The Current Members of
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(GROVE PURSEWARDEN)
Bear has been performing Keltrian ritual alongside TopazOwl for several years.
If you were to ask him if he is a Druid or not, he would say (rather evasively)
that he doesn't like to be labeled -- unless of course we'd like to address
him as "Your Majesty." :-) He feels that spirituality is a very personal thing
that can't be pigeon-holed so neatly. He also feels that deity is best experienced
in the landscape of the world around us, in the natural order of things, and
it's nothing for him to spend several hours a day out in the elements. As
a crop farmer and environmental consultant, he is truly a Steward of the Land.
He has a BS in Business Management and owns and operates several successful
businesses, so we feel that there's no one better to mind the Grove's meager
finances!
(GROVE
BARD) Beirdd's
interest in Druidry goes way back (literally), though his interest in anything
and everything else that is Celtic is relatively new. He has been a father twice
over, as a priest and now as a dad. He is an elementary school educator with
fantasies of being a semi-good writer and poet. His most recent druidry-related
endeavor was a stint as the editor of the (now defunct) "Druids Grove Newsletter"
and co-keeper (with Topaz Owl and Okana) of one of the past manifestations of
the Druids Grove on AOL. He is presently the Editor-in-Chief of "The Summer
Sun," the online newsletter of The Summerlands. He is also totally awed (or
Awen-ed, depending on your point of view) by the invitation to be the Chief
Bard of The Grove of the Golden Horse, a role he hopes to carry out with honor.
(GROVE SCRIBE, Ring of the Birch) When
Ravendancer's children were small, she and her husband and young family lived
deep in the Virginia countryside surrounded by beauty that words cannot describe.
It was lonely at times, as her nearest neighbor was a mile away, but she learned
so much about herself, the environment, the cycles of nature and children.
The family then moved back to the "city" to make school life a bit easier
for the kids, and it was time to return to the work-for-pay world. Yet the
family found themselves constantly leaving the city for weekend trips to the
mountains or to go fishing in the country, or to go pick whatever crop was
available. There was always this need to touch and be with the darkest night
and brightest day.
Finally, when the kids became teenagers the family moved back to the country. It was during this time that Ravendancer's spiritual path became illuminated. She had many long talks with her daughter about what she believed in: Nature, love, kindness, cycles of the seasons, and "mother." She knew, without a doubt, that both female and male deity were in her life, for one cannot exist without the other. One is no more powerful than the other is, nor more beautiful or ugly, nor more sweet or bitter. Her daughter listened with respect.
One spring day daughter remarked to mother that Ravendancer was, perhaps, a witch. Raven listened to her and knew that she was right. A year earlier her daughter had been socializing with a high school group of Wiccans and Raven had been appalled. "They are witches and horrible people! Witches are evil! They eat babies! They are evil! Stay away from them!" And now she had to come to terms with the fact that she herself might be one? Well, she decided it would be better to do some research and find out what exactly a witch is!
That summer is when she met Topaz Owl and Lady Okana (definitely not horrible or evil), and together the three have evolved to where they are today in this place and this time. They are three healers, three friends, three sisters; they are Trojka. They formed a Grove with some other wonderful, talented folks. They continue to develop their own abilities while in the process of helping others. In addition to being a proud member of the Grove of the Golden Horse, Ravendancer is a member of Earth Chalice (affiliated with the Unitarian Universalist Church of Arlington, VA), of Four Quarters Farm (Artemis, PA, USA), of ERAL (a national religious rights organization), and a member of a local Middle Eastern dance troupe. She is also a student of the Servants of Light (S.O.L., headquartered in Jersey, GB).
Raven works primarily with the deities of the Celts, Norse, and North America. The Animal spirits call her sister, the Fey are friends, the Elementals care and caress, the Norns smile, the Gods watch in amusement and smack her when needed. Those who travel in other worlds acknowledge her.
The wisdom she can offer you is this: "The more you learn the less you know, and the less you know the more you learn. In short, learning is an ongoing, lifetime process -- be open to it! Do not be content to think that you know it all. So be it!"
(CHIEF
DRUID, Ring of the Oak)
TopazOwl is of Irish, Scottish, and Native American descent. She has been
involved in some form of Paganism and/or occult study since she was a child.
She has always had some talent as a Seer and was being named a "witch" by others
at the tender age of thirteen. She has been a practicing Druid for many years,
the Gods having set her feet on that path long before she even knew what to
call it. A member of the Henge of Keltria for about 13 years, she served as Henge Secretary for 6 years and is currently the President and the Solitary Advisor of the Henge. She is also Founder/Grove Leader
of Garrán an Eich Órbhuí. She is a founding member of
Ord na Darach Gile, Caretaker of
the Garden of Avalon and Temple of the Familiars at The Summerlands, and hearthmistress of Teallach
MagFhionghaile within Clan an Tír na Samhradh.
She holds a BS in Education with a Concentration in History and the Social
Sciences, and an AS in Equine Science. She is well-versed in Celtic (especially
Irish) History, Myth and Legend. She has written articles published in Keltria:
Journal of Druidism and Celtic Magick, Hoofprint: the Northeast's Equine Newspaper,and
The Pantheon. Most recently, she had a poem published in an anthology of Pagan works, The Pagan's Muse, edited by Jane Raeburn.
Topaz Owl makes her living as a crop farmer and an assistant environmental
consultant. Additionally, she teaches equine management, riding, and showmanship,
and raises and trains Percheron and American Warmblood horses. Currently,
she is exploring the role of the Anamcara within modern Druid practice.