• Explains how to make and use the essential tools of a Celtic Druid and how to create Druid rituals for seasonal rites, blessings, and other sacred observances

• Details Druidic magical techniques and divination practices, as well as plant spells for performing magic with herbs

• Explores the Gods and Goddesses of the Celtic pantheon, Druidic cosmology, and the Druidic festivals that occur throughout the year

In this authentic handbook for the Celtic Druid path, Ellen Evert Hopman shares lessons, rituals, and magical techniques drawn from the ancient wisdom teachings of the Celts as well as a modern Druid Order created by the leading minds of 20th-century Celtic Reconstructionism.

Hopman begins by exploring what we know about the original ancient Druids, citing Druid-contemporary sources such as Caesar and Diodorus Siculus as well as transcriptions of Druid oral teachings. She explains the basic tools and clothing of a Celtic Druid, including instructions for making the essential tools of the craft, such a Crane Bag, the Serpent Staff, and the Apple Branch, the tool used to open a Druid rite. She explores meditation techniques based on ancient texts and discusses the Gods and Goddesses of the Celtic pantheon, Druidic cosmology, and the Druidic festivals that occur throughout the turning of the year. She shares hymns to the Moon and the Sun as well as invocations for connecting with specific deities and elements. She also outlines the basics of Druidic liturgy, enabling you to create Druid rituals for seasonal rites, baby blessings, house blessings, hand-fastings, funerals, and other sacred observances.

Detailing Druidic magical techniques, Hopman shares charms and incantations for abundance, protection, and healing as well as plant spells for performing magic with herbs. She discusses many forms of Druidic divination, including interpreting omens and divining with the ancient Irish alphabet, Ogham. Exploring the special connection between humans and Nature, a core component of Druidic practice, the author explains how to bond with Nature and the sacred land as well as examining the connection between Druids and trees.

Revealing how to become a modern Druid, this concise yet detailed guide presents everything you need to know to start your journey on the Druidic path.

Ellen Evert Hopman is a master herbalist and lay homeopath, who has been a Druidic initiate since 1984. She is a founding member of the Order of the White Oak, an Archdruidess of the Tribe of the Oak, and a member of the Grey Council of Mages and Sages. She is the author of several books, including The Sacred Herbs of Samhain and Once Around the Sun. She lives in Massachusetts.

Foreword by Kenneth Proefrock, NMD

Preface: Why I Wrote This Book

Acknowledgments

PART 1

An Introduction to Druidry
Ancient Wisdom and Modern Knowing

What a Druid Is and Is Not

Historical Knowledge about the Druids

Goddesses and Gods of the Druids

The Druidic Festivals and High Holy Days

Magical Techniques of the Druids

Druidic Wisdom Tales and Poetry

An Introduction to the Brehon Laws

PART 2

Becoming a Druid
How to Practice Druidic Arts, Magic, and Spirituality

The Tools of a Druid

Druidic Meditation

Creating Druid Rituals

Charms for Divination and Augury

Charms for Abundance, Healing, and Protection

Herbal Charms and Spells

PART 3

Druids and Nature
Words of Wisdom from Fellow Druids

Revelations of Nature by Kenneth Proefrock, NMD

Druids and Trees by Peter J. Quandt

Resources and Suggested Reading

Glossary

Notes

Bibliography

Index