A chat with a Druid

By GRAHAM REID

England-born Chief Druid Philip Carr-Gomm, author, teacher and expert on matters Druidic is a speaker at today's first Auckland Celtic Festival of music, arts, crafts and genealogy being held at the Lakeside Convention Centre, Mangere.

Druids? What's it all about?

Druidry is the ancient wisdom tradition of western Europe. Most people think it died out with the coming of Christianity but pre-Christian festivals and traditions went into Christianity. Christian scribes wrote down a lot of the old stories so they did it a service because it was an oral tradition.

Maybe Druidic culture and beliefs have been superseded in the 21st century?

Well, we've had some 1500 years of religious ideas that weren't too helpful to the planet or women so now there's a resurgence of interest in Druidry.

Women? Are druids equal opportunity employers?

Indeed, just as many women are as involved as men and they can rise through the hierarchy.

How did you become a chief druid?

I met the old chief when I was a kid and trained with him and in 88 was asked to become chief of this particular group, The Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids.

So there are different druid groups?

Yeah. If anyone does an internet search they'd be amazed, a lot of groups have websites.

Is it spiritually transferable to this hemisphere?

It is because in essence Druidry is about attuning ourselves back into nature. Here there is the interesting cultural challenge of the Maori perspective. But it's a question of knowing where you stand from an ancestral point of view and where you are now.

So it's not location specific in terms of ritual and rites.

No, it's source was from western Europe but now it's worldwide.

More and more people seem curious about their Celtic heritage.

Some people confuse Celtic with a racial identity. It's a cultural identity because there was so much mixing of tribes in Europe. It's really a linguistic and cultural definition as opposed to a racial one.

What are you going to speak about today in Mangere, which I don't imagine is a traditional hotbed of Celts and Druids?

I will give an introduction to Druidry and talk about Druid magic which is really about creativity. The whole of Celtic society was and is full of creativity in music and art. Within Druidry there is the bardic tradition of storytellers so it's a very creative, vibrant kind of spirituality. It's not a spirituality that tries to take you out of this life, but is about being fully involved in your life now. Druids believe creativity is essentially magical, so it's looking at how to be fully creative. There's a lot of interest in it, we do a distance learning course in Druidry with tapes and about 7000 people have done that.

So people don't see you as an odd man with one trouser leg rolled up flashing strange hand signs, that sort of thing?

No. People are intrigued that something so ancient can still be of relevance. At first sight it would appear anachronistic but the reality is the ideas and principles are still relevant today: how can you live your life, how can you be fully creative, and how can you connect with nature. Traditional religions have failed because of their dualism. As soon as you split the human into spirit and body and make one superior — like Christianity's relation to the body and sexuality — that cuts a huge amount of pleasure out of living. People are looking for spirituality that is inclusive and holistic.