he concluded. 108 107 F

Conclusion

In this chapter, I attempted to examine some key features of ancient and modern druidry, based on recorded testimonies from followers of this spiritual path, and also on academic works by both scholars and druid authors themselves. In the first subchapter, druidry was discussed in its earlier form, when the ancient druids used to be a prevalent order on the British Isles and Gaul. Their practices and beliefs have been a long issue of controversy and debate not only among modern scholars, but also among the coeval Roman and Greek writers. On the one hand, they were depicted as philosophers, nature experts and educated men, and on the other hand, as magicians, diviners and savages, who used to sacrifice people. However, the data from these writings are not based on solid ground, as scholars nowadays regard them results of ‘word of mouth’ and sometimes of pure fantasy. As for the second section of this chapter, it focused on the worldview and the belief system of the modern druids. The conclusion made was that modern druidry is a contemporary re-invention, which blends earlier druidic traditions with quite a few elements imported from other spiritualities from all over the world, while it has incorporated ideas and notions from modern academic and scientific disciplines, such as psychology and environmentalism, in its teachings. Matters such as personal spirituality, artistic expression

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and connection with the natural world are important. In his foreword in Ross Nichols’ Book of Druidry, Carr-Gomm summarizes what modern druidry is.

To be able to be an artist and the follower of a spiritual discipline; to be environmentally concerned and active; to be able to combine one’s druidry with whatever other spiritual practices and teachings one finds beneficial — these are the goals of those who study druidry today. 109 108 F

Figure 6. The ‘Green Man’ [photo taken in Glasgow, June 22, 2014]

39

52

Philip Carr-Gomm (ed.), The Druid Renaissance: The Voice of Druidry Today (London: Thorsons,

1996), p. 1. 53

Ronald Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids on Britain (New Haven & London:

Yale University Press, 2009), p. 11. 54

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. xi.

55

Stuart Piggott, The Druids (New York: Thames & Hudson, 1987), pp. 105-6.

56

Daithi O hOgain, The Sacred Isle: Belief and Religion in Pre-Christian Ireland (Woodbridge, UK

and Rochester, NY: Boydell Press, 1999), p. 71. 57

Ross Nichols, The Book of Druidry (Kent: The Aquarian Press, 1990), p. 20.

58

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 5.

59

Ronald Hutton, ‘Who Possesses the Past?’, in The Druid Renaissance: The Voice of Druidry Today,

ed. by Philip Carr-Gomm (London: Thorsons, 1996), pp. 17-38 (p. 30). 60

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 2; see also Diogenes Laertius, Vitae, introduction, section 1.

61

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, pp. 2-3; see also Caesar, De Bello Gallico, V.12.

62

Daphne Nash, ‘Reconstructing Posidonius’ Celtic Ethnography’ in Britannia 7 (1976), p. 126.

63

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe pp. 3, 7, 10-11.; see also Strabo, Geographica, IV.4.4-5.

64

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, pp. 5-15.

65

Quoted in Suetonius, Julius Caesar, 56.4.

66

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 9.

67

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 6.

68

Magliocco, pp. 25-6.

69

EI 2014.051 00:27:30.

70

EI 2014.051 00:30:08.

71

Peter Beresford Ellis, The Druids (London: Constable, 1994), pp. 50-69; Jane Webster, ‘The Just

War: Graeco-Roman Texts as Colonial Discourse’, in TRAC 94: Proceedings of the Fourth Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference (Oxford: Oxbow, 1994), 6-7. 72

Nora K. Chadwick, The Druids (Cardiff: Wales UP, 1966), pp. xviii, 28 & 91; Hutton, Blood and

Mistletoe, pp. 18-21. 73

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 30.

74

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, pp. 32-33.

75

EI 2014.050 00:12:39.

76

EI 2014.039 00:10:13.

77

EI 2014.039 00:11:18.

78

EI 2014.051 00:24:50.

79

EI 2014.051 00:29:01.

80

Nichols, p. 20.

40

81

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. xi.

82

EI 2014.040 00:27:48.

83

< http://www.wcer.org > [accessed, 20 July 2014].

84

Strmiska, p. 15.

85

Strmiska, p. 17.

86

Marion Bowman, ‘Cardiac Celts: Images of the Celts in Paganism’, in Pagan Pathways: A

Complete Guide to the Ancient Earth Traditions, ed. by Charlotte Hardman and Graham Harvey (London: Thorsons, 2000), pp. 242-51 (p. 242). 87

Bowman, p. 246.

88

EI 2014.051 00:44:40.

89

Carr-Gomm, The Druid Renaissance, p. 4.

90

Mara Freeman, ‘The Connecting Thread: Deep Ecology and The Celtic Vision’, in The Druid

Renaissance: The Voice of Druidry Today, ed. by Philip Carr-Gomm (London: Thorsons, 1996), pp. 283-96 (pp. 283-4). 91

EI 2014.040 00:33:03.

92

EI 2014.050 00:05:10.

93

Nichols, p. 15.

94

EI 2014.039 00:34:00.

95

< http://www.druidry.org/druid-way > [accessed, 27 July 2014].

96

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 6. ; see also Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historicae, V.21-32.

97

Daithi O hOgain, p. 72; Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 7.

98

EI 2014.050 00:20:43.

99

EI 2014.039 00:08:41.

100

EI 2014.040 00:37:33.

101

EI 2014.051 00:26:55.

102

EI 2014.050 00:13:33.

103

Philip Shallcrass, ‘Druidry Today’, in Pagan Pathways: A Complete Guide to the Ancient Earth

Traditions, ed. by Charlotte Hardman and Graham Harvey (London: Thorsons, 2000), pp. 65-80 (p. 65); Graham Harvey, Listening People Speaking Earth: Contemporary Paganism (London: Hurst and Company, 1997), p. 19. 104

EI 2014.040 11:44.

105

Strmiska, pp. 18-22.

106

EI 2014.039 00:03:35.

107

EI 2014.039 00:12:58.

108

EI 2014.039 00:12:48.

109

Nichols, p. 1.

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3. Paganism and Druidry within Scotland

As discussed in the previous chapter, modern scholars have not distinguished ethnically the ancient pagan traditions of the British Isles and they have treated the spirituality of the indigenous people as unified and consolidated. However, even if the roots of these traditions are considered common and linear in all these regions, in the process I encountered two issues. The first was that Scotland is the least covered geographical region, in terms of its contribution to the emergence, existence and development of these spiritualities. During my search for appropriate academic reading, I have only come across some sparse references to earlier Scottish paganism. Furthermore, the references to modern pagan movements in Scotland were even fewer. In the process of my research, I concluded that this might derive from the fact that the pagan pathways seem to be less popular in modern Scotland than in Ireland, Wales and England. Therefore, in this chapter, I will attempt to investigate the long and complex, but also rarely documented, relation of paganism within Scotland. This chapter will also be divided into two parts like the previous chapter on the general aspects of druidry. In the first part, I will focus on the particular aspects and characteristics that connect druidic traditions to Scotland, such as the stone circles, the bardic traditions in the Highlands and the transmission of these teachings. It will also entail some introductory description of the druid groups/groves that exist and act in Scotland. In the second section, there will be a discussion on the factors behind the unpopularity of paganism in modern Scotland, examining not only druidry, but also witchcraft, while the conclusions will be based on both scholarly notions and opinions of my pagan contributors.

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3.1. Druidic traditions in Scottish Context

Just as everything relating to the druids, Scotland’s claim to druidry’s appearance and reemergence is a combination of individual interpretation, romanticism and scholarly debate. During the sixteenth century the Scots were the first people among the British who embraced their druidic heritage as they claimed that the prehistoric stone circles 110 scattered all over the 109 F

Scottish landscape were directly associated to the practices of the ancient druids. Ronald Hutton thinks this admiration of the Celtic past was an outcome of Scotland’s prolonged cultural and diplomatic alliance with the French, who had already acknowledged the prominence of the druidic traditions in Iron Age Gaul a century earlier. 111 Therefore, it came 110 F

as no surprise that the first modern-ages book on British druidry was published by a Scot, Hector Boece, in Paris in 1526. Boece’s book is considered by Hutton a pure invention with no historical evidence, driven by his need to demonstrate Scotland’s ‘superior antiquity’. He blended various facts from the Classical writings and invented a whole series of Iron Age kings, whose actions allegedly led to the creation of the druid orders. 112 He even claimed that the island described 111 F

in Tacitus’ works as ‘Mona’, where the Romans first encountered British druids, was actually the Isle of Man, which belonged to the Kingdom of Scotland at that time — and not Anglesey, off the coast of Wales. 113 However, his main contribution was his reference to the 112 F

recumbent stone circles in Aberdeenshire, which, according to him, were built for religious worship and used as the altar of the Celtic temples. 114 Even though he did not mention any 113F

druidic practices, the association to them was so natural, that William Stewart in his translation of the book into Scots a few years later, stated that druids were the ‘high priests’ of these temples. 115 114 F

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In fact, there has been a huge debate on the purpose of these monuments not only among scholars, but also among pagans themselves, as there is no direct and clear archaeological or historical linkage of these monuments to the druids. Hutton says, ‘what had been built as a temple might have been turned into a cemetery centuries later.’ 116 The most 1 15F

popular current theory among people is that they were ritual centres intended for religious practices. Simon is among the people who believe that there is no clear indication of an association with the druids.

[SP]

It’s very questionable whether stone circles have anything to do with druidry. I

think stone circles archaeologically predate the main druid period that we know. So, there’s not a kind of evidence that the druids were actually linked with the stone circles...

[SB]

However, you use to gather in the stone circles for the rituals...

[SP]

I think, I think modern druids use stone circles, because they recognize them

as being spiritual places within landscape... 117 116 F

In the mid twentieth century, two Scottish scientists, Alexander Thom and Euan MacKie suggested that those monuments had been linked to the heavens and they might have been used as astronomical observatories. This notion was also reinforced by ethnographical researches on native tribes from all over the world, where it was manifested that many indigenous peoples based their calendar year on sky observations. 118 British archaeologist, 117F

Aubrey Burl also agreed that the circles had an astronomical function. His study of the Clava Cairns and the recumbent stone circles in northeast Scotland led him to the conclusion that these circles were either lunar or solar. 119 However, another British historian, Rodney 118 F

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Castleden was among the scholars who were sceptical towards Burl’s assertion, noting that ‘it must be a matter of preference whether one wants to believe in a lunar or a solar orientation or both’. 120 119 F

Terry Mace shares Burl’s theory. For him, the Scottish stone circles are either solar or lunar. When I asked him what ‘lunar stone circles’ means, he told me.

[...] They operate on the lunar calendar. So, instead of being aligned from a geometric point of view or a sacred alignment point of view or an energy point of view, they are aligned to the lunar cycle, the rise and fall of the moon, the position of the moon throughout the year. So, the cycle of the moon was as important for the agriculture, and as important for the health and well-being of the societies of that time, as the sun was. That’s why we have both lunar and solar. [..] Lunar rituals and ceremonies are of course, in the shadow, they’re in the dark. They’re in the drawing of the power of the moon. So, we begin to work with emotions. So, probably a huge amount of ceremonies was conducted by women. 121 120 F

He also feels connected with one particular ring of stones in Scotland, the Callanish stones on the Isle of Lewis. He is certain that they are lunar circles. He narrated a story that indicates their link with the moon.

I think it’s in 2015, that there is a spectacular lunar cycle. Where the moon will appear over a very sacred piece of land and it’s visible from the Callanish stones. And when the moon arises and appears, it seems to dance along the edge and outline perimeter of a group of hills, which are absolutely unmistakeable as the Sleeping Goddess. And the moon... she goes down, between the legs of the Goddess, and then, as the moon goes down between the legs of the Goddess, then it illuminates... because it moves at the

45

same time, it illuminates the Goddess and she appears pregnant. And then, in the morning, it reverses itself. And... she appears to have given birth to the Sun. It’s very incredible. And... I’ve never witnessed this, but in 2015, it happens again. So, I’ll definitely go in 2015. 122 12 1F

Similar examples of landscapes resembling and bringing human figures into people’s minds had been evident in the other regions as well. For example, in the Irish medieval text, Cóir Anman (‘The Fitness of Names’), a source of Irish placenames, Anu is mentioned as the guardian goddess of Munster, whose breasts are still thought of being depicted by twin mountains. 123 122F

Moreover, Terry noted that, even though he has worked around many stone circles, he felt that only Aikey Brae, Callanish Stones and Easter Aquhorthies have a special feature; they are ‘singing stones’. He said about the characteristics of these stones.

[...] There are not very many singing stone circles. And what that means, is, with certain frequencies and vibrations of sound, the stones will pick up the vibration or the frequency, and sing this back to you in whatever way that occurs. [...] So, I’m hoping Sakis, we can go up to Aikey Brae, before we lose the good weather. And I’m hoping that I can drum for you up there, where we can record and video it... because I think you will be immense. It is not like anything you could imagine. The stones truly, they come alive. Absolutely, they come alive. It is not just acoustics. It’s not just audio, it’s not just vibration or frequency or resonance. It’s something more. And I felt many times that if I was to practice and become very good at this process... I’m certain a lot of good work could be done. And I’m certain a lot of power would be activated. 124 123 F

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On the other hand, Maggie said that the stone circles ‘connect up all kinds of landlines, lines of energy and the land and the places of power, where landlines meet’. 125 124F

However, the Dunedin Grove druids, which she is a member of, prefer to practice around groves of trees or in farms, as they have not found a stone circle yet, they can connect to. Terry and his friend Dougie Bogie, share Maggie’s notion. They told me during our conversation in late May that in the proximity of every lunar circle there must be a solar one. Terry explained the reason for that:

There would have been a calling and gathering of the tribes or the people to the lunar and there would have been a calling and gathering of the tribes to the solar. I’m certain that they would have interchanged this experience. I think it’s very unlikely that they would have just been focused on the solar and just focused on the lunar. I think, it’s too exclusive. [...]I think they would have embraced solar and the lunar in a dualistic harmony. I think they would have worked together. 126 125 F

Dougie is certain that if Aikey Brae is a lunar stone circle, then there must a solar one right next to it. He said:

Because I was trying to think and see Aikey Brae. That’s too far away from the part of the circle that’s down here. So, Aikey Brae... there must have been a circle, right round Aikey Brae... right round... which is Strichen, right round Mormond Hill. 127 126F

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Figure 7. Terry Mace at the Callanish Stones [photo taken 26 June 2014]

The Callanish stones played a huge part in Martin Martin’s attempt to associate druidry with Scotland in the late seventeenth century, claiming that the locals on the Isle of Lewis believed that these stones used to be a druid temple, where the Chief druid stood in the middle addressing to his people, 128 a suggestion also treated with scepticism, as product of 127F

forgery and misinterpretation. 129 Despite the controversy, his impact was immense. Publisher 128F

Robert Sibbald never raised a doubt and published his book, while Scottish scholars of the same century followed his path and claimed that all prehistoric monuments found in Scotland were used for religious reasons. 130 129F

Furthermore, Martin was the first writer who suggested that the early modern bards in the clan courts were heirs to the Iron Age bardo-druidic teachings. The early modern bards were professional poets, spokespersons and secular leaders in their communities and they were so well respected that they could even influence the clan chiefs in their decisionmakings. 131 Martin stated that these bards had inherited all their functions from their 130 F

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ancestors and assumed that the ancient druids used to praise the local lords and propagate in favour of them, just as the modern bards did with the clan chiefs. 132 However, in Maggie’s 13 1F

opinion, the druidic teachings were not passed on orally through the bardic system, but through secret druid families.

[MG] [...] They carried it on all through Christianity. There are druid families that carried on the tradition.

[SB]

So, they carried on the whole tradition orally... An orally transmitted tradition?

[MG] Absolutely. Yes!

[SB]

Because I’ve read about the Irish oral transmission of druidry...

[MG] That’s right.

[SB]

So, do you believe in Scotland as well?

[MG] Oh, yes!

[SB]

What is the difference?

[MG] They wouldn’t tell us. I would never know I met one. They wouldn’t have a chat with modern druids. Because, that’s how they survived by being secret... 133 132F

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Jenny Butler in her chapter in Michael Strmiska-edited book Modern Paganism in World Cultures analyzes the practices and beliefs of a contemporary Irish druid grove, called ‘Owl Grove’. Its members believe that the Irish druidic traditions were hereditary bodies of knowledge passed orally and in a secretive way among certain families. Furthermore, they consider these traditions to have remained largely intact, compared to the English and Welsh ones, because the Romans never reached Ireland. 134 Maggie’s belief in Scottish ‘hereditary 133F

druidry’, similar to the notion of an Irish unbroken continuity, might be based on two facts; firstly, on the prolonged cultural and social reciprocity between Ireland and Scotland, and secondly on the fact that the Roman occupation lasted for a really short period — somewhere between forty and eighty years — and never was even half of the land occupied at the same time. 135 134F

John Smith, a priest from Argyll, also shared the idea of ‘unbroken’ druidic traditions, relying on the fact that the Romans had never occupied the Scottish Highlands. In his mind, druids were a moderate and rational order — placed on top of the local hierarchy, above bards, historians and apprentices — who simply executed violent criminals, and not sacrificed humans for the sake of reincarnation. 136 Smith was heavily influenced by the 135F

Ossianic poetry of James Macpherson, and actually, he published some bardic poems in 1780, claiming that they were actually written by ancient Gaels, but that was never proven. Therefore, because of his clerical background and his admiration of Macpherson’s controversial poetry, 137 his notions were treated with scepticism. 138 Terry also shared with 136 F

137F

me his opinion on the alleged unbroken druidic traditions:

[TM] [...] For the druids... they do see very much a lineage, they can see an ancient lineage... from the early seers and mystics right away through to modern society. So, there is an absolutely lineage and it could be argued that this lineage is potentially older than contemporary modern Wicca. Which it is, it’s much older. So, there is a

50

certain sense sometimes... certainly amongst, maybe more, traditional druids... that maybe the Wiccans, maybe the general larger spiritual community, maybe they have hijacked a lot of the rituals and ceremonies, a lot of the processes and adapted them. Because that would be true, they have. 139 138 F

It is still a matter of debate if these ancient traditions were actually passed on, as modern druidry is considered mainly to be a romanticized invention during modern times. In the last two centuries, it has re-emerged on the British Isles, as a way to reconnect with the past, but it seems to be far less followed in Scotland — for reasons that will be discussed in the following subchapter. Despite that fact, I was able to get in touch with three druidic groups, the Druids of Caledon, the Dunedin Druid Grove and the Tuatha de Bridget. The first two are pure druidic Groves, while the latter is a ‘druidcraft’ group in Glasgow, blending druidry and Wicca. The Dunedin Druid Grove acts within the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Maggie told me about the Dunedin druids.

[MG] We’ve got four druid members that have been taught the whole course. We’ve been through lots and lots of changes and we’ve had a lot... people joining perhaps wanting to control things and a lot of power struggles and people having to leave, but we now have a very, very tolerant group and we’re moving forward really well now. We’ve had some brilliant members as well, but...

[SB]

[...] Do you have other members as well, that are not organizers?

[MG] Aha! But it’s easier for the same people to do it, because you got to take things like the table or the chalice or a wand or a sword for various ceremonies. And somebody has to be responsible for doing that. So, what we have, are the four

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elements, earth, air, fire, water and we all take a responsibility for part of the organizing and set, you know, finding a venue, getting people there, letting people know about it, all that kind of things... but you don’t have to be any grade to do that, you know... 140 1 39F

Moreover, the Celtic Year is a centre-point not only for the druids, but also for all British pagans, as it was the calendar of their Celtic ancestors based on the cycle of nature, which is essential to the belief system of modern pagans as well. 141 Each year they gather 140 F

eight times in sacred places — the Druids of Caledon gather at the Rouken Glen Park in Glasgow in a space constructed by themselves, while the Dunedin Grove usually gather in a farm near Alloa — to celebrate the changing of the seasons and the cycle of life, ‘planting to harvest, birth to death, re-birth, and renewal.’ 142 I asked Maggie which celebration is her 14 1F

favourite:

[MG] Beltane probably or Imbolc in February. [...] It’s all about change and growth and cycles and birth, and death and rebirth. It’s there every year and every year gets more exciting. You know, you see the leaves coming out. I go to sleep in the winter. When the leaves go off the trees, I get tired. And I’m really tired all winter. As soon as the leaves come back, I’m full of energy and I want to do things... [...] Imbolc... you can see it coming, you can feel... You can feel the seeds underground going ‘oooohhh, we’re coming’ and then Beltane is full on... 143 142F

Maria follows the Celtic Calendar as well. She pointed out the necessity to celebrate these festivals on the same day, bringing Lughnasadh as an example.

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You can’t say, ‘oh it’s Thursday night, it doesn’t suit me, we’ll wait till the weekend, because there is nobody else doing it anymore’. Because it’s bringing everybody together, bringing this energy together to ask for a good harvest, to celebrate for a good harvest, you know? [...] So you need to celebrate it within the twenty four clock. I get into a shell box, when people tell me ‘oh, you can celebrate it on a different day’...

Later on, she added:

Let’s change Christmas tomorrow... Let’s bring it on the second of February, that sounds good. No, you can’t... 144 143F

3.2. Why is Paganism unpopular in Scotland?

According to Ronald Hutton, the divergence of Scotland from its Celtic past first occurred during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, when the bardo-druidic traditions reemerged and started to fascinate people in Wales and Southern England. Unlike their neighbours, the Scots attempted to differentiate themselves and alienate from any claims on druidic ancestry. 145 During that period, there were even scholars claiming that the Picts, who 144 F

used to inhabit Scotland until the ninth century AD, were actually a non-Celtic tribe and ‘preserved customs older than the Iron Age’, 146 a notion that was discredited during the 1 45F

1980’s. Scotland was put again on the ‘pagan map’, during the Celtic Revival of the early twentieth century 147 by Scottish folklorist Lewis Spence, who was heavily influenced by the 146 F

romanticized teachings of the Welsh Order of Bards Chief, Edward Williams. Spence actually noted that the whole of Scotland was of Celtic origins. 148 147 F

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Despite Spence’s efforts to reconnect Scotland with the ancient beliefs and practices, it seems that even nowadays, these paths are not appealing to Scottish people. The pagan groups are smaller in numbers and less glamorous than the equivalent ones of their neighbours, leading the academics to focus on paganism or druidry in Welsh, English or American context and omit the Scottish in their writings. During my presence in the Summer Solstice celebration held in Glen Rouken Park in Glasgow, organized by the Druids of Caledon, I was told that this phenomenon is a complex issue, open to many interpretations. Maggie was the first among my contributors who discussed the reasons behind the seemingly unpopularity of druidry in Scotland. Our conversation started when I asked her what the differences between Irish and Scottish druidry are. She claimed that one of the main reasons is that ‘there is a big folklore tradition and Highland tradition and clan tradition’ in Scotland. 149 Terry also told me about the tendency of the modern Scots to consider the clan 148F

system and the Highland traditions to be their Celtic past.

[TM] [...] I think clan systems begin to change that process, when Scotland was invaded. [...] Because what you discover, — because you’ve been invaded so many times — is you need a structure, you need a hierarchy. And that hierarchy has to function within a model, and that is the clan system. And then, and only then, you can actually bring the clans together, to fight your invaders. And if you don’t do that, you don’t survive. So, the clan system was really powerful.

[SB]

So, that’s why a Scotsman considers himself to be a warrior... more than a

spiritualist.

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[TM] I think there are a huge amount of male... Scottish males, who fit in that description. I think they certainly are very warrior-like personality, I also think they are very proud, they are very proud. Incredibly proud. 150 149F

The defeat of the united clans by the Hanoverian army in the battle of Culloden in 1745 and the Act of Proscription that followed in 1746, which banned anything associated with the Highlands, led to a growing sympathy and romanticization of the Highlands and their culture. Out of fear that Scotland would become a political and ‘cultural extension’ 151 of 150F

its powerful neighbour country, many prominent Scots, among them Sir Walter Scott, felt the necessity to adopt a distinctive ethnic and cultural identity, which would represent them in the British Union. 152 The way of living of the communities in the Highlands was based on 151F

the kinship of the clan system, centred around the local clan chiefs, the bardic traditions, the Gaelic language and the warlike nature of its inhabitants. 153 James Porter notes that the 152F

Highlands ‘maintain a distinctive sense of internal cultural pattern and identity in landscape, history & language’. 154 This notion of the oppressed Gaelic-speaking Highlanders as direct 15 3F

descendants of the ancient Celtic tribes, fighting for their freedom against all kinds of conquerors, is still apparent in modern society. Therefore, whereas the Welsh and English discovered their Celtic past through druidry, modern Scots have discovered it through the more recent Highland traditions. Actually, Sir Walter Scott was among the intellects that propagated against the linkage of the ancient druids with Scotland. In his novel, The Pirate, he indicated that the stone circles were ascribed not only to the druids, but also to the Vikings and Goths. 155 154F

Moreover, Scott in his contribution to the Edinburgh Encyclopaedia a decade later rejected any historical relation of Scotland to druidry. He went even further by claiming that the druids were ‘ignorant’, ‘barbarous’, ‘gloomy and cruel in their superstitions’ and there had been no evidence of any association or reciprocity with the Greeks or Romans. 156 Other 155F

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leading Scottish scholars of the same century, such as Daniel Wilson, John Stuart and John Pratt, also believed that ‘druidry should be left out of the record of the Scottish past’. 157 156F

Therefore, in the modern times, druidry in Scotland went underground having faced an attack by intellects of the nineteenth century and it was replaced by the more modern Gaelic culture as the Celtic identity of choice. In addition, druidry and especially witchcraft have long suffered from the authority and power of the protestant Church of Scotland with many of the stereotypes surviving until recent times. Scotland was among the countries where the witch-hunting was fierce. 158 This 157 F

phenomenon started in the late sixteenth-early seventeenth century in Western Europe and it was a result of the shaping of the modern social and economical structures, the gradual privatization of the way of living, and especially the Reformation of the Church. ‘Witchhunting in Scotland was a Protestant business’ 159 says Julian Goodare, while Christina 158F

Larner added that Reformation was trying to force a new worship model where people’s salvation depended on their actions, and the non-believers suffered condemnation. 160 159F

Furthermore, Sabina Magliocco argues that the invention of printing helped not only the diffusion of Christian texts, such as the Bible, but also writings associated with the occult, which became popular, especially among the educated classes. The popularity of these texts and the fact that ‘non-Christian’ traditions, such as vernacular medicine and healing or shamanic trance-states were still being practiced by peasantry, scared the Protestants even more. 161 This phenomenon was particularly prevalent in Scotland, where Catholicism and 160 F

Protestantism were fighting to prevail. This resulted in more than five thousand people being accused of witchcraft until the early eighteenth century in Scotland, and near two thousand of them eventually being ‘tortured, strangled and burned’. 162 Maria told me about the witch16 1F

hunting:

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They were only persecuted on the rumour of witchcraft. You know, I mean, most of the people. [...] Because if you want to get rid of somebody, in your village or in your society, you’d just call them a witch and that was quite easy, quite quickly that was the end of that person. So, if that was because they looked wrong at you, or you had a problem with them, or you had an argument with them, or they would take your customers away, you know... For whatever you were doing, you’d call them a witch. You know, obviously, a lot of people that’ve been ostracized for being a witch, they had nothing to do with the Craft. I think, you know, probably most people, that got killed, were not witches, they had nothing to do with witchcraft. But it was a good way of getting rid of them. Like it was with many others after. You know, we had the Jews, we had the gypsies. We had...You know, it’s a continuous thing. 163 162 F

Maggie is certain that people following druidic traditions were also persecuted with witchcraft charges, adding that:

I think it’s the Presbyterian Calvinist tradition. And they had much more of a hold of the people as well, especially in Southern Scotland. And because these communities are so much smaller, communities have to pull together in order to survive and therefore, you could not afford to be different. You couldn’t live on your own. You know, you wouldn’t survive. 164 163F

She also mentioned a story that happened to her recently confirming that stereotypes of witchcraft survived a long time after the persecutions.

I worked in a New Age shop which had tarot cards and it sold tarot cards... And the next thing we knew, the vicar of the village was in the [?] saying that the people that

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worked in the shop worship the Devil and they were the work of the Devil and they sold things that they were the work of the Devil... And really tried to scare people. 165 164 F

Terry also narrated a recent incident that happened to him and his Wiccan friend John on the Isle of Lewis and Harris.

[...] I was on the Isle of Lewis, and I went to an exhibition and I was with my friend I spoke to you about earlier, the High Priest in the coven... And it was my first trip to the Isle of Lewis. We went to the Museum of Harris. And I was fascinated by this picture. And so was John, he was drawn to it. It was a profound picture. It’s an old black and white picture of rows of vegetables. Now, every basic form of agriculture tells us very simple reality: you grow technically more product in a straight line. So, I couldn’t understand at all, why the crop lines were not lines at all, but they were like this [he simulates circular figures with his fingers]. I absolutely could not understand that. I was fascinated because there was this multiple, multiple crop lines ready to be harvested in that pattern, they weren’t straight. So, there wasn’t any information on the picture, so I asked the curator... ‘This is...’, ‘Oh, this is very simple. It’s to stop the witches being able to cast black magic on the crops.’ I said ‘pardon?’... He said ‘Yes, certainly... At this time, witchcraft was believed to be spoiling on the crops on this Island.’

[SB]

What time are we talking about? What times?

[TM] [...] Early nineteenth century. Those pictures were taken in the twenties or the thirties, of literally staggered, spiral crop lines, to stop the negative energy and spell work of the witches.

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[SB]

Do you believe that they believed till the thirties [...] that there were still doing

black magic.

[TM] Absolutely. I’m absolutely clear of it. 166 165F

Adding about the power of the Church on the Isle of Harris and Lewis:

And I think what happened is, you have on the Isle of Lewis, Harris, [...] you have such an incredibly religious... and I say religious, I don’t say spiritual, Sakis... I say religious, big difference, you know that and I know that. You have such a big religious gathering, huge... And it’s moneyed, it’s very, very rich, very prosperous, it really is wheels within wheels. If you break down, in the middle of winter, and you need a lift, you need to get out of the snow, you need to get to safety, because the weather is atrocious over there. You didn’t give a big enough donation? Or worse still, you didn’t actually go to Church? Or even worse still, you actually hang the washing out on a Sabbath... Hang your washing? Dare you wash and hang your clothes on a Sabbath? Not on the Isle of Lewis! Not, if you want to be picked up or allowed to have the next round of coal coming in, or the next bat of firewood. Or actually, the electricity man, or the postman or the meter man turn up on time or even deliver your letters. You don’t go against the Church. And you certainly don’t go up against the Church on the Isles of Lewis and Harris... 167 166F

Simon and Maria during our conversation pointed out that the Christians’ perpetuated fear towards witches or pagans is a result of the false belief that witchcraft is linked with the Devil worship.

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[SP]

The thing that upsets me about the association with witchcraft is... it’s seen as

the antithesis of Christianity, you know. A Christian is somebody good, who worships Christ, whereas a witch is someone who’s bad, who worships the Devil. Now, in my frame of reference, the Devil doesn’t come into it. I don’t believe in the Devil, because the Devil is a Christian concept. And my spirituality lies totally outside of Christianity. So, if somebody says to me, you know... ‘Do you worship the Devil then?’, I’d say...

[MT] Who’s that?

[SP]

‘No, the Devil is a Christian concept; you’ve got to be a Christian to believe in

the Devil’. That’s right outside of my frame of reference. And there is that uncomfortable association there. 168 167 F

Crystal Green is a solitary witch, from Buckie, North-East Scotland. The term she uses to describe herself is ‘hedge-witch’, meaning that she has a close affection to plants and herbs. She told me about the stereotypes she faces when she tells people she is a witch.

[CG] [...] There’s nothing you can do about that... Erm, because even mentioning that you’re a witch, is, you know, people are...

[SB]

They think of the whole witchcraft...

[CG] Yes! And most of the people at that time were doing what I do. Nothing else. So yes, I think we suffer from that. And probably will for a long time. [...] I think we

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are stereotyped. I mean it’s annoying. For example — this isn’t really to do with witchcraft —, but if you see something on a film or the television and somebody’s putting out tarot cards, inevitably Death comes out and ‘Oh!’, you know. [...] It’s ridiculous. Death is a very complex card. And like most of the major Arkana, has more than dual meanings. And certainly, is often an indication of the end of something and the beginning of something else... 169 1 68F

However, they all agreed that the situation is changing. Scottish people and their communities are becoming more tolerant and open-minded. Maria told me:

[SB]

What is their reaction about you, when you say that you’re a witch?

[MT] Changing, it’s changing, you know? About twenty years ago, they wouldn’t want me to come to the church. Now, they’re quite interested. [...] I spend a lot of time in the Borders General Hospital over the last three years. [...] And the priest there, the minister that [...] goes to all the patients, he visited me many, many times and he and I were sat down and talked and talked. He was fantastic, a lovely man... and very open to the things I had to say. [...] And I hope, I can only hope... that there is going to get more and more that these two can join somewhere... work together, but still stay on their own, within their own beliefs. 170 169 F

Terry also thinks that the situation on the Isle of Lewis and Harris is gradually changing because of emigration and tourism, but he notes that the incomers still have to respect the established traditions:

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Figure 8. Maria’s broomstick [photo taken in Bonchester Bridge, 15 May 2014]

[...] A huge amount of non Harrisan, non-birth Isle of Lewis immigrants are coming in. Multi-national. And you’ve got that because of tourism. Because the people from the Isle of Lewis, they’re leaving the island. A lot of them are staying, but they are old. They have a lot of native blood in. So, the Church, while [...] they’re still very, very profitable, it doesn’t have the same influence. But that doesn’t mean to say that my pagan friends on the Isle of Lewis, of which I have many, hang their washing out on a Sunday. They don’t. They don’t hang their washing out on a Sunday. Not at all. Because the wrath of the community will be down on them. And then, their

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paganistic, their ritualistic, their ceremonial, witchcraft, paganism, shamanism, druidry, will be absolutely ousted. They’re allowed to co-exist. 171 170F

Conclusion

In this chapter, I attempted to analyze the relationship of Scotland with paganism, focusing mostly on the druidic paths. It was divided into two sections: the first section handled some special features of Scottish culture that have been linked with druidry, such as the stone circles, the bardic traditions and the transmission of these traditions from generation to generation. Just as everything related to druidry, their role and function is ambiguous and controversial, while Hutton notes that eventually ‘the Scots grew indifferent to [the druids] and promoted a view of prehistory which excluded or depreciated them’ to a point that they ‘have almost faded out of the Scottish national imagination’. 172 17 1F

Paganism has re-emerged in Scotland in the twentieth century, much later than in the other regions. Furthermore, the pagan groups in Scotland seem to be inferior to the English, American or Irish ones in terms of numbers and glamour for reasons that have been discussed in the second subchapter. On the one hand, it is the preference of the Scots to consider the more recent Highland traditions as their Celtic past and on the other hand, it is a combination of the still prevalent power of the Church of Scotland, the fossils of evil witchcraft in people’s minds from the Reformation years, along with the predominant existence of small and closed communities. However, all my contributors have mutually concluded that the situation is changing and that Christianity has started becoming more tolerant towards these belief systems.

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Figure 9. Three of Maria’s collection of witch-dolls. [photo taken in Bonchester Bridge, 15 May 2014]

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110

The stone circles are rings of huge upright standing stones, which appeared on the British Isles

during the late Neolithic Age and their construction ceased in the middle Bronze Age (1500 BC). The size, shape, number and formation of these stones vary from circle to circle; however, there had been some regional construction patterns, such as the recumbent stone circles in Aberdeenshire; see Ronald Hutton, The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles, (Oxford, UK and Cambridge, USA: Blackwell, 1991), pp. 52-88. 111

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 53.

112

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 53; Hector Boece, The buik of the croniclis of Scotland, or, A

metrical version of the history of Hector Boece (London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, and Roberts, 1858). 113

Hector Boece, The Chronicles of Scotland, ed. by R.W. Chambers, Edith Batho and H. Husbands,

II (Edinburgh: Scottish Text Society, 1936), pp. 72-4. 114

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 54.

115

A.L. Owen, The Famous Druids: A Survey of Three Centuries of English Literature on the Druids

(Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1962), p. 31. 116

Hutton, The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles, p. 73.

117

EI 2014. 039 00:07:51

118

eg the ethnographic researches on the Trobriand tribe, who had a moon-based calendar, the South-

African Thonga, who observed the Pleiades or the North American Blackfoot who had a mixed lunarstellar calendar, and many more; for more details see Hutton, The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles, pp. 110-1. 119

Audrey Burl, ‘Science of Symbolism: Problems of Archaeoastronomy’, Antiquity, 54 (1980), 191-

200. 120

Hutton, The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles, p. 117.

121

EI 2014. 048 00:50:48.

122

EI 2014. 048 00:36:03.

123

Hutton, The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles, p. 153.

124

EI 2014. 048 00:45:00.

125

EI 2014. 050 00:25:07.

126

EI 2014. 048 00:57:06.

127

EI 2014. 048 00:58:18.

128

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 75.

129

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, pp. 75-6.

130

Alexander Gordon, Itinerarium Septenrionale or, A Journey Thro' Most of the Counties of

Scotland, and Those in the North of England. In Two Parts. Part I. ... Monuments of Roman Antiquity ... Part II ... the Danish Invasions ... With Sixty-Six Copper Plates (London, 1726), p. 167.

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131

John Shaw, 'Gaelic Oral Poetry in Scotland’, FF Network, 33 (December 2007) 3-11.

132

Martin Martin, A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland, ca 1695 (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 1999),

pp. 102-4. 133

EI 2014. 050 00:15:35.

134

Jenny Butler, ‘Druidry in Contemporary Ireland’, in Modern Paganism in World Cultures:

Comparative Perspectives, ed. by Michael F. Strmiska (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2005), pp. 87-125 (p.92). 135

William S. Hanson, ‘The Roman Presence: Brief Interludes’, in Scotland After the Ice Age:

Environment, Archaeology and History, 8000 BC - AD 1000, ed. by Kevin Edward and Ian Ralston (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003) p. 198. 136

John Smith, Gallische Alterthümer, oder eine Sammlung Alter Gedichte aus dem Gallischen des

Ullin, Ossian, Orran, u.s.w. (Leipzig: Weidmanns Erben und Reich, 1781), pp. 1-85. 137

Hugh Blair, A Critical Dissertation on the Poems of Ossian (Dublin: Peter Wilson, 1765), p. 12.

138

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 186.

139

EI 2014. 025 00:18:09.

140

EI 2014. 050 00:18:51.

141

These celebrations are Samhainn (on November 1, the new year), Imbolc (on February 1, the

beginning of spring), Bealltainn (on May 1, the first summer day) and Lughnasadh (on August 1, the start of the harvest), the two Solstices (Summer and Winter) and the Equinoxes (the Spring and the Autumn). 142

[accessed 02August 2014].

143

EI 2014. 050 00:27:37.

144

EI 2014. 040 00:16:24.

145

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 421.

146

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 149.

147

For the Celtic Revival see Gregory Castle, Modernism and the Celtic Revival (Cambridge; New

York: Cambridge University Press, 2001). 148

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 141.; see Lewis Spence, The History and Origins of Druidism

(London; New York: Rider, 1949), also The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain, (London: Dover 1949), The Mysteries of Britain: Secret Rites and Traditions of Ancient Britain Restored (London: Senate, 1994). 149

EI 2014. 050 00:16:34.

150

EI 2014. 051 00:41:13.

151

Matthew Dziennik, ‘Whig Tartan: Material Culture and its Use in the Scottish Highlands: 1746–

1815’, Past and Present, 217 no.1 (2012), 117-47. 152

Eric Hobsbawm and Terrence Ranger (eds.), The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1984), pp. 15-42.

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153

T .C. Smout, A History of the Scottish People: 1560-1830 (Glasgow: Fontana/Collins, 1972), pp.

42-3. 154

James Porter, ‘The Folklore of Northern Scotland: Five Discourses on Cultural Representation’,

Folklore, 109 (1998), 1-14 (p. 2). 155

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 291; Sir Walter Scott, The Pirate (Edinburgh: Edinburgh

University Press, 2000). 156

Sir Walter Scott, ‘Druids’, in The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia (Edinburgh: Blackwood, 1830), pp.

767-75. 157

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 292.

158

The belief in evil people existed from the medieval times on, however there was no persecutions.

159

Julian Goodare (ed.), The Scottish Witch-Hunt in Context (Manchester and New York: Manchester

University Press, 2002) pp. 1-3. 160

Christina Larner, Enemies of God: The Witch-Hunt in Scotland (London: Chatto and Windus,

1981), pp. 157-75. 161

Magliocco, pp. 31-32.

162

Goodare, p. 1.

163

EI 2014. 043 00:43:42.

164

EI 2014. 050 00:17:53.

165

EI 2014. 050 00:17:27.

166

EI 2014. 051 00:36:17.

167

EI 2014. 051 00:38:27.

168

EI 2014. 040 00:12:27.

169

EI 2014. 032 00:17:29.

170

EI 2014. 043 00:25:22.

171

EI 2014. 051 00:39:42.

172

Hutton, Blood and Mistletoe, p. 421.

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4. Rainbow Zen Shamanism: Shamanic teachings and practices in Northeast Scotland

Healer and psychopomp, the shaman is these because he commands the techniques of ecstasy — that is, because his soul can safely abandon his body and roam at vast distances, can penetrate the underworld and rise to the sky. [...] He can go below and above because he has already been there. The danger of losing his way in these regions is great; but sanctified by his initiation and furnished with his guardian spirits, the shaman is the only human being able to challenge the danger and venture into a mystical geography. 173 172 F

The shaman is a practitioner who reaches an ‘altered state of consciousness, to contact or utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire knowledge, power, and to help other persons’. 174 He enters this hidden reality, a ‘world of both good and evil spirits’, during 173 F

rituals and his goal is to heal either himself or, more frequently, other people. Though it was initially thought that traditional, tribal shamanism belonged to a distant, non-literate and nonscientific past and it could only be found in marginalised and indigenous communities, there has been a recent emergence of shamanic practices in the Western post-modern societies, as part of a general ‘return to traditions’. 175 174F

One of these modern shamanic practitioners is Terry Mace, who resides in Cullen, North-East Scotland. He has created his own shamanic school, Rainbow Zen Shamanism, accompanied with an appropriate shop, Rainbow Zen Shaman: Magical Apothecary and Cosmical Emporium in the same town. I met Terry in March, at a ‘Metaphysical Fair’ held in the University of Aberdeen’s Elphinstone Hall, where he had a stand promoting his shamanic workshops. He was the first person willing to help me with my research by sharing his knowledge and notions. Since then, I have travelled to Cullen, North-East Scotland, where he

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resides quite a few times, and I was given the opportunity not only to have several conversations with him, but also to participate and have an active role in his rituals. This chapter will explore shamanism focusing on Terry Mace’s personal ideas, distilled by the works and theories by a wide range of scholars, who studied these traditions. It will concentrate on what the role and function of the shamans in the earlier communities was, how the teachings were passed on from one generation to the other, what tools facilitated them to achieve the shamanic state of consciousness, and how this role has evolved and adapted to the contemporary urbanized societies and the needs of modern people. It will also attempt to document Terry’s personal shamanic evolution, his opinions and thoughts on shamanism, and especially the contribution of his own school, Rainbow Zen Shamanism, to the already established shamanic systems, but also to the people of his community and his apprentices.

I

The term shaman firstly appeared in North Asia — by the Nomad Siberian tribe of the Tungus 176 — and according to John Matthews, it has two meanings: ‘to burn up, to set on 17 5F

fire’ and ‘the one who is excited, moved, raised up.’ 177 Harner suggests that people with 176F

these abilities were predominantly men and were found worldwide in numerous cultures, from America to Australia, under various names, but the term shaman was chosen by scholars to describe these people, as it lacks the negative connotations of more familiar terms such as witch-doctor, magician or seer, 178 while Eliade notes that even though a shaman is 177F

considered a magician, he possesses a unique ability, ‘to leave his body and ascend to the sky or descend to the underworld’ 179 which a traditional magician is not capable of. 178 F

The early shamans were, as Arthur Cotterell suggests, ‘spirit-possessed men, [who] used to seek out and recover the lost or abducted souls of the sick.’ 180 Furthermore, 179F

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shamanism not only was the basis and stepping stone for the other spiritualities, but also paved the way for the emergence of science, as the shaman’s ‘secret wisdom was of natural laws and psychological dynamics’. 181 Not only were the shamans aware of natural cycles, the 180 F

movement of the stars and the behaviour of rivers, streams or herds, but they also understood the energy of the human soul and the human mind. Though they lacked medical or scientific knowledge, they were able to develop mind techniques in order to heal themselves and the other members of their communities. The only difference between the earlier shamans and contemporary ones is the fact that the former used to encounter good or bad spirits instead of archetypes, neuroses and other modern psychoanalytical terms, during their spiritual journey.

Figure 10. Siberian Shaman [accessed 14 September 2014]

Terry also believes that traditional, tribal shamanism was based on structures and energy, but that moreover, it was an evolutionary step from animism, which in his opinion was also an earlier form of raw shamanism. He said:

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Animism was the very earliest form of observation, observing how the nature plans formed, what happened when the bones rotted, what happened when this natural process occurred, it was very much based on the idea that everything had energy. Everything had a spirit or a soul. [...] Then, what we see with shamanism is we see progression from the animist stage into actually a structural stage. The shaman comes along, [...] he starts seeing things in there. And that’s an evolutionary jump, [...] looking at the rock and reading the rock and being able to interpret the rock, giving it meaning, as opposed to the animist who just saw it as a rock, it was alive, it was a being, it was a living thing. 182 18 1F

These earlier practitioners were principally ‘healing doctors’, he agreed, giving as an example the Aboriginal shamans.

Belief systems actually are pretty fragile. [...] If you actually program another human being at different levels, over the course of no more than several days, and point a bone in them, they’ll die, no problem. They will have some form of accident, something will occur and that has nothing to do with the power of the bone, it has to do, you’ve exploited every potential fear of that person has, you’ve triggered it subconsciously, subliminally and in every way you can. [...] That takes an incredible magician to do that, it takes an incredible psychologist to do that. And yet we’re talking about aboriginals doing that twenty five thousand years ago. [...] We’re talking about aboriginals in Australian outback. Being able to point a bone and kill someone within several days. And that wasn’t because of the power and magic of the bone, it was because they were incredible psychologists. 183 182 F

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During our most recent encounter, in late August, he described the special aptitudes that one needed to possess, in order to become a shaman, but also that there was a necessity to go through many initiation rituals and rites of passage to accomplish that.

Ninety percent of the shamans ancient, were born within a tribal, an aboriginal community. And either they were born into a family that were already shamans or magicians, or some constructive animists and so, they naturally inherited by that process, that lineage, that shamanic lineage. But there were others who weren’t born into that, but who the shaman in that village or community identified. And those were the others, those were the odd ones. The ones who walked backwards. The kids who stood and stared up in the sky. The kids who dug holes and laid in them. You know, those were the kids, the young boys and girls, who didn’t play like the others. There was something special about them. They didn’t speak, they sat and cry all day. There was something, something uniquely symbolic of the troubled soul, of the wounded healer. And the shaman would identify that and take that young person in, and create that shamanic potential within that person. And then, take them through several initiations and rites of passage. And unless, something occurred within that relationship, that was otherwise, invalidating of everything... that shaman, that elder would then proclaim after a certain period of time, after many years, that person was now the shaman... or was now a shaman. But sometimes, the apprentice would end the apprenticeship before that process. And often, but not always, the shaman may feel that that person would no longer be best served to be the shaman. So, often but not always, apprenticeships didn’t end with a shamanic initiation. And sometimes, those shamans, born within even that lineage, they were outcast. So they became, let’s say, the antithesis, they became almost the antithesis of the shaman. 184 183 F

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Kenneth Johnson also suggests that in order to become a shaman, one needed to exhibit a combination of ‘physical marks, peculiarities’ and ‘initiatory experiences’. 185 He 184 F

notes that in some cultures it was birthmarks or other physical disabilities, such as lame legs, whereas in other cultures, sickly or introverted children were recognized as potential shamans. It was also quite often that nervous, psychotic or severe body illnesses distinguished them from others, or, in some cases, such as in the Tungus tribe, a child possessing potential shamanic powers might have experienced schizophrenic episodes or madness. In most cases, the elder chose to leave the illness to run its course than cure it, as he was ‘giving his pupil a practical lesson in the healing dynamics of the human psyche’. 186 1 85F

Terry had a similar childhood background.

I was always really on my own, very much an independent, very solitary young man and I only really started to interact with other people, really later in my teenage years. As a young man, I was always very on my own. So, I think my shamanic capabilities began to develop when I was a little boy, because of my interaction with nature and finding healing in nature. 187 186 F

Adding that from early on in his life, he could read energy patterns.

I can sense when some energy is off, I can sense when psyche is not quite as it is supposed to be. So, to be able to read, is tuned to a slightly different frequency because of my life experiences or maybe my traumas or because maybe that’s what I need to do [...]. You know, because it’s not always easy to not read the energy patterns. 188 187 F

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Thus, to summarize, the shaman functions as a healer and an intermediary between worlds by reaching an ecstatic, shamanic state of consciousness. But how does the shaman achieve this trance-state? Some scholars, such as Julian Jaynes, have suggested that the shamanic state resembles schizophrenia, while others note that there are significant differences between them, the most striking being that a schizophrenic mainly hears malevolent and disturbing voices, while a shaman more often faces positive environments and encounters good spirits in his journey. 189 Nevertheless, the majority of the scholars point 188 F

out that, in order ‘to be able to journey back and forth between realities in these healing tasks’, 190 the shaman utilises specific tools, such as mind-altering substances, dancing 189F

techniques and percussion. Terry mentioned all these tools in our conversations. He said about the consumption of substances during the shamanic ceremonies:

Before a full Ayuhuasca ceremony, the participants, [...] actually begin to have a very intense relationship with the Ayuhuasca components and the plants. No, not all Ayuhuasca ceremonies are like that, but the shamanic, original, very deep, integral Ayuhuasca ceremonies, they are like that. The participants never are just introduced to Ayuhuasca as a brew or as a tea and taken into ceremony ritual to drink that... it’s never like that. They’re always educated first in the fact that these are Teacher Plants, it’s not recreational drug, it’s not like popping half of an ecstasy type. 191 190 F

Adding that:

I also think that you can do as much powerful work using a drum, a rattle and the psychology of sleep deprivation, fasting, semi-starvation process. So, you force and push the body into its own natural state of disorientation and then you allow the biochemistry of the body, the biochemistry of the brain [...] do the work. [...] And all I

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can say, I think they’re both valid. I think for some people, it’s only valid to do the work fully consensually with them using psychotropic, if that’s what they really think is going to benefit them. But I think for most people, is not necessary. 192 191 F

Michael Harner notes that consumption of plants or brews is prevalent in some cultures, while in others it is avoided, as it can confuse the shaman and ‘interfere with the concentration shamanic work demands’. 193 However, he points out that it is noteworthy that 192 F

during the ritual these substances are consumed mainly by the shaman and rarely by the participants. The Ayuhuasca ceremony Terry referred to is a ceremony originating with South American tribes where the shaman and the participants of the ritual consume the psychedelic brew of the same name. The ceremony was especially popular among the Cashinahua, the Conibo and the Jivaro. Harner shares the same notion as Terry, that this trance-state can also be achieved through dancing and drumming, bringing as an example the Carib tribe in South America, who dance all night long, while the neophytes imitate the movement of animals. 194 193F

Quite often, Terry asserted that shamanism is a constant ‘death and rebirth process’. During our second discussion, he said, ‘I think it’s a rite of passage. I think it’s a very intimate journey. I think, for me I have an individual journey’. 195 Shamanic rituals fit into 19 4F

van Gennep’s notion of rites of passage, 196 as they are symbolic of ‘death and rebirth’, where 195F

the patient, participant, or apprentice buries his previous state and is being reborn and introduced to a new situation. Moreover, Turner who focused his research on the stage of liminality, spoke of ambiguous liminal personae, who are ‘neither here or there’ 197 and 196 F

function as intermediaries between the two other stages. George Hansen suggests that shamans are ‘quintessentially liminal beings’, as they operate ‘in limbo’, and they stand ‘between the sacred realm and the profane’. 198 Naoko Takigutsi agrees: 19 7F

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By definition, the shaman is a liminal being. He is a mediator between this and the other world; his presence is betwixt and between the human and supernatural. In a trance, possessed by the divine force, he becomes the focus of fervent attention of the client and séance audience. [...] Off-duty, however, the shaman’s charisma fades away. He tends to be socially peripheral and morally ambiguous, his life full of traumatic incidents such as illness, divorce, and poverty. 199 198 F

II

I don’t attract people who don’t have problems. It’s just in nature of being a shaman. And it’s certainly in the nature of being Rainbow Zen Shaman. A shaman who stands in a community and proclaims himself as an open space, you know... as a gate, an open door. They’re going to invite people who’ve got problems, it’s the nature of the game. And those thirty-five, forty, fifty year olds or plus... they’ve got no less problems than the eighteen year olds, the twenty-one year olds. 200 1 99F

Terry Mace considers himself a ‘soul doctor’ just as the earlier practitioners, manifested through his self-invented shamanic teachings of Rainbow Zen Shamanism.

I’m attempting to take the training, the skills, the experience I had in psychology. Then build upon that which I then explored with eco-psychology, which was based on wilderness therapy, which was based on Native American traditional recovery-based therapy. I took all of that and I’ve adapted it now to be part of Rainbow Zen Shaman school of thinking... of Rainbow Zen Shaman apprenticeship program. So, in that sense of word, Sakis, what I’ve chosen to do is... try to evolve psychology... I know

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that sounds as arrogance, it’s not intended like that. But the best way I could describe it, is very similar to James Hillman, very similar to the work of Joseph Campbell, very similar to the work of many contemporary shamans today. I’m trying to use everyday objects, every day ideas. Trying to find the psychology within that, trying to find the psychoanalytical process. And using that as a powerful, cathartic tool. I think my work is always going to be cathartic based. 201 2 00F

Harner argues that one of the main factors in shamanism once again becoming relevant is the fact that it utilizes ‘the mind to help healing and the maintenance of wellness’, 202 while Wayland Hand suggests that contemporary alternative-holistic healing in 201 F

general, not only questions the results of scientific medicine, but also provides ‘a turning away from the medical establishment — hospitals, doctors’ offices, laboratories, and all the rest’. 203 Shamanism provides supplementary help for people in a parallel search for such 202 F

alternative healing methods, as Harner suggests in comparing modern-day shamans with their older counterparts.

These new practitioners are not ‘playing Indian’, but going to the same revelatory spiritual sources that tribal shamans have travelled to from time immemorial. They are not pretending to be shamans; if they get shamanic results for themselves and other in this work, they are indeed the real thing. Their experiences are genuine and, when described, are essentially interchangeable with the accounts of shamans from nonliterate tribal cultures. The shamanic work is the same; the human mind, heart, and body are the same; only the cultures are different. 204 203F

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Figure 11. Rainbow Zen Shaman store [photo taken 12 July 2014]

Roberto Hamayon pinpoints the adaptive abilities of modern shamanism. Even though it is considered a phenomenon, which was central in tribal or primitive societies, it emerged during modern times in centralized/urbanized societies as well, though in a differentiated and fragmentary form, ‘a sign of the structural weakness of shamanism.’ 205 Hoppal shares the 204 F

notion and moreover, divides shamanism into two main categories: autochtonous and neoshananism or urban shamanism. He also suggests that the former is subdivided into unbroken

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shamanic traditions that survived through time and others where shamans faced danger of elimination, but managed to survive. 206 205F

Moreover, many scholars, such as Hugh-Jones, Turner and Hamayon agree that even though shamanism can have a central role in the state formation of certain cultures, it cannot be regarded as a state religion, as it lacks fundamental features that organized, official religions possess, such as churches, clergy and dogma. 207 Hugh-Jones suggests that a shaman 2 06F

‘is a part-time specialist who acts alone and concentrates his efforts on curing’, while the minister ‘is a full-time specialist working for the community, a member of an organization who officiates at regular, collective ceremonies as a ritual specialist’. 208 Like these scholars, 20 7F

Terry himself divides modern shamanism into two subgroups: co-shamanism and contemporary shamanism. The former is an ancestrally inherited continuation, which functions as an official religion in certain regions, while the latter, which he follows, has adapted to modern ways of living.

Co-shamanism will be the idea that universally every shamanic practitioner, every shaman, every shamanka, every wise man, every elder, within a shamanic or animist practice would have found rhythm, or a drum or a rattle... And so the rattle, the power of the rattle, the power of the drum is handed down. So, it’s like a universal archetype. And so, within this frame of reference, that is absolutely almost bordering on a... both cult construct or religious construct of what shamanism is or was rather... Not is, but was, and that’s being continued... So, in that sense of word, that’s what Mongolia does consider as shamanism or a religion, because it’s high ancestral heritage to that part of the globe. It means that it’s natural and normal and makes perfect sense to have shamanism as a national Religion. But the fact that you call shamanism a religion, then that, I think, feeds right back into what you’ve said. And it’s at that point that shamanism actually has limited use. I think what has incredible potential

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use, is an amalgam of what I now see myself as a twenty-first century modern contemporary shaman, and because of that I will use as much technology, as much science, as much skills and tools and training and coaching, counselling, psychology, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, archetypal psychology, every single tool I can get out of my toolbox, that is academic, educational, positive, promotional psychology... Hard hitting psychoanalytical techniques, philosophy... All of those things I will use. 209 208F

Stephen Hugh-Jones compares shamanism to playing music. Both blend ‘received knowledge and training with originality, skill and performance’, but always under the surveillance and teachings of others; he also notes that in order to reach a certain level of recognition and knowledge, and ‘be any good, you must add something of yourself’. 210 2 09F

Terry’s own school of shamanism, called Rainbow Zen Shamanism, is his own construction, his own creation, his own invention, as he told me many times.

[...] Rainbow is representative, symbolic of a very wide pallet of tools, resources, skills, and abilities. [...] And then Zen, because I’m hoping to train a very high level with each apprentice in the process of Zen meditation or mindfulness, so that every time they’re working in a shamanic process, or every time they’re with another human being, they can apply a presence and mindfulness to their interaction. And also find peace within themselves, because the reality that everything is transit, everything changes, everything evolves, nothing stays the same, so there is no real permanency to anything, so when you’re accepting knowledge within Zen process, you start to engage life, because you’ve learned to embrace the transiency of life. And then, Shaman because I think it’s valid, I think it’s a valid expression of contemporary psychotherapy. I think, a contemporary open-minded psychotherapist, psychologist,

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possibly even psychiatry and counsel coach, I think, if they went and explored the ancient, old, mythic folklore, the ancient ways, the archaic ways, they could do a lot of good. I think, if they did the amalgam that I have experimented with, they’d found out what I found out... Which is, when you bring contemporary shamanism in alignment with ancient traditions and you apply all your tools and resources, psychotherapy, counselling, coaching, meditation, negotiation, listening, being with the other, being very present to the other... then, what you see, is a profound change in human beings. 211 2 10F

Terry had his first shamanic training, based on the anthropologist Michael Harner’s book, The Way of the Shaman, in London, in a shamanic school ran by Simon Baxton, while the other training he received was in Brighton, where he was working with Leo Rutherford, from ‘Eagle’s Wing School of Contemporary Shamanism’, about which he had this to say:

They were amalgamating Native American traditional practices and rituals and ceremonies and process with contemporary thinking. They pioneered something called Trance-dance, which is ancestrally linked to ancient practices as well. The idea of dancing yourself into a state of non-reality, of trance-like capacity. And that’s done for a process of drumming and dance, or fasting dance. But I never did much more contemporary work within that level, other than the Trance-dance training. 212 211 F

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Figure 12. Shamanic tools [photo taken 26 April 2014]

However, he has now predominantly left it behind.

[It] has been absolutely adapted from my knowledge and training experience, my own initiations into different processes. So, I was involved in a coven, so I took practices from the coven. I took ceremonies and rituals from the coven. I adapted, and plagiarized, and changed, and re-invented different processes. I’m just as likely, Sakis, to use a Catholic style, type of blessing a mass, as I would be to use a Native American folk water clearing. What I don’t want to do, the work I do with Rainbow Zen Shaman, twenty first century contemporary shaman... what I don’t want to do is exclude. 213 212F

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Terry holds a Degree in Philosophy and a Master’s Degree in Transactional Analysis. He used to work as a professional psychotherapist for many years, but when he went to private practice in 2008, he began to incorporate his shamanic power into his work. He noticed that his amalgamation of shamanic practices with psychotherapy had some profound results.

And so as such, profound changes, such profound alterations in people’s health and well-being, when I applied the shamanic process with the psychotherapeutic intervention, I decided that I couldn’t remain a clinical psychotherapist anymore, I couldn’t just use that limited toolbox. So, what I decided to do, was to start to create a therapeutic intervention based on shamanic practice, ritual, ceremony and process. 214 213 F

Even though he has created his own school, Native American shamanic traditions are still prevalent in his teachings, as they were his first experiences into shamanic practice. During our second encounter in Cullen, I asked him why he continues to incorporate into his workshops Native American and not Celtic shamanic elements, which not only derive from his geographical ancestors, but also might be more appropriate or ‘authentic’ within Scotland. Apart from the fact that he feels more connected to the Native American cosmology of the four compass points — North, East, South, West —, whereas Celtic shamans tended to focus on ‘the tripod-construction’ of land, sea, sky, he also claimed that in his mind, Celtic shamanism is more closely connected to traditional witchcraft.

I think Celtic shamanism is much, much more keen to traditional, Celtic, ancient witchcraft practice than Native American practice. See, the native American tribal cultural shamanic foundations, that’s not coming like from a witchcraft practice... that’s not coming from a paganistic practice. It’s coming from absolutely animist, co-

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shamanism. It’s different with Celtic shamanism. It has a heritage and it has a lineage within the wider practice of ancient, historical witchcraft. 215 2 14F

Actually, there is no clear evidence for the existence of an ancient Celtic shamanism, in order to justify the emergence of a modern shamanic movement based on these traditions. Moreover, both Marion Bowman and Jenny Blain argue that Celtic shamanism is a modern construction influenced by Siberian, North and South American practices and based on the ‘assumption that whatever is present among contemporary native peoples [such as Native American and Aboriginal tribes] must have been part of Celtic spirituality’ 216 and on the fact 215F

that the Celts were ‘an equally-oppressed population’. 217 John Matthews in his guidebook to 216F

Celtic shamanism mentions fragmentary Celtic practices, such as ‘scrying, second sight, prophecy, poetic invocation and communication with the Otherworld’ that persisted through time, 218 but these practices resemble Magic more than shamanism. Corby Ingold sums it up 217F

perfectly:

It remains for us to ask whether we can then confidently speak of the existence of Celtic shamanism and Celtic shamans. This is where problems arise. Though the shamanic components within Gaelic and Celtic tradition are fairly easy to discern, it is difficult to assess whether these components were part of a cohesive system of practice and belief that comprises what we would refer to, in other indigenous contexts, as shamanism. Certainly, in the case of the ancient Celts, it is very difficult to know this, since those elements of ancient ritual and religious practice that have come down to us are very fragmented. 219 218 F

But why is Native American shamanism so popular and attractive to modern people? In Terry’s opinion, it is for four reasons: (1) Its colourfulness and recent ancestry:

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It’s colourful. It’s multi-textured, multilayered... It’s comfortably ancient. It’s not too far in the recent memory to be wild, roar and terrifying... [...] I think the colours of the Native American, First Nation tribes are rainbow. [...]Also, the story of the tribe is often inscribed in a bit pattern. So... it becomes a pictorial representation of the history of the tribe. So, it has a comfortable ancestry, it is not so far back in the recent memory, that it’s so ancient, we can’t even conceptualize how we may have worshipped, witnessed or testimonied nature or Mother Earth for the moons or the plants or the stars... 220 219 F

(2) Its healing ability:

People believe they need healing. People truly, most of the time, don’t feel ok. [...] That they don’t wake up, every person, or young teenager, or young adult, male or female adult, and say ‘yeah! I’m completely worth, worthy...’ [...]. And for me, there’s a nice fit with the Native American traditional shamanism. Because the colour, that I spoke about, this Rainbow colourization of the tribes and the practices and rituals and ceremonies, was always very colourful. That Rainbow... Colours healing. 221 220F

(3) Its accessibility:

It is incredibly accessible right now... you’ve got people setting themselves up in a matter of months, weeks, years as shamans, Native American shamans... and all they actually have to do is go on a weekend course... Friday, Saturday, Sunday... get a certificate in co-shamanism, change their name from John Smith to ‘Two Birds

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Walking Backwards’ and come up with a really nice logo and an aptly catchy title that goes with ‘Two Birds Walking Backwards’... and offer a nine hundred pound redemption packages for the ungullible human beings. So, I think Native American traditions are sacred... absolutely, profoundly integral to the fabric of shamanism. And I think, it’s abused and raped and plundered and pillaged by ignorant human beings. 222 22 1F

And (4) The guilt-driven sympathy of the white people towards the indigenous American tribes.

They feel guilty that they could annihilate and genocide [...] and watch a genocide of whole peoples. Native American traditional or cultural or tribal shamanism I think became so strong in the United States it was inevitable. Like a best-selling States record that wasn’t going to get imported. I think it was just a matter of time when it got imported. [...] By the mid-eighties, Native American shamanism had arrived. And I think, yes, since then, we don’t have the same levels of guilt, I certainly don’t think that’s transferred. But I think from the foundational core of how it got imported... yes, I think it was guilt-based. I think they were so in shame and bereavement, grief and loss, and also so ashamed of themselves, that there was that sympathy. 223 222 F

He later added:

I don’t think Native American, First Nation shamanism will ever disappear. I think it will be kept alive. I think ultimately, the reality is, like ancient primitive shamanism, will get adapted. And it may come full circle, back to raw traumatic, very, very real primitive shamanism. 224 223F

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During one of his workshops in mid-July, Terry pointed out to the participants that Rainbow Zen Shamanism’s goal is to adjust to the Scottish context and use the Native American traditions to the minimum.

Rainbow Zen Shamanism is made up. We are not Native American, Aboriginal or Siberian shamans. We don’t have coyotes, bald eagles, grizzly bears or totems in Cullen. We need to re-connect with what we actually have here, and that is crows, seagulls and Cullen Skink. 225 224F

In the same manner, in one of our discussions, he confessed:

I think we don’t live in the United States, I don’t think we live in Canada, I don’t think we live in any of those States of the United States... I say, we don’t think we should be talking about making peyote, stitch of fan-feathers and use those in a twenty-first century or Wiccan practice. I think that’s completely mad. I think also it’s completely dishonouring of the incredible integrity of the shamanic tools. 226 225 F

And he concluded by comparing shamanism to Philosophy and stating that his own school arrived at the right time, in a crisis period, confirming Hamayon’s notion that the urbanized shamanic systems are being sought by people particularly in times of crisis. 227 226 F

Philosophy always arrives too late. Or too late to do anything. But shamanism is totally different. I think contemporary shamanic practices I work, and contemporary shamanic practices I employ, I think it’s arrived just at the right time. I think, just at

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the right time, where we’re in a massive global crisis of soul and of emotion and of mind, I think we’re in grasps of crisis. 228 227 F

Figure 13. Terry during his workshop in his store [photo taken 12 July 2014]

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Conclusion

‘[The shaman] communicates human needs and desires to the spirits and interprets the spirits’ own need to his community’. 229 He was the healer of his community, but also the 228 F

communicator, the bridge between the living world and the otherworld. His ability to leave his body in order to enter other realms, by using ancient techniques of ecstasy, made him important and vital for the well-being of the community. In modern times, due to the emergence of globalization and technology, the different shamanic practices from all over the world have been closely intertwined and have been incorporated and re-contextualised into urban societies as well. 230 Moreover, with the appearance of modern urban phenomena, such 229 F

as disassociation, mistrust and issues connected with the human psyche, these practitioners are being sought again. Moore and Gillette say:

The modern [shaman] [...] will have wide-ranging interests. He will be deeply concerned about society as a whole, and about his planet. He will be seeking ways to implement the moral application of his insights, in different arenas —legal, political, philosophical, or scientific. He is the kind of man who is committed to an inclusive community, joining and leading urban citizens in their efforts to fight global warming, world hunger, pollution. 231 230F

One of these modern shamans is Terry Mace. Terry tries to combine his shamanic powers with his philosophical academic background and professional experience as a psychotherapist, and this combination is expressed though his shamanic school, Rainbow Zen Shamanism, created at the right time, in a crisis period. He continues the long-existing tradition of mind and body healing, introduced by his spiritual ancestors many years ago, but his intention is to adjust these practices into the modern Scottish context. Even though his

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initial shamanic experiences were based on Native American traditions, he tries to minimize their influence on his own practices, as he considers that they need to be respected and honoured, but also, that they cannot adopt to the social structures and natural environment of contemporary Scotland. More importantly, his idea of shamanism is that it is not a label or something that can be achieved or measured, but something that you are born with. And after years of research, during our last conversation, he confessed that he is still trying to figure out whether being a shaman is a gift or rather a curse.

Figure 14. Terry during the ‘Ride the Lightning’ ritual in a cave by the Cullen beach [photo taken July, 12 2014]

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173

Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, trans. by Willard R. Trask (London:

Arkana, 1989), p. 182. 174

Michael Harner, The Way of the Shaman (New York: Harper One, 1990), p. 20.

175

Mihaly Hoppal, Shamanism in a Postmodern Age,

[accessed 27 August 2014]. 176

Arthur Cotterell, A Dictionary of World Mythology (London: Guild Publishing, 1979), p. 90.

177

John Matthews, The Celtic Shaman: A Practical Guide(London, Sydney, Auckland, Johannesburg:

Rider, 1991), p. 20. 178

Harner, p. 20.

179

Eliade, p. 5.

180

Cotterell, p. 91.

181

Robert Moore and Dougles Gillette, The Magician Within: Accessing the Shaman in the Male

Psyche (New York: William Morrow, 1993), p. 70. 182

EI 2014.025 00:41:36.

183

EI 2014.025 00:32:12.

184

EI 2014.025 01:13:18.

185

Kenneth Johnson, Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey: Pagan Folkways from the Burning Times

(St. Paul: Llewellyn, 1998), p. 33. 186

Moore and Gillette, p. 71.

187

EI 2014.025 00:06:18.

188

EI 2014.025 00:47:34.

189

Moore and Gillette, pp. 77-9.

190

Harner, p. 44.

191

EI 2014.025 00:10:23.

192

EI 2014.025 00:11:37.

193

Harner, p. 44.

194

Harner, p. 60.

195

EI 2014.025 00:34:47.

196

The ‘rites of passage’ notion was first introduced by French ethnographer, Arnold van Gennep.

While he was studying the rituals from various cultures, he noticed that these ceremonies were actually acts of transition from childhood to adulthood. He divided them into three phases: separation (from a certain group), the marginal/transitional stage — which he named liminality —, and integration (into a new group). Even though van Gennep’s work initially applied to the coming of age of the young members of primitive cultures, anthropologist Victor Turner expanded the concept into all kinds of transitional phases and milestones in one’s life, such as birth, baptism, marriage, birthday or death.

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197

Victor Turner, The Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-structure (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974),

p. 81. 198

George P. Hansen, The Trickster and the Paranormal (USA: Xlibris, 2001), p. 92.

199

Naoko Takiguchi, ‘Liminal Experiences of Miyako Shamans: Reading a Shaman’s Diary’, Asian

Folklore Studies, 49 no.1 (1990), 1-38 (p. 1). 200

EI 2014.035 00:31:41.

201

EI 2014.035 00:22:35.

202

Harner, p. xii.

203

Wayland D. Hand, ‘Magical Medicine: An Alternative to “Alternative Medicine”’, Western

Folklore 49 no.3 (1985), 240-251 (p. 240). 204

Harner, p. xiv.

205

Robert N. Hamayon, ‘Shamanism in Siberia: From Partnership in Supernature to Counter-power in

Society’ in Shamanism, History, and the State, ed. by Nicholas Thomas and Caroline Humphrey (USA: The University of Michigan Press, 1996), pp. 76-89 (p. 76). 206

Hoppal [accessed 29 August 2014].

207

Hamayon, p. 77.

208

Stephen Hugh-Jones, ‘Shamans, Prophets, Priests and Pastors’ in Shamanism, History, and the

State, ed. by Nicholas Thomas and Caroline Humphrey (USA: The University of Michigan Press, 1996), pp. 32-75 (p. 35). 209

EI 2014.035 00:07:38.

210

Hugh-Jones, p. 35.

211

EI 2014.025 00:02:54.

212

EI 2014.035 00:19:33.

213

EI 2014.035 00:20:15.

214

EI 2014.025 00:01:53.

215

EI 2014.035 00:13:47.

216

Marion Bowman, ‘Contemporary Celtic Spirituality’ in. New Directions in Celtic Studies, ed. by

Amy Hale and Phillip Payton (Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 2000), pp. 69-94 (p. 76). 217

Jenny Blain, ‘Shamans, Stones, Authenticity and Appropriation: Contestations of Invention and

Meaning’ in A Permeability of Boundaries? New Approaches to the Archaeology of Art, Religion and Folklore, ed. by Robert J. Wallis and Kenneth Lymer (Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 2001), pp. 47-55 (p. 52). 218

Matthews, p. 3.

219

Corby Ingold, Shamanism in the Celtic World, [accessed 26 August 2014]. 220

EI 2014.051 00:00:33.

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221

EI 2014.051 00:08:32.

222

EI 2014.051 00:02:20.

223

EI 2014.051 00:06:42.

224

EI 2014.051 00:05:05.

225

Fieldwork notes, 12 July 2014.

226

EI 2014.051 00:03:26.

227

Hamayon, p. 76.

228

EI 2014.025 00:44:32.

229

Gordon MacLellan, ‘Dancing on the Edge: Shamanism in Modern Britain’ in Pagan Pathways: A

Complete Guide to the Ancient Earth Traditions, ed. by Charlotte Hardman and Graham Harvey (London: Thorsons, 2000), pp. 138-48 (p. 139). 230

Graham Harvey, Listening People Speaking Earth: Contemporary Paganism (London: Hurst and

Company, 1997), p. 103. 231

Moore and Gillette, p. 187.

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5. Conclusion

Modern paganism is a spiritual movement celebrating life and nature by reconstructing or re-inventing the pre-Christian traditions and placing them in modern context. It is an umbrella term for many different contemporary spiritualities. It has gradually appealed to more people since the mid-twentieth century, especially after the emergence of Wicca, as an often-romanticized counter-culture movement existing outside the established religious values and structures, but more essentially, as an alternative spiritual way of living and thinking. Moreover, the older tendency to demonize such spiritualities seems to wane and society begins to accept these belief systems. Among the pagan paths, one can find druidry and shamanism. The earlier druids first appeared in the Iron Age times and inhabited the British Isles until the fourth century AD. There is a lack of historical works and archaeological evidence giving light to their actual role. Most of the historical facts come from Classical writings, depicting druids as philosophers, lawyers, or poets, but as sorcerers or brutal human beings sacrificing people as well, but none of these testimonies can be taken as true, as they are considered to be based on hearsay. However, two things are certain: the existence of druids in the pre-Christian, Celtic communities and their powerful status. Therefore, modern druidry is a spiritual movement based on these pre-Christian traditions. It became popular once again in the nineteenth century as part of the romanticized tendency of people to reconnect with their Celtic past. Nevertheless, modern druidry is regarded, even among druids themselves, as a modern invention, due to the aforementioned lack of information on the practices and beliefs of earlier druids. Despite that, these people find a common ground in modern druidry. It celebrates nature and life, it reconnects them with their Celtic ancestors, and it fulfils their need for a spiritual community that is less secretive and mystified than Wicca.

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As for druidry’s special connection with Scotland, it has been turbulent and controversial. It is not clear if the stone circles, the monuments spread all over Scotland, had a specific function within the ancient druidic rituals. There were also suggestions that the early modern bards of the clan courts in the Highlands inherited the bardic traditions from their ancestors, but there is no clear historical evidence for that either. As for Scotland’s druidic inheritance, the Scots were the first among the British acknowledging their druidic past, but later on, during the Reformation and Renaissance years, they rejected it. Modern paganism generally has emerged as a spiritual movement in Scotland quite recently. However, it lacks popularity, unlike the high appeal of the English or Welsh equivalent movements, being a result of a combination of three reasons: the power of the local Church and the remnants of beliefs in evil witches surviving from the times of the witch-persecutions, the preference of reconnection with the Highland traditions as Scotland’s Celtic past and the predominant existence of small communities. On the other hand, shamanism is a universal phenomenon, often considered as an ‘unbroken’ tradition. It is a personal experience, a personal journey of one man or woman, the shaman, who was functioning as a ‘witch-doctor’, able to heal not only himself/herself, but also the members of his/her community, by entering other realms with the help of ancient trance-state techniques. Nowadays, shamanism has managed to adapt to the modernized and urbanized way of living, proving its adapting capabilities. The modern shamans are sought by people with physical or psyche problems as alternative healers beside and outside scientific medicine. Terry Mace blends the shamanic teachings he has received with his personal experiences and psychiatric educational and professional background, and adapts them to the social and cultural surroundings, circumstances and situations of modern Scotland, and especially of Cullen, the community he now resides. As Eliade writes, ‘the shamans have played an essential role in the defence of the psychic integrity of the community’ 232 and this 231 F

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is the main motivation of Rainbow Zen Shamanism and Terry Mace personally, to provide help to his fellow citizens through his shamanic teachings and practices. This paper is an ethnographic research on paganism, focusing on druidry and shamanism — with touches on witchcraft — in Scottish context. Its goal is to indicate and describe academically the existence of alternative beliefs beside the official religion, and their emergence into modern societies. Margot Adler says about these people.

Eclectic, individualist, and often fiercely autonomous, they do not share those characteristics that the media attribute to religious cults. They are often self-created and homemade; they seldom have ‘gurus’ or ‘masters’; they have few temples and hold their meetings in woods, parks, apartments and houses; in contrast to most organized cults, the operations of high finance are rare; and entry into these groups comes through a process that could rarely be called ‘conversion’. 233 232 F

Many of these aspects described can be found in the people interviewed for this paper. These people have grown up in cities, were brought up as Christians, and some of them have abilities or ideas, which raise suspicion and prejudice. However, they all seek for other sources of inspiration and spiritual connection and they find it in paganism, a spiritual movement that ‘intersects with the most vital interests of the contemporary world, and often does this in creative and remarkable ways’. 234 233 F

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232 233

Eliade, p. 508. Margot Adler, Drawing Down the Moon: Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and Other

Pagans in America (USA: Penguins Books, 1979). 234

Harvey, Listening People Speaking Earth, p. vii.

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Hardman, Charlotte and Graham Harvey (eds.), Pagan Pathways: A Complete Guide to the Ancient Earth Traditions (London: Thorsons, 2000).

Harner, Michael, The Way of the Shaman (New York: Harper One, 1990).

Harris, Marvin, ‘History and Significance of the Emic/Etic Distinction’, Annual Review of Anthropology, 5 (1976), 329-350.

Harvey, Graham, Listening People Speaking Earth: Contemporary Paganism (London: Hurst and Company, 1997).

Hobsbawm, Eric and Terrence Ranger (eds.), The Invention of Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984).

Hutton, Ronald, Blood and Mistletoe: The History of the Druids on Britain (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2009).

Hutton, Ronald, The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles, (Oxford, UK and Cambridge, USA: Blackwell, 1991)

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Johnson, Kenneth, Witchcraft and the Shamanic Journey: Pagan Folkways from the Burning Times (St. Paul: Llewellyn, 1998).

Jung, Carl Gustav, The Archetypes and The Collective Unconscious, (London: Routledge, 1968).

Larner, Christina, Enemies of God: The Witch-Hunt in Scotland (London: Chatto and Windus, 1981).

Magliocco, Sabina, Witching Culture: Folklore and Neo-Paganism in America (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004).

Malinowski, Bronislaw, Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays With and Introduction by Robert Redfield (Garden City, New York: Doubleday Anchor, 1954).

Martin, Martin, A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland, ca 1695 (Edinburgh: Birlinn, 1999).

Matthews, John, The Celtic Shaman: A Practical Guide (London, Sydney, Auckland, Johannesburg: Rider, 1991).

Moore, Robert, and Dougles Gillette, The Magician Within: Accessing the Shaman in the Male Psyche (New York: William Morrow, 1993).

Nichols, Ross, The Book of Druidry (Kent: The Aquarian Press, 1990).

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Piggott, Stuart, The Druids (New York: Thames & Hudson, 1987).

Primiano, Leonard, ‘Vernacular Religion and the Search for Method in Religious Folklife’ in Western Folklore, 54 (Jan 1995), 37-56.

Restall Orr, Emma, Living With Honours: A Pagan Ethics (Winchester, UK; Washington, USA: O Books, 2007).

Roberts Powers, Willow, Transcription Techniques for the Spoken Word (USA: Altamira Press, 2005)

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Shaw, John 'Gaelic Oral Poetry in Scotland’, FF Network, 33 (December 2007) 3-11.

Smout, T.C., A History of the Scottish People: 1560-1830 (Glasgow: Fontana/Collins, 1972).

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Appendix 1

Contributors’ biographies

Dougie Bogie is a 53 year-old social worker from Glasgow, living in Torry, Aberdeen. He follows the Red Path, meaning the Native American traditions. He was taught by the Lakota people in North America and Q’ero tribe from Peru, while he has a close relationship with a Q’ero tribe chief, Arnan. After years of initiation rites and other kind of rituals, he became a Firekeeper, Sundancer, but also Pipekeeper, keeping a pipe, which was given to him by the Lakota people.

Maggie Garbutt is 59 years old and comes originally from South Yorkshire, England. She studied at the University of Bradford and later moved to Scotland. She used to live in Glasgow for many years before settling in Alloa. She is retired, but she runs voluntarily the local charity shop in Alloa. She is a member of the Dunedin druids and also a long-time member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.

Crystal Green is a 70 year-old solitary witch from Buckie, North-East Scotland. She calls herself a ‘hedge-witch’. Even though she was brought up as a Catholic, she felt more connected to nature and other spiritualities. She combines herbalism and witchcraft in her practices and beliefs.

Terry Mace is a ‘Rainbow Zen Shaman’. He is 52 years old, comes from England and lives in Cullen, in the North East of Scotland. He holds three degrees: in MBA (Management and Business Administration), in Philosophy and a Master’s in Psychotherapy and Transactional

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Analysis. For many years he worked as a registered and qualified psychotherapist, counsel coach and mediator, but when he went to private practice, he began to incorporate his shamanic teachings into his work. He has left his professional and academic background in the past and he now offers his services as his local community’s shaman.

Simon Parry is a 50 year-old druid from England. He is a Lecturer in Accounting and Finance in Newcastle University. He was brought up a Christian, within the non-Conformist, Methodist Church, before discovering other spiritualities in this early teenage years. He is a long-time member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. He lives in Bonchester Bridge, near the Scottish Borders with Maria Termaat.

Maria Termaat is a Wicca High Priestess from the Netherlands. She is 54 years old and she is known to the other Wiccans as Lavina. She was brought up a Christian, before converting to the Church of Satan in her home country. She discovered Wicca, when she was 16 years old. She has been living in Scotland for many years. In the last couple of years, she has moved to Bonchester Bridge, where she lives with Simon Parry and her son, Pascal. She is the mother of seven children. Only her daughter, Irene follows pagan paths.

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Appendix 2

Transcriptions samples

EI 2014.025 (Mace_Terry_2014-04-25)

[SB]

Have you ever been a member of the other pagan groups? Like in druidry and Wicca?

In covens?

[TM] Yeah...

[SB]

And if so, what drove you out?

[TM] Sure... So, I think the first, I think the first group, really that I could honestly say I belonged to was... I think a group of people who... People who were following a spiritual path, many different paths. So, not necessarily a pagan path, but sometimes an Eastern religious or mystical path.

[SB]

A spiritual path...

[TM] Yeah! Definitely. And I think, that was my first sort of sense of family, my first sense of community. But it was around 2007, that I looked at joining a coven, and that coven was called ‘Dragon-Oak’. And ‘Dragon-Oak’ is a coven that has links back to the American continent, with witchcraft in America...

[SB]

Where is this?

[TM] Down in mid-Wales. And... It was a closeted coven, so in that sense of word, it’s a coven which asks its initiates, it near-fights to remain ‘subrosa’ or ‘under the rose’, or silent, or secret. So, I was asked while within the coven... I absolutely respected that, because that was what was asked of me. And I respected that and honoured that. But, as I’m no longer member of that coven, and I have no affiliation and association with it, I feel there’s nothing

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really that, for me, happened within that coven, that I wouldn’t personally feel happy sharing within the framework of that of my own experience. That is my experience of that work within the coven. It’s not necessarily anybody else’s experience. But... very happy to share that, Sakis. And then I worked within a grove, a druidic grove, and I enjoyed that, that was very nice. A druidic grove or a druidic, let’s say family... It’s different than a coven in the sense that it’s more eclectic. It’s quite different.

[SB]

So, what’s the differences between druidic groves from...

[TM] Yes, completely different...

[SB]

Wiccans...

[TM] Very different, very different...

[SB]

They are more open minded?

[TM] Very different. The druidic paths in this country are paganistic absolutely. They would fall under that generalization. And that’s what it is, is a generalization, encompassing many, many paths. And better they consider themselves within the paganistic framework, definitely. But, for the druids... they do see very much a lineage, they can see an ancient lineage... from the early seers and mystics right away through to modern society. So, there is an absolutely lineage and it could be argued that this lineage is potentially older than contemporary modern Wicca. Which it is, it’s much older. So, there is a certain sense sometimes — certainly amongst, maybe more, traditional druids — that maybe the Wiccans, maybe the general larger spiritual community, maybe they have hijacked a lot of the rituals and ceremonies, a lot of the processes and adapted them. Because that would be true, they have... So, it think there is a huge amount of politics within the spiritual family. I think within the pagan community, a huge amount of politics.

[SB]

So, what do you think made Wicca so big and not druidism?

[TM] I think you’ve got several things. I think first, if you look Gardnerian practice...

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[SB]

Gardner...

[TM] Yeah, Gerald Gardener. And if you look at Alexandrian practice, you’ve got two, not necessarily competing frames of reference, you’ve got two vastly different strands of Wicca. Both, incredibly, profoundly successful, in the sense of their membership. In the sense of their coven base. Incredibly successful. Very respected, both Gardnerians and Alexandrians often do connect and meet together, but they are very different in their practice. I’m not and I have never experienced a full or, let’s say, a traditional Alexandrian initiation or Gardnerian initiation, but [?] sufficient to know that the paths are similarly constructed generally, but very different in process, in form. I think what you’ve got also, you’ve got two very important human beings there. You know, you had two incredibly powerful human beings driving those processes forward, so it’s not, I think, any surprise that... let’s say, with the right captain or the right student at the helm, you drive any religion or cult or follower in a spiritual path forward. You know if you look at the background of Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, before he changed his name into Osho. You know he, at the height of his glory, as a multi multi-miilion pound guru with advisers and lawyers and solicitors and that... the height of his fame, yeah, he had multi, multi millions of followers... all down [?] very heavily into Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh’s bank account. And then, when he fell from grace in that sense, he then became Osho, completely re-invented himself, but he had no less and no fewer followers then, but just very different. He completely re-invented himself from where he was to where he’d gone.

EI 2014.032 (Green_Crystal_2014-04-26)

[SB]

Yeah! What about the Scottish witches in the sixteenth and seventeenth century?

[CG] I think, you know it’s the same story...

105

[SB]

First of all, do you feel that there a line of heritage and legacy from these witches to

the practicing witches of the twenty-first century?

[CG] Yes, quite possibly.

[SB]

Do you still feel affected by the whole thing and the witches that existed here and do

you feel that you carry, let’s say, a legacy and heritage from them?

[CG] I think, you do whatever you do, you know, there’s nothing you can do about that... Erm, because even mentioning that you’re a witch, is, you know... people are..

[SB]

They think of the whole witchcraft...

[CG] Yes! And most of the people at that time were doing what I do. Nothing else. So yes, I think we suffer from that. And probably will for a long time.

[SB]

And why do you think most of the witches victims were women?

[CG]

Because most of [laughter]

[SB]

Was it a sexist thing?

[CG] Because of the men in that time. Because they were easy target. There were men as well, there were men that were persecuted too, but I think there were mainly women, because that’s... ever since, ever since things changed and women became powerful. I mean, if you think about it originally, the women, the High Priestess, not the High Priest, looked after that part of life... Men went out and killed things and the women looked after the spiritual wellbeing of the clan, of the group. And I think, since that has changed, women have suffered.

[SB]

So, do you feel there is persecution till nowadays? Or it is just stereotypes...

[CG] No, it’s stereotypes, that’s all, I don’t think we are persecuted. No more the women ever are anyway. No, I think we are stereotyped. I mean it’s annoying, for example this isn’t

106

really to do with witchcraft, but if you see something on a film or the television and somebody’s putting out tarot cards, inevitably Death comes out and oh, you know...

[SB]

...And you’re going to die...

[CG] I know and it’s ridiculous. Death is a very complex card. And like most of the major Arkana, has more than dual meanings. And certainly, is often an indication of the end of something and the beginning of something else. Often there is a white rose, somewhere in this card. The white rose is the sign of birth. So, it’s a card here that’s saying, ‘this is an ending and a beginning, and it’s necessary for you to progress’.

[SB]

It doesn’t have to do with physical death.

[CG] No! No! Absolutely! It could be any sort of death, you know? It could be the death of a cycle of your life and moving on to something better. Something necessary. All these things suffer from this sort of stereotyping, it’s...

EI 2014.035 (Mace_Terry_2014-04-27)

[SB]

You mentioned evolution, primitives... And you come from an academic background,

you have done your Master’s, you’re an educated man. I don’t know if you know James George Frazer, who developed the evolutionary theory that people, all human societies were first primitives, then became savage and now we have the civilized society...

[TM] Okay. Yes, I’m a little bit familiar with it.

[SB]

He said that all religions were around fertility gods, they revolved around worship and

sacrifice of a sacred king and that king was a symbol of a dying reviving god, a solar deity who went into a mystic marriage with a Goddess, the Goddess of the Earth. So, do you think shamanism is something like that? Is it like a fossil, a remnant of past religions that are passed now into contemporary...

107

[TM] Sure, it’s a great question. I’m going to answer it in two parts, because for me it’s too profound...

[SB]

And he said, that’s important... he said that all human societies and communities first,

let’s say, solved problems with magic, which was replaced then by religion, which is now replaced by science.

[TM] I think that works for me. I think that’s probably how the evolutionary cycle has gone. I think probably what’s happening, if I look at the scientist, I know... And I’m very privileged, including yourself Sakis as a new friend. I have many fellow colleagues and peers and wise men and wise women around me, who are scientifically academic and they have backgrounds within science. What’s interesting is those human beings also are incredibly spiritual, they are on a spiritual path. They’re on their own vision quest, their own journey too, their own sense of enlightenment or peace or tranquillity or holiness. And what I have discovered with those scientists, which I would personally Sakis, include you in as well... what I have discovered with those scientists who are open-minded, who are passionate about their science, about their subject, about their topic — but also, on this path, this spiritual journey — what I discovered was those scientists were actually very willing to explore the next evolutionary step. What the next evolutionary step is, I think, is an amalgam of science, meta-science, contempt physics, contempt science and magic, myth, mythology, alchemy. I think that is the next evolution. I think the next evolution is... if we work hand in hand, which is why I absolutely honoured that you work with me... If we work hand in hand with the academics, the scholars, the spiritual men and women, who actually have some questions that are unanswered by their academic pursuits or by science, in general; who have actually questioned for something bigger, bigger than the actual topic or subject they began with as an academic or a student. Those are the men and women who will next evolve. They will be the pioneers and founders of the next evolution. I think that will be an amalgam of all that you’ve discussed and all that you’ve said. The two parts in relationship to the question you’ve asked is do I think shamanism is like that? All I can say is, one part of shamanism is like that and the other is not. And the part of shamanism that I feel is currently what you’ve shared, in the way that you’ve expressed it... is what I call co-shamanism... or a very ancient shamanism. So, in simple terms, Sakis, co-shamanism will be the idea that universally every shamanic

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practitioner, every shaman, every shamanka, every wise man, every elder, within a shamanic or animist practice would have found rhythm, or a drum or a rattle... and so the rattle, the power of the rattle, the power of the drum is handed down, so...

[SB]

Like a universal archetype...

[TM] It’s like a universal archetype. And so, within this frame of reference, I think that is absolutely almost bordering on a both cult construct or religious construct of what shamanism is or was rather... not is, but was, and that’s being continued... So, in that sense of word, that’s why Mongolia does consider as shamanism or a religion, because it’s high ancestral heritage to that part of the globe. It means that it’s natural and normal and makes perfect sense to have shamanism as a national religion. But the fact that you call shamanism a religion, then that, I think, feeds right back into what you’ve said. And it’s at that point that shamanism actually has limited use. I think what has incredible potential use, is an amalgam of what I now see myself as, which is a contemporary shaman, twenty-first century modern contemporary shaman. And because of that I will use as much technology, as much science, as much skills and tools and training and coaching, counselling, psychology, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, archetypal psychology, every single tool I can get out of my toolbox, that is academic, educational, positive, promotional psychology... hard hitting psychoanalytical techniques, philosophy. All of those things I will use. And then I will use every contemporary item you can imagine. I don’t even know if we’re getting the time now to go down to the centre and the shop.

EI 2014.039 (Parry_Simon_2014-05-17)

[SP] I think that my background would be very similar to most people who follow a pagan path and that is that they were brought up in an organized religion and they found that it wasn’t... Yes, he snores very loudly [talks about the dog]. Yeah, yeah, that was me... I was brought up Christian, I was within a non-Conformist, Methodist Church and I was bought into that tradition and my parents were quite strict, in terms of... we had to go to Church every week and we had to go to Sunday school. And... I don’t know if you’re familiar with

109

Sunday school. Sunday school is a school for children on a Sunday, but it’s about learning about religion, so learning about God and Jesus...

[SB]

I’ve never been...

[SP]

So, we had to go along. Of course, on a Sunday school, we were learning about all

those things... and the more I learned, the more I felt two things really... from a very early age, you know, looking back now, unusually early age, I felt two things. One is, this just didn’t touch me at all, in a spiritual level, it had no meaning for me at all on a spiritual level... But, I think, you know, as I’ve said earlier, as my intellect started to build on an early age, also I was thinking ‘a lot of these just don’t make sense, they just seem non-sense-ical to me’. I think a really crunch for me was... I could remember quite clearly, age eleven... I was sat at school, I was sat in an English class at school, I remember it very clearly. I’m just saying to myself ‘I don’t believe in God’ and I remember being really shocked. I can still remember, after all those years, I was really shocked that I’ve actually said that to myself ‘I don’t believe in God’ and... it really rocked my bow for quite a time afterwards.

[SB]

In what kind of context did that occur to you at that point?

[SP]

I think we’ve been talking... I mean, I was eleven years old, I can remember which

classroom I sat, I remember who the teacher was, everything. We must have been talking about... I remember what it was... On Sunday school, we were talking about missionary work, and we were talking about missionary work involved, you know about going... It was primarily folks going to Africa and helping poor starving children in Africa [?]... And you know, teaching them about God... And I almost have just been sat there, so thinking about this, because I remember thinking myself ‘I quite like being a missionary. That sounds like a quite interesting thing to do. But it’s a pity I don’t believe in God’. And it really kind of, literally stopped me in my tracks, did that, and I thought: ‘No, I don’t, I don’t believe in God’. And it’s the first... I mean, I kind of expressed doubts to myself before that, but it’s the first time I kinda said it to myself right out of nowhere and I sort of played around with that idea in my head. And I thought ‘No. I just don’t believe in God’. And I can remember going home and telling my parents ‘I don’t believe in God’, and I remember my mother getting very angry with me and saying ‘Don’t be stupid, you’re too young to understand these

110

things’. And I persisted with this and then that’s sort of totally changed my attitude towards, you know, going to church, because then I was going, when I went to Church and went to Sunday school, I was being far more critical, I think... you know, I was kind of looking around me what’s going on and thinking ‘what on earth is going on’, you know, ‘what we are doing here’. You know, studying Church, singing these hymns and I was starting to really, you know, read the words and wonder ‘what this hymn is about’. And I’m thinking ‘this is just a lot of nonsense, we stood every Sunday singing all this nonsense’. Anyway... My parents kind of persisted, you know, with this, you know, they thought... my mother thought there was something wrong with me. They sent me... I was very young, I mean, I think I was only eleven.

[SB]

Were you exorcized like Maria?

[Everybody laughing]

[SP]

No, I wasn’t exorcized. She took me along to the local minister. She had me there to

the local minister and said that she was worried about me and... Thankfully, he was a very reflective man. He was a very quiet minister and he spent a lot of his time, his personal time in reflective prayer. And because of that, he was a very spiritual man. And so, my mum sort of marched me around into his house and pushed me through the door and said to him ‘sort him out’ you know, ‘he says he doesn’t believe in God’. And so, we sat down and had a talk and he was very sympathetic and I think... you know his stance was almost ‘well, you know, ok. I can accept if you don’t believe, you don’t believe’. [laughter]

EI 2014.040 (Termaat_Maria_and_Simon_Parry_2014-05-17)

[MT] There is no such thing as black and white magic, as far as I’m concerned. And again, a lot of pagans would jump on me now, saying that. I think there’s bad and there’s good. Like I said early... There’s not the black dentist, there’s not the black butcher. There’s a good butcher, a good dentist and a bad one. You know, so... But... because there’s good and bad witches, automatically has become black and white. So, by definition, the witches in Satan’s

111

church are black witches, because they are bad witches and they want to be perceived as bad witches, you know, who accomplish things by bad spells and by negative...

[SB]

So, black witches are generally the Devil worshipping ones.

[MT] Mmm. So, like I said. I don’t believe in black and white, you know. But, I have to call myself a white witch because there’s black witches out there.

[SB]

Okay, yeah. They believe in Satan and the Devil, but... we had this discussion before.

Aleister Crowley never said anything about doing something really bad, did he?

[MT] Said, not that he was not going to do.

[SB]

Or not?

[MT] No, not as direct as it would happen in Satanism or in that part of occultism or in the darker Voodism. But his actions were not as good. You know... And the rituals that he did, and how he performed were not always the most positive things. But, he was insane in the end. Not in the beginning. Anything from the way beginning of him, I can happily live with. And then, something turned, you know... and he became mentally ill.

[SP]

It is a fantastic work. Because he was a member, he was one of the members of the

Golden Dawn, wasn’t he?

[MT] Yes.

[SP]

And you know, he was one of the people who really took ideas forward... you know,

like, for instance, his Thoth tarot deck, you know, he tied in a lot of new ideas. Because, you know, at that stage it was kind of experimental. You know, in these sort of organizations like Golden Dawn, people were trying to rediscover ancient knowledge and he pulled a lot of fantastic things together. He was, you know, inspirational in some of the stuff he did, when he was younger I think...

112

[MT] Yeah, I agree...

[SB]

What about Gardner?

[MT] Just another witch, you know, with his own ways and his own teaching.

[SB]

How influential was he...

[MT] How influential?

[SB]

Yeah... for the emergence of modern witchcraft?

[MT] Pretty I think. I think he had quite something to say that... I think... strangely enough, it’s only in the last hundred years and the fifty years that people have really put a stamp on the witchcraft. Before it, it was all very normal. I mean, like for instance, if you look at the North American Indian medicine women and medicine men, everybody finds it highly interesting in the very positive way. You will seldom find somebody say: ‘Oh this is all bollocks, this is scary stuff’ or whatever. We are the Mother, we are the European version of the medicine women and medicine men. That’s how we were and used to be in the villages and in the tribes. But, nowadays, you know, since we’ve put our stamp out there, with the help of Gardner and all the other ones, you know, it’s become this, this mythical, storytelling thing nearly...

[SP]

I think Gerald Gardner has been very influential in actually writing and publishing

about witchcraft... By the way, he didn’t really call it witchcraft, did he, yeah? But I think, one of the biggest influences has been a sort of standardization or template, if you like...

[SB]

A handbook...

[MT & SP]

[SP]

Yeah!!!

A template, which you could see and then practice, for a lot of... A lot of modern

practitioners, they have that basic Gardnerian template. Whereas, I think, maybe before that,

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it would be fair to say that there were... A good example would be the eightfold year, the celebration of the eightfold year, you know the eight major festivals of the year. I think before that, probably a lot of people, who... the vast majority of people who practiced witchcraft and saw themselves as practitioners, didn’t necessarily recognize and celebrate that. So, I think there’s been...

EI 2014.043 (Termaat_Maria_2014-05-17)

[SB]

Tell me about Wicca.

[MT] Wow! Ask me questions I think, ‘cause there’s so much to tell.

[IvdS] You can’t just sit here...

[SB]

What do you believe in? I don’t know...

[MT] I don’t think, I don’t... We are called a religion, but I don’t particularly like that. Because when I think of religion, I think death, I think war... I think, you know, a lot negative around religions. You know... how is it possible that the Protestant and the Catholic kill each other? Well, they read the same bloody Bible. I just don’t understand that. I don’t like particularly the fact that we are pushed under the umbrella of religion.

[SB]

You prefer something like spiritual beliefs?

[MT] Yeah. But if I have to say it is a religion, then I would call it a natural or a nature religion...

[SB]

Based on nature...

[MT] Aha. It’s for two reasons. One, it’s based on nature. And anything to do with Mother Earth and the other one, it’s a natural religion. So, if you do something like that, naturally there will be a consequence. You know, it’s all about sending a message out and you get it

114

back threefold. You know... So whatever you do, you are going to have consequence, a reaction, an action will get a reaction. So, it’s a natural process of religion, if you want to call it religion. But again, I prefer not to be put into the pocket of religion. And saying that, I remember I had a conversation with a Buddhist friend of mine... He was a fantastic, fantastic Buddhist, a very special man... And we were sitting down and we were talking about stuff and I was saying, you know ‘how can you put people in boxes?’ You know, you can put the modern person, the old-fashioned person, the extrovert person, the introvert person... you know, you can put people in boxes. You know, the way they dress, the way they have their house and stuff, and I said ‘I don’t want to be in a box. I do not want to be in a box. I want to be unique.’ And he said ‘Well, that makes you be in a box.’... ‘No, I’m not.’ He said ‘Yes you are. You are in the unique box’. And I thought, ‘yeah, he is right’. Because, yeah, you know... I need to be in a box, I need to be somewhere as well. So, that sort of made me mellower about the whole religion thing as well, you know. I don’t particularly like it to be called a religion.

[SB]

But if they call us a religion...

[MT] That’s what it is. Them. Let’s let it be a natural or a nature religion.

[SB]

So, you believe in Mother Earth and the Horned God, I guess.

[MT] Yeah, we believe in Mother Earth, we believe in everything that the Mother provides on the Earth. It’s that we can work with plants, herbs, crystals, energy, sun, wind, the four corners. You know... So, I work with Earth, Water, Fire, Air... that side of it. We also believe in Gods and Goddesses, you know... and I still have the Bible, I still have an affinity with Christianity, I really do... which many people find it strange, but I really do. But if... if you want to read the Bible correctly, it says that we’re created after God’s image, so... there’s Gods and Goddesses then, isn’t there? [laughter] Every woman in my eyes is a Goddess and every man is a God, you know...

[SB]

They are human gods or spiritual gods?

[MT] Spiritual gods... I believe...

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[SB]

They don’t have a shape or human form... They’re elements.

[MT] No. Thor is a God. You must know Thor, yeah?

[SB]

Yeah, of course...

[MT] So, they’re not...

[SB]

So, you believe in Thor?

[MT] Yeah, in Thor and Haya.

[SB]

Odin...

[MT] In Odin, in all those... Yeah! All as much. We use them for all different rituals or purposes or magical rituals, we use whoever is needed. ‘Cause when you want to kick some arse, you evoke the God Thor, he’s really good one to help to [claps her hands] cut through bullshit.

EI 2014.048 (Mace_Terry_and_Dougie_Bogie_2014-05-31)

[DB] One of the other things I thought about as well, was like... even if you don’t believe in reincarnation, the Native American land says... the South American tribes all believe in the Red Path.

[TM] Yeah, certainly...

[DB] And everybody is ‘red blood’, it’s like, whatever colour you are...

[SB]

What is the Red Path?

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[DB] Red path is another name for again, it’s like... it’s another name for like... saying you believe in all the tribes joining together and the prophecies and things like that. Because all the different prophecies,all the different shamans and all the different tribes have all had the same visions. Even though they never met each other. Some of them, they haven’t met like fifty years afterwards.

[SB]

Like... archetypes, we’re talking, uh-oh?

[DB] And this is all round in the world.

[SB]

The archetypes?

[TM] Yes, I think, yes, we can say that... I think it’s deeper than that, but I think we can say that...

[Gabriel Tracy]

[TM]

Similar...

I think we’re all talking about probably a true sense of vision here, a true sense of...

not epiphany, but... something. Because I think they’ve seen... Well, if we were in an aboriginal culture, how would you describe it, is we’re dreaming the same dream, we’re in the same dream, we’re in the same dreamtime. The reason white man can’t step into the aboriginal man or woman’s dreamtime, is because they dream a different dream. But, you know, we can train ourselves to dream the same dream.

[SB]

So, it’s called the Red Path, because they were talking about red tribes...

[DB] No, it’s got nothing to do with that.

[SB]

Okay.

[DB] It’s to do with like, all these different tribes are...

[SB]

We’re talking about the white tribes, the black tribes as well?

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[DB] Yeah, all of them... African, Mongolian, everything... Aboriginal, Hawaiian, they’ve all had the same visions. And all like... Remember we were talking about energy, like genergy, and stuff like that? Well, the Red Path’s like... The body of the visions that they have is the energy is in the shape of a red anaconda and it’s travelling all round the world. And it’s just the same idea as the g-energy, but it’s visualised in a red anaconda., that travels all around the world. They’ve all had this vision... So, it’s like... if they’re saying they’re in the Red Path, everybody understand they’re doing the same thing, the same sort of work. They may be doing the ceremonies differently, but their intentions are the same.

[TM] And you know, I’m not suggesting for a minute, and I’ve even thought of it like this ok? It literally has just come to me this moment. So, it’s new for me. But you know... [long pause] this vision of, these visions of, you know, the serpent, the anaconda, the energy flow, the energy field, of course, you know... Gabriel will tell you... all of us can, but most of us don’t. But some of us do, and for those of us who do see energy and for those of us who can tune into energy... you know, we can see that kind of energy in many different forms. So, the reality is, is, you know, electromagnetic energy, it’s all what the Northern Lights are. You know, the Northern Lights, as simple as that, I mean it’s a lot more than that, it’s a lot... it’s gas and energy, but it’s energy. So it has a movement plan ok? So, it’s nothing to surprise. And I said, it’s new for me and I’m thinking a bit... You know for those of us who can see energy or for those of us who have seen energy, you know... Of course, it does not seem strange to me that one person in Africa would have seen the movement of an energy in the shape or form of a snake. And then, that energy electromagnetically and all these things... For me, I can even conceptualize the science of it... You know, I can even see that. And that’s without even going deep, deep into the idea, the mystical or the... Because, you know, energy, for those who can see energy, it’s clear, it’s very clear. It’s very clear to them, that everything is energy. Two or three days ago, I started to teach Christine how to see aura, because she wants to see aura, or because she wants to do some other work... And initially she was ‘I can’t see aura, I can’t see aura’. She was really talking negative, she was really talking herself out of this. So, we had a conversation and I convinced her to change her thinking. And you know... two hours later... just a little... two hours later, she’s saying ‘mmm, yeah. I see the aura of the stone’. And she has a stone now that she’s began to work with, to see the aura. But, it’s interesting, maybe... she’s very tired tonight, but maybe you ask her

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‘how do you see the aura?’, because she started to see the aura. So, yeah... you can train somebody to do this. You can do this.

EI 2014.050 (Garbutt_Maggie_2014-06-06)

SB]

You told me in your email that you are a member of the Dunedin druids...

[MG] A-ha! That’s the Edinburgh lot.

[SB]

Okay! Tell me a little bit about them.

[MG] Well, it’s just a group of people. Some of us are studying through the ‘Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids’. We’ve got four druid members that have been through the whole course. We’ve been through lots and lots of changes and we’ve had a lot people joining perhaps wanting to control things and a lot of power struggles and people having to leave, but we now have a very, very tolerant group and we’re moving forward really well now. We’ve had some brilliant members as well, but...

[SB]

Is there a hierarchy in...?

[MG] No, how we are structured, it is... there’s four people that do the organizing...

[SB]

Do you have other members as well, that are not organizers?

[MG] Aha! But it’s easier for the same people to do it, because you got to take things like the table or the chalice or a wand or you know... a sword for various ceremonies. And somebody has to be responsible for doing that. So, what we have are the four elements — earth, air, fire, water — and we all take a responsibility for part of the organizing and set... You know, finding a venue, getting people there, letting people know about it, all that kind of thing... But you don’t have to be any grade to do that, you know...

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[SB]

Are there any grades?

[MG] There are within the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.

[SB]

Are you part of that Order?

[MG] Aha! I’m full. I’ve done the whole course. And that took me nineteen years, though.

[SB]

Oh! From the first grade to the last?

[MG] Aha! It takes three, but I did it in a very windy way...

[SB]

What is your grade right now?

[MG] So, I am a druid.

[SB]

And before that?

[MG] You’re a Bard first, which is studying like song and poetry and making things, and just all the earthy things, and creating things. And then you go through the Ovate, which is the healing side and psychic abilities and all that kind of mental and spiritual exploration, and then the druid grade is more about grounding it all and being able to live it... being it... and passing it on as well.

[SB]

Another member of OBOD told me that creating and mostly art is a big part of druidic

tradition and it’s a way to express yourself... Do you believe in that? Art...

[MG] All kinds of art. I mean...

[SB]

Crafts... I mean, craftsmanship...

[MG] A-ha! Yes. I think it is important for everybody to explore that regardless if [laughter] they’re druids or not.

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[SB]

Is there a tendency of druids to be really good at craftsmanship and art?

[MG] No, some of them are really good healers. And some of them are really good psychics. And some of them are really at writing. And, you know, some in more academic works. I’m a poet. That’s my thing, so... [long pause] Erm, nut yes, I mean, I make things all the time. But, I don’t think it’s a necessity. [laughter] I think it happens naturally. I think people do become... they want to explore their creativity... but their creativity could be in getting a group of people together and having a laugh, making people feel good. It doesn’t have to be creating a picture. You know, there’s a whole forms of creativity [laughter].

EI 2014.051 (Mace_Terry_2014-07-11)

[Sakis Barmpalexis] Ok... I’m Sakis Barmpalexis... once again. I’m in Cullen with my friend, Terry Mace, at his home... it’s Friday, eleventh of July, and we are talking about Paganism... and what does make Native American traditions so attractive to people?

[Terry Mace] Ah, that’s a good question. Erm... It’s colourful. It’s multi-textured, multilayered... It’s comfortably ancient. It’s not too far in the recent memory to be wild, raw and terrifying... but it’s the shamanism I follow... wild, raw and terrifying, that’s how it’s me, that’s the shamanism I’m following now. And for me, Native American shamanism, and traditions, mythology, and culture, I think it’s very colourful. I think...

[SB]

What do you mean colourful?

[TM] I think... From a very human being sight perspective, I think the colours of the Native American, First Nation tribes are rainbow. They’re incredibly beautiful in their constructions of bitwork... nearly every tribe has a specific bit pattern, a bit code, to [?] the tribes one to the other. Also, the story of the tribe is often inscribed in a bit pattern. So... it becomes a pictorial representation of the history of the tribe. So, it has a comfortable ancestry, it’s not so far back in the recent memory, that it’s so ancient, we can’t even conceptualize how we may have worshipped, witnessed or testimonied nature or Mother Earth or the moons or the plants or

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the stars... or the moon, we don’t know. So, I think, first of all, it’s comfortable, actually very comfortable. It is incredibly accessible right now... you’ve got people setting themselves up in a matter of months, weeks, years as shamans, Native American shamans... and all they actually have to do is go on a weekend course... Friday, Saturday, Sunday... get a certificate in co-shamanism, change their name from John Smith to ‘Two Birds Walking Backwards’, and come up with a really nice logo and an absolutely catchy title that goes with ‘Two Birds Walking Backwards’, and offer a nine hundred pound redemption packages for the ungullible human beings, who like colour. So, I think Native American traditions are sacred... absolutely, profoundly integral to the fabric of shamanism... And I think, it’s abused, and raped, and plundered, and pillaged by ignorant human beings. I think we don’t live in the United States, I don’t think we live in Canada, I don’t think we live in any of those States of the United States... I say, we don’t fucking think we should be talking about making peyote, stitch of fan-feathers and use those in a twenty-first century or Wiccan practice. I think that’s completely mad. I think also it’s completely dishonouring of the incredible integrity of the shamanic tool. I started off as a Native American shamanic practitioner, that’s how I started. And I was trained in co-shamanism. So, your questions are very permanent. But, what I have expressed, is what I feel now. Do I think that there’s an incredible path to walk? And I want to say — you can edit it off, if you don’t feel it’s appropriate. But, if you get the chance to further talk Dougie about that Red Path, that Red Road — he’s more in a forte on this now, than I am. Because, for me... I absolutely have left it predominantly behind. I would consider my practice to be so far removed now from Native American practice —which is why I am doing that talk tomorrow — to try to actually, partly evolve exactly what I do, do as a Rainbow Zen Shaman, who am I, what is it that I do do? Try to scientifically analyze it to some extent, try to psychologically assess it and try to offer psychotherapeutic interventions to any sense of madness is coming from me. But one thing is for certain, Sakis... I don’t think Native American, First, tribal... First Nation shamanism will ever disappear. I think it will be kept alive. I think ultimately, the reality is like ancient, primitive shamanism will get adapted. And it may come full circle, back to raw traumatic, very, very real primitive shamanism. So, that’s where I am with that...

[SB]

Aren’t all the other traditions in the world so sacred? Why is Native American... why

are Native American traditions so popular? You can see people all over the world having...

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you said, like a Indian name or Indian tattoos or whatever... But you cannot see, for example somewhere... I don’t know... in Singapore having a Celtic one... Why is that?

[TM] Well...

[SB]

Is it, for example, the fact that they were pillaged, and abused, and hunted, and

persecuted by the White Man?

[TM] Mm-hmm. I think...

[SB]

Does... Do people feel sympathetic...