Cultivating community, transformation and empowerment
Cultivating community, transformation in the land and in the web.
Registration is now closed for 2024.
We hope to see you around! Stay tuned for public ceremonies, events and programs by signing up for our occasional newsletters! Add your email to the box on the right!
Druid School 2024 brings together the best of our foundational programs for a balance of in-person and at home learning.
The Format: 9 months per grade from March to mid December, including:
- 2 AWENsome Immersions at Dreamland Sanctuary- in spring and fall for each grade.
- 2 live and recorded classes per month; with Fearn and other fabulous Druid teachers.
- An extensive course book, plus module specific readings and audio guided journeys
- Temple Time: special weekly access to Dreamland to connect with the land, your classmates, and to practice.
- Additional opportunities to gather with the Green Mountain Druid Order, including monthly Community Days at Dreamland, a Firewalk in July, Ecstatic Dance, seasonal celebrations and ceremony, and monthly Bardic Circles!
What does it mean to be a Druid in these times and lands?
We acknowledge that we live and practice in the ancestral lands of the Western Abenaki people. We explore and encourage ways of repairing the ongoing harms to the original people of the places we call home. We act to protect and respect these lands as we strive to become well woven, naturalized ancestors of place.
A Druid is one who “Knows the Oak”; one who is “Oak Wise”. The trees are our teachers, kin, guides and allies.
Do you long to hear the song of the trees? Do you listen to the whispers of spirit in the wind? Do you dream of sitting in a circle of magickal peers? What do your ancestor’s want you to remember?
While there is much in the world that is deeply concerning, there is an equal and opposite force of awakening love and remembrance of our true nature, which is One with Nature. This ancient and evolving path helps us re-member our place in the web of life, and in so doing, we tip the scales toward a new earth of thriving life for the generations to come.
“The experiences I had during the year at Dreamland and the ones I am having now have shown me a new world. A world that I cannot unsee and a world I want to fight for. Druidry is becoming my life.” Lisa
Our approach to Druidry is:
- cultivating spiritual community
- rooted in the living Earth,
- modern yet inspired by the celtic continuum of ancestral tradition
- a compassionate container to support engaged spiritual practice,
- interfacing with the word through public ceremony and global magick
- tapping AWEN- the power of inspiration, creativity, manifestation within us
- evolving and adapting to the needs of our times, our lands, our students and staff.
What we offer:
- an increased sense of belonging to self, community, Nature and Spirit
- Awakening, honing, and grounding intuitive ability
- skills and tools for personal growth, communication, and deeper engagement with Life
- A path to access your innate gifts as an empowered Druid
The three grades: schedules and details
Students commit to one year at a time. Progression through the grades is by invitation once completion at each level is demonstrated. The full training takes 3 years.
2) The Path of the Ovate; Transformation
3) The Path of the Druid; Empowerment
Registration
Fill out our registration form here!
Teaching
We are blessed with gifted Druid graduates on our core staff. (pics and bios coming!) Additional guest GM Druids may be present to assist and mentor during our Immersions. Bard and Druid students share the same Immersions at Dreamland which will be a dance of joining together for some sessions, and dividing out to focus on grade specific curriculum. Ovates have a separate Immersion schedule.
Food
Food is shared in an organized potluck for our meals during the immersion weekends. Each student contributes part of a meal with others on a meal team. The cooks will also wash up after the meal. Meal planning sign up forms will be shared with plenty of time to prepare.
We do our best to consider all dietary needs and to eat healthy, organic and simply. Please note that only a short time will be available to prepare meals between sessions. Salads, buffet-style meals, or soups that can be quickly warmed up are best.
Accommodation
Students are encouraged camp on the land or in their cars during the Immersions, to get the full experience. Dreamland is a potent catalyst in dreamtime as well as waking! If camping does not work for you, you can stay at a local air bnb, hotel or w a friend as desired. Our 3-season 30′ yurt provides some indoor floor space for sleeping. We also have a tent platform in the forest.
Code of Conduct
Students are asked to read the GMDO Code of Conduct and sign a Waiver once they register.
Tuition
We are committed to finding the balance between value, sustainability and accessibility for our students and school.
In this spirit, we have an income based sliding scale.
Please choose the rate that matches your annual household income.
Payment plans available with a nonrefundable down payment of $400, paid before the start of the training.
Partial scholarships may be available upon request. (first come, first served)
After submitting the registration form, you can hold your place by sending payment via Paypal
or mail a check to: GMSD, 233 Downs Rd., Worcester, VT 05682.
Thank you!
If you are you feeling pulled to remember, to belong, to take your place in the circle of community, of life and spirit, we welcome you!
a bit more context…
In 2006 Ivan McBeth and I (Fearn Lickfield) opened the Green Mountain Druid School. That same year we became the legal stewards of this sacred land which holds the school, the students and so much more.
What an amazing magical adventure! 2024 marks the 19th year of running this transformative training, and the 8th year since Ivan passed into the Otherworld. He is with us still in many ways as wise ancestor, mischief maker, curriculum writer and initiator.
Ivan writes: Each spring the Green Mountain School of Druidry starts a new training. It covers a wide range of basic Druid knowledge, and is designed to create a good foundation for further specialized development. The Druid training lasts three years and incorporates initiations into the three Grades of Druidry: the Bard, the Ovate, and the Druid. Students commit to the training one grade at a time.
As a Bard, you will access and explore the foundations of Druid magic and liberate the creativity within, through various forms of your choosing, such as voice, music, art, poetry, storytelling, dance, or imagination. You will learn the principles of healthy communication, and gain confidence in this art by practicing with your fellow students. You will learn the skills of shamanic journeying and explore your inner landscapes. Your imagination will become a sacred tool for consciously creating the world you live in – your reality of choice – and you will be encouraged to play: both individually, and with the other magical children with whom you are studying. You will enter a magic portal and enter your own unique magical adventure as the hero or heroine, fully committed to come alive fully, aided by the tools and guidance needed to reach your goal. You will learn the foundations of Druid magic and ceremony, and gain experience of your inner worlds through shamanic journeying.
As an Ovate, you will journey deep within and discover the secrets of Druid magic, divination, and healing (“Doctor – heal thyself”). You will learn the skills of the Hunter: stalking and acquiring the extra energy you need to transform yourself. You will get to know the awesome, archetypal role model Druids call the Spiritual Warrior and embody his/her qualities into your life. Ovates are challenged by both their teachers and their own inner processes to break through the obstacles confronting them, resulting in their healing and empowerment. Through this journey of transformation the Ovate connects deeply with the wisdom of the forest and trees. They will be working with Ogham, the ancient language of trees; they will harvest, create and learn the skill of their own magic wand, and learn about the uses of tree essences. This second year of training comprises a series of initiations that will lead you from one empowered state to another, leading you gently yet firmly through the transformations necessary to become a Druid.
Druids interface between the spiritual and physical worlds and practice the arts they have learned in the Bardic and Ovate grades, in order to lead lives of purpose and authenticity. Having successfully overcome the challenges of the Ovate grade, having experienced the shamanic death, and performing the impossible (walking on fire), you will integrate your new powers into your everyday life. Taking responsibility for yourself and your impact on this Earth, physically, emotionally and energetically, is a cornerstone of a Druid’s training, for this awareness qualifies you to work with power. With your new levels of life force, you will learn how to embody your new wisdom, and share it effectively with others.
Graduate Druids often become teachers, healers, officiant at rites of passage and spiritual leaders. They also become role models for the younger members of their communities, helping to resolve conflict and upholding the principles of justice. Others lead their lives without exposing themselves as Druids, quietly following their internal guidance and doing good works.
As a Druid, your life will become impregnated with the Sacred (in your own unique, individual way) You will become a skilled communicator and energy worker with and for nature thru the application of Geomancy, and you will be called upon at any time to be of service to others and the land. An empowered and practicing Druid is a Caretaker of the Earth.
The GMDO encourages graduates to become long-term, active members of their spiritual community, meeting regularly to weave good, healing, caring webs of magic and transformation into yourselves, your communities, and the world.
Blessed Be!