From the editor: Philip's beautiful and eloquent book is a new but ancient vision that will be a source of inspiration to Druids, Wiccans and all those drawn to nature spirituality and magic. In Druidcraft we see Druidry restoring its persecuted and suppressed tradition of magic and seership and moving closer to Wicca. The gap is increasingly small, as both traditions seek to reawaken contemporary culture to what we might call `natural religion', our instinctive reaching out to venerate the planet that is our home, to celebrate the Divine within one another and within all creation, and to honour the ever-changing seasons and cycles of nature and human life. Druidry and Wicca share a love and veneration for the natural world and have an important role to play in restoring aspects of spiritual tradition too long neglected, to our own cost. This includes the vision of the Divine as immanent and present all around us in the glorious wonder of the natural world of our own planet and that of the cosmos. It includes too the vision of the Divine not as God, but as Goddess and God. These images of the Divine interconnect in mutual harmony to create an interchange of energies that gives birth to new life; for the sum of the whole is truly greater than that of the parts. Druidcraft reflects this synthesis, integrating in a refreshingly new and unique way nature spirituality and magical vision, veneration for the Divine as Goddess and God, and the integration of body and spirit - engagement with and joy in this world, as well as the journey to unification with Ultimate Reality that is at the heart of human existence. My own path is Wicca, but Druidry also had a strong attraction. I visited Ross Nichols, Philip's predecessor as Chosen Chief of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, thirty years ago. A wise and kindly man, he took time in his busy schedule to explain Druidry to a teenage spiritual seeker trying to find the right path. Druidry offered much, but the Goddess orientation, greater female leadership, and the focus on the development of those powers of the human psyche that we call magic in Wicca proved the stronger pull. Since then, much has changed. Druidry has developed greater interest in the traditional magical skills and gifts of its Druid ancestors, and the role of women in Druidry now equals that of men. Wicca has grown closer to Druidry in its provision for family participation and openness as a path for the many rather than the few. Both traditions have evolved to see themselves as part of a growing contemporary spirituality that is concerned with social engagement, planetary responsibility, and providing meaningful philosophy and ethics by which people may live in our increasingly complex multi-cultural world.

Pages: 178
Special Interest: Druid, Celtic, Wicca, Occult, Magick, Advanced Studies & Application, WitchCraft, Ritual, Sorcery.