Wight Druids

A small but welcome band gathered at The Longstone today to celebrate Alban Elfed and to take that step through the gateway into the Dark Half of this year.

Our heartfelt thanks to each of you for sharing with us. These small, more intimate gatherings are always such a treasure and a delight.

After the ceremony (or maybe before?), the subject of Moon rite was raised and it now seems likely we will gather at the Hunter’s Moon – the October full Moon – with drums for our equivalent of a shamanic journey.

Please get in touch if you are interested in joining us as, although this event will be held in the wild (weather permitting!), unlike our celebrations of the eight festivals of the year this one will be by invitation only – ie, NOT an open public event. We will get back to you when the fine details have been finalised.

We believe this will be something special.

Bendithion Llawen/|\Many Blessings

of Alban Elfed and the Harvest Moon

Scribe

OUR open public ritual to celebrate Alban Elfed, the Autumn Equinox, in the Grove of Ynys Weith will again be held this year at The Longstone, Mottistone, Isle of Wight, weather permitting!

We will be there from around noon on Sunday, September 23, to welcome all who come with an open heart and a simple reciprocal respect for the path, the ceremony and the ancestral land.

Bendithion Llawer/|\Bright Blessings

Scribe

WIGHT Grove finally made it to network TV last weekend (Friday, September 14) with a small segment during Channel 4’s coverage of the Bestival, the “last festival of the summer”.
Grove members and friends appeared in circle with healers working at the Bestival’s Retreat, conducting a joint Druid/Native American opening ceremony to raise energy for the healing work to be done over the three-day festival weekend.
Radio One DJ Rob Da Bank, who organises the Bestival, joined the ceremony with his wife, Josie, who is creative director of this major event, which this year attracted 30,000 people.
Island therapist Eva Wolfram spent two days creating a labyrinth with a prayer tree at its heart as part of the ceremony and Native American pipe bearer Jan Harper – another Islander and something of a rarity as a woman in this role – echoed our more familiar quarter calls with the calls to the powers in Dakota before creating pipe ceremony as we conducted a simple meditation in the central part of the rite.
Brief interviews with both Jan and Eva appeared in the C4 programme, along with footage of the labyrinth and some scenes from the ceremony, before the cameras moved on to the eclectic mix of music during the three days of this fantastic ’boutique’ event, a late-summer carnival as much as a music event, though still featuring more than 300 musicians around its many stages.
As the event neared the hour of recall on the Sunday, Wight Grove and Jan Harper again gathered circle together to give thanks to the quarters in a simple closing rite, then some joined Eva, with the sun setting, to light for the final time the 300 candles that would bring the labyrinth to life for the last of the hundreds of people who chose to walk its path and take the journey into themselves.
This week, ‘Early Bird’ tickets for the 2008 Bestival went on sale – and sold out within two hours.
Wight Grove have already been invited to return next year to again create an opening ceremony for The Retreat. With the Blessings of the Gods and the Ancestors, we will be happy to do so. If you are going to be there, come and join us. Croeso – you will be very welcome!

Bendithion Llawen/|\Many Blessings

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Wight Druids, in association with the Dakota pipe-bearers of Wight, will be performing a powerful joint Druid/Native American opening ceremony for The Retreat, the healing circle, at this year’s Bestival, from 11am on Friday, September 7.

All with an open heart who are likely to be on site are welcome to witness and join this unique blending of Spirit and cultures – and if you have a drum, bring it and be prepared to use it!

Bendithion Llawer/|\Many Blessings

Scribe