Wight Druids

A peaceful Newtown Creek, November 15, 2009.

ELEVEN good folk gathered in a peaceful grove at Walter’s Copse, near Newtown, today to look at the latest module in Emma Restall Orr’s Perennial Course in Living Druidry, covering the moontide she calls Fire Friend.

With the sun shining on a delightful autumn day, the day after some of the heaviest rain on the Island for quite some time, we felt blessed by the weather sprites as we talked about the teachings of this module, also discussing the yew tree and mistletoe, both of which hold special significance to the moontide. We even enjoyed a visit from the local Heather Ladybirds.

Afterwards, most of us took a gentle stroll down to nearby Newtown Creek.

We meet for this informal course near Dark Moon in a different location in the wild each month, the next scheduled for Wroxall Copse.

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The Bloodstone Border morris side at The Longstone, Isle of Wight, Samhain, 2009.

A ROUSING first performance by the Bloodstone Border morris side created a delightful – or perhaps, de-darkful? – atmosphere for the Wight Grove’s 2009 celebration of Samhain/Samhuinn.

Amidst a lightly shrouding autumn mist, this new Isle of Wight team produced a raucously fun show that beautifully and fittingly counterbalanced the traditionally regular Beltane – or May Day – event of the Men of Wight, their black and red garb adding a perfect seasonal touch for Samhain.

A wonderful prelude to the usual Wight Druids open public ceremony, but much more, a hugely enjoyable performance we hope and trust many more folk will have the privilege to witness in the future.

Our thanks, once again, to Rob and all the crew for making this event possible – and such fun!

We wish them Many Blessings and all success for this new venture, keeping alive one of the finest ancestral traditions of these islands.

Bendithion Llawen

Scribe/|\